Post States Top 50 Rankings

#Top50Tuesday is back! Alright! This is mainly just a "who ran fastest at states" list because that is what matters most and what (most) runners are peaking for. That being said, I did consider a runner's entire resume and tried to factor other significant races into the rankings. While we wait to see who is continuing their season and who is hanging up their spikes, I'll give you what is likely my final rankings of the cross country season. Enjoy!

PS it's pretty fun to go back and look at my initial rankings and see all the hits/misses (mostly misses) from the preseason.

Honorable Mention: Ben Bickerton, Sam Snodgrass, Joe Maguire, Will Alpaugh, Joseph Westrick, Eddie Goebel, Morgan Cupp, Max Freyermuth, Tristan Forsythe

Also, I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with spots 47-50 so I added a varsity just missed squad to include some noteworthy names

57 Kyler Shea, Jr Lower Dauphin (3 AAA)

56 Jacob Toczko, Sr Tunkhannock (2 AA)

55 Justin Yurchak, Sr Hempfield (3 AAA)

54 Sean McGinnis, Sr Phoenixville (1 AAA)

53 Isaac Davis, So Jersey Shore (4 AA)

52 Will Greene, Jr Delone Catholic (3 A)

51 Hunter Crawley, Jr South Williamsport (4 A)

And now we move to the coveted top 50 ...

50 Aaron Pfiel, Jr South Fayette (7 AA)

49 Ben Bumgarner, Jr Waynesburg Central (7 AA)

A couple guys who came up very big at the state championships after solid but not crazy strong district meets. Bumgarner gets a small nod here for his finish at states and some nice mid season invitational runs.

48 Ben Clouse, Jr Sewickley Academy (7 A)

Clouse's injury affects his ceiling because he doesn't have a state finish, but obviously a top 50 talent.

47 Cooper Leslie, Sr Camp Hill (3 A)

Great season, especially when you factor in all the soccer he has been playing. Also the best runner on a state championship squad.

46 Seth Slavin, Jr Pleasant Valley (11 AAA)

Lots of solid mid season finishes and an impressive close to the year where he was a clear #2 in the always strong District 11.

45 Gabe Allgayer, Sr Mercersburg Academy (Independent)

Had to be on the list, but hard to say where considering his limited racing against some of the big names. He ran a super fast time out of state and beat some future state medalists Shah and Galligan at Paul Short, but his true talent won't be able to be evaluated unless he goes to a regional meet.

44 Todd Gunzenhauser, Sr Mount Lebanon (7 AAA)

Solid season, but things really came together at the perfect time when he grabbed a state medal in Hershey. That was a fantastic race and a peak at what might be to come on the track for a 9:16 3200m talent.

43 Liam Conway, So Owen J Roberts (1 AAA)

Great year and helped transport the Owen J squad into the state conversation. Big runs at Districts, Leagues, Foundation and Paul Short plus a top 30 finish at states as just a sophomore. Excellent year.

42 Alex Milligan, Sr State College (6 AAA)

District 6 Champ and Top 5 finisher at Mid Penns. Also finished just outside the medals in Hershey.

41 Sam Blechman, Sr North Allegheny (7 AAA)

Second straight year an NA boy takes 26th, but thankfully got a well deserved team medal. Underrated season considering the impressive years Stupak and Migliozzi had ahead of him.

40 Dan Filler, Sr Gettysburg (3 AA)

Filler had a killer year: won his league, nearly broke 16 at Carlisle and was 2nd at districts. 10th at states was his best career finish and he was right in the mix with the rest of the top 10.

39 Bryce Descavish, Sr Central Cambria (6 AA)

Big run at PTXC, top notch finish at Foundation and really only lost to the best names in AA this season.

38 Liam Galligan, Jr Springfield DELCO (1 AAA)

Pretty solid district race and some nice finishes at invitationals, but had his best day when it mattered most, grabbing a state medal in 21st. He really runs this state course well.

