2017 XC Top 50 Rankings: Week Five

50. Ethan Hermann, Sr Alldedrice (8 AAA)

49. Tavonne Davis, Sr Allderdice (8 AAA)

48. Jeffrey Love, Jr George School (Independent)

47. Evan Dorenkamp, Jr Manheim Township (3 AAA)

46. Brendan Knepper, Jr Mechanicsburg (3 AAA)

Living in the shadow of all-star teammates like Morgan Cupp, Alex Tomasko and Andrew Sulon, Knepper was a sneaky good 77^th at states last year as just a sophomore. Now, he’s still running in Cupp’s big shadow but the junior has made a big jump. He was solid at PTXC and CRN before breaking through with a sub 16 at Carlisle. He’s the 6^th best returning sophomore from last year’s state meet and, on average, there are 15 juniors in the top 50 at states over the past 11 seasons and 8 junior medalists on average since 2013.

45. Mitchell Rome, Jr Dallas (2 AA)

44. Elias Lindgren, Sr Episcopal (Independent)

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

42. Josh Lewin, So WC East (1 AAA)

We learned a lot about Lewin this weekend. He had a disappointing run at Foundation after a hot start, but he bounced back the very next chance he got with a huge sub 15:50 run. He’s only a sophomore, but he’s a huge talent that is proving is resiliency.

41. Evan Kreider, Jr Cocalico (3 AAA)

40. Joe Cullen, Sr Wyomissing (3 AA)

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

38. Garrett Baublitz, So Juniata (6 A)

37. Vincent Twomey, So LaSalle (12 AAA)

LaSalle has to have to two top tier guys on this list considering they are probably the #1 team in the state at this moment in time. Twomey gets the nod as a consistent performer who was near the top of the field at Briarwood and now sub 16 at Carlisle. As a frosh, Twomey was 70^th in Hershey last year. Most year’s that makes you the top frosh in the state, but last year was a special year. Still he was #3 in a deep year of freshman. He definitely has a shot at a state medal in 2017.

36. Czar Tarr, Sr Chartiers Valley (7 AAA)

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

34. Quinn Serfass, Sr Loyalsock (4 AA)

33. Jacob McKenna, Sr Spring Ford (1 AAA)

32. Alex Ermold, Jr Governor Mifflin (3 AAA)

31. Peter Borger, Sr Malvern Prep (Independent)

The #1 independent league runner title has oscillated all over the place through the first few weeks of the season. I was pretty impressed with Borger’s Paul Short run and, considering the relative performances around him, he warranted a jump up the rankings. That being said both Lindgren and Love could usurp Borger before long. This is a compelling three way battle for the top spot that we didn’t have last year with Dahl owning the headlines.

30. Andrew Healey, So Holy Cross (2 A)

29. Jack Miller, Jr Jenkintown (1 A)

28. Jack Wisner, Jr Carlisle (3 AAA)

27. Riley Williamson, Jr Parkland (11 AAA)

Williamson was excellent in his first two seasons at Parkland, but this year he is operating at a completely new level. Riley was strong on the hills at the Centaur Invite and took 2^nd behind only Liam Conway. He then doubled down on that run with a sub 15:40 clocking at Lehigh. Sub 15:40! That’s got to be a massive PR and it’s the best Parkland performance on this course since the Tim Stepp days back in 2006. Stepp ended up as a top 10 guy in the state. For the record, after being shut out of the top 50 completely in 2011, District 11 has had a state medalist each of the past 5 seasons. Maybe Williamson will continue the streak?

26. Jake Underwood, Sr Wilson (3 AAA)

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

24. Ben Hoyer, Sr Wissahickon (1 AAA)

23. Jack Zardecki, Sr Dallas (2 AA)

22. Christian Groff, Sr Hempfield (3 AAA)

Groff dropped a 15:40 on the Paul Short course to double down on his excellent run at Big Spring and his sub 16 run a year ago. He’s a consistent performer in a strong program and might be the second best AAA D3 guy when all is said and done. Keep in mind, Hempfield won the district title in 2014 and 2015 before slipping a bit last year (but still sending 3 guys to states individually). In 2014, their top runner finished 50^th in Hershey. In 2015, their #1 took 31^st and in 2016, their #1 (Nick Norton) finished in 19^th. If Groff keeps the trend, he could be a top 10 finisher this fall.

