Thought #2: The Most Necessary Of My Rants

I will be making a variety of posts throughout the weekend and early next week recapping some thoughts I've had. You can see thought #1 on district 3 below. In my upcoming thoughts we will talk about the favorites for state champs, the district one playoff picture, rank the runners in the state and more. This thought #2 for me this week.

Look, I'm just gonna say it. The PCL NEEDS two teams at states. They NEED them. We are headed for another LaSalle v Ohara battle where only one squad can, technically make it to states. And the way St Joes Prep's top guys are running, there is not going to be any 5 individual magic this year.

Let's look at the PCLs resume since they first jumped in the PIAA for the 2008 season. They have had a top 3 team in the state every year. Only D1 can boast the same stat over the same period. They have had one squad make it to nationals and finish 5th, the best finish besides Coatesville. They have had 11 top 10 teams over those 6 years out of their 12 teams that qualified for states in that period.

And oh yeah, not only did LaSalle qualify for states with 5 individuals, but so did Ohara in 2009! I had no idea until I started researching this post. Now it was a tad easier (10 individuals and 2 teams went from d12 before the expansion, the perfect number in my eyes) but it's still amazing. 2 teams have done the improbable from the PCL.

They are either the 2nd or 3rd best district since 2009 and there is really no debating it. 9 top 8 teams, 8 top 7 teams, 6 top 5 teams, 5 top 3 and 2 runner ups. If they had won those coin flips with North Penn and Henderson, they would be right in the mix for best district, not deepest, but certainly best.

And we haven't even factored in AA squads like Bonner who have been strong behind runners like Will McDermott. The league has had top 50 guys like Muldoon and Flanagan from Wood, O Sullivan from Prep, Kehl from Father Judge.

The key to the PCL really centers around the two alpha dogs: LaSalle and Ohara. In recent years Ohara has grown into one of the best programs in the state. It's them Henderson and NA right now, and this year could make or break the Ohara legacy. They were just 4 points behind NA last year if you remember.

Ohara has been able to achieve greatness by maximizing performance at the state meet. People have a misunderstanding about Ohara peaking too early in the season, but this is wrong. Look back at the last few years. It started with a huge run by Joe Sachetti, just missing the medals in 2008. In 2010 Chris Garrity finished in the medals at states and beat Tom Trainer once during championship season. Garrity never broke 4:20 or 9:30 in high school on the track but was mixing it up in XC. That says a lot about their training.

Plus they have maximized the XC credentials of guys like Mike Billota, Ernie Pitone and Nick Smart who all finished in the top 12 at states in their best cross country races of their career. At the moment that matters most. That's not even counting top 5 guys in James and Savage. Sachetti, Garrity, Billotta, Pitone, Savage, James, Smart and Belfatto have all been top 27 since 2008. That's 8 different guys. Henderson has Kellar, Andrews, Stecklair, Russell, Barchet, Rimkis, Knapp. That's 7. NA has Gil, Morgan, Steiner, Appman, Zemet, Luoco, McGoey. That's 7.

Meanwhile LaSalle has done it with pack running. They have had fire power (Coyle and Stone both were great front runners, Trainer as well) but they are best know for their spreads. In 2008 they used a 24 second spread to stun NA (a team that made nationals that year and was 12th) for second. In 2009 they had a 15 second spread! That landed them 3rd despite having 0 state medalists. I haven't looked it up, but I'd bet that's the least amount of points ever scored by a team that didn't have a state medalist. NA flipped the script on them that year taking 2nd.

It's a shame this year we probably won't get to see both the fire power of Ohara and the pack running of LaSalle on the big stage. LaSalle this weekend showcased their potential big time: defeating GFS and Henderson in a 3k race at Belmont. It was only a 3k but LaSalle had a sickening  9 second spread! Patrick Grant led the team with an 8th place finish, ahead of some solid names. This LaSalle team is dangerous, especially if their pack can beat out Ohara.

As for Ohara, we still haven't seen them unleash the big guns at an invite this year. We know Kevin James is a front runner, but what can they build around him? Can they continue to produce top 27 guys in a "rebuilding year". I will tell you one think, Ohara doesn't think they are rebuilding. They think they are competing for a state title. Rob Morro is poised early to be the #2 but Ryan James and Drew Pastore were quality state runners for this team a year ago as well.

Overall, the PCL is a fantastic league to see quality running. It's just a shame it won't be properly represented at the state meet.