Etrain Team Power Rankings: #13 BYU Cougars

By: Garrett Zatlin

Reminder of the list so far...

#25 Eastern Michigan Eagles

#24 Penn State Nittany Lions

#23 Minnesota Gophers

#22 Cornell Bears
#21 Furman Paladins
#20 Florida State Seminoles

#19 Colorado State Rams

#18 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

#17 NC State Wolfpack

#16 Penn Quakers

#15 Virginia Tech Hokies

#14 UCLA Bruins

#13 BYU Cougars

#12 Louisville Cardinals

#11 Michigan Wolverines

#10 Virginia Cavaliers

#09 Oregon Ducks

#08 Oklahoma State Cowboys

#07 Iona Gaels

#06 Mississippi Rebels

#05 Villanova Wildcats

#04 Wisconsin Badgers

#03 Syracuse Orange 

#02 Stanford Cardinals
#01 Colorado Buffalos

13. BYU Cougars

Flotrack’s #13: Michigan Wolverines

Coach: Ed Eyestone

Notable Departures: Steve Flint, Connor Peloquin, Spencer Gardner, Jason Witt (didn’t race last fall)
Notable Additions*: Marcus Dickson, Erik Harris, Jacob Heslington, Brayden McClelland, Brad Nye

Projected Scoring Five: Jonathan Nelson (SR), Aaron Fletcher (SR), Dallin Farnsworth (SO), Connor McMillan (SO), Erik Harris (SO)

*Most/all of the notable additions are returning from mission trips. Connor Mantz and Zac Jaklin will join the squad in 2016 after they have completed their mission trip.

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Somehow, someway, BYU is constantly one of the top teams in the NCAA. Every year they lose talented seniors, but develop hard working young guys into some of the best in the NCAA. It’s tough to go against history and history says that  BYU should be ranked a top 10 team. However, after one of their less impressive NCAA performances last year and the uncertainty about what they’re team holds puts them at #13.

