PA Alumni XC Storylines

By: Garrett Zatlin

It's regionals week in the NCAA (D1)! As we head into the most pivotal weekend of national qualifying, I thought it would be a good time to stop and reflect and review how some of our alumni have done so far this season. Let's take a look...

***Thank you to the commenters for providing the proper edits***

Shearn Establishes Himself as Top PA Alumni
The Penn senior is having a heck of a final season at Penn as he has begun to compete at a very high level. Shearn finished an excellent 46th place against a loaded field at the Wisconsin Invite. He later came back to place 6th at Heps and help lead Penn to their first Ivy League title since 1973.

If Penn were to not make it out of the Mid-Atlantic region for some reason, Shearn would still have a very good and legitimate shot at making the national championship. He's shown consistency and improvement throughout all his races this season and we could see him towards the front of the pack this weekend.

Kevin James Earns Spot in Syracuse's Top 7
The futures for many of our PA Alumni is bright and Kevin James may be the focal point. The redshirt freshman is having quite the impact for the defending national champions. He was 18th at Panorama Farms and then 21st at ACC's. He may not be a scorer for 'Cuse this season, but his results are very exciting. As long as there isn't a monumental breakdown at regionals, we should be seeing James running for the Orangemen at the national championship this season.

North Allegheny Alumni Are Alive and Well
I'm a big believer in the idea that team culture can determine whether a program thrives or dies. Some programs lose that culture over time while others never let it falter. For the longest time, North Allegheny has found the formula to consistently be one of the best teams in state. Now, they're beginning to show that dominance outside of the high school scene.

After initially running for Pitt and then running on his own, it looks like Cordon Louco has found a home at Duquesne where he has teamed up with former high school teammate Hunter Wharry. Louco has quickly adjusted to the program as evident by his 8th place finish at A10's.

Just a few miles down the road, you can find NA alum Matt McGoey earning spots as scorers for an up-and-coming Pittsburgh program. McGoey is showing signs of improvement in his 2nd year of competition as he was 70th at Penn State and then 81st at ACC's.

Marc Migliozzi has also put in a few races during his first season at Akron. The freshman placed 17th at the Tommy Evans Invite and then 43rd at the Virginia Tech Alumni Invitational. He's still adjusting, but the future looks bright for Marc at Akron.

Penn State Renewing Their Identity
Just a couple of years ago, we were used to seeing the PSU cross country team consist of PA alum like Wade Endress, Connor Quinn, Austin Pondel, Ean DiSilvio, and a few others. Now, the program has taken a fresher approach with a lot of younger guys getting chances to compete in big-times races.

Colin Abert is having a great season and seems to be one of the co-leaders of the team along with Tim McGowan. The other guys behind him include Jaxson Hoey, Will Loevner, and Billy McDevitt (all of which are true freshmen or red-shirt freshmen). The team is still very young and has a lot of work to do, but we'll be lucky enough to see them develop to top-tier competition over the next few years.

Pittsburgh Showing Potential
Things haven't always been easy for Pitt. They've had guys leave, get injured, become ill, and (most recently) incur a coaching switch. But now it seems like Pitt is doing all the right things. The homegrown Pennsylvania talent that they typically recruit are showing promising results.

Aaron Lauer is looking like a true front-runner and seems to be getting help from freshman standout Nick Wolk. Other guys like Mike Runco and Ryan Hughes (from Virginia) are also showing signs of improvement and bring some experience to a team that is still very young.

I'm not going to pretend like things are perfect for the Panthers. There is still a lot of work to do in terms of development. The depth is lacking and they are still behind most other major D1 programs. However, the signs are positive. At Penn State National they were able to convincingly beat Duquesne, a team that has historically walked all over them. At ACC's they finished 9th as a team, their best team finish since they entered the conference in 2012.

Is Pittsburgh a team of the future? That's for you decide.

Comber, Marston Leading the Way for 'Nova
With Patrick Tiernan not running until BIG East's, we got to see Andrew Marston and Casey Comber lead the Wildcats through some of the biggest meets in the nation. Not only have they led the way, but they've actually done quite well!

Just look at a few of their results this season...

2016 XC	Chile Pepper Festival	Penn State National	BIG East's
Marston	7th	13th	7th
Comber	26th	22nd	10th

Marston has taken the initiative of being a low-stick while Comber is also making great improvements of his own. We also have to keep in mind that this is their first year of varsity competition after being redshirted in 2015.

When Patrick Tiernan leaves next year, there shouldn't be too much to worry about with guys like these leading the charge.

Rico Galassi: Sleeper to Make Nationals?
It's easy to talk about what Brenden Shearn has done at Penn and all of the first-time accomplishments he has helped that team with. But his high school rival Rico Galassi is putting together some accomplishments of his own this season and they are just as impressive.

Galassi has had only one race this season where he's finished outside of the top 10. He was 5th at Dolan Duals, 3rd in the Notre Dame Gold race, 16th at Penn State National, and then the A10 champion just a few weekends ago.

With consistently solid finishes, Galassi could be in a position to take a spot at nationals. He's in a weak Mid-Atlantic region and most teams that won't qualify for nationals don't necessarily have the low-sticks that Rico Galassi can be.

It'll still be tough to pull off, but look out for Rico to grab an individual spot to NCAA's this year.