At Least The Cowboys Got Crushed

As usual, I’ll save a couple big meets for their own post. This week it looks like Briarwood and Ben Bloser will have that honor. Keep the great comments coming and hopefully enjoy the recaps. Be on the lookout for recaps part 2 tomorrow and then XC Top 50 on Wednesday. Team rankings are every two weeks so we will get to those after Foundation is in the books.

Boardman Invitational

It was an interesting battle at the Boardman Invitational as North Allegheny and Butler went head to head as two of the top teams in the WPIAL. However, Butler’s Noah Beveridge was apparently a DNF allowing the Tigers to take down Butler in the final standings by 12 points. For NA, the leader in the clubhouse was Dan McGoey, who clocked a 16:10 to take 5^th place overall. For reference, this time is about 17 seconds faster than last year’s WPIAL champ Mark Provenzo and 8 seconds faster than last year’s AA state champ Ben Bumgarner (although Bumgarner was the winner of the D2 race last year). Overall, it’s another nice performance for McGoey who continues to excel as just a sophomore.

The big individual breakthrough came from Ethan Hermann who continues to excel. He also ran under Provenzo’s 16:27 from a year ago, clocking a 16:20. This time is 34 seconds faster than Allderdice’s state medalist from a year ago, Amadou Diallo. Hermann picked up his first finish in front of teammate Tavonne Davis, who was also under Diallo’s time and place form a year ago, taking 17^th.

Butler’s Brett Brady was the only other top 20 PA finisher in D1 as Brady clocked a 16:43. This time is about in line with Mark Provenzo and Sam Blechman’s runs in 2015 and just a bit behind Scott Seel’s 2014 time. All of these guys were in the 20s at states at season’s end so Brady puts himself in a nice early season spot, especially considering how he excelled at Hershey a year ago. Doug Kostelonsky stepped up for Butler to become a scorer in this meet. He will be a key name to watch as Butler looks to move forward toward a run at top 5 in the state. Without their top dog in Beveridge, Butler managed a 17:30 average. For reference, the ultra tight pack of North Allegheny last season (who placed 6^th in the state) was at 17:15 for this meet last year. North Allegheny’s 2014 and 2015 teams (1^st and 2^nd in the state) averaged 16:24 and 16:37 on this course.

Worth noting, North East’s Josh Lewis actually clocked the 3^rd fastest PA time of the day in the D3 race. The North East junior, who has been quietly excelling against far west competition, dropped a 16:28 to take 5^th in his section. Lewis and his North East teammates posted a very respectable finish in the D3 race with a 17:50 average time. I really like this squad as a sleeper in A and Lewis has a chance to be a top 3-5 guy right now. He’s running fantastic times and should be on every small school’s radar.

Bradford Invitational

After a strong showing at Red, White and Blue, Elk County Catholic sophomore Ben Hoffman stormed to the victory at the Bradford Invitational, besting both Smethport’s Darion Gregory and hometown favorite Logan Caruso in the process. With his low stick in the clubhouse, ECC rolled to a 31 point victory with five guys in the top 11 scorers. It was a great team effort that included another nice performance from varsity newcomer Jacob Carnovale as well as a strong 4^th place showing from sophomore Isaac Wortman. A really strong showing by this squad’s top 5.

Bradford picked up the silver medals and Smethport, getting Christian Tanner back in the finishing shoot this weekend, were 3^rd just 10 points back. Smethport freshman Jordan Pavlock should add a nice bit of depth to this squad as they try and sneak into the state qualifiers behind Elk CC in D9. Smethport’s top 5 runners were all non-seniors.

Bull Dog Rose Tree

Wissahickon’s Ben Hoyer put down the fastest time of the day with a 16:39 to win the small school section of the Rose Tree Invite. This result comes just a week after Hoyer impressed with a second place finish at Abington’s Invitational. Hoyer’s Trojan teammates helped out behind him with 2^nd, 3^rd, 5^th and 7^th place finishes in the small school section. Wiss also had a nice showing in the Novice race for a second straight week.

