PA HS XC Top 50: Week One Rankings

by Jarrett Felix

Here’s my Week One edition of #The50. If you don’t know the rules, you can read more by flipping back to the top 50 introduction from this past July. Worth noting, not a ton of guys raced this weekend (and many who did raced under 5k in distance), so there are not too many wild swings in this edition. I bolded the people on the list who were active, the rest were idle and stayed relatively stationary.

As an extra bonus I threw in a top 5 names to watch list. These guys aren’t necessarily the first 5 names left off the list, but they were impressive in their 2016 debuts and deserved a shout out. Keep an eye out for those sleeper picks looking ahead to future editions of the list.

Avery Lederer, Penncrest (1 AAA), Ian Gabig, Camp Hill (3 A), Mark Brown, Greensburg Salem (7 AA), Amadou Diallo, Allerdice (8 AAA), Chad Grundy, Hickory (10 A)

And now on to the main attraction. Where relevant, I threw in some commentary, but otherwise let the numbers speak for themselves.

50. Jonah Powell, So Grove City (10 AA)

49. Sam Morgan, Jr Parkland (11 AAA)

48. Alex Tomasko, Sr Mechanicsburg (3 AAA)

47. Isaac Kole, Sr Carlisle (3 AAA)

Kole looks like the #3 runner in the high-powered Carlisle offense. He’s likely benefiting from the extra talent to train with and he’s coming off a very impressive track season (great range from 800 to 3200). His opening time at Enos Yeager indicates he could be a sleeper pick for a state medal and he backed it up with a 4^th place finish at the Carlisle vs. SC dual meet. PTXC is coming up next for the Herd so we will see how he does in his first elite invitational of the year.

46. Ben Littman, Sr Winchester Thurston (7 A)

45. Brian Mass, Sr CB West (1 AAA)

44. Noah Beveridge, Jr Butler (7 AAA)

43. Phoenix Myers, Sr Seneca (10 A)

Beveridge and Myers were both active this weekend at McDowell. Phoenix got the better of the pair finishing 2^nd overall (Noah finished a strong 7^th). Phoenix was running right next to his brother, Donovan, who is one of the top returners in a loaded A division. Assuming he keeps this up, Seneca could potentially have two top 5 runners in the A state championship.

42. Mike Morris, So Hershey (3 AAA)

41. David Endres, So CB East (1 AAA)

Endres burst onto the scene with the fastest PA time at Northampton in recent history and an impressive win. He’s still just a sophomore and a huge talent, but he will have to prove himself against some marquee names to jump into the top 25. That being said, he impressed me enough in week one to make him the #2 sophomore on the list.

40. Jake O’Neill, Sr DT West (1 AAA)

39. Austin Maxwell, Sr Kennett (1 AAA)

O’Neill and Maxwell ran the 9^th and 7^th fastest combined times respectively at Oakbourne this past weekend. I’m not too invested in splits from this race, but is encouraging to see that both runners are healthy and fit heading into their senior seasons.

38. Jesse Cruise, Sr Cedar Crest (3 AAA)

37. Bryan Keller, Sr CR North (1 AAA)

36. Jack Zardecki, Jr Dallas (2 AA)

Zardecki won his first race as Dallas dominated the Cliff Robbins Invite. I believe Dallas will be headed to PTXC this weekend as well which will be fun for a variety of reasons. I like what I’ve seen the past two years from Jack and in 2016 he could be even better.

35. James Abrahams, Sr Haverford (1 AAA)

34. Hunter Crawley, Sr South Williamsport (4 A)

33. Donovan Myers, Sr Seneca (10 A)

Donovan and Phoenix Myers finished right next to each other for 2^nd and 3^rd at the McDowell Invitational. Both guys ran 1:56 or faster last spring en route to a state title 4x8 and the two twins should help push each other up the ranks as the season continues.

32. Matthew D’Aquila, Sr Lower Merion (1 AAA)

31. Brandon Hontz, Sr West Chester Rustin (1 AAA)

30. Ryan Barton, Sr DT West (1 AAA)

Two more Oakbourne boys hit the list here. Hontz and Barton were #5 and #4 respectively in the Oakbourne standings this past weekend. I really liked what I saw from Barton here as he finished his day with a sub 5 second leg. I think I forgot just how talented of a runner he is amidst all the speed that funneled through DT West in the past few years. Could be a big year for Barton in 2016.

