District Week: District 9 Preview

By Jarrett Felix

A (2 Teams, 10 Indviduals)

Isaac Wilson has been fantastic this year for North Clarion, running strong races out of state at McQuaid and winning on home soil on multiple occasions. He is a legit contender for a top five spot at states, but he will need to take care of business at districts first. Considering how some of his closest competitors ran so far (Joe Previdi, Hunter Crawley, etc), this should be a nice stage for Wilson to prove himself and establish himself as a true contender. He will have to deal with the Cranberry duo of Harrison Keenan and Sam Lander, who both placed close behind Wilson at Foundation and also Devan Cavanaugh, a returning state medalist who came on brilliantly down the stretch a year ago. Cavanaugh has been pretty quiet in 2014, but assuming he is healthy, he will be a dangerous force in the final two meets of the year. However, I still think Keenan may be best poised for the upset, he’s really had a breakout Junior season.

Luke Geyer from Ridgway leads my sleeper pick which also includes some talented freshman from Smethport in Gregory and Tanner. Isaiah Griebel will be hoping to follow Wilson’s lead as the teammates both have state qualifying aspirations this weekend. Blayde Conley from Northern Potter is a dangerous sleeper as well. And not just because his name is Blayde.

In the team race, I’ll be watching the match up for gold between Cranberry and Elk County Catholic. Cranberry has likely the top two runners in Keenan and Lander, but Elk’s sophomore duo of Matt Dippold and Logan Hoffman have been exceptional for their young age. Elk County has a dynamite top four that will put pressure on Brannon, Dailey and the other members of Cranberry’s top five to keep things close. Whoever comes out of this meet looking strongest, could be poised for a top five finish at states. Remember, Cranberry finished 4^th at the Pre State meet in September.

1. Cranberry

2. Elk County Catholic

3. North Clarion

1	Isaac	Wilson	North Clarion	Sr
2	Harrison	Keenan	Cranberry	Jr
3	Devan	Cavanaugh	Coudersport	Sr
4	Sam	Lander	Cranberry	Jr
5	Matt	Dippold	Elk County Catholic	So
6	Logan	Hoffman	Elk County Catholic	So
7	Luke	Guyer	Ridgway	Jr
8	Darion	Gregory	Smethport	Fr
9	Blayde	Conley	Northern Potter	Sr
10	Jake	Mercer	Ridgway	Sr
11	Isaiah	Griebel	North Clarion	Jr
12	Christian	Tanner	Smethport	Fr
13	Brandon	Brabham	Oswayo Valley	Sr
14	Adam	Bettwy	Clarion Area	Sr
15	Scott	Brazinski	Elk County Catholic	Sr
16	Nolan	Brannon	Cranberry	Jr
17	Jared	Dailey	Cranberry	Sr
18	Chris	Udovich	Kane	Sr

AA (1 Team, 5 Individuals)

With Punxsutawney graduating a good portion of their core from last year’s title squad, include state medalist Bo Dinger, the title race becomes a bit more wide open. Bradford has historically always contended well in this district and they have perhaps two of the best five runners in Logan Caruso and Tyler Nuzzo. Caruso won the district title last year as a freshman and has shown no signs of slowing down in 2015. The question will be if Bradford’s depth can hold up on this stage. Clearfield has put together a strong squad and should probably be the favorites to grab the lone state qualifying spot. They beat Bradford earlier this year and their sophomore duo of Ryan Chew and Alex Coval has continuously improved since then. However, this team is a bit inexperienced as a program under the spotlight. Let’s see how they handle it on race day.

Individually, as mentioned, Caruso will be the favorite for the title. He won last year and has held his own with some big performances, including a strong showing at his home invitational. However, I’ve really liked what I’ve seen from Ryan Thrush of Brookville. He mixed it up extremely well with some top names in District 7 this year and has set a few course record type runs in dual meets this season. He had a great track season and showed impressive mile wheels which may play a role if this becomes a tight finish. I’ll be watching to see how the new wave of Punxsutawney stand outs fair in this race as Ethan Brentham and Jake Dinger will chase the leaders.

1. Bradford

2. Clearfield

1	Logan	Caruso	Bradford	So
2	Ryan	Thrush	Brookville	Jr
3	Tyler	Nuzzo	Bradford	Sr
4	Ryan	Chew	Clearfield	So
5	Alex	Coval	Clearfield	So
6	Ethan	Brentham	Punxsutawney	Fr
7	Xaiver	Molnar	Brookville	So
8	Jake	Dinger	Punxsutawney	Fr