The Lurking Contenders

The last 5 years, O'Hara has been 3rd, 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd. Their 5 straight top 3 finishes is best active streak in the state. Some would argue 2015 will be their first real test as they graduate Kevin James, a two time national qualifier and top finisher at the state meet. However, O'Hara returns a pair of state medalists in Ryan James and Rob Morro for next year's team as well as Varsity members Billy Donovan and Patrick James. Three of those men will be just Juniors in 2015 so there is potential for a sophomore to junior jump here. The key will be developing a complete pack as O'Hara looks to return to the form it showed in 2011 and 2012 rather than the near misses of the medal stand in 2013 and 2014, where their top 3 weren't enough to carry them to the podium. It remains to be seen who will step up to fill these roles, but this is a strong program that should continue to churn out talent.

However, O'Hara will have it's hands full in it's own district against a LaSalle squad that returns some key members of a varsity team that beat both Conestoga and O'Hara in 2014. Patrick Grant, Eddie Goebel, Brendan Price and Stephen Paul are all back from the tight LaSalle pack that placed 10th at states and they hope to stay competitive in the district and state. The team will miss the senior leadership of Princivalle and Mitchell, both of whom were consistent and solid, and will need a star to emerge if they are going to be legitimate title contenders. This is another fine program that may be on the verge of returning to their 2008-2009 fame.

Cumberland Valley is the top returning D3 team from states, coming off a respectable 7th place finish. They lose their consistent #1 presence in Quinn Wasko, but return the rest of their varsity in entirety. Higgins and Soliman were both impressive as sophomores last year. Soliman broke 16 while Higgins had a terrific district race that the team relied on to make it through the difficult D3 championships. Cahill was a strong piece and Owen Seeber was the team's #2 behind Wasko on multiple occasions before the back to back battles at Hershey. Throw in a quickly developing frosh in Caleb Schultz and a historic program and this team could really make some noise. Their biggest issue, the fact that they compete in district 3 and have to run back to back Hershey races, may be evaporated before 2015. Rumor is that the D3 championships is moving to Big Spring.

You know who would love that news? Hempfield. Hempfield has now won a pair of district titles in recent years but had disappointing finishes the following weekend at states. The team graduates their own consistent senior leader in Duncan Brady, but they also return their next 6 runners. Last year frosh Christian Groff had a solid race at states and shows real potential. They also return Justin Yurchak who had some impressive results in 2014. Throw in Norton, Mattes and White and Hempfield is an excellent position to defend their title.

While NA is the class of district seven, one of the most consistently dangerous squads in the WPIAL is Mt Lebanon. Although Lebo had a tough stretch run in 2014 thanks to some bad luck at states, they return a variety of key contributors including Todd Gunzenhauser, Ian Harris and strong frosh Bryce Brandenstein. Down the stretch they got a nice lift from Josh Kalapos who will be back next year and prepared to help the team as a strong senior piece to their top 5 puzzle. Losing Ian Baun, the teams top runner for most of the season, will be a difficult obstacle, but they return plenty of talent and should enjoy the switch at WPIALs from Coopers to Cal. 

State College was another top contender in 2014 that will return multiple varsity members. They return #1 runner Alex Milligan, who's performance at states was one of the best in recent program history. He will be the #6 returner next season and should give SC a strong low stick. Behind him, Nick Feffer returns after solid races back to back years at states. Feffer was just outside the top 50 in 2014 and could be a medal threat in 2015 as he makes the sophomore to junior jump. The team also returns varsity members Owen Wing and Matt Balogh who should benefit from an extra year's experience on varsity, running the state course and dealing with the pressure surrounding running for a top team.

Coming tomorrow: The Official 2015 Sleeper Teams