2017 XC Top 50 Rankings: Week One

By Jarrett Felix

Not a ton of movement this week, but a few notable shake ups. Let’s get to it. I’ve bolded those for which I have seen results for in the past week. If I didn’t see you in the results, I didn’t move your ranking (just the people around you).

New this year: comment with some of your favorite performances from the weekend from guys who didn’t make the list! We will turn it into a poll to be voted on by our readers.

50. Ben Barnes, Sr Riverview (7 A)

A solid performer among small school runners, Barnes picked up a nice win in a solid time at the Gateway Invite. It wasn’t a stacked field, but he handled a strong group of AAA contenders and made it clear he has a winning mindset going into this season. He and Zach Tingley, who won at Hornet Harrier, essentially tied for this spot, but I gave a slight nod to Barnes. Both guys should be strong contenders in A this season.

49. David Endres, Jr CB East (1 AAA)

A familiar performance from Endres as he broke 16 minutes at Northampton for the second year in a row. While he didn’t pick up the win, he lost to a very respectable opponent in Avery Lederer. Plus, the CB East team will likely be a lot more focused at timing their peak this season and I think that could mean big things for Endres in the months ahead. For now, I put him in a cautiously optimistic ranking.

48. Cameron Binda, Jr Greensburg Salem (7 AA)

47. Jake Underwood, Sr Wilson (3 AAA)

46. Kyle Burke, Sr Abington Heights (2 AAA)

45. Ethan Bernstein, Sr Saucon Valley (11 AA)

Burke and Bernstein had a great battle in their opening invitational. Although I’m still high on Burke, you have to give credit to Bernstein who picked up a quality victory. Bernstein is a district champion with great 3200 meter chops and could be in line for a big season this year. I especially like his potential to post a fast time if he gets on the Lehigh course. He could be under 16 minutes.

44. Brandon Curley, Sr Montrose (2 A)

Curley posted a strong second place showing at Cliff Robbins and his Montrose team pulled off a big win in the team standings. I’m very excited about this Montrose squad, but I’ve got to temper the hype a bit. Curley seems like a top 10 type in A this season, but it’s still early.

43. Peter Costentino, Jr Mount Lebanon (7 AAA)

Mount Lebanon grabbed a ton of headlines this weekend after another impressive performance at Marty Uher. Peter Costentino led the way, nearly stealing the victory from the talented Mark Brown. Costentino is coming off a monster track season and was a state qualifier last year, but his progression clearly has cooled off during the summer months. I think this guy has big potential. May even enter into the state medal conversation before all is said and done.

42. Andrew Stanley, Sr Southern Huntington (6 A)

41. Tavonne Davis, Sr Allderdice (8 AAA)

I was really impressed by Allderdice in Week One. Davis has been solid the past two seasons, but as a senior he may finally be ready to break into the top 50 guys in AAA. He’s got a great training partner in Hermann and is following in the footsteps of a stud in Amadou Diallo who blazed the trail Davis needs to follow.

40. Erik Andrzejewski, Jr General McLane (10 AA)

See Nate Price

39. Brayden Harris, Fr Mifflin County (6 AAA)

Big Valley was the meet of the youngsters and freshman Brayden Harris certainly did not disappoint. The kid dropped a 16:21 at this meet, finished just a few seconds behind proven stud Garrett Baublitz and defeated a ton of other list or near list types en route to his 3^rd place finish. It’s only his first high school invite so, in theory, Harris still has room to grow. He has a great group of training partners and the energy in the Mifflin County locker room should be infectious as they have a realistic shot of making it to states if they have a strong season.

38. Elias Lindgren, Sr Episcopal (Independent)

37. Peter Borger, Sr Malvern Prep (Independent)

36. Nate Price, Jr General McLane (10 AA)

Yes, the Lock Haven course is fast, but 15:43 and 15:50 for the General McLane boys is moving. Andrzejewski has proven he is a clutch performer who had his best race of the year at states (18^th in AA ahead of a lot of strong names), but Price may have more potential on his best day. We saw Price have a monster track campaign, breaking into the 9:30s for 3200 and qualifying for states. He pulled out the win today and with a great teammate to push him, the GM boys should be big contenders in AA. Oh by the way, these two are making the sophomore to junior jump in 2017.