Despite losing some key seniors, BYU entered last season with high expectations as usual. The Cougars started their season at the Utah open, a small meet that included Boise State, Webster State, and Westminster. Boise State made them work for it, but BYU came out with the win 11 points over the Broncos. The Cougars then hosted a meet of their own and met up with UCLA. BYU was able to get a relatively easy win although, UCLA was missing top-man, Lane Werley. While the warm up races were nice, the real action would come at the Notre Dame Invite. The field was loaded. Michigan entered as a the deepest team on paper and a strong ace in Ferlic. Florida State had a strong group upfront and New Mexico was scene a sleeper threat. Even with the top competition, the Cougars did not disappoint. Nelson led the team with a very strong 10^th place finish while his senior teammate Spencer Gardner, placed 14^th. The strong performance from the duo upfront pulled the team forward McMillan and Briggs ended up placing 27^th and 28^th while Peloquin rounded out the scoring in 33^rd. While most teams struggle to keep their 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th men together, BYU did just that. They kept the team score low and walked away with an excellent 112 point performance. They claimed the runner-up title only to Michigan who was 15 points out. Yet again, Brigham Young had established themselves as another XC threat. Now everyone had their eye on BYU to see just how good these guys could be and they looked for that answer at the Wisconsin Adidas Invite. Once again, BYU faced a stacked field that included top ranked Syracuse and NAU, the always dominant Wisconsin Badgers, power-house Stanford, a super deep Iona squad, and a very underrated Portland squad. Throw in other teams and BYU couldn’t feel comfortable about trying to back up their ND performance. Sure enough, the prestigious field absolutely punished the Cougars. Nelson was once again the top BYU finisher, but fell all the way back to 37^th. Steve Flint was much further out at 79^th with the rest of the squad at 89^th, 90^th, and 92^nd. No one on the team had the day they were supposed to have and it showed in the score as the Cougars recorded 378 points and a 13^th place finish losing to teams that had breezed by at Notre Dame like New Mexico and Florida State. While the performance had to hurt, BYU needed to remain confident. One bad race was not an indicator of their true fitness. They knew that and the rest of the nation knew that. Fast forward two weeks to the West Coast Conference championship, and BYU entered with a renewed focus and hunger. Portland was the only team that stood between the Cougars and the conference title they desperately wanted to defend. Portland was quick and made the race fast, hoping to split up that BYU pack. To an extent, it worked, and Portland took the top two spots as well as fourth place. BYU however, was still able to maintain a strong pack taking spots three and five through seven. When the dust settled, the score were tallied up. Portland had stolen the title away from BYU by a mere three points. The loss of the title hurt especially for a Cougar team looking to regain the confidence they once had at Notre Dame. They would need to regroup themselves and prep for a loaded Mountain region that was not going to just give them a spot to nationals. As expected, Colorado was the easy favorite, but second place was up for grabs and anyone’s who wanted it bad enough. BYU wanted to do more than just cruise through their region and qualify. They wanted to impress the nation and send a message. Once again, BYU tried to keep their pack tight and move up as a squad. Unfortunately, NAU had too much power up front and easily took away second place from BYU. Colorado won the title with 45 points while NAU was 23 points behind. Brigham Young would settle for third with 121 points. They were into nationals and once again defeated New Mexico, but they didn’t quite send the message they wanted to. NCAA’s would be the last chance to make a statement. The Cougars walked the blue carpet into Terre Haute ready to show that they were worthy of a top team finish. Could BYU replicate their Notre Dame race, keep a close pack and put guys in an All-American position? The answer to all of those questions was no. Flint did what he could, but 67^th place wasn’t the score BYU wanted for their low stick. Nelson struggled to bring the pack with him and he was restrained to 98^th place while his teammate Fletcher was 102^nd. The rest of the pack couldn’t stay together like they usually had and finished 127^th and 129^th respectively (Peloquin and McMillan). BYU finished 16^th place overall with 437 points. Considering what they had done, it was a frustrating performance. Brigham Young left Indiana feeling with one thing on their mind: redemption.

Now BYU enters this season in a very similar spot to last season. They lose some key senior front-runners in Peloquin, Flint, and Gardner, but return Nelson who has shown signs of being a true leader. Aaron Fletcher will also join Nelson as a senior leader. Behind them they have some very nice support in Briggs and McMillan who have some nice experience and some excellent times as well. Add in Dallin Farnsworth who has returned from his mission trip and this group is very dangerous. Here are some 5k times…Farnsworth (13:53), McMillan (13:59), Nelson (14:09). McMillan is only a sophomore and the fact that he’s already run 13:59 gets me very excited for his future. Like Miles Smith of UCLA, I expect McMillan to have a breakout season and contend for a top spot on this squad. However, what really makes this squad so dangerous, is the unknown. It’s tough to keep track of who’s going to mission trips and who’s returning. One of the impact runners come into the program is Erik Harris. Harris placed 33^rd at the Mountain region in 2012 before leaving for his mission trip. The guy has some decent times and actual experience in the NCAA. He is talented like no other. Other guys like Dickson and Nye hold 4:03 and 4:04 mile PR’s (respectively) so the potential there is very exciting. Hesslington and McClelland are also two guys that placed top 30 at NXN (2012). Hesslington was 28^th and McClelland was 8^th that year. There is simply too much talent to ignore. The Cougars are incredibly deep have so much potential that they could cover literally any injury. That’s the exciting part. However, in order for them to be lower, I want to see their top guys place near the top more consistently. A successful team usually needs a strong number one to consistently place high. Unfortunately, they didn’t have that at Wisconsin or NCAA’s. I’d also like to see their pack stay tighter at the bigger meets. The faster meets seems to shake them up and string them out. If they can stay composed at the big meets and stay more consistent, I’ll eagerly move BYU up.

