The Weekend Recap: LetsRun Etrain Out of Town

Well my readers, I’m back from vacation and ready to recap the action! I’m still catching up on the comments since I didn’t have much phone access, but seems like there was some nice discussion and interesting tidbits from the readership.  Let’s jump right in and hit the big moments from the weekend. I’ll be recapping the meets in alphabetical order. However, I’ll be saving RWB and potentially PTXC for tomorrow as those are a little bigger and I have more to say about them. Or maybe I just hate the WPIAL as many people suspect. You will have to call that one for yourself.

An updated Top 50 and a first look at the updated team rankings for each classification is coming later this week as well. Should be a fun time.

Abington Invitational

After a summer of buzz, the Bishop Shanahan XC team returned to the trails to start their quest for a deep state run. Meet #1 was a success as Shanahan took down a solid field at the Abington Invite in convincing fashion, scoring 51 points to WC East’s 85 and CR South’s 88. All the key pieces were there for Shanahan as Josh Hoey took 1^st and sophomore Jonah Hoey took 4^th. Jonathan McGrory, who made nice strides during this past track season, took 9^th place overall to give the Shanahan three top 10 finishers. It’s a good start, but there are still some unanswered questions. I’m very interested to see Josh Hoey take on some of the other top names in the state and see what he has got.

Personally, I was more interested in seeing West Chester East and CR South. These were two teams who were somewhat buried in district results last year, but had a nice core of returners coming back. WC East sophomore Josh Lewin continued to roll after an excellent freshman campaign. He took third in this race in 16:25, a time that would have won this race in 2015. Another sophomore, Domenic Moser, also was a top 10 finisher for WC East. That’s a big improvement on his times from a season earlier. I didn’t see Harrison Mazurek in the results for them, but assuming he is back and healthy, that’s another piece that would help shrink the gap between East and Shanahan.

CR South was 24^th at districts last year, but they return 4 sub 17 guys from Lehigh. None of those 4 were 12^th place finisher Gavin Ricchini who added a nice amount of depth to CRS as they battled hard for 3^rd in this race. It looks like South was also without Ian Welborn and Andrew Zawodniak, two of those four sub 17 men from last year. Those are two guys who could maybe factor in to the mix as well.

Individually, Ben Hoyer of Wissahickon picked up a silver medal with a 16:24 performance for the Trojans. He just barely edged out Lewin who is a top 50 from my preseason list. Hoyer’s performance catapults him not only into the state qualifying mix, but also into the top 50 discussion. Also with a nice run was Josh Coleman of Abington. The senior has run some super quick 800 times for the 4x8 relay, but now bolsters his XC resume with a 16:50 opener in 2017.

21^st place finisher Burtin Carbino is a name worth mentioning as well. The junior is form HG Prep and the tops in the AA class for this invite. HG Prep is trying to make it back to back years in the state championships, but have a tough battle looming with Pope John Paul. Carbino and his individual potential could factor into this event.

Big Red

A few of the opening weekend’s top small individuals returned to the course at West Middlesex for the Big Red Invite. It was a big day for New Castle, the WPIAL AA squad, who rolled through this meet out front by taking four of the top 15 spots. As a result, they scored 51 points and took the title by 83. LeShawn Huff got the invitational win with George Eggleston and Anthony Litrenta also placing in the top 10. This should be a confidence booster to New Castle who didn’t end up racing some of their big competition for a state qualifying spot head to head, but certainly sent a message to the competition.

North East ended up putting together a second straight strong performance in the team standings. Josh Lewis took a big scalp in District opponent Zac Tingley, finishing in 2^nd overall just a few seconds behind Huff. Lewis suddenly finds himself in the discussion for a top 10 finish at the A state championship with a win over the consistently strong Tingley (as well as Cochranton’s talented sophomore Noah Bernarding who was 4^th).

Also of note, freshman Cole Frazier of Hickory continues to find success. He placed 5^th overall in this race in a time of 17:10 and beat out some strong names. Also cracking the top 20 was freshman Elijah Mamula of Cambridge Springs. Cambridge Springs qualified two runners for states last year out of D10 A, including district champ Connor Walsh and then freshman Alec Bidwell.

Centaur Invitational

Sometimes, guys who have big success on the track don’t translate it to the trails, particularly on hilly courses. But Liam Conway, one of the biggest stars from this past spring track season, seems pretty unconcerned about those types of people after a 15:59 runaway victory on the challenging DeSales course. Conway defeated his next closest competitor by 37 seconds and his next closest District One competitor by 46.

Of course, we knew Conway was pretty good at XC (although he doesn’t have a state medal yet, he’s produced a top 30 finish as a soph). What was more impressive was the Owen J Roberts team behind him. The OJR boys posted 78 points and came up just 2 short of the title. If they could put a bit more of a dent in that 2:10 spread 1-5, they would have been very impressive. Andrew Malstrom took 6^th overall for OJR and provided a second low stick. Malstrom was on my sleeper list out of D1 early in the season after a monster track season and I gave the OJR guys some love in the District One cheat sheet. They’ve still got an up hill battle to get into state qualifying contention, but I’m definitely taking notice of today’s performance.

