Other Meets? What Other Meets?

Sharpsville Invitational

Yes, I know it’s hard to believe, but there were other big meets this weekend. And no, it wasn’t just the CRN Invite. Out west at Buhl Park, we saw a flurry of top flight harriers take to the course to try and put together a strong performance at a marquee invite. The results were certainly interesting. In the team race, Grove City ran away from everybody making a big statement win. They had 5 guys in the top 25 overall finishers including the individual champion Jonah Powell (rolled to a 16:07 for victory). Two sophomores had big days in JoeJoe Somora and Toby Jones as GC’s usual #2 was their #5 despite still clocking an excellent race for himself. As usual, this team finds themselves piecing together a title contender at the right time. However, they’ve been shut out in Hershey the past few years, including missing the state meet all together in 2016. Realistically, this squad could win the state title, but could also be watching the state meet on PCN and wondering why they don’t have etrain announce since he does such a great British accent.

For some other top teams, it appears they might have had some DNFs or at least DNSs that cost them a lot of ground. Harbor Creek did not have Christian Babo or Ryan Stravaggi in the finishing shoot this weekend. I don’t believe Babo raced last time out either, but Stravaggi was excellent in his most recent performance, a big win at the home invite. Not having these two in the line-up ended up dramatically swinging this team’s results. They’ll need at least one guy back to have a good shot at states out of D10 and likely need both back if they want to keep their district crown.

New Castle, one of my favorite sleepers, ended up third in the standings as their usual #1 and Top 50 ranked LeShawn Huff was absent from the proceedings. Even without Huff, New Castle put together a great performance, taking 4^th in the standings and second among AA teams behind only Grove City. They had a deep top 6 and got a great race from sophomore Anthony Litrenta as well.

Cochranton was one of the big results as well. I’ve harped on this team on more than one occasion, but it’s for good reason. They are consistently improving and look like potential D10 champions this year. If they do that, they belong in the top 10 teams at states. Perhaps even higher than that considering the success of teams like Seneca and Mercyhurst Prep in recent years. Jac Coakley is having an excellent season and that 1-2 punch for the Cs is dangerous. Their #4 was probably the big key to getting them the #1 spot of A teams. Stephen Clulow delivered on that spot with a top 85 finish.

Lastly, shout out to Norwin. This squad took 2^nd overall in the standings with 120 points. They edged out Pittsburgh Central Catholic, a consistently strong program, and had a 34 second spread. That’s best in the field. And by the way, their top five included a freshman and four sophomores with that frosh (Alex Jubert) taking 12^th overall. Norwin also did not have Matt O’Neill, a top 40ish guy in last year’s Footlocker Northeast Regional. If O’Neill can get back in the line-up and be healthy, Norwin could be a real dark horse in the WPIAL. Just not sure how much they can put a dent in the top heavy league.

Individually, as mentioned, Jonah Powell took the gold. That’s become the kind of performance we expect from this star junior who would have been interesting to see at Foundation (although Isaac Davis was going to be real tough to beat). Meanwhile, Pittsburgh Central Catholic took #2 and #4 overall with Sam Gatti (who won his first invite last week) and Max Steffey doing the honors. A really strong showing by Steffey who is a strong runner that could maybe be a top 50 guy by season’s end. Matt Busche of Franklin Regional was 3^rd in perhaps his best race of the season thus far. Don’t count out this guy as he has 1:55 chops and was just outside the top 50 at states in AAA last year. Also turning heads was A runner, Jonas Jason who posted a big 8^th place finish. He was #2 in A behind only Lakeview standout Zach Tingley.

Penncrest

Avery Lederer with a big win here in 15:54. It looks like some of Penncrest teams were missing in action, but Lederer still showed up and blasted to victory by over a minute. Always a consistent performer, Lederer sometimes gets overshadowed at the front of the PA rankings, but you can bet he will be near the front of the big races in October and November.

Oxford took advantage of the missing pieces of Penncrest’s line up and used a tight spread to take down the title. They had places 3 through 6 in the final standings and added a #5 at 12^th. That top five is all underclassmen with 2 juniors, 2 sophs and a frosh. Oxford! Big season for them already, but still time to prove themselves even more. Oxford was 49^th in last year’s District One Championships, beating just 6 other teams.