Much like UCLA, I can’t have too many arguments with Flotrack on their placement of BYU at #14. We’re on the same page here. BYU has a strong history and returns a lot of solid pieces. They are a top 10 talent, but until I see them execute and their new guys have an impact, I’m good with keeping BYU at #13.  

Light Bulbs

So I was thinking about adding a few features/games/competitions here to the site. But this site seems pretty cluttered at the moment with everything going on at the bar on the top so a few of the new stuff may end up on our new site lxvplus.blogspot.com (which hopefully have some results on there).

So here are the ideas, tell me if they are worthwhile or not and feel free to add in your own.

Idea 1: Bring Back the Odds Makers

For those of you who don't remember, last year we did a little make believe gambling. I would create various odds for certain events and then you could wager imaginary money on whether or not these odds were correct.

For example, say this week I put 3:1 odds on the winning time being sub 15:45 at Viking. If someone wagers $50 dollars and wins, they get +150, if not they get -50 and the banker (me) gets +50. We keep a tally of the totals and keep track of how everyone is doing (everybody usually uses a code name so we can keep track of who is who). I think it went pretty well last year, I just need to stay consistent with it if it is going to be really successful.

Idea 2: The etrain Stock Exchange

So as you probably know, I do a Top 50 rankings for XC. This list will be updated throughout the year, culminating in a final list at the end of the season.

Say you are a fan of the list but think someone is not ranked high enough. Therefore, you think their value will increase during the season. So you could go to the etrain stock exchange and buy "share" in a runner. Their value increases by moving up the list and decreased by moving down. When you buy shares, you go into debt and when you sell them you gain back profit. At the end of the year everyone cashes out based on the final, post states rankings.

The list would be something along the lines of $5 for 50th, $10 for 49th, etc up to $250 for 1. $1 for anyone not ranked. Basically you do well by picking someone you think will improve and you can always sell at any time once you have bought someone. 

I also may add in some fun stuff like dividend payments based on certain criteria if you own the runner, but we will see. This one is a little more complicated and the last time I tried it, it didn't gain much traction, but I think it is a cool idea.

Idea 3: Fantasy XC

This is a tricky beast because not everyone races every weekend and every course is different. But maybe you just accept that as part of the game and have fun with it. 

We have an early season draft, and then based on weekly 5k times you score yourself against the rest of the fantasy league in class 5 man scoring. We just have to make the team's big enough to allow for "bye weeks".

Then, of course, you throw in the classic playoff draft for states which I have been holding every year since like 2011? I think. That's a fun one and will be happening again this year.

Idea 4: Prediction Contest

I'm going to inevitably make a lot of posts this fall, previewing races, ranking teams, etc. I am also optimistic that I will get a lot of comments from readers and some great discussion.

We can set up a contest pretty easily where I keep track of predictions left in comments and award points to those who made great predictions.

This can be set up arbitrary (I just award points to ppl how I see fit based on degree of difficulty, etc) or we can just give a +1 to everyone who gets something right.

I can also award arbitrary +1s to posters who I feel have done a particularly good job facilitating discussion, presenting ideas and bettering the blog/sport/world. That's right, the world.

Ideas 1-4 would most likely all result in a prize of some kind. I'm not sure what it would be, but hopefully I could come up with something good. Suggestions, as always are welcome.

Idea 5: Alert System

So this was an idea that Zat originally presented to me. It's going to be tricky to do because we will not have an automated system, but I think it's possible.

If you are a fan of the blog, you might like to know exactly when we make new posts. That way you can stay up to date on all the latest gossip here at the real train. You also may only be looking for specific subject matter or a specific writer or something like that.

Well, as of now, the best place to get the latest on our posts is our Twitter account @TheRealTrain11. But I'm also considering adding an alert system. We could potentially offer email alerts or text message alerts based on specific requests from subscribers on what they want to read/know.

This is obviously a little tricky because it requires giving private information to us, but all exchanging of information would be on a private basis and we would certainly uphold confidentiality. 

It's just something to consider. If enough people think it's a good idea, I will start to set things up.

So let me know what you think! 

