2017 XC Team Rankings: All Classifications (Week Two)

A

10. Mount Caramel (4)

The talk going into the year in D4 A centered on the big powers of NE Bradford and Southern Columbia. But maybe we should have given some of the spotlight to Mount Caramel. The former AA school (who has had good success at the higher classification) put together a back running clinic at Lock Haven’s Bear Mountain River Run with a 53 second spread and 164 points. That allowed them to take 3^rd overall, defeating some top schools including Southern Columbia. We will see what happens the next time these two schools meet (as SC was missing a big piece in Nick Kuzo), but I like Mt Caramel’s ability to string together a solid performance despite just 1 top 20 finisher in the meet (Tyler Adams).

9. Cochranton (10)

In a wild playoff picture for District 10 A, Cochranton may have the best shot of making it to states. They’ve been just barely edged out by North East and Shenango in back to back weeks to start the season, but you can see the potential on this roster. Noah Bernarding looks like he will be a star after a terrific frosh campaign. The team put 4 guys in the top 20 at Hornet Harrier with four under 18 minutes. They had 4 sub 18 again at Big Red. This team is not too far away from joining the ranks of the elite. Their #5 will need to close the gap a bit, but I think they can get improvement at that spot. With the front running they have, there shouldn’t be a ton of pressure to do anything herculean.

8. Shenango (7)

I know I’m not supposed to say things like this if I’m being an unbiased member of the media, but I’m really rooting for Shenango this year. After a couple super close calls at districts, I think this could be the year these guys make it to states. They battled very well with Cochranton in their opening invite, pulling out the victory 92 to 95. Nick Pindel, a freshman, was a big part of this result with his 8^th place finish, but they were also helped by a strong close from Jensen Lewis, one of the best #5 runners in the field. But what really impressed me was Shenango traveling all the way to PTXC to test themselves against some large school competition in a big race setting. They held their own with 209 points in the Blue Race and actually had one of the better packs in the field even as a small school.

7. North East (10)

It’s been a while since we’ve seen a version of North East like the one that was state champs in 2007, but this year’s team has the potential to be great. Josh Lewis is in excellent form to start the year. I’d argue he’s the best North East runner we’ve seen on the XC trails since Ryan Smathers. North East was the #2 team at Big Red behind only AA New Castle and they edged out Cochranton in the standings after taking care of business against defending district champs Seneca at McDowell. Those are two clutch performances and speak to the team’s consistency. One thing to note is they only had 6 finishers at Big Red, but did have the top non-New Castle JV runner in freshman Brock Pennington. Brock could compete for a scoring spot before all is said and done.

6. Riverview (7)

Riverview held their own with some of the big schools at RWB and ran well at Gateway as well. Ben Barnes is a low stick they can rely on and the pack is coming together. Looks like they will add a freshman with upside to the equation in the coming weeks as well. That could be a big swing as their spread at RWB was above 2 minutes. With the small schools, depth is often the biggest question mark, but Riverview appears to have the pieces to hold their own in that category.

5. Jenkintown (1)

Jenkintown looked pretty sharp in their first invite of the season, winning the small school section of Mill Street. Jack Miller was fantastic and is putting his name in the mix of A contenders for a top 3-5 spot individually. That low stick combined with a returning state medalist in Jackson should be big for success. Plus this team has some experience and confidence from last season.

4. Montrose (2)

Amazingly, Montrose somehow dropped in the rankings this week despite an awesome victory at Cliff Robbins. I think Montrose may be the deepest A squad we’ve seen in recent history and they picked up a victory over some really good AA teams using that depth. Brandon Curley appears like a front runner with big potential and their pack behind him is tight through to the #6 runner. I was very high on this team last year and I’m still high this year, it’s just shaping up to be a very competitive year in this classification.

3. Penns Valley (6)

I am very excited about the start to the season Penns Valley has had. They were already a contender coming in with Colwell and Bierley looking strong, but they added two freshman who appear to be real game changers. It’s tricky to rely too heavily on freshman for the state meet, but look no further than last year’s Elk County Catholic team to see a squad with two freshman scorers that had a big day at states. This team has been mixing it up with top level AAA teams through two weeks despite not all clicking on the same day. This top five is lethal and, if they can put it together for states, they can win the title.