Upper Dublin’s Ben Brugger picked up the large school victory with a 16:43, the second fastest time of the day. It’s another nice result for the senior who bested Matt Varghese, a talented up and coming sophomore from Methacton, and Noah Dusseau, a state qualifier from Avon Grove. Ultimately, Brugger’s Cardinals and the rest of the squads was bested by the pack from CB East who, without #1 runner David Endres, still posted 40 points and a 22 second spread. Cade Sands was the step up man in 4^th place overall and Alex Bardwell also had a big day. CB East continues to be intriguing as we try and shape up the (early) projected state qualifying picture.

In other news, Masterman had a nice showing on race day with a third place finish among a host of AAA schools. Dan Bici led the way with a 4^th place finish. If Masterman can bolster the #5 spot (and their #5 is a frosh who could make nice leaps by season’s end), they could factor into the top 8 teams in A this season. Interested to see how high Bici can finish this year and how the rematch with Jihad ends up at districts.

Commodore Perry Invitational

Harbor Creek came to play at the Commodore Perry Invite, but perhaps none more so than meet champion Ryan Stravaggi. The junior clocked a 16:22 to win by 31 seconds over his teammate and fellow state medalist Aiden Weber who was 2^nd overall. Even though Harbor Creek was missing their usual top 3 man Christian Babo, HC still rolled with just 54 points. The back half of their varsity stepped up big time to fill Babo’s large shoes with 13^th, 16^th and 22^nd place efforts. A lot to be happy about if you are a Harbor Creek fan, particularly for Stravaggi. I think this kid has the potential to place very high at states this year. He’s had a little bit of troubles on the Hershey hills at times, but clearly the kid is a talent.

District 10’s Cochranton took 2^nd in this meet in yet another tight team finish with a class rival. After battling Shenango and North in previous weeks, Cochranton got the best of defending D10 A champs Seneca by a score of 122 to 123. As I mentioned in my team rankings, Cochranton has strong front running, but needed guys to start to step up behind the top few. Well, they are starting to make strides I think as Alex McKay had a solid race and did enough to hold off a nice pack from Seneca. That being said, Seneca should feel pretty good about their efforts. Sophomore Brock Smith looked fantastic with a six place finish, helping to breakup the front running of Cochranton. Stepnowski also stepped up (sorry about that pun Rob) and delivered a top 20 finish. The pack is there for this team which makes them dangerous. Their top 5 all placed in the top 40 with a #6 runner at 42^nd.

Also worth noting, in a battle of sophomores Patrick Stevens of Meadville edged out Cochranton’s Noah Bernarding 16:58 to 17:00. Bernarding was tops in A at this meet, putting down another strong performance by edging out district opponent Zach Tingley who clocked a 17:01.

George School

In a weekend that included some strong performances by his rivals, George School junior Jeffrey Love took care of business at his home invite. The top returner from the independent league defeated GFS’s newest crop of title hopefuls, led by Zach Goldberg, as well Ryan O’Donnell of the Westtown School. That’s two wins in a row for Love who has looked strong in the early going. I don’t think he has a complete clamp on the title just yet, but he will be tough to stop when he shows down with the other elite independent boys.

GFS will likely be the favorites for the team title in that race later this fall. They had three top 5 finishers, with Tim Peterson have a strong day as the team’s #3, and rolled to the title. Again, Briarwood may have had their best competition, but they held their own and won big at this key invite for the independent schools.

Kiski Cavalier Invitational

I’m not ready to declare anyone the state champions, but I am ready to say I’ve got Lebo as my #1 team in the state as of this moment. The WPIAL stand outs rolled at the Kiski Invite and, although they weren’t facing the big three of Butler, Seneca Valley and North Allegheny, they rolled past the consistently strong Pittsburgh Central Catholic. More importantly, senior standout Bryce Brandenstein crossed the finish line first for the time, bolstering an already formidable top five. With Bryce in the line, that spread shrunk big time and Lebo had their 5 scorers in the top 8 ahead of some quality names. Plus, Lebo absolutely rolled through the JV competition. My #1 concern with them is still front running in a top tier meet like states, but now they at least have 3 guys with the potential to break out and grab a medal. Plus, don’t sleep on Alex Brokaw. The kid is really improving at the right time.