You heard here first,

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Etrain Team Power Rankings: #14 UCLA Bruins

By: Garrett Zatlin

Reminder of the list so far...

#25 Eastern Michigan Eagles

#24 Penn State Nittany Lions

#23 Minnesota Gophers

#22 Cornell Bears
#21 Furman Paladins
#20 Florida State Seminoles

#19 Colorado State Rams

#18 Tulsa Golden Hurricanes

#17 NC State Wolfpack

#16 Penn Quakers

#15 Virginia Tech Hokies

#14 UCLA Bruins

#13 BYU Cougars

#12 Louisville Cardinals

#11 Michigan Wolverines

#10 Virginia Cavaliers

#09 Oregon Ducks

#08 Oklahoma State Cowboys

#07 Iona Gaels

#06 Mississippi Rebels

#05 Villanova Wildcats

#04 Wisconsin Badgers

#03 Syracuse Orange 

#02 Stanford Cardinals
#01 Colorado Buffalos

14. UCLA Bruins

Flotrack’s #14: BYU Cougars

Coach: Mike Maynard

Notable Departures: Jordan Senko
Notable Additions: N/A

Projected Scoring Five: Sergey Sushchickh (SR), Lane Werley (SR), Ferdinand Edman (JR), Austin O’Neil (JR), Nick Hartle (SR)

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I am a big fan of the Bruins this year. I think they are poised to have an outstanding season and have a huge impact across the nation. They are a highly experienced group of guys that are talented at so many different areas. Don’t sleep on the Bruins this year.

UCLA came into last season with not too many expectations. They had just lost a heavy portion of their team to graduation leaving Werley and Sushchickh to gather the troops and rebuild the team. The first race of 2014 would be the Nevada Twilight meet where UCLA coasted to an easy 22 point win. They would have another shakeout race at BYU that actually became slightly competitive. BYU and UCLA battled it out with BYU coming out on top. However, UCLA was without their promising front man, Lane Werley. While it was entertaining, the real show would come three weeks later at the Washington Invite. With so many top guys graduating and a loaded field of top teams, UCLA wasn’t considered to be a top five team threat. That of course, was the wrong assumption as the Bruins shocked the field taking second overall! Stanford (not stacked), UVA, Villanova, Oklahoma, and Washington all fell to the Bruins. NAU took the title by 10 points. The Bruins squeezed four spots together and took spots 9 through 12. It was an unreal display of pack running. Unfortunately, the freshman Myles Smith was still adjusting to the big racing scene and fell off the pack. He still finished a respectable 30^th, but it wasn’t enough to get the title. Had he stayed with the pack, NAU would’ve lost and the Bruins would've won. UCLA left Washington with new vigor and confidence. They had just taken down some of the biggest teams in the nation and had plenty of time to improve. While Washington served as a high profile race, the Wisconsin Adidas Invite would be just as challenging. The field was flooded with nationally ranked teams. Syracuse, Wisconsin, Stanford, NAU, and more were all entered in the field hungry for a win to establish their ranking. UCLA was on that same mission. The pace was quick and the tactical runners had to settle for an all-out grind. The pace played a heavy role against the Bruins as their entire scoring five was completely mixed up. Hartle ran a very strong race placing 15^th overall. Jonah Diaz was 34^th, Edman was 46^th, Werley was 71^st, and Sushchickh was 76^th. The pack that was once so tight at Washington, got strung out by the brutally quick pace. The poor time-spread hurt UCLA’s score, but they still finished a very strong 7^th place overall behind some of the best XC teams in the nation. The run was still very impressive, but come post season, they would have to step up their game. Now it was PAC 12’s, and things weren’t getting any easier. In fact, things became only harder for the Bruins in what was arguably the best conference in the nation with Colorado, Oregon, Stanford, and Washington all in their prime. UCLA simply couldn’t handle that much firepower. Colorado crushed the competition like it was nothing. Oregon established their top five and thrived off of a 1-2 finish. Stanford was only three points off from Oregon while Washington was 17 points off from Stanford. It was an all-out battle of scary good talent and UCLA faltered. They finished 5^th overall by falling into a massive 81-point hole behind Washington. Another fast race once again spread out their pack and Edman was the lone Bruin inside the top 30 (18^th overall). UCLA went back home humbled by the talent they had just witnessed. The Washington team they had defeated twice that year, was now soundly ahead of them and the other teams seemed just too good to keep up. The guys that were once projected for a top-10 finish at NCAA’s, were now just hoping that they could survive one more race and make it to Terre Haute. The Bruins entered the West region, against what was essentially the same teams at PAC-12’s minus Colorado. The goal was simple: execute and advance. Sure enough, that’s what the Bruins did. They put two in the top 20 and all five in the top 30. The team finished 4^th overall, this time ahead of Washington and only 7 points off from Stanford. UCLA was going to nationals. It wasn’t the prettiest race ever, but they did their job and lived to see another race. The team traveled across the country and stepped into Indiana. It was tough to say where UCLA would place. They had raced so many of the top teams in the field already and seemed to be back on the rise after coming awfully close to Stanford at regionals. A top-10 finish wasn’t completely out of the question. After a summer of long miles and a fall full of workouts, UCLA toed the line at the NCAA championships. It was amazing how far they had come after losing so many teammates to graduation. No one truly expected them to be in the spot they were now. The starting gun was fired and 31 teams launched from the start. UCLA tried to find the pack running that was once so successful for them early on in the season. Unfortunately, the pack couldn’t stay together and they began to disperse. Sushchickh was their top man coming in at 54^th. The rest were 92nd, 113^th, 125^th, and 158^th. The Bruins tallied a score 454 and finished 18^th overall.