The team champions in this one came from District 11, but it may not have been the team you thought. Stroudsburg grabbed the title with 5 top 25 guys and 67 second spread. This team was awesome at Paul Short last year the point where they were my sleeper pick to pull an upset at districts. In the end, that team ended up being Southern Lehigh, but the Stroudsburg boys had undeniable potential. To start 2017, they are showing flashes again as Matt Bodon posted a top 5 finish in the field and Zachary Landvik-Larsen posted a huge 8^th place run. I’d love to see these guys get some redemption at districts.

Admittedly, they are going to have their hands full as lots of talented individuals are developing in this group. With Seth Slavin gone, it appears for the first time in a while like the individual district title is up for grabs. While Bodon looked excellent in 5^th, it was actually two Parkland boys who stole the show. Juniors Riley Williamson and Nicholas Bower finished 2^nd and 4^th respectively in this field. Parkland appeared to be missing Sam Morgan, a low 4:20s guy who was a top 5 finisher in D11 last fall. Assuming he is healthy and returns to the line, they become a much more formidable team with a dynamite top 3. If history can tell us anything, it’s that Parkland will be in the mix for a state qualifying spot. There’s room to grow with sophomores at the 3-4-5 spots of this weekend’s race.

A few other notes from this one. Twin Valley had a strong showing with 4 guys within about 17 seconds of one another. Sophomore Griffin Schlegel led the way in 10^th. I really liked TV’s potential to pack it up and make waves in District 3. It’s not always the most effective strategy (front runners are hugely important), but for Twin Valley it’s been effective. They utilized it perfectly to make states in 2013 and 2014 (and came very close to doing it again in 2016). This season, they are an early pick of mine to advance out of District 3.

North Penn had 3 top 12 runners in this field, including Brendan O’Toole at 3^rd overall. The Knights didn’t have the 4-5 to seal the deal at this meet, but they could be looming somewhere on the roster. No Grace, Cataldi or Santiago. Noah Demis looks like he could have a big year as the sophomore was 12^th in the field at 17:17 in what may have been his first ever varsity invitational performance.

Cherokee Invitational

It’s always tricky to read too much into races that aren’t 5ks. It gets even messier when you are trying to sort through 2 mile races run in four different sections. But, naturally, I’m a professional so I will persevere.

DT West had a strong showing in this meet. They took 2^nd in the team competition which is an interesting one (4 races, one per each class), but not practical for my means as a ranker. But if you take a look through the results and do some makeshift combining of times, DT West comes out looking strong. Evan Kaiser was the only PA runner to crack 10 minutes while his teammate Tyler Rollins was right behind in 10 flat. DT West also posted sub 10:30 times from 5 other athletes, including a sophomore in Ryan Straub. So, as we kind of already knew, DT West has a nice bit of depth going for them.

Unionville’s young pieces handled themselves well on this stage as well. James Conway ran 10:06, tying him with Aidan Sauer for the 3^rd best mark of the day, but doing it in a slightly slower race. Cole Walker was 3^rd in his sophomore second with a time of 10:13 and freshman Ethan McIntyre added to the mix with one of the best marks in his class at 10:43. Jack Mangan posted a 10:20, meaning Unionville has a nice core. A #5 runner steps up and this team will be fun to watch.

GFS runners Zach Goldberg and Colin Riley posted two of the stronger performances we have seen thus far from independent league athletes. Goldberg was the fastest of the day in his league with a 10:11 while Riley ran 10:31.

Harry Groves Spiked Shoe

The boys from State College unleashed their full varsity squad at this meet and did not disappoint. The multiple time district champions posted a strong 65 points against last year’s state runner-ups from Carlisle and the Big Valley champs from Penns Valley who were 2^nd and 3^rd respectively. I was pretty impressed with SC’s run as I thought they would be good, but not quite this good in their opener.

Leading the way for the Little Lions was Mitchell Etter who, once again, I thought would be good but not this good. Etter dropped a big time 15:51 for the victory and was PA’s top dog by 25 seconds. For some prospective, Griffin Molino, the two time state champ and national qualifier, ran 15:43 on this course in 2014 while Nick Feffer, who placed 11^th in the state last year, was the 2016 champ in this race with a 16:11. Helping bolster the SC pack was Owen Isham (top 50 finisher as just a sophomore) and Erik Boethius who is apparently a transfer from Sweden. Freshman Bennett Norton, who had a nice showing in his opening invite at Big Valley, also slipped into the top 25 scorers and was SC’s #5 performer.

I thought Carlisle would be able to bounce back from the loss of their top three guys, but I was expecting this team to look so deep. Jack Wisner led the way with a 4^th place finish, but he was someone that we knew was strong. The Herd got 6 other top 35 finishers including a scoring five that all placed in the top 25 overall. Drew Barefield and Cade Rush, two more apparent transfers, jumped into the fold with sub 17 performances. I recognized Rush right away from his Waynesburg days (he was an excellent runner there and turned out to be a valuable piece in 5k #1), but didn’t recognize Barefield (who was 11^th!). Of course, I’m just going off the comment section so maybe I’m wrong about the transfer thing in general. Regardless, these guys will be super valuable for a well-coached Carlisle squad. Casey Padgett, a sophomore who showed big upside with a sub 13 run at Enos, was the team’s #4 and I think has the potential to grow with more 5k experience. This Carlisle team is going to be fun to watch this year and is probably the early favorite to defend their district title out of D3.

