XC Top 50 Rankings: #20-11

If you want to see rankings 50 through 21, click on the XC Top 50 label on the top of the site and cycle through the posts. There's some good discussion on the #30-21 that I highly suggest for enthusiasts out there. You can also get to that post using the recent comments feature on the right side of the blog. 

20. Brendan Miller, Sr Upper Dauphin (3 A)

Prior to the 2016 District 3 Championships, Miller had been completely off my radar. But he absolutely crushed his first appearance with a D3 A championship against a talented group. He clocked a time of 16:29 on the hilly Big Spring course. On the track, Miller wasn’t going to be able to fly under the radar, but he handled the pressure well and rose to the occasion. He posted two silver medal winning performances at districts, running 4:25 and 9:40. Then he really impressed with his best ever state meet performance, taking 3^rd in 9:28 behind two all-time greats in Ben Bumgarner and Zach Skolnekovich.

Miller’s a huge talent. With a 15:46 5k under his legs at season’s end, we saw a glimpse into how much this kid has grown over the past two seasons. Now that being said, he’s still got a lot to prove. At states last year, the Hershey hills combined with some inexperience knocked him out of medal contention. According to milesplit, he hadn’t logged a race in an invitational until districts. And Upper Dauphin isn’t a historical powerhouse with a lot of teammates to train with either. Miller has the speed, strength and grit to be a great XC runner. But can he overcome some of the other obstacles he faces to get there? My bet is yes, hence a top 20 ranking for this up and comer.

19. Evan Addison, Sr LaSalle (12 AAA)

LaSalle has had some amazing runners over the past decade or so and have proven they are one of those programs you can never count out. Perhaps the next great runner in that prestigious train of history is Evan Addison. As a junior, Addison stormed around the track, dropping PRs of 1:54, 4:17 for a full mile and 9:24 for 3200m. He also clocked an 8:46 indoors for 3k and scored two indoor state medals for the Explorers.

But don’t get it twisted, Addison is not purely a track guy. In 2016, he was 7^th at Foundation (running 16:35), 2^nd at PCLs and 1^st at the District Championship. It was the second straight year Addison ranked as one of the best runners on a team that finished as one of the top 5 in Pennsylvania.

However, this next season will have to be about redemption for Addison. A year ago, he had to drop out of the PIAA XC State Championships. That should provide some extra motivation this season. The other problem to deal with will be the graduation of 4 seniors from last year’s state championship squad. The only other two returners were freshmen last year, talented guys in Vincent Twomey and Ethan Maher, but that probably means Addison’s training group will take a bit of a hit.

Can he overcome these obstacles and past disappointments to add his name to the list of LaSalle XC State medalists? I like his chances.

18. Sam Early, Sr Council Rock North (1 AAA)

Early is something of a track of all trades If you flip around, you can see that he has split 1:57, clocked 4:20 (state qualifier), run 9:01 for 3k and dropped a 15:47. That’s incredible range that few on this list can boast about. Early was also the 25^th place finisher at the state championships and was actually in 18^th place at 2 miles, speaking to his aggression and fearlessness on the course.

CR North is always a state contender and, returning a nice crew from a state championship run last year, Early will have plenty of top notch training partners to help him excel this season. He’s also the 7^th returner in AAA, 8^th across all divisions. That’s no joke. It’s hard to find any flaws in Early’s work to date and he was an easy pick for a top 20 spot this upcoming season.

 17. Sam Snodgrass, Sr South Fayette (7 AA)

One of the coolest stories from last year was South Fayette’s clutch state championship run that saw them a close 3^rd in the final standings in AA. That was quite the upset considering the boys from SF only made it to the state championships by taking third at their district championship-on a 6^th man tiebreaker no less. It was the first in what may have been many under the radar success stories from SF.

The AA state championship field didn’t post the fastest times a year ago, especially compared to AAA, but I think we saw the strength of that group when the AA boys had 3 finishers in the top 20 at Footlocker’s Northeast Regional. Well Sam Snodgrass finished just a second behind one of those top 20 finishers (David Haines from North Pocono) and clocked a second straight top 12 finish at the state championships with his 6^th place run. If he can crack the top 12 again in 2017, that will put him on a short list of distinguished runners who have been that clutch for that long.

Sam also grabbed an indoor state medal in the mile and just missed the outdoor state finals for 1600 meters. He’s proven he has his best races when the lights are brightest at state championships. Look for Sam to be one of the best runners in the WPIAL this fall. He clocked a 16:25 at Coopers last year and was 5^th in the WPIAL for AA almost a month later. At AA States, he was the 2^nd fastest junior and fastest returning D7 runner in his classification by about 14 seconds. The only cause for concern will be the graduation if his excellent training partner Aaron Pfeil, who has placed in the top 10 at states the past two seasons and been a fantastic, consistent racer helping to lead the South Fayette charge.