37 Matt Wisner, Sr Carlisle (3 AAA)

Wisner had some real flashes of brilliance this year, most notably winning a loaded Mid Penn championship and backing it up with a state medal on the Hershey hills.

36 Brian Iatarola, Jr CB West (1 AAA)

Awesome season for Brian who hit his stride at the perfect time, becoming an amazing #2 for the state's 3rd best team. Top 10 in a loaded D1 and his first state medal solidified things. Not sure if he's a junior or senior, but I could have sworn junior ...

35 Sam Signor, Sr East Pennsboro (3 AA)

Huge state race. Absolutely huge run to grab 5th. He was always in the mix at the front of races, but is run at Hershey really jumped him in the final rankings.

34 Jack DiCintio, Sr Wyomissing (3 AA)

DiCintio broke 16 at Paul Short, won his league and won his district. Although he was a bit back at states, his talent is undeniable and on a different day he could have found himself at the front of the field. 

33 Nick Feffer, Jr State College (6 AAA)

Feffer made a big jump this year, making the move to SC's #1 runner and backing it up at Foundation, Mid Penn and most notably the state meet where he finished in the medals.

32 Connor McMenamin, Jr Souderton (1 AAA)

Killer stretch of fast times at Lehigh plus a dominant performance at Six Flags. Even on an off day, he still finished in the top 50 at states and was in the mix for his first medal through 2 miles. 

31 Rusty Kujdych, So Neshaminy (1 AAA)

30 Rahi Shah, Sr Bensalem (1 AAA)

These two had a very fun rivalry down the stretch, ending with both men grabbing state medals. Kujdych was phenomenal in his last few races, especially considering he was a sophomore in his first run at Hershey while Shah edged out Rusty at leagues and states to back up killer runs at Tennent and Foundation.

29 Zach Lefever, Jr Ephrata (3 AAA)

Not sure what happened to him at states (hopefully he is healthy and ok), but a beastly season in 2015. Huge runs everywhere he went and will be big next year.

28 Connor Walsh, Jr Cambridge Springs (10 A)

27 Joe Previdi, Sr Masterman (12 A)

Both of these guys went head to head at states with Previdi ultimately getting the edge. Both had dominant stretches this year with some fast times and impressive wins and carried that all the way through to states.

26 Rob Morro, Sr O'Hara (12 AAA)

25 Ryan James, Jr O'Hara (12 AAA)

The O'Hara boys jockeyed for position all year and both ended up with their second straight year in the medals. Plus they led the OH squad to a surprise 6th place finish  at states alongside their DELCO and PCL successes.

24 Domenic Peretta, Sr Beaver Falls (7 A)

Peretta was "just" fifth at states but he won the loaded WPIAL and has wins over Kolor, Skolnekovich, Curtin and Mackey this year. He had a fantastic year and needless to say will be a factor on the track.

23 Mark Provenzo, Jr Franklin Regional (7 AAA)

Breakout star out of District 7 who blitzed a 15:38, finished 3rd at WPIALs and added a 20th place finish at states to earn his first medal. Really gained momentum and confidence at the end of the season and will be fun to watch next year.

22 Noah Curtin, Jr Mercyhurst Prep (10 A)

Curtin was solid during the regular season, but really Wowed at states where he crushed it to get an easy 2nd place against some really good names including avenging some early season losses. Just a clutch dude.

21 Spencer Smucker, So Henderson (1 AAA)

A little bit of a transition year for Spence after 3 seniors graduated, but he found a comfort zone as a leader on the team, taking 15th at states and running in the top 10 at districts. 

20 Mike Kolor, Sr Seneca Valley (7 AAA)

Awesome stretch run to the season, winning at Tri States and kicking well to finish 13th at states. After his best career XC year, let's see if he can better his absurd 1:54-4:11 type numbers on the track.