I’m still buying up stock in Penns Valley. Although they were 3^rd this weekend, they were still the top small school. I personally believe they ran better last weekend and they still posted just 101 points in a deep invitational. Chris Colwell had an excellent performance in 6^th, placing tops of all A runners and Sam Gray had a nice run, but I think Bierly and Brendan Colwell can still be even better than they were today. Put Brendan up near Chris and this team is fighting with Carlisle for the silvers. Winchester Thurston had a solid opener, but I think Penns Valley can give them a real problem at states. They will need to lean on two talented freshman which can be a gamble in Hershey, but this a really strong top 5 that hasn’t even all clicked at the same time just yet.

Let’s talk individuals. Etter took the victory as mentioned, but PA’s #2 runner was AA standout Quinn Serfass. The Loyalsock runner finished 3^rd overall in 16:16 and ahead of Jack Wisner. Serfass is part of a loaded contigent of AA runners with a realistic shot at the state championship and he made a nice statement here. For Wisner, this is one of his strongest 5k performances (16:19 may even be a PR), so a great run from him here as well. Owen Isham surprised me a bit as well with his 16:20. He’s clearly had a great summer and seems to be a gamer on the trails. I’d expect all those guys to be in or around the top 50 this coming week.

A few other names of note include Brett Pope of Bellefonte. He was sub 16 minutes at Lock Haven last weekend, mixing it up with the General McLane 1-2 punch and now backs it up with a top 10 finish in this invite. The Loyalsock 2-3 punch of Ryan Sullivan and Alejandro Quintana each placed in the top 20 and helped carry this small D4 school into the top group of teams. Quintana is just a sophomore. Maybe I haven’t been paying attention, but I don’t remember seeing the Loyalsock team clicking this early in past years. I feel like they are usually solid at districts, but certainly don’t remember reading their name at the top of results in September. Seeing Sullivan looking great and Quintana joining him is a great sign for a team that will want to be in the state qualifying mix out of what is sure to be a fun championship in Bloomsburg. Finally, a shout out to Zach Murray of Daniel Boone. He placed 7^th overall in this field running a time of 16:38. Definitely a performance that caught my eye.

LVC Invite

Matt Carroll of Palmyra picked up a nice win at this meet in 16:35. The sophomore defeated a pair of juniors in Ethan Knoebel of Southern Columbia and Evan Campbell of Oxford. Palmyra ran out of AAA last year which made it tough to get any state qualifiers in the best district of 2016 XC. Maybe Carroll can change that this season.

Oxford picked up a surprise team title by 1 point over Central York. Historically, Oxford hasn’t exactly been a powerhouse in D1, but this squad had three top 10 finishers and got the W. Their big 3 were a junior, a sophomore and a freshman as well. Maybe this is another program on the rise. Hopefully they get the chance to shine a little bit this season within their deep district.

Mill Street

The season opener for Pre-Season title favorite’s CR North was not exactly what some readers may have expected. Upper Dublin ended up pulling out the win in Large School competition over North. Of course, CRN was missing two very important pieces in Ryan Campbell and Ethan Koza (arguably their two best runners and two top 50 guys in the rankings). Put those guys into the mix and it’s likely a different story. Obviously, from a CRN perspective I’m not reading too much into it, but this is a nice result for Upper Dublin. My alma mater hasn’t been up in the top 10 mix in districts for a bit, but they showed off a nice pack at this meet. Ben Brugger led the way with a fantastic 15:54 run on this course, finishing one spot ahead of state medalist Sam Early.

Jenkintown rolled through the small school division with just 28 points. Jack Miller, a state medalist, was second overall in 15:40. His fellow medalist Josh Jackson was 3^rd in small schools and the team had a nice level of depth even after the #5 guy. Jenkintown is a team with a ton of potential in the A final standings. They showed a great top 3 and nice depth in this meet and they bested their top competition, Chris Dock, with relative ease. However, that could be a different story if Dock gets back district champ Tim Kennel and improves the back half of their varsity in the next race.

Individually, junior Jeffrey Love rolled to the victory in an impressive time of 15:35. The George School athlete has been quite underrated on this site thus far (as pointed out by one of our readers) after a terrific sophomore campaign in the independent league last fall. Love is actually the #1 returner from the independent league and yet he didn’t make the top 50 rankings. A 15:35 and a victory against Jack Miller and the CRN boys should get him onto that elusive list.

Kevin Ehrgott of CRN was also a big surprise in this race. He ended up as North’s #1 runner and dropped a 15:44 in the process. For reference, 2014 state medalist Brian Arita of North ran 16:15 at this meet (for the win) back in 2014. On the flip side, Bensalem’s Brad Rivera and Kyle Francis ran 15:35 and 15:41 at this meet in 2011 and neