The Conductor Speaks: Week Five (Part Two)

By Jarrett Felix

Noah Affolder and his brother Sam took the trip back to New York for another run at the McQuaid Invitational. The Carlisle duo took 1-3 in the AAA seeded race with Noah breaking his own course record with a 14:12 solo victory. Sam ran a 14:53 over the 3 mile distance to take 3^rd in his section, a five second improvement on his mark a year ago. For reference, PA’s old fastest time on the course belonged to Andrew Marston, who ran 14:31 to win the meet in 2014. In the same year, Sam Webb clocked a 14:58 and future state runner-ups Conestoga put five runners under 16 minutes.

Besides the Affolders dominating in AAA, PA also had a fantastic showing in the A race. Zach Wortman of Elk County Catholic led the way for Pa with a strong 15:22 for 4^th in his section. The Elk CC boys also had Logan Hoffman under the 16 minute barrier (15:49) with three more packed together under 16:20. That helped the Elks finish in second overall. This A squad has turned heads recently as the primary contenders to Winchester Thurston for the state title. Both teams will be relying heavily on freshman in the scoring five as Elk’s #4 and #5 runners were both freshman (and it looks like the younger brothers of their #1 and #2 runners).

Wortman’s run was impressive not just for the team implications, but also the individual ones. He defeated a pair of top 10 guys from last year’s state meet in Donovan Myers (6^th in 15:29) and Noah Curtin (10^th in 15:45). It’s going to be an interesting year in A with so much variability at the top and District 9 (which also has the Cranberry boys and Ryan Thrush) should be a treat this year. Also making noise in this race was Northeast Bradford’s Casey Ellis, who dropped a 15:31 to finish 7^th overall. Behind Ellis, NEB was 6^th as a team, just ahead of District 10 squads Seneca and Mercyhurst Prep. NEB, a perennial top 5 team in A, finished 3^rd at states a year ago, just 17 points off gold. Ellis was 36^th at states a year ago, but is looking like a threat to finish much higher this time around.

Keep an eye on Montrose going forward. It looks like this team may have moved to A this season which should make them instant contenders out of District 2 (the home of Elk Lake who finished 8^th a year ago). Montrose was PA’s #2 team in the A race and was led by a sub 16 performance from junior Brandon Curley. Montrose finished 3^rd in D2 AA a year ago and returns their entire top 7 for this season. Zack Mead (16:03 for 19^th overall) was the team’s lone state qualifier a year ago. Also worth noting, District 11’s John Koons of Notre Dame GP (still AA I think?) ran 16:04 for 20^th in this race. The sophomore was the #1 runner on his team a year ago as just a frosh and placed 62^nd at states. There were 14 frosh in the top 85 at AA states a year ago which is bananas to me. For comparison there were just 5 in A and 0 in AAA.

Out West, Noah Beveridge of Butler rolled to the individual championship at Slippery Rock clocking a time of 16:26 to win by 22 seconds over Harbor Creek’s Ryan Starvaggi and Mount Lebanon’s Bryce Brandenstein. Last year, the race was won by Peters Township’s Nick Wolk (the eventual district champ) in 16:28. The time is also nearly 40 seconds faster than what Beveridge clocked on the district championship course last year. Harbor Creek took 2-4-15 in this race, without their 2014 state medalist Christian Babo. They finished 6^th in the team standings (second for AA schools behind Central Cambria), but could potentially jump 50 plus points with Babo back in the line-up (assuming he’s healthy) which would jump them into second (as mentioned in our comment section by the way). But Central Cambria deserves a lot of credit right now. Even after losing Bryce Descavish, the team’s catalyst out front a season ago, a young group has competed very well in the early invites. CC had two frosh and two sophs in its scoring five and were led by senior Mike Walwro, who placed 17^th.

Mount Lebanon rolled to the team title with a strong, well spread pack. They have a very interchangeable group of runners in the varsity squad (Rob Doncourt was their #8 this weekend but can definitely be a top 5 guy on the right day) which makes them dangerous at a big meet. They had 11 guys in the top 39 overall.

