The Conductor Conducts Early: Mid-Week Action

by Jarrett Felix

EDIT: We've had some great discussion on the Team Rankings ft. Drake Post. Click here to take a look at the comments and join in on the fun.

There's going to be plenty to talk about this weekend, so I should probably get out ahead on some of the recaps from the action from the middle of this week. Thus, I give you this post. Enjoy yourself.

Westmoreland County
Franklin Regional's Mark Provenzo continues to show his dominance in the WPIAL. He dropped a 16:08 to run away from a talented field that included Eric Kennedy and the Greensburg Salem trio. His final margin of victory was 26 seconds. It's worth noting his teammate, Matt Busche, is having a terrific stretch of running. He finished in 3rd place, just 2 seconds off Kennedy for the silver. The junior is looking like a potential top 10 runner in the WPIAL this season.

I'm liking what I'm seeing from Greensburg Salem. They will be right in the mix for the state championship this year in AA. Their top three have received a lot of love, particularly their ultra talented sophomores Mark Brown and Cameron Binda. However, senior Frankie King has led the team in each of the past two meets. He looks like a potential state medalist in AA with Brown and Binda looking to finish in the top 50 for the second straight season. But the real x-fact appears to be Dylan Binda. The sophomore was the team's #5 at Foundation and some 50 seconds back of Cameron (twin brother?), but he's narrowed that gap to just 34 seconds (and more importantly, they finished 7th and 8th in this race). If he continues to improve as we've seen so far, he's going to be a dynamic #4. We talk a lot about how wild the AAA title race will be, but the AA battle is going to be almost just as wide open.

Mingo
Last year Nick Wolk, who broke 16 at the state championships, ran 15:44 to earn the victory at Mingo. In 2012, WPIAL champ Dave Adley of Baldwin ran 15:52. Those were the few sub 16 marks I could find in the courses history. This year, we had 3 runners who dipped under 16, led by Ben Bumgarner's 15:41 victory. Bumgarner is looking fantastic this season and, unless I'm forgetting a race, he's undefeated on the year. I'm a huge Skolnekovich fan, but Ben looks like somebody who could really give him a run for his money at WPIALs and states.

Although we just recently discussed the idea that this is down year for the AAA WPIAL, this is an amazingly stacked year for the AA westerners. Bumgarner and Skolnekovich head the way as potential state championship contenders. We have the Greensburg Salem boys that I touched on not too long ago. And we also have the South Fayette boys who, at this meet, finished 3rd and 4th with a 15:59 and a 16:08. Those would be Aaron Pfeil and Sam Snodgrass who rolled at Coopers Lake just a weekend ago and look just as fantastic this time out. Those guys were both in the top 12 at AA states this year and they have looked much better in 2016. You also have returning medalists like Max Freyermuth of Knoch and Samuel Lenze (champ at the Indiana Area championships)

After that top 4, there was a bit of a gap (33 seconds) before Czar Tarr of Chariters Valley rounded out the top 4 overall finishes, just ahead of sophomore CJ Hess of Upper St. Claire. After a couple big names (Provenzo, Conboy who ran 15:57 for 2nd in this one, Beveridge, SV's trio) there seems to be an opening for a couple breakthroughs. Somebody is likely going to come on with a brilliant stretch run to the year, challenge for a top 5 spot in the WPIAL and then a top 50 spot at states. That could potentially be Czar who is having an excellent season for a Chartiers Valley program that really broke out in 2015.

Canon-McMillan won the team title in this one with about a 20 second spread, defeating South Fayette's front running arsenal. CM has a very nice pack and, although they don't have a ton of firepower, they've got a couple breakout candidates of their own. Don't sleep on them come WPIALs. We could see them repeat the clutch performance they had just two years ago when they finished second in the district.

Midwestern Athletic Conference
Zach Skolnekovich ran away with the title here for yet another win and sub 16 performance. He dropped a 15:56 to better his time from a year ago by 28 seconds (he was runner-up to Domenic Perretta that year, this year he ran over a minute faster than anyone else). The Skolenkovich-Bumgarner-Pfeil match up looks great for districts after all three guys dip under 16 this weekend. Skolnekovich also led his Quaker Valley team to the title with his low stick performance.

Mars freshman Zachary Leachman continues to impress, dropping a 17:08 runner-up finish and beating out strong runners like Jarrett  Boyd and Joey Artinger for the silver. I believe Mars is AAA this year, moving up from AA, so Leachman will have a bit trickier of a time surviving the district qualifying (only 15 individual spots up for grabs!), but this kid has a ton of talent for just a freshman.