16. Carlos Shultz, So Conestoga (1 AAA)

Placing sophomores in a preseason top 50 ranking list is tricky. With just one season of work under their belt (and usually not a ton of big race opportunities), it’s hard to give a sophomore an appropriate spot. But we’ve seen some impressive sophomores over the past few seasons. 2016, 2015, 2013, and 2011 all featured top 10 finishes by sophomores at the AAA state championships. So the smart money says we should bet on a youngster or two to break out.

Well, if you are peaking a youngster it seems like you should be on Carlos Shultz. Shultz was one of the best freshman we’ve ever seen last season. He popped a sub 16 performance at the Paul Short Invitational with a 15:56. That was the fastest freshman performance at Lehigh since Jake Brophy’s 15:53 in 2012. Shultz also finished 4^th in a loaded Central League, in the top 25 at districts and then took 29^th at states. The last four freshman to place top 30 at states? Spencer Smucker, Jake Brophy, Vince McNally and Craig Miller. That’s 3 Footlocker Finalists and another guy who is knocking on the door for nationals entering his senior season.

The kid didn’t slow down much on the track, clocking 8:59 for 3k and 9:37 for 2 miles, both on the indoor oval. But even despite those otherworldly freshman times, there are still other rising 10^th graders who finished with similar or even faster outdoor marks. That speaks to the depth of this group.

Hopefully, Shultz isn’t feeling too much pressure. He’s got a nice group of training partners to work with at Conestoga who should keep things fun while also helping to make him better. Henry Borska and Jake Robinson both ran under 16:25 last fall at Lehigh. Plus, he has a sister who placed top 20 in the state last year. In my eyes, there’s a lot of potential here for a breakthrough, but I’ll be trying my best to keep the expectations reasonable throughout the season. Should be fun to watch this group of 2020 graduates.

15. Tyler Leeser, Sr Milton Area (4 AA)

Imagine someone winning your district meet in the 400, 800, 1600 and 3200. Seems impossible, doesn’t it? Well, everyone who witnessed the AA District 4 track championships this past year doesn’t need to work very hard to picture it. Tyler Leeser, who for way too long I was calling Tyler Lesser, won all four of the longest track events our sport offers. And it wasn’t like he was racing a bunch of nobodies. Leeser faced eventual state medalists Hunter Crawley and Quinn Serfass in the 16 and 32 respectively.

At states, Leeser provided his legs could handle the previous week’s quadruple just fine. He ran 4:16 and 1:55 at the state championships to grab a couple state medals and finish in the hunt for gold in both events. It was an incredibly impressive set of performances.

So the question is, can this kid with 50.0 open 400 speed run the Hershey Hills? The answer is, perhaps unsurprisingly, yes. Leeser was 11^th at states in XC this past fall, less than a second away from a top 10 finish. He also placed 2^nd at the district 4 championships and helped his Milton Area team qualify for states. The entire varsity for that squad returns in 2017, meaning Leeser should have plenty to keep motivated this summer and some strong training partners to help push him in practice. Leeser also has the advantage of facing two of the very best runners in his classification at most of his meets as both Serfass and top AA returner Isaac Davis are housed in District 4.

14. Jared Giannascoli, Sr Lower Dauphin (3 AAA)

Giannascoli has a lot going for him as he enters his senior season. He’s fresh off an amazing junior year XC campaign that included a 15^th place finish at states, a sub 16 at Carlisle and consistent top finishes among a loaded District 3. He also was a key contributor to a Lower Dauphin 4x800 that really turned heads by making it all the way to the state finals and coming up just outside the medals.

However, the Lower Dauphin senior will have to make some big adjustments in 2017. Kyler Shea and Colton Cassel, two stalwarts of the LD program over the past few years are graduating along with two other top 7 runners, leaving Giannascoli in charge of leading the group. He does have an intriguing young talent in Mark Walsh to train with (rising soph with a ton of talent), but things will definitely be a bit different for Jared this coming season.

That being said, this kid is a gamer who ran clutch at states both on the track and on the trails during his junior year. The Lower Dauphin program has proven they can develop their stars and cultivate young talent and it’s hard to imagine Giannascoli losing a step as a senior. Jared didn’t drop a big 3200 time this spring, but he’s out to prove that doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of XC rankings. As the 6^th returner across all divisions, Jared should be poised to turn his heads once more before he graduates.