Really nice run from Freeport’s Jonathan Asay, who ran under 17 minutes and took 5^th overall. He was just outside the top 20 at AA WPIAL’s last year (in 17:59) but should contend for a top spot in the loaded district (they return 8 of their top 10 from 2015).

In the hilly Grove City course, sophomore Jonah Powell rolled to a 16:14 victory, winning by nearly 30 seconds over Czar Tarr of Chartiers Valley. It’s roughly 50 seconds faster than he ran a year ago and faster than past AA state medalists Aaron Benka, Andrew Maxwell and Ryan Budnik ran in 2014. One of Grove City’s all-time greats, Jacob Kildoo, ran almost an identical time his sophomore year in 2008. He ran 16:14 to win by 48 seconds. He finished 17^th at AAA states that season.

Grove City was also able to win the team battle in a tight battle with Chartiers Valley. They scored 35 to CV’s 66 with the race hinging on the 4-5 runners for both teams. CV had a terrific season a year ago and looks like they are ready to make a nice run in the WPIAL this season with their top 4 set to return next year. Grove City on the other hand, will be trying to get their title this season with 3 seniors in the top 5 overall. Behind the Powell brothers, who have been their 1-2 punch at the last two invites, we’ve seen a lot of variability from GC’s varsity scorers. Braydon Pyle (two times in the top 30 at states already), moved up from #7 to #3 this week.

Great races were also produced by Meadville’s freshman Patrick Stevens (17:01 for 5^th) and Michael Noethiger of Avonworth (11^th overall).

In Delaware, PA had a monster showing at the Salesianum Invitational. In the large school race, Casey Conboy and Avery Lederer battle it out all the way to the finish, with Conboy throwing down a monster kick to leave with gold. Conboy and Lederer ran blazing times of 16:32 and 16:35 on this difficult lay out. Our own Garrett Zatlin was on site and posted up on all-time list on our twitter page that's worth checking out. These kind of times put Conboy and Lederer in a league with guys like Conner Quinn, Sam Hibbs and Casey Comber during their state medalist years. 

Ben Hoyer of Wissahickon had a terrific race as well, dipping under 17 minutes with a 16:59. No other PA varsity racers were under 17:20 (that's how difficult the course is). The team title race was a tight one, but ultimately Great Valley edged out Cheltenham and Baldwin to grab the title. Just 7 points separated GV and Chelt with an extra 8 back from the Panthers to Baldwin. Great Valley's #2 and #3 performances by sophomore Hayden Coates and senior Everett Beauregard played a big role in separating the Patriots from Cheltenham. GV returns 4 out of their top 5, including their top 2 runners in Zatlin and Coates, for next season.

In the small school race, PA put another runner under the 17 minute barrier: Peter Borger of Malvern Prep. This kid has quietly emerged as a big sleeper in the Independent League as just a junior. Behind Dahl, he might be the next best guy in the league. Callahan Lennon of HG Prep ran a terrific race as well, clocking a 17:05 for 3rd just behind Borger. HGP rolled to the team title as well with 6 in the top 26 and 4 in the top 15.

At the Westtown Invitational, Brandon Hontz of West Chester Rustin returned to action with a strong win over independent league stand out Ryan O’Donnell at his home invite. The times were right in line with Charlie Scales’s winning effort a year earlier. The big news for Ches-mont fans was that DT West won the meet without their varsity runners. Ben Codd, who was the team’s #7 runner in the varsity race at Carlisle, led the way with a 3^rd place finish overall and Payton Sewall, their #3 runner from the JV race at Carlisle, finished in 4^th place just behind him. Aidan Peat, who was the team’s #8 runner in the JV race at Carlisle, dropped roughly 10 seconds from a week ago and finished at the team’s final scoring member of the varsity squad. West also rolled through the JV race at Westtown, taking the top 8 spots overall.