19 Kevin Lapsansky, Sr Easton (11 AAA)

Great run at PTXC, solid at PS and dominant performer against D11 competition. Really held his own even after the graduation of Colin Abert and ran a killer final mile to get to 14th place overall.

18 Kent Hall, Sr Unionville (1 AAA)

17 Rock Fortna, Sr CB West (1 AAA)

These two finished with basically identical times at states, so Fortna gets the nod for his impressive runs at districts and leagues. Hall came on to the scene early and never surrendered his role as a top Chesmont talent, despite the fact that he was in his first XC season. Fortna, meanwhile, took a big jump from "track guy" to multi-faceted star, finishing 5th in the loaded D1 and 12th at states.

16 Will Kachman, Sr Bedford (5 AA)

Fantastic year that included his fair share of fast times, a district title and, most importantly a 4th place finish at states in a very quick 16:07. Excellent last 12 months from Will.

15 Jake Susalla, Sr Plum (7 AAA)

14 Jacob Stupak, Sr North Allegheny (7 AAA)

13 Marc Migliozzi, Sr North Allegheny (7 AAA)

Hard to figure out exactly how to order these WPIAL studs. Put Migz at the top considering his overall season resume where he was almost always the top guy on a great NA squad and he still finished an excellent 10th at states. Stupak ran incredibly clutch in Hershey to break 16 minutes and put himself in rare company. And of course Jake Susalla! He didn't do much in the early season and I thought his season was likely never going to start. But then he ran a solid race at districts before crushing the Hershey hills and breaking 16 minutes! Wow, what a finish to his season and certainly worth of a top 15 spot.

12 Jeff Kirshenbaum, Sr Methacton (1 AAA)

Really impressed with Jeff's season. He ran the Hershey hills brilliantly and had a phenomenal series of invite wins and a pac title. When you consider how his season ended in 2014, the resilience and determination of Kirsh in 2015 is even more impressive.

11 Matt Kravitz, Sr North Pocono (2 AA)

Killer run at Paul Short, 2nd to Hockenbury at Foundation and districts and came within a few meters of earning 2nd place honors at states. This kid could be a monster on the track considering the leap he took this fall.

10 Nick Dahl, Jr GFS (Independent)

Really hard to place this guy at this point. He had some nice highlights this year including an absolutely dominant post season run in the independent league, but didn't have enough races against the top PIAA guys to warrant anything higher than here. Very intrigued to see his NXN run.

9 Henry Sappey, Sr DT West (1 AAA)

Sappey was solid in the early season, but really hit his stride in championship time. He's been running well enough recently to give me some nice confidence for West at NXN and if he stays on this roll, look out. He was less than a second from top 5 honors this year.

8 Zach Skolnekovich, Jr Quaker Valley (7 AA)

My pick to win AA states, may not have won, but he really held his own, running 15:54 and grabbing 2nd place in the division. He also absolutely dominated the WPIAL champs and grabbed an early season win against Mackey.

7 Griffin Mackey, Jr Sewickley Academy (7 A)

Although he "only" ran 16:05 there's no doubt in my mind this guy is a champ. State gold gets you up pretty high, but he can really back it up with a big run at Footlocker.

6 Nathan Henderson, Jr JP McCaskey (3 AAA)

5 Nick Wolk, Sr Peters Township (7 AAA)

Both guys dominated their respective district and only had losses to the big 3 in AAA in 2015. Would love to see these guys at Footlocker Regionals and see how they stack up. You never know if one of them will be this year's Casey Comber.

4 Josh Hoey, So DT West (1 AAA)

One of the best sophomores we've seen and completely unphased by the spotlight. Even has a win against his brother this year.

3 Dominic Hockenbury, Sr Lake Lehman (2 AA)

2 Jaxson Hoey, Sr DT West (1 AAA)

1 Jake Brophy, Sr CB East (1 AAA)

The big three. Maybe Josh should be included in this final tier, but I think the argument for this group is undeniable. These guys are all phenomenal and I hope that I will be talking about them in December before the National meets go down.