Despite their tough NCAA performance, UCLA had return home with some pride. When the season began they could have very easily complained about the loss of their seniors, but they didn’t. They picked themselves up, went back to work, and returned to nationals when very few thought they could. How can you not like that? Besides the team atmosphere I love that a lot of these guys are veterans now. Every single runner from NCAA's last year returned. Their probable top five are all juniors and seniors and it’s tough not to be excited about that. It also doesn’t hurt that they all have some pretty solid 5k PR’s…(Werley-13:53, Edman-13:56, O’Neil-14:18, Sushchickh-14:19, Smith-14:32, Diaz-14:42, Hartle-14:44). Out of all of these guys, I’m most looking forward to seeing how Smith does in his sophomore year. The kid now has experience on the big stage and had a decent year on the track. I feel like he is the next star of this team if he keeps developing. As for the rest of this squad, they have it all. They’ve got depth, they’ve got talent, they’ve got experience, and they’ve got the times. What more could you ask for? The only issue I have is their inconsistency. Very rarely did they all click on the same day. That is going to need to change. I would also like to see Werley get back to his sophomore year fitness where he placed 25^th at NCAA’s and earned All-American. These are all pretty reasonable to ask. If they can do that, then watch out for the Bruins to make some noise.

UCLA was #16 on Flotrack’s rankings and I have to say that’s pretty fair. I think they are a little more reliable than the other teams ahead of them right now, but it’s tough not to like them around that sweet spot of 15. There’s not too much to argue here, but I will say that I have a lot more faith in UCLA than most fans do.

Weekend 1, A Preview

By Jarrett Felix

It’s almost time for the opening weekend of the PA High School XC Season. Although I don’t have any all-time lists at my disposal, I have tried to come up with some of the key story lines going into each of these meets. It’s some classic etrain analysis that I hope you will enjoy ...

 

 Viking Invitational

Obviously this is the big meet in Week 1 (it almost always is), and of course this year it’s especially big because it will feature the defending state champ, Jake Brophy, as he begins what could be an historic season for PA. If he simply cracks the Top 10 at Footlocker this Spring it would be PA’s best finish in a long, long time.

