State Championship Recaps: AAA Boys

At the start of the week, I mentioned in my AA team preview that I was looking for some poetry. It turns out, I was looking in the wrong place. The story of the AAA state championship didn’t start in November. It didn’t start in September. Heck, it didn’t even start in 2017. Way back in 2011, before any of this current crop of state champs was even in high school, the boys from Cardinal O’Hara were looking to become the first boys PCL state champions. There had been close calls prior to that. LaSalle was 2^nd in 2008, the first year the PCL was in the PIAA. Then the Explorers were 3^rd in 2009, before O’Hara took on the bronze medal position in 2010.

Although O’Hara wasn’t overwhelming favorites heading in to the 2011 XC season, they really started to click as the year progressed. By the time states rolled around, they were clear favorites for gold. Meanwhile, the boys from North Penn had struggled during the regular season. Although there were big preseason expectations, there first few results were relatively unimpressive and, unsurprisingly, they finished 3^rd at the District One Championships. But North Penn had championship pedigree. They had won back to back state titles in 2007 and 2008 and, at the time, they and Henderson were the clear #1 programs in the district for that half decade strength.

So a great District One program with potential coming off a disappointing district loss against a PCL power looking to get the historic conference their first official PIAA title. Sounds familiar right? Well, what if I told you that those two schools went on to tie for the state title with a score around 130 points? Now, it’s just getting creepy.

Yes, the 2011 state title ended in a 6^th man tiebreaker, but the PCL team (O’Hara in this case) came out on the wrong side of history. OH ended up in the silver medal position and, after they lost on a tiebreaker again in 2012, it seemed like the PCL may be cursed within the PIAA.

Enter the LaSalle squad of 2017. They picked up big wins throughout the season and established their depth as tops in the state. On state championship Saturday, I think most would agree that they were the favorites, even if not overwhelmingly so. And through the first two miles, it looked like they would run away with the state title. But their 25 point lead started to slip in the race’s final meters. The lurking talents from CR North were coming quickly and LaSalle was trying desperately to hold them off. The curse would not give up easily.

In the end, LaSalle would have to sweat it out until all points were tallied and all were reviewed. For the third time in 7 years, the AAA state title would be decided by the #6 runner. But unlike the first two, the PCL team came out on top. It’s fitting that the team affectionately called “The Army” wins a state title via their 6^th man.

But let’s be honest, they won this on their 6^th and 7^th man. Both Vincent Twomey and Jack Seiberlich displaced North’s #5 man, adding two pivotal points to their rivals’ score. That means if either Seiberlich or Twomey had decided to drop out or completely fold up on the last mile, their team would have ended up second. It’s a testament to the mental strides this team has taken in the last year that they held on and got that gold.

Also a hero on race day was Paul Ghantous. The junior wasn’t projected to be a scorer on race day. He was actually the team’s #7 at districts. But when a member of the top five had a small hiccup, Ghantous stepped up big time. In his best performance of the season, Paul raced to 54^th overall and was the team’s #4 runner.

And I would be silly to not point out that Evan Addison, who was forced to drop out of last year’s state championship, provided the low stick this pack didn’t have in 2015 or 2016 when they were good, but not great in the state landscape. He pulled out some big time redemption with an 11^th place finish at states, the first individual medal for LaSalle at states since 2012 if memory serves.

Now in every dramatic tiebreaker, there are two sides. For Council Rock North, reading about all the little things that went into this championship performance probably doesn’t feel great. But the boys from North have nothing to hang their head about. They defended their state title of a year earlier admirably and, I think many would agree, came closer to pulling off the upset than I expected. They posted 3 medalists and 4 top 50 finishers. After not breaking 17 minutes at a fast course like Lehigh, 5^th man Matt Mullen bounced back to run 17:30 on the Hershey hills and keep his team in the hunt. Mullen will be the top returner for this proud program in 2018 as they go for yet another state qualifying performance in the always crowded District 1.

That loaded District 1 also produced the 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th and 7^th place finishers in the team title race. After I speculated the streak of top 10 D1 teams would finally end, I got slapped in the face by the states deepest district. Bishop Shanahan, who I doubted coming in, posted perhaps the surprise of the day in 5^th place, but Spring Ford and OJR also bettered my predictions for them (and DT West matched). Everybody really came to play.

For Shanahan, the Hoey boys stepped up with strong performances, particularly Jonah who nearly joined his brother on the medal stand. But what really sealed their top 5 finish were the results from the pack. Jack Ettien put down one of his best races of the season at the #4 spot to help bring things home. For Spring Ford, all that waiting for an appearance at states ended up being worth it. The boys proved they belonged with a 4^th place finish behind a medal performance from McKenna. They had the best freshman in the state in Zawislak (50^th) but also got a huge boost from Shane Ainscoe who just barely missed a top 50 spot. He was the difference maker in their fight for the top 5. Zach Smith also brought his “A” game and Milan Sharma continued to be a reliable, consistent performer (helped by JT Clark who was pushing hard as the #6). Ultimately Spring Ford was just 7 points behind DT West, last week’s district champs.

OJR couldn’t quite get past Spring Ford this time around, but the a group of state rookies still stormed into the top 7. Liam Conway led the way as usual, getting his first XC state medal (long overdue), but Andrew Malmstrom has been the star of the past two weeks for this squad. He posted a top 10 finish at districts in perhaps the meets biggest breakthrough performance and then doubled down with a 17^th place finish at states. This kid was a solid 3200 guy last spring and could be sleeper come track season. Conway won’t be a sleeper by any stretch considering he’s the #1 returner indoors and out at the mile. Should be fun to see how he handles track after his best ever XC season. He should have arguably his best ever training contingent as well (you guys got a DMR lurking over there OJR?).