2. Elk County Catholic (9)

Just like last year, Elk CC started out this season putting up a respectable fight against the empire at Winchester Thurston. They lost their #1 runner from last season, a stud is Zach Wortman, but Ben Hoffman appears very ready to take the reigns. He’s just a sophomore but he is a big talent, taking 4^th at RWB and 2^nd among A competitors. They’ve also added junior Jacob Carnovale to the varsity rotation and he seems more than capable of providing a strong run to keep the pack tight. If Elk CC wants to jump up to first in the standings, they will need to get some firepower behind Hoffman. Winchester Thurston had 3 guys in before their #2 which is consistent with what happened at last year’s state meet.

1. Winchester Thurston (7)

In case you missed it, I outlined the Winchester Thurston formula for success in my RWB recap. Looks like they are proceeding as planned with that method and, once again, Winchester Thurston will be a favorite for a state title. That being said, I do think the teams behind them are going to be very formidable and this program will not be able to slip. I think Winchester Thurston will get a big boost if one of their pack runners steps up and grabs an individual medal. Gordon Pollock seems like the logical name, having consistently improved every year and being near the medals last year.

AA

10. Loyalsock Township (4)

Technically, Loyalsock and Milton probably tied for this spot, but I didn’t want to throw a tie on here so I decided to be bold. Loyalsock is far from the experienced, proven bunch that Milton is (as Milton is the defending district champions), but I was really impressed by their top 3 at Spiked Shoe. We knew about Serfass, but you sometimes forget about Ryan Sullivan who performed very well in 8^th place ahead of guys like Brett Pope and Tyler Holcomb. Alejandro Quintana is a sophomore name on the rise, having finished 15^th. The back half of the lineup will have to improve for this team to become truly elite, but they’ve got my attention after week two.

9. Holy Redeemer (2)

The big story at Cliff Robbins was the display of power from Montrose, but lost in the shuffle was the strong performance from Holy Redeemer. Without one of their top returners in Lucas Volpetti, HR was still 3^rd in the order and had a big step up run from Conner Stevens. Their top 5 were all in the top 30 finishers and there is still room to improve on that total. I still remember how much time Holy Redeemer cut off their 4x8 relay personal best over the final weeks of this past track season and it excites me about their potential to drop a lot of time before districts and states.

8. South Fayette (7)

We didn’t see South Fayette head to head with the other top WPIAL teams in their classification so it’s hard to make too much of a judgement from this opening invite. However, based on average time, they will be playing catch up against some of the other top teams. South Fayette will miss the presence of team leader Aaron Pfeil who graduated last year, but they do have plenty of talent still on the roster. Sam Snodgrass will provide a low stick advantage, but it will be up to the rest of the pack to step up the same way their 3-5 guys stepped up at states last fall when they nearly stole the team medals from York Suburban.

7. Greensburg Salem (7)

The defending champions from the WPIAL are quickly finding that championship form. They were excellent at Red, White and Blue and showcased a dangerous top 3 that could match up to just about anyone else in the state. The 4-5 spot was the concern coming in, but Greensburg Salem is coaching up that spot well and developing talent. I’d argue the team already made big improvements just in the first week from Marty Uher to RWB. All the same, nothing will be given just because these guys were good a year earlier.

6. New Castle (7)

In Meet #1, the boys from New Castle took 5^th at McDowell, finishing just behind fellow AA schools Grove City and Harbor Creek. In that meet, they had a solid 1-5 spread and got a nice performance out of LeShawn Huff, but didn’t have the same firepower as Harbor Creek or depth of Grove City. In Meet #2, they seemed to take strides toward improving both of those factors. Huff won the Big Red invite and was joined by two other top 10 finishers in Eggleston and Litrenta. Their 4-5 were also in the top 20 finishers with freshman Jonah Miller delivering a strong performance.

New Castle just missed out on states last year so I’d imagine they will be hungry to return. However, the WPIAL is loaded and one small slip up could cost you your spot.

