Friday Feature: Dallas vs. Goliath

By Jarrett Felix

When discussing pretty much anything, it feels like the conversation always comes back to AAA. I’m as guilty of it as anybody. I can list off all the top five teams from AAA states for the past decade, but I have to go back and look up AA title winners all the time. Let’s be fair, the AAA schools are bigger, have more kids to pull from and, in all likelihood, are going to be better than the top AA and A schools. If you looked at merged scoring for the state championship (a tool that I use with a grain of salt for a variety of reasons I’m not particularly invested in outlining right now), here is how the top AA and A teams have scored:

2012 – 9^th/15^th

2013 – 10^th/8^th

2014 – 11^th/16^th

2015 – 15^th/19^th

So you could easily look at these numbers and say the gap is real and, potentially, growing. But I’m not sure I see it quite that way. In 2014, York Suburban put on a show at the Carlisle Inivtaitonal and bested the rest of the PA talent contingent (including DT West, Henderson, LaSalle, Carlisle and Cumberland Valley) to finish as the top PA school in the field, regardless of division. And now, after a surprising victory in 2015 over, poetically enough, York Suburban, the 2016 Dallas squad is preparing to do battle with the AAA onslaught. And I kinda like their chances.

Let’s back up a quick sec. A year ago, Dallas won the state championship with their first runner taking the 25^th and final medal spot at states. That was sophomore Jack Zardecki who was also the team’s #1 runner in 2015 as just a freshman. Behind him, sophomore Adam Borton finished 28^th, junior Jason Culp took 36^th and a pair of freshmen, Stephen Postupak and Mitchell Rome, rounded out the scoring with 64^th and 73^rd place finishes (in invitational PR times) to clinch an 8-point victory.

In case you didn’t notice, they return all five of those guys, four of which are making big age jumps from either sophomore to junior or freshman to sophomore. They also were bringing back rising junior Josh Wyandt who, although he faded a bit down the stretch of the season, was a more than capable member of the top 5 for much of the year. He opened the 2016 season as the #2 runner on Dallas’s Cliff Robbins squad.

The young Dallas squad has actually been turning heads for a while. In 2014, they surprised defending state champs Tunkhannock and up and coming squad Berwick to steal the #2 spot to states in District 2 with four freshmen in their top 7. That same squad finished 8^th at states with freshman-sophomore-freshman as their top 3. So these young kids have a knack for punching above their age. But, with a trip to PTXC coming up, can they punch above their size?

The AA school will take on many of the top ranked AAA squads, including perhaps the state’s best team in Carlisle. A year ago, Dallas finished 3^rd overall at the PTXC Invite and was the #2 PA team behind only Hershey (who bested them by 10 points). Zardecki will lead the way after finishing 14^th at this meet a year ago and winning his opening invite. Then it will be about the pack behind. A year ago, Jason Culp was the #2 runner in 27^th and Adam Borton finished in 36^th with Josh Wyandt and Stephen Postupak rounding out the top five.

All of those guys are back again (although Postupak didn’t race last weekend) with an added bonus from Mitchell Rome as they try to better their 3^rd place finish. Ironically, this small school will need to lean on their depth if they are going to best a front loaded squad like Carlisle or hang with a pack driven team like Council Rock North.

Also, keep an eye on the #6 and #7 spots for Dallas. They had a minute gap between #5 and #6 last weekend and will hope to decrease that gap this weekend to give themselves some insurance in the big meets. Experienced varsity runner Josh Jarden may have the #6 role. And watch out because Dallas is still getting younger. Their #8 and #9 guys were Sam Nocito and Brendan Fleschut who were both listed as freshmen in the team’s first contest.

I’m very excited to watch Dallas take on Goliath this weekend and I’m hoping they hold their own. Through one meet, they have a faster average and tighter top five pack than a year ago. They have a more experienced, seasoned team with the extra confidence that comes with a state championship in the trophy case. But really, none of that has mattered with this squad. They’ve been successful without any of that. So maybe they don’t need it.

Or maybe, they are going to be even better.