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

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

Rollins is probably the biggest winner from this weekend in the rankings. He’s #1 on a DT West team that has produced 8 top 40 finishers in the past three seasons. That’s better than O’Hara (7), Henderson (5) and North Allegheny (6) and tops the charts. Plus Rollins is a big talent who broke 15:40 on the Paul Short course after not being sub 16 last year. Rollins was 63^rd at states last year and that was before he made the jump into the elite category.

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

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

I mentioned it in the recap, but I’m just very impressed by this kid. He’s basically out here doing it by himself and running 15:40 at Carlisle. He’s at the level of Vinny Todaro right now for small school elites which is good company. Todaro pulled off a memorable upset victory over Brendan Shearn and Dan Jaskowak in the 2012 state championships for AA.

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

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

15. Avery Lederer, Sr Penncrest (1 AAA)

14. Spencer Smucker, Sr Henderson (1 AAA)

13. Tyler Wirth, Jr Wallenpaupack (2 AAA)

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

This kid is blossoming into a star. Keep in mind that Ryan Campbell was a top 10 finisher at last year’s state meet and Koza has been running right with him every step of the way. He projects to be a top 7 finisher in the state at this point. As good as North has been over the past 11 seasons, they’ve only had 3 top 7 finishers at states: Ross Wilson, Chris Campbell (twice) and Ryan Campbell.

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

10. Morgan Cupp, Sr Mechanicsburg (3 AAA)

Cupp has been consistently excellent in races at PTXC, CRN and Carlisle. His 15:24 mark on the course puts him in very elite company. That being said, he’s still waiting for that signature win to really solidify his place in the top 10. The good news? He’s got Mid Penns and Districts in the not too distant future, two races that he will be a big favorite in.

9. Carlos Shultz, So Phoenixville (1 AAA)

8. Evan Addison, Sr LaSalle (12 AAA)

Huge win at Carlisle solidifies the Evan Addison stock, at least for this week. LaSalle really wow-ed on Saturday and the more I digest the results, the more impressed I am by both the team and their front runner. He will have redemption on his mind this season after a DNF last year. The good news? The top PCL runner has placed 8^th, 17^th, 2^nd, 4^th, 9^th, and 4^th at states since 2011. On average, that’s about a 7^th place finish. How about the top PA runner at Carlisle? That would be 1^st, 2^nd, 9^th, 10^th, 1^st, 1^st for their state championships since 2011. That’s an average of 4^th and a median of 1.5^th. That’s not an actual place but you get my point.

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

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

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

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

Conway was admittedly 3^rd at Foundation behind Dan McGoey, but 15:08 is just mind-blowing enough to catapult him into the top 5. Maybe the flatter, faster course plays to Conway’s strengths (he’s got 1:53/4:13 type wheels), but any way you slice it 15:08 is blazing. Again, I’ll repeat what I said from the recap. From 2007 to 2016, we’ve had 5 D1 guys under 15:10 and all have made it to a national championship as individuals (4 Footlocker Finalists and 1 NXNE champ). Heck, move the cut off up to 15:15 and you get to include three more national finalists in Casey Comber, Jaxson Hoey and Ross Wilson. Drew Magaha at 15:16 is the fastest D1 guy since 2007 to not make it to a national championship.

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

2. Noah Beveridge, Sr Butler (7 AAA)

1. Rusty Kujdych, Sr Neshaminy (1 AAA)

Rusty is putting together one of the greatest east coast Septembers we’ve ever seen. Top PA and sub 16 at PTXC. Winner of the gold race at Foundation. 15:01 and top PA at Paul Short. That’s a hot start that can probably only be matched by Colin Abert at least in recent memory. Kujdych can double down on this with a big run at Manhattan where he will shoot to join the sub 12:30 club, a cut off for PA elites. But the Neshaminy senior will also be looking to post the fastest time on the course for the first time in an Invite this season. He was bested by out of staters at PTXC and Paul Short and AA’s Isaac Davis topped his Foundation time in Hershey.