29. Ryan Campbell, Jr CR North (1 AAA)

28. Tristan Forsythe, Jr Winchester Thurston (7 A)

27. Ben Bumgarner, Sr Waynesburg Central (7 AA)

26. Casey Conboy, Sr Baldwin (7 AAA)

25. Evan Addison, Jr LaSalle (12 AAA)

24. Connor Walsh, Sr Cambridge Springs (10 A)

Connor Walsh won the McDowell Invite, a sneaky loaded meet, to start his season. This kid has been fantastic the past two years and really flies under the radar as a small school runner. I’m just going to throw this out there now, Walsh may end up your state champion in A XC this year. So keep an eye on him going forward.

23. Morgan Cupp, Jr Mechanicsburg (3 AAA)

22. Seth Slavin, Sr Pleasant Valley (11 AAA)

21. Ben Clouse, Sr Sewickley Academy (7 A)

20. Isaac Davis, Jr Jersey Shore (4 AA)

In perhaps the most impressive Invitational performance of the week, Jersey Shore’s Isaac Davis got a one second win over state medalist Nick Feffer at Big Valley. The time, sub 16, was also one of the fastest in course history, ahead of some very strong names like Kachman, Milligan and some old school Coatesville guys. Davis is a really gutsy XC runner who I’m looking forward to watching this fall.

19. Noah Curtin, Sr Mercyhurst Prep (10 A)

18. Eric Kennedy, Sr Kiski Area (7 AAA)

17. Kyler Shea, Sr Lower Dauphin (3 AAA)

16. Connor McMenamin, Sr Souderton (1 AAA)

15. Mark Provenzo, Sr Franklin Regional (7 AAA)

14. Liam Conway, Jr Owen J Roberts (1 AAA)

13. Liam Galligan, Sr Springfield (1 AAA)

12. Nick Feffer, Sr State College (6 AAA)

Although Feffer finished 2^nd in his first invite, a sub 16 mark at Big Valley is an encouraging start. That shows me he isn’t going to take the XC season lightly as some other more track oriented guys might do. Plus, he’s got a nice pack developing behind him that could help keep him honest in practice. If he stays hungry, Feffer is a guy who knows how to peak at season’s end. I like his chances for another medal.

11. Ryan James, Sr O’Hara (12 AAA)

10. Rusty Kujdych, Jr Neshaminy (1 AAA)

9. Spencer Smucker, Jr West Chester Henderson (1 AAA)

Kujdych and Smucker had the #3 and #6 splits at Oakbourne and each ran back to back legs under 5:10. Kujdych’s last split was a 4:59. Both these guys are part of a monster junior class and look strong for this season. Kujdych’s run was particularly impressive to me, but these kids are both such proven talents that a small invite like this isn’t going to have any type of real impact on their rankings. We know these guys are good.

8. Zach Lefever, Sr Ephrata (3 AAA)

7. Griffin Mackey, Sr Sewickley Academy (7 A)

6. Nick Dahl, Sr GFS (Indepenent)

It’s going to be an interesting year for Dahl. His GFS team looks pretty strong on paper and he, too, seems sharp as he ran 4:51-4:55 splits at Oakbourne for the second fastest total. Dahl has consistently progressed on the trails over his first three high school seasons. Now we will see if he can piece that talent together for a run at a national spot. But we won’t know if he can based on his marks from a small meet at Oakbourne. Stay tuned.

5. Zach Skolnekovich, Sr Quaker Valley (7 AA)

4. Sam Affolder, So Carlisle (3 AAA)

3. Nathan Henderson, Sr JP McCaskey (3 AAA)

Hard to believe this may be the battle for second at districts. Nate Henderson looked fantastic in his opener clocking a pair of sub 4:50 splits at Oakbourne. Nate was a beast on the track, but had a rare off day at states (in a wild 3200). It looks to me like he has come out with a little extra spark to him and I expect him to rise to the Affolder’s challenge.

Meanwhile, Sam Affolder, just a sophomore, opened up his season with a second place run of 12:20 at Enos Yeager (one of the top 5 times in recent years) and a second place run at the Carlisle vs. SC dual meet (beating state medalist Nick Feffer). Some people I know are already speculating about a Carlisle 1-2 finish at the state championships. That’s the kind of buzz around these newcomers right now.

2. Josh Hoey, Jr Bishop Shanahan (1 AAA)

1. Noah Affolder, Sr Carlisle (3 AAA)

Welcome to PA Noah! If you didn’t know about him before, you probably do now after Carlisle’s newest front runner blasted an 11:49 for the course record at Enos Yeager. To put that in perspective, it’s 23 seconds faster than any other mark I’ve found on the course. And that includes guys like Zach Brehm, Vinny Todaro and Kyle Hurston. All three of those guys are former Carlisle Invitational champions and the Carlisle Invite this season should be particularly noteworthy. I’m thinking that Noah makes a run at sub 15 on the course. But first up will be PTXC where he will go after Colin Abert’s course record. Stay tuned.