The Wild, Wild West

District One has always been something of a powerhouse for distance running. It's justified thinking considering all the state titles and medalists they have over the years. But also, it's not exactly a surprising result considering there are 50+ schools, some quite large in size, and excellent competition on a weekly basis.

As a result, in cross country District One used to receive 6 team spots in cross country for states in addition to 30 individuals. However, with expansion D1 dropped down to 5 teams and 25 individuals, an incredible disservice by most standards.

But perhaps what went unnoticed was the injustice happening out in District 7. Although you could make an argument in a couple other directions, District 7 has been the second best distance district in the past 5+ years. North Allegheny is the clear cut powerhouse that consistently finds a way into the top 3 at the state championship (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013) and also grabbed a state championship (2010). They also fielded a variety of medalists over the years, highlighted by state champ Ryan Gil. But District 7 has also brought us some very strong Mt. Lebanon teams and Baldwin squads. A variety of other big names have popped out of this district as well. In fact, year after year District 7 produces a top 5 guy in the state. The Martin's from Fox Chapel, Brent Kennedy, and Logan Steiner are just a few of the recent stars. Not to mention the North Hills monster that put 3 guys in the top 13 ... of Footlocker Regionals.

But thanks to the recent class expansion District 7 gets just three teams and 15 individuals! What now? That has to be one of the most underrated (or at least underdiscussed where I am looking) results of the A, AA and AAA expansion (and by the way why the desire to add A rather than AAAA anyway?).

And through all this you are probably asking yourself, "Yo train, this is a cool point and all, but it's track season, why the heck are you talking about this?"

Good point reader. The first reason I bring it up is because if you take a quick scan of this year's WPIAL XC championships, you can see the top finisher who did not qualify for the state championships was none other than James Smith. You know, the same James Smith who has opened up his track season with marks in the low 4:20s and a 1:55. A little down the list of non qualifiers you can find guys like Dylin Wilhoite from Penn Hills and Mike Kolor from Seneca Valley. Give the district 4 team qualifiers and 20 individuals and all those guys who have been at states.

But I'm not making this post because I am trying to start a wave to add more qualifiers out of District 7 in cross country. I bring this up because it is clear that District 7 is a great district. It is also clear that indoors this year besides the occasional bomb dropped by Colin Martin, we didn't see that much exciting out of the WPIAL (on the men's side I just probably specify for the sake of Ms. Schwartz). But they are always a factor at the top level.

So here are the stories I'm looking forward to out of District 7 this year.

The 4x8 is always one of my personal favorite events to watch unravel. Last year, Kiski was the big team on my radar because I knew they had some very nice pieces around Kennedy and Miller. But North Allegheny surprised them with a 7:54 upset victory and they continued the momentum on to states where they qualified for the final. NA was a young team last year, likely anchored by 1:56/4:20y guy Mike Beiech who had a very nice indoor season this year. This NA 4x8 could be a nice sleeper going forward. I'm not saying they are going to go out and beat State College or anything like that, but if this team focuses up on this event to any degree I wouldn't be surprised at all to see them dip under 7:50, and that's a strong mark. Put Beiech, Love, Seel and Luoco on a relay together and you can still give McGoey a shot to mix it up in the 32. Plus you have guys like Wharrey on the bench or Kolbe Short who may be able to increase your depth. Canon-Mac ran 8 flat last year and was 4th at Districts this year in XC with a couple individual state qualifiers. They may be a deep sleeper depending on how much they return from a year ago. I also can't help but think it would be fun to see the Martin's jump on a 4x8 just for the heck of it. Just to see if this team has the pieces to run the SQS and send a squad to states.

Fun fact, District 7 returns the top 3 mile finishers a year ago. Two of them are the Martin twins and the third is Nate Sloan from Hampton. Sloan wasn't a factor on the indoor scene, but he ran 4:19 a year ago and had a very nice XC season for himself. I think Sloan is a great sleeper looking ahead to outdoors in the mile or possibly the two mile (but the depth at 2 mile is quite intimidating). The mile picture gets a lot more interesting when you add in James Smith, Mike Beiech (both of whom I think will end up in the 8 at districts, but Smith may try the double), Mike Kolor, Jeff VanKooten and Nate Edenfield among others. This race probably wouldn't produce a time faster than around 4:15 (although it might), but it would have an incredible amount of depth and clashes of XC strength vs. 800m speed and that kind of stuff just gets me excited.

The 8 also returns most of the top finishers from a year ago. You have Wilhoite who was a state finalist at 800m last year and is the defending champion out of Penn Hills and you also have Beiech and Smith (who as mentioned as already run 1:55 this year). Wilhoite has a nice bit of history behind him over at Penn Hills when you consider he is following the footsteps of Rumble, Anderson and Wil Bailey. As the season moves forward, he is a guy who could pick up momentum and surprise.

I also like some sleepers here. You have the other NA guys that I mentioned in the 4x8, but you also have Kiski's Pat Miller who will likely be fresh and focused on the individual event this year. He is a really talented guy who was 1:56 two years ago in a split. I think he could at least match that in the open this year. You also have Mt. Lebo's Bill Dougherty ran 1:57 last year and just barely missed states. He had a nice opener already this year and has a nice group of training partners. Throw in Smail and Mazzanti who ran 1:56 last year at the district championships but somehow no one has heard of them and you have a nice group of mid distance men.

As far as I'm concerned the 32 in District 7 will be super competitive through 5 or so guys. I think Ethan is going to come back and be a factor. He may not return to his state championship level from a year ago, but he is a competitive guy and super talented. He has a great training partner in Colin and is hopefully well rested and revitalized. You also have the returning presence of Brent Kennedy. If Kennedy had his best day at states last spring, we would have been talking about him as the defending state champion. He matched up extremely well with Ethan a season ago and if he returns to full health this year for his senior year he is just as good as Colin.

And oh yeah Colin Martin is pretty darn good. The guy flat out domianted in the indoor 3k. He also followed that up with a sick 5k. He is better shape than Ethan was last year and Ethan went on to win the state title. If Tony Russell stays in the mile outdoors (which I expect to happen) I don't see how Martin is not a heavy favorite for this state title. He should have the 9 minute barrier on his mind.

I've also always been a big McGoey fan. I expect him to be under 9:20 this year and possible a top 5 guy at stats if things break right. I think this guy is really talented and is running with great training partners (like Cordon Luoco another returning state qualifier from a year ago and top 25 guy at states). If McGoey ends up running close to 9:10 it shouldn't be surprising. This guy is a ball of talent just waiting for the right moment to be unleashed.

Watch out world, the Wild, Wild West is coming.