35. Ryan Stravaggi, Jr Harbor Creek (10 AA)

34. Andrew Sullivan, Sr Hershey (3 AAA)

33. Matt Busche, Sr Franklin Regional (7 AAA)

32. Ethan Koza, Sr CR North (1 AAA)

31. Mitchell Etter, Sr State College (6 AAA)

30. Tyler Rollins, Sr DT West (1 AAA)

29. Mark Brown, Jr Greensburg Salem (7 AAA)

28. Garrett Baublitz, So Juniata (6 AA)

27. Dan McGoey, So North Allegheny (7 AAA)

26. Sean Rahill, Sr William Tennent (1 AAA)

25. Seth Ketler, Jr Seneca Valley (7 AAA)

24. Jonah Powell, Jr Grove City (10 AA)

23. Bryce Ohl, Sr York Suburban (3 AA)

22. Quinn Serfass, Sr Loyalsock (4 AA)

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

20. Evan Addison, Sr LaSalle (12 AAA)

19. Sam Early, Sr CR North (1 AAA)

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

17. Carlos Shultz, So Conestoga (1 AAA)

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

15. Jack Wisner, Jr Carlisle (3 AAA)

Wisner’s first performance of the season wasn’t even a full 5k, but it got the wheels turning for his upside. Jack had some injury trouble early in the 2016 XC season, but when he got healthy and got rolling he blasted all the way to the top 40 in the state. He’s always been at the top of his class and the top junior in the state is typically a top 5 guy in XC. 12:24 with that big of a margin of victory is impressive and puts him on a short list of all-time greats. I was worried about him losing a step without those training partners but, at least for now, he looks strong. However, he still hasn’t completed a full 5k so it’s hard to get too excited.

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

13. Jack Zardecki, Sr Dallas (2 AA)

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

11. Avery Lederer, Sr Penncrest (1 AAA)

10. Liam Conway, Sr Owen J Roberts (1 AAA)

9. Joe Cullen, Sr Wyomissing (3 AA)

8. Morgan Cupp, Sr Mechanicsburg (3 AAA)

7. Isaac Davis, Sr Jersey Shore (4 AA)

6. Josh Hoey, Sr Bishop Shanahan (1 AAA)

5. Tristan Forsythe, Sr Winchester Thurston (7 A)

4. Spencer Smucker, Sr WC Henderson (1 AAA)

A sneaky good performance out of Smucker in the opener for Henderson. Again, not even close to a 5k, but this is an ultra talented kid who has strung together a consistent set of training and its paying off. He had his better ever track season and now the speed he showed in Meet #1 put him up there with Nick Dahl, who was just 2 spots away from a Footlocker appearance last year. We will see what happens in the coming weeks, but we can’t leave Smucker out of the individual state title talks.

3. Ryan Campbell, Sr CR North (1 AAA)

2. Rusty Kujdych, Sr Neshaminy (1 AAA)

1. Noah Beveridge, Sr Butler (7 AAA)

May be bold after just one race to flip Beveridge over Kujdych, but A) I wasn’t particularly sold on which guy was better coming in and B) it’s more fun to get through the whole post and see something interesting at the end. Here’s the thing, Beveridge came out the first race and ran even better than Austin Pondel did when Pondel ended up being a Footlocker finalist. And here’s the other thing, Beveridge came out the gates a million times better than he did at the start of last season when he was midpack in the opener. He went on to finish 5^th at states. If he has anywhere near that type of improvement curve this season, he’s going to run away with the state title. Beveridge has the top spot for now based on his record run, but Kujdych will undoubtedly have a response. I’m excited to see it.