5. Wyomissing (3)

No race out of these guys yet. I have high hopes though so I’m keeping them slotted high. They will have to come out of the gates well to keep their grip on this spot.

4. Harbor Creek (10)

Harbor Creek returned three state medalists (three!) so it wasn’t going to take much to convince me that they could contend again this year. All eyes were on the Harbor Creek 4-5 at meet #1 and they performed well with the pressure on. Senior Nate Dougan was 41^st overall with a sub 18 minute clocking and sophomore Nolan Weber was 44^th. That was enough to help them get within a few points of defeating district rivals Grove City and, at an arguably less deep meet like Districts, Harbor Creek may have come out on top.

3. Grove City (10)

Grove City narrowly edged out Harbor Creek in the team’s early season match up at McDowell and doubled down on their success with a strong showing at RWB. Jonah Powell is a dynamite front runner and the pack is looking strong. Their #5 was the 2^nd best at McDowell, trailing only AAA Butler and 2^nd best #5 in the small school RWB race behind defending state champs Winchester Thurston. Clearly, the depth is there and that’s encouraging, however, I think this team needs to get a guy or two to step up at the #2 and #3 spots of the varsity order. That will be the difference between being a good team and a great team.

2. York Suburban (3)

We still haven’t seen York Suburban run just yet, but my hunch is they will showcase something big in the coming weeks. For now, based strictly on returners and reputation, York Suburban holds tight to the #2 spot.

1. Dallas (2)

The two time defending state champs do look a tad more vulnerable than in the past after their first two invites. With no Jack Zardecki, the team was not in the front of the standings at PTXC and they were defeated by Montrose in the opening season invitational. However, Dallas certainly knows that state championships are not won in September. Their top four runners are crushing it so far this year as they had 4 in the top 9 at Cliff Robbins including individual champ Jack Zardecki. Mitchell Rome was a top 12 PA athlete at the PTXC Invitational and really stepped up in Zardecki’s absence.

We still haven’t seen York Suburban run yet so a statement performance could swing the rankings, but for now Dallas clings to their top spot. Can they hold on for the three peat?

AAA

10. Butler (7)

Butler. You know I’m a huge fan, right? I’d be surprised if this team finishes the season at just #10, but for now, I’ve got them slotted here. The Golden Bull Dogs (getting closer on the name) stormed out the gate with a win at McDowell with just five runners and they apparently knocked off North Allegheny in a dual meet this week. They’ve also got the best guy in the state in Noah Beveridge and one of the most underrated guys in Brett Brady. However, we didn’t see them at RWB and they didn’t beat Allderdice by as much of a margin as the other top teams did at Schenley (although there could be lots of reasons for that) so I decided to keep them here. That being said, this team is confident, they know how to peak, and I expect them to make their presence felt in their next invite. They will get their shot at Lebo soon enough and, when they do, we might see a huge jump in the rankings from this squad.

9. Boyertown (1)

Sometimes it’s as simple as this: since the move to three classifications, District One has had half of the top 10 teams in the AAA state meet every year. So if you can survive Lehigh, you are probably going to do well at states. The Boyertown Bears showed they were front runners to survive the challenge as they defeated two excellent programs in CB East and Spring Ford at PTXC. Josh Endy just missed my top 50 rankings this week after a 12^th place finish at this big time invitational. And here’s the thing, I think Derafelo and maybe even McComb can run right with Endy and make a formidable top 3. Boyertown looked solid in invite #1, but they honestly might just be getting started.

8. Carlisle (3)

The second best team in the state last year refused to go quietly and put up a great fight against State College at Spiked Shoe. Jack Wisner is a front runner, their additions to the team are making big strides and they’ve got some young guys who I think have the potential to surprise. I honestly feel like they didn’t have their best day at Spiked Shoe and they still nearly won the thing. I’m seeing big things on the horizon.

7. State College (6)

State College is strong, consistent program so it’s not a surprise to see them move up the list, but they really impressed me in Week Two. They were a little depleted heading into this season, but three additions to the squad that didn’t compete in the post season last year have been clutch. First, and most obviously, Mitchell Etter looks like a top tier talent. Erik Boethius in the lineup was a major addition, adding some depth, and freshman Bennett Norton has already had two strong showings in first high school season. On paper, this team could be comparable to last year’s squad that was 7^th in the state. I think the question will be getting a #3 guy who was as strong as Owen Wing was for the team a year ago.