But I’m more interested in the names behind him. If Souderton, Pennridge and CB West all do show up to the invite, we could see an excellent battle between the top suburban one continental runners, including Connor McMenamin, Tucker Desko and Rock Fortna. I think all three of these guys have the potential to be sub 16 by season’s end (Fortna and McMenamin were that level last year) and I think this will be a nice test to see how they stack up. Pennridge has not really had a super star in XC, they have excelled much more on the track so this could be a big step in the right direction if Desko can prove himself week one. Also CB West has a nice pack of guys who could challenge this group (how will Brian Mass run this year?) and maybe even Josh Goetz can jump into the mix, closing the gap on training partner Brophy.

The other compelling story line here is CRN and Hatboro Horsham. Historically, these are two of the best programs not named Henderson in District One and basically every year they have an individual medalist at states (very hard to accomplish). This year, with Arita and Comber graduating, it’s unclear who will be the leader of either team. The smart money says someone will emerge from both teams over the next few months to become medal contenders, but who will it be? Should be fun to see who takes the first steps this weekend.

Gateway

The Gateway Invitational is a fun early season meet out West. I get the impression it’s a pretty difficult course so that’s probably why a grinder like Jake Susalla took the title a year ago. Susalla has suddenly become one of the favorites for the WPIAL title after an excellent Junior campaign, which could be quite a bit of pressure for the runner from Plum. I’ll be watching to see how he responds in his first race.

I also am very excited to watch Baldwin run. Baldwin has a pretty impressive history in the WPIAL and arguably came the closest of any team to knocking North Allegheny of their pedestal during the 2009-2010 seasons (Lebo also came close in 2011). I think they may be on the upswing again behind Casey Conboy, their talented front runner, but only times will tell.

You like that line? Well I thought it was clever …

LVC

St. Joe’s Prep has quietly been an outstanding program, particularly on the track. They often get swallowed up among LaSalle and O’Hara in the PCL, but if they return to this meet they could have a nice moment for themselves. Joe Piscano is really underrated as an XC beast for Prep. He had a strong season last year with quality runs at Pre States and Paul Short in addition to PCLs and Districts (and this meet where he was 2^nd behind teammate Isiah Fisher). I’m also holding out hope that 1:54 man Stephen McClellan will run for the XC team and make an impact.

Lions Invite

This isn’t a meet I’m particularly familiar with, but I will be keeping an eye on which small school D11 teams appear to be stepping up. I also want to see what Joe Espinal can do for Wilson. He’s an unreal talent who could become a state medal winner in AA if he can figure out the grass the way he has figured out the track. He will be a senior this year so he should be stronger than ever.

Cliff Robbins

All eyes will be on Dominic Hockenbury at this meet (and rightfully so) to see if he can match his clocking from last year (15:50ish). He won last year’s meet by almost a minute and there doesn’t seem to be a logical challenger to step in and narrow that gap (2^nd place was multiple state medalist Nate Morgan from Lakeland). So it should be Hock vs the clock (possibly a theme in 2015, plus it rhymes so even better).

That’s fun, but it’s not as exciting to me as watching a couple potential state title teams battle it out. Northeast Bradford may be back in attendance. They are a powerhouse in the A division and are hungry to get back on the podium this fall. And then there is Dallas, a super young team with a lot of spunk and tremendous upside. They could be the story of the weekend if things break right.

McDowell

This race should be really fun, even if it may not have some of the “star power” on paper. A squad Seneca will take to the trails and start a season that could potential end with district and state titles in their division. The Meyers twins are studs who could make the sophomore to junior jump this fall. I’m interested to see if they have improved their depth behind them to become legit contenders.

We also might get a peak at a fantastic sophomore battle as three of the state’s best frosh last year (Noah Beveridge, Logan Caruso and Christian Babo) all may end up in attendance (also McDowell’s own Zimmerman could be in the mix).