Oberod

Unionville looked to make a statement in Delaware and showcased a strong top 5 en route to the victory. We already knew about Conway and Walker, but a few other young guns from Unionville stepped up including freshman Ethan McIntyre, who took 10^th overall. They defeated Henderson (without Smucker) and DT West (without many of their top guys) and should build some confidence as they head into October. I’m still not convinced these guys are state contenders just yet. That being said, I’m very interested to see what Conway and Walker do in the stretch run. They have been solid so far this year, but their talent suggests there is even more there. Remember, Conway was the top sophomore in D1 last year and Walker run under 9:30 for 3200 as a freshman.

I think Henderson has an uphill battle for states at this point, but you never know. It’s hard to doubt this team given everything that’s happened in the past. But I feel like it would be more fun to say that there is no way that Henderson is making states so that I can perpetuate my reputation in the Henderson locker room as disliking their team. So yeah, Henderson won’t make states. Don’t @ me.

Council Rock Invitational

Although we’d heard buzz before, this big invite makes it pretty official. Carlos Shultz is now at Phoenixville High School. And boy did Phoenixville pick up a weapon. Shultz rolled to a big time victory over a stacked field that included top runners like Ryan Campbell and Morgan Cupp. Shultz, who just last year was under 16 minutes as a freshman on Lehigh’s course (first since Jake Brophy) broke through with his first marquee invitational performance of the season. Dan Mcgoey opened up the season looking like the star of the class of 2020, but Shultz had an answer ready at this invite.

Ethan Koza of CRN continues to roll as he picked up a 3^rd place finish behind Shultz and Mechanicsburg senior Morgan Cupp. Koza was the top runner on CRN’s team after being just a few seconds away from the same honor at Briarwood. Koza’s development into a star is a big lift for North as they already have two returning medalists including a top 10 finisher from last year’s state meet. People seem a little concerned about CRN, but I thought this was a pretty strong performance. They posted 4 guys in the top 10 in a solid field and their #5 had a nice day in sophomore John Davis. I don’t think North’s quite as strong as last year’s team, but they won’t need to be to win this year’s title (they also won last year’s title by a comfortable final margin).

That being said, as of right now the title race is still pretty close across the board. We haven’t seen much from DT West. Maybe they can be state contenders. Seneca Valley and Mount Lebanon have both shown flashes of superiority. Boyertown is a super pleasant surprise so far. I’m definitely enjoying this battle so far.

While North obviously highlighted the team competition, there were others to take note of. CB West has qualified for the last two state championships out of District One and has another solid team this eyar. Michael Samson is having an excellent campaign thus far and showed his talent with a 5^th place individual finish. Brian Baker and Ben Bunch both have great track skills that are clearly translating to the trails. The top 3 was very strong this weekend, but the back half of the varsity will need to improve if they are going to survive the loaded D1 landscape. They’ve surpassed my expectations every year at districts so it’s hard to count them out at this stage.

In the D3 conversation, Twin Valley and Mechanicsburg both put their cards on the table as potential state qualifiers. For Mechancisburg, their strength is a dynamite top 3. Cupp was 2^nd while Knepper and Vigliano were 9^th and 12^th. At their best, the 2-3 punch has the potential to run in the 16:20s on the right course. Shay Rounsville was back in the lineup for Mechanicsburg as well, bolstering the back half of the squad alongside sophomore Enoch Marzano. I haven’t been blown away by the D3 teams this year so Mechancisburg definitely has a shot at another state birth. I like this team’s potential a lot.

Twin Valley, however, has to be thinking not just about states, but about a district title. I think really only Carlisle has looked as good as this squad. TV is improving their front running with each race as Dylan Servis continues to gain confidence. That top 4 is really strong, placing 4 in the top 17 overall. This weekend, they got a nice lift from Nick Manidis as the sophomore stepped up and kept things reasonably close between the team’s #4 and 5. That’s one of the key spots and the young Manidis seems like he is finding his groove. Trey Hill should continue to push for a scoring spot as well, hopefully bringing out the best of both runners. I think they will find the 5 for a state spot, but I think the biggest thing for this team is actually continuing to develop their front running and getting that top 4 farther up the field. That, I think, is really this team’s x-factor in a big race.