13. Jack Zardecki, Sr Dallas (2 AA)

The boys from Dallas will be going for their straight title this fall. If they pull it off, they will be the first three-peat since Scranton Prep’s dynasty in the early to mid 2000s. Amazingly, Dallas returns 6 of their top 7 runners from this past year’s state meet, an experienced group who has proven they are clutch, and yet they still are not comfortable favorites. 2^nd Place York Suburban also returns 6 of their 7 including 4 top 51 finishers from states. In fact, out of the top 11 teams at last year’s championships, 8 return at least 5 varsity members, 8 return at least one state medalist (Harbor Creek returns 3) and that doesn’t even count Grove City, a perennial top 4 team that just missed qualifying last year.

All that is a long winded way of saying Dallas front-runner Jack Zardecki will be very important to the team’s success. Zardecki was the #1 runner for Dallas each of his first three seasons at states, including a top 50 finish as a freshman, but his biggest contribution was a 7^th place run last year. Dallas needed a low stick as the two teams directly behind them in the standings had a combined 3 top 10 finishers. So Zardecki stepped up and jumped into the top 10. He ended up as Dallas’s only state medalist, but their pack was strong enough to get the win.

In total, Zardecki was a top 12 PA runner in every major invitational he contested, earned runner-up honors at districts and led his team on the big stage. And that was just cross country. On the track, Zardecki punched a ticket to the state championships with a 9:22 silver medal performance at districts, nearly upsetting North Pocono’s district champ David Haines. Overall, I have no plans to bet against Zardecki this season and no plans to bet against Dallas either.

12. Avery Lederer, Sr Penncrest (1 AAA)

I’m a big fan of this guy. Lederer wasn’t really on my radar entering last season, but he quickly made his presence felt. From the first invitational of the season, he was mixing it up for wins everywhere he went. Lederer was 2^nd at Northampton, 3^rd at Abington, 2^nd at Salesianum, 2^nd at DELCOs and 3^rd at Central Leagues. That’s phenomenal consistency. At Districts, Lederer used that big race experience and front runner mindset to roll to a 15:47 mark and 11^th place finish. Then at states, he barely missed out on a state medal, taking 31^st while struggling a bit coming off the last hill.

On the track, Lederer continued to roll. He ran 8:47 indoors for a 3k and 9:27 outdoors for the full 3200 meters. His 3k mark was good enough for 6^th in the state, but his 3200 time (although under the state qualifying standard) only placed him 9^th in the always loaded district field. That meant he had to stay home and wait until next year for a spot on the line at outdoor states.

If you were wondering how that near miss would affect Lederer’s spirt, you didn’t have to wait long for the answer. He kept training hard and traveled to the PA Distance Festival, where he clocked a 15:41 for 5k and a new PR. I think this race will represent the resiliency Lederer will have all season in his senior XC campaign. He’s got a great training partner in Justin Senackerib and I think he will drop some impressive results.

11. Sam Owori, Jr Seneca Valley (7 AAA)

So I think this is an unprecedented event in my top 50 rankings history. For perhaps the first time, we have no juniors in the top 10 overall and just one junior in the top 20! Given the history of our sport, we can expect that to change in a hurry. The guy to do it may come from the same district that gave us the top junior a year ago.

Owori was a fearless leader for a young Seneca Valley team that spent the 2016-2017 season putting the rest of the state on notice. He’s a gutsy runner, as evidenced by the fact that he led off the school’s 4x8 at states as one of the youngest competitors in the field (and held his own with roughly a 1:56 split). Sam also clocked a 4:19 1600 this past outdoor season.

Like many of the WPIAL boys, Sam’s fastest XC team came at the hilly state championship course. He clocked a 16:40 at states and finished as the top returning sophomore with a 30^th place finish. That capped off quite a year. Owori was 10^th at RWB, 9^th at Foundation, 3^rd at Tri-States and 4^th at Districts. And he was the team’s #1 runner at every major invitational as just a sophomore.

He gets a lot of great training partners back for next, including Seth Ketler who was the #3 returning sophomore at states and 7^th in the WPIAL. I fully expect the Seneca Valley boys to come out firing in 2017. They are fresh off a big outdoor track season, they return 6 of their top 7 guys and they probably have big dreams of winning a team state title this year. That may seem like an outlandish goal considering who they are up against, but after their impressive showing last year, I’m not sure anyone should underestimate this program. Or their fearless leader.

As a reminder, if you like Cross Country, the Etrain 11 Racing Series has its finale this coming Thursday at 8 o'clock. Tune into the blog for the live radio broadcast and live result feed on lxvplus.blogspot.com.