Lock Haven

Admittedly, I don’t know too much about this meet (I think it’s mixed in with a College meet?), but I will be watching is the match up between the small school D6 teams. Eli Urban, teammate of state medalist and sub 4:20 man Brian Hackman, is a sleeper to make noise this year, but he will likely have to deal with Bishop McCourt’s Jacob Shulte, among others.

Enos Yeager

I believe this course is listed as 2.35 miles, which means times will literally mean nothing out there on race day. That’s XC at it’s finest. With the departure of Brehm, D’Angelo and Dyche, Carlisle looks vulnerable within the district 3 rankings after a pair of strong seasons. Matt Wisner, the 800m stand out this past spring, will look to usher in a new era of Carlisle XC and prove he can handle the trails as well as he handles the track. He gets a nice test in XC vet Dan Filler of Gettysburg.

Also keep an eye on Chambersburg. They are a sleeper contender for a state qualifying spot out of D3 and I believe they are the hosts for this meet, which means home field advantage is in play.

McKeesport

I have to brush up on McKeesport Trail Run history, but keep an eye on West Mifflin as a team in this one. I’m interested to see if they can repeat their performance from a year ago.

Cal Invite

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like historically Mt Lebanon has dominated this meet. They handled the course very well last year and appear set up to do it again with another great squad on paper. I’m interested to see how Gunzenhauser handles this difficult lay out considering his biggest successes thus far have been on the track. I am also curious to see how Brandenstein evolves as a sophomore.

But, if memory serves, the WPIAL championships are being moved to this course for the first time in 2015, right? So this has even bigger implications considering Lebo will get to preview the course they hope to use to topple the Tiger Dynasty this season. That also could mean a few more top teams will make the trip to preview the course.

Big Valley

State College and Altoona have had a fun rivalry in recent years, including an epic 2013 District meet. But this year, on paper at least, State College appears to be big time favorites for gold and the only qualifying spot. So how will Altoona rally the troops to start 2015 against their arch rivals? That will be a compelling story line for me at the Big Valley Invitational. You can flip it and also ask yourself, how good is State College? Well, if they throw down a dominate performance this weekend with big runs by their 4x8 guys, we might have an answer.

Altoona has it’s own prestigious history of putting up medal contenders year after year including Wade Endress, Korey Replogle, Dylan Mountain and Brad Foust. Who is next in line? That should be fun to watch for in this one.

In the AA race, you have to look out for Will Kachman. Kachman dominated the AA race last year and he is fresh off his best track season ever with a massive 3200m PR. Kachman was ranked quite high in the top 50 rankings so he will have to back up me up in week one.

Also in the AA race is Lewisburg, a team with sleeper potential in the AA team title race (which is very wide open, might I add).

Hornet Harrier

Again, this is far from my area of expertise, but watch for rising sophomore Tingley to make a name for himself with a nice time in this one.

Northampton Invitational

Similarly to the Lions Invitational, I’m watching to see which District 11 teams come to play at this meet. One of the teams I will be keeping a close eye on is Mahanoy of A D11. I felt like they had a strong season last year and, potentially, could continue to improve this year, assuming they build off that momentum.

Oakbourne

It’s hard to gain too much information from a two mile relay meet in the beginning of September, but it won’t stop me from trying. This meet could potentially feature D1 Champs Conestoga, D1 favorites DT West, D3 Champs Hempfield and the always intriguing West Chester Henderson. That’s a loaded group. Just seeing DT West debut and trying to figure out how their crazy talented group fits together is enough to make a fan tune in, but the real stories here are likely the other teams. We know DT West will be good, but how will Conestoga and Henderson rebuild?

I’m not sure if Hempfield will be back, but if so keep an eye on them. They started very slow in 2014 (injuries?) before bringing the squad together for a killer stretch run at leagues and districts. I’m curious to see how they start the year this time around with a talented crew.

And hey, let’s not sleep on the other Chesmont teams, particularly Unionville who has been on a lot of people’s radar as a potential party crasher in D1. This will be a good chance to prove their depth against some of the other favorites in the district.