EDIT: Thought I wrote this in the original post, but turns out I never did. The boys from DT West returned just one guy from their 3rd place team in the state a year ago and turned around to be better than they were in 2016. District champs. Third in the state. In the mix for the title. That's also four straight years in the top 4. That's an elite tier right there.

Jumping outside of the D1 bubble, District 3 came through with 3 teams in the top 10. That was a big day, especially when you factor in the district had just one individual medalist. I was really impressed with these schools as I thought this would be a down year for the middle of the state. Hempfield had their best state meet of the last few years, putting it together at Hershey at the perfect time. They’ve had some great peaks in the past, but this one was their best I can remember. Carlisle backed up a year in which they lost three huge pieces with a top 10 finish and Mechanicsburg? Is this an XC powerhouse now? A little known school who lost two huge cogs in Alex Tomasko and Andrew Sulon turned around and got better? Shout out Michael Vigliano on a big season. Plus, major props to Pepe Renteria. He was a critical piece of their state qualifying effort at Big Spring and then ran even better at states. This sophomore may be the hero of the week for the Mechanics. I’m not sure that one will stick.

OK, let’s jump off the team talk and move to individuals. Obviously, the first thing I’ve got to do is bow down to Rusty Kujdych. I’ve doubted him seemingly every step of the way, but the state’s best XC runner has been nothing short of spectacular. After we saw favorites win the first two races of the day, I thought this AAA field would be the one that brought us the upset, but Kujdych was not to be denied. He and Beveridge really fought hard throughout the second half of the race with Hoey hanging around as well. But ultimately, Kujdych dropped the hammer at the end and pulled away for gold. His three year stretch of 19-10-1 is one of the best we’ve seen. Plus, he’s a two time district champ with piles of fast times (including what is now #2 on this new Hershey lay out off a slower pace than last year). I think Kujdych has a chance to do big things at regionals and make a big run at Footlocker. The kid is battle tested and really strong. Hopefully, I don’t jinx him.

Behind Rusty, Noah Beveridge of Butler was the man to emerge from a wild chase to the finish line. Beveridge posts a second straight top 5 finish in the state, joining a fairly elite club in his own right. He’s got some Footlocker experience from last fall which could help him out as he goes for a qualifier spot of his own. But what could be more interesting is the next steps for the group behind him. Dan McGoey, Morgan Cupp and Tyler Wirth all cracked 16 minutes at this race and are set up to be potential sleepers in the Footlocker Regional should they go out. PA had 4 national qualifiers last year (5 if you count Hengst) and really threw down against the region. Maybe we can keep the momentum going with these other stars.

McGoey, just a sophomore, makes it three years in a row we have a sophomore in the top 3 at states. It used to be almost unprecedented, but now it’s getting seemingly old. But let’s not underestimate the meaning of this result. This is an awesome mark and shows McGoey could be something special on the track. The two other sophomores to place top 3? Josh Hoey and Sam Affolder. Those guys ended up anchoring marquee DMRs, running sub 4:12 miles and competing for state golds in the 1600. Also, worth noting, all three of these guys are little brothers of some all-time great PA super stars.

Wirth is an XC rookie and becomes the top junior returner for 2018. Cupp caps off a year in which he was unbelievably consistent at the top of every field he raced. I’d love to see Cupp go for a national qualifying spot. He would be a long shot, but he wouldn’t be afraid to stick his nose in there and see what happens. He’s a natural at XC. Wirth is going to be a lot of fun when we get to track season. He may pass on the regional meets this time out, but would be another intriguing watch.

As some have already pointed out, we’ve got a lot of sophomores in that top 50-60. Not only did we have 3 sophomore medalists, but we also had huge days from Christian McComb (28^th? I did not see that one coming), Christian Fitch and Noah Demis (100^th at the mile, 33^rd at the finish. Kid is legit). Even scanning down the list, I thought state course rookies like Patrick Theveny (62^nd after being 132^nd at the mile) and Antonio Burkhardt of Bethel Park had big days. That class is loaded.

Throwing out a few more shout outs here in the individual section, let’s give credit to some bounce back performances first. Avery Lederer of Penncrest, who struggled over the last stretch at districts, proved he was ready for vengeance in Hershey. The senior finished in 12^th place overall with arguably the biggest week to week turnaround in PA. Lederer faded over the last stretch a year ago, slipping out of medal position. This time he actually gained ground on the leaders every step of the race.

Jared Giannascoli of Lower Dauphin deserves a mention. He was in the dreaded 26^th spot, but the Lower Dauphin senior had his best race of the season to get to that point. Although his regular season brought ups and downs, he came to play at states in the clutch. When he was selected in our fantasy draft, some people didn’t even realize he qualified for states. Well, he not only qualified, he ended up being a strong pick at #26.

Other guys jumped into the top 50 and wrecked my predictions. Sam Gatti was a name that our own Ryan1220 talked up and the senior backed it up with a career best 27^th place finish. Jake Robinson of Conestoga broke into the top 40 with a monster run that really impressed me. Sean Guydish of Easton and Matt Bodon of Stroudsburg ended up being the surprise 1-2 punch for District 11. Guydish especially impressed me as he went from outside his team’s top 2-3 guys, to 2^nd at districts and now 39^th at states. Shout out to the Easton senior.