6. Bishop Shanahan (1)

Well if you were a Bishop Shanahan skeptic, their opening invite may have brought you on board. Shanahan rolled at the Abington Invite with 51 points to defeat what I think is a sneaky good West Chester East squad. The Hoey boys did their thing with a 1-4 finish, Jonathan McGrory progressed well as was hoped and Jack Ettien seems healthy and fit. Yoquinto was a little farther behind on this day, but he’s proven in the past he has a clutch gene. His best XC and track races have come in the post season.

This is clearly a strong team and I’m looking forward to a match up against another top team on the list (maybe DT West soon?). Worth noting, the team also had two high finishers in the Novice race at Abington who could maybe come in and bolster the back half of the varsity squad by season’s end.

5. LaSalle (12)

No big invites for LaSalle yet, but we should see what they’ve got at Briarwood in the coming weekend. The Explorers did race at Belmont Plateau in a PCL league meet this year and, although circumstances around league meets are usually too suspect to read too much into them, they did have 9 guys under 18 minutes on the difficult Belmont layout. Their three returning varsity guys were the first three across the line so everybody seems healthy and ready to roll. Brady Koors was the early name to watch as a newcomer who could contribute.

4. DT West (1)

Ah, DT West. Not much to say about this team so far. No invitational 5ks yet and probably won’t really throw down a race until Carlisle. The thing is, it’s hard to deny the depth West has shown this year. Evan Kaiser and Tyler Rollins seem like serviceable front runners and then a nice pack of guys is filling in behind them. Rollins and Kaiser have to prove they can be top 30 guys like O’Neill and Alansky, but, in theory, this team is going to be comparable to the squad they had last year. And that team went ahead and took 3^rd in the state.

3. Seneca Valley (7)

I’m still very much on board with this Seneca Valley team. Their two front runners are back and better than ever as Sam Owori and Seth Ketler were great in the season opener. In addition, they replaced the Trey Razanauskas hole with the addition of Connor Volk-Klos which is a clutch addition. This team struggled a bit at RWB last season, so getting 3^rd at the meet again this year isn’t particularly worrisome. My early bet is these guys win the WPIAL and, if I’m in a bold mood, I’ll pick them to win states.

The key will be the #4 and #5 spots. That was an underrated part of this squad last year. We saw the sophomores at the top of the standings, but SV had the 17^th and 22^nd best runners in the WPIAL and they took 90^th and 120^th in Hershey. Those guys held their own with pack centered teams like LaSalle and North Allegheny and allowed Seneca Valley to take 4^th in the state. That’s where the eyes will be focused in the next few weeks. My early prediction is they find a couple guys who can deliver again.

2. Mount Lebanon (7)

Mount Lebanon came out the gates looking like some of the great North Allegheny teams we have seen in the past. They rolled in the varsity and race and dominated the JV race with their incredible depth. Originally, I thought Bryce Brandenstein didn’t race at RWB, but apparently the multi-time state qualifier dropped out due to an asthma attack. So you could argue, Lebo won the meet without its best runner. That’s pretty wild.

I like the start and clearly this team is ready to roll. I would like to see a tiny bit more of a front running presence. The general consensus, based on historical results, is you need a couple medalists on your squad to win the state title. I’m not positive that Lebo has a medalist right now, but they do have 2-3 guys who can make me positive in the coming weeks.

1. CR North (1)

I feel obligated to keep this guys at the #1 spot until we at least see their full varsity squad race together. However, we did learn over the weekend that, from a depth perspective, Lebo has the edge on CRN at this point in the game. Of course, at the end of the day, they only score five guys and the projected five scorers for CRN are still really good. Kevin Ehrgott had an excellent race in Week One and he was one of the guys they needed to take a step forward. As far as I’m concerned, they are still the team to beat, but, unlike the preseason, I’m sure a lot of people vehemently disagree.