Individually, the WPIAL had yet another finisher who has a case for a spot on the top 50 list. Sam Gatti took the individual title over the Lebo pack with a 3 mile time of 15:49. Gatti and Pittsburgh CC were absent from some of the big early season invites, but he is a seasoned veteran with multiple state qualifying appearances. Pittsburgh CC may be due for another state medal contender as they haven’t had a guy on the podium since Jeff VanKooten got there in 2013.

In AA news, Cejay Walker was tops in his classification for D5’s Somerset, while Indiana Area posted another impressive showing with 3 top 20 finishes, led by sophomore Kendall Branan. Hunter Armstrong also looks impressive in his early races, taking 11^th overall. He’s a sophomore from Marion Center which I believe is D6 A. Lots of talent across the board in District 6 this year.

Montour

Some people might have missed this one as I didn’t see it on penntrack (only on RunHigh). North Hills junior Joey Buehner put the pedal to the medal in this one, taking a runaway victory from Mars sophomore Zach Leachman. I’ve been expecting big things from Leachman this season and he delivered in week one at RWB, so to see Buehner throw down this performance speaks a lot about this kid’s talent. Both of these guys are contenders for a top 10 spot in the WPIAL (which is saying something, because that is a loaded district this year). North Hills always seems to have a guy in contention and that could make Buehner a dangerous sleeper by season’s end.

Strong showing by freshman (possibly sophomore) Will Lamb of Beaver. The frosh is off to a great start to the season and earned the top spot in AA in this race.  Beaver finished 2^nd overall in this meet, just 4 behind AAA Bethel Park. BP was led by two sophomores in 5^th and 7^th overall.

SFU Red Flash Invitational

Bedford freshman Van May ran a nice race at the Big Valley Invitational, but the District 5 man likely caught a lot more attention with a win at the Red Flash Invitational. Van May appears to be for real as he took down AAA’s Josiah Wudwych and also bested a nice pack from Central Cambria. The CC boys were led by Nate Kuntz and Ohm Vyas who took 3^rd and 4^th respectively.

As alluded to, that Central Cambria squad rolled to the meet title and had three freshman take 18^th, 19^th and 20^th to round out the top seven. Just one senior was in the varsity squad with three freshman and two sophomores. This is a strong young team that was district champs a year ago, but didn’t have a huge impact at the state meet. They have a chance to build off that performance this year and maybe even become a Dallas like dynasty in the coming seasons. AA teams are on fire right now so it won’t be easy, but this was a nice start.

In other state qualifying news, Purchase Line defeated United by 7 points for 3^rd overall in this race. Purchase Line has been a staple at the state meet out of A District 6 and defeated their closest in class rivals (Westmont Hilltop) by 35 points. Micah Kurka led the way in 11^th. Keep an eye out for Windber in District 5. They knocked off Bedford despite Bedford having two top 10 finishers (with May winning). Windber may be able to surprise Somerset and steal the District 5 title in what is shaping up to be a compelling three team race in a very small district.

Souderton Twilight

The always dangerous squad from CB West made its first case for inclusion in the District One State qualifying discussion with a big win at Souderton. CB West placed four runners in the top 10 including a gold medal performance from senior Michael Samson and picked up a victory over Hatboro Horsham (who had 5 in the top 15). It was a tight race (45 to 56), but a small meet. I think the story here is Samson more so than CB West. Samson picked up a strong victory over Forney (who just placed quite well in the PTXC Blue Race) and looks excellent after his breakthrough XC season last fall. West needs to tighten up the spread a bit to be competitive, but it looks like this lurking power should stay on your radar or at least be kept in the back of your mind.

Two freshman placed in the top 20 in this race with DT East’s Jacob Lawson finishing in 6^th place overall and Hatboro Horsham’s Devon Comber taking 17^th. The Comber last name should be familiar to fans who have been around as Hatboro’s Casey Comber was a 9 flat 3200 man and XC Footlocker Finalist during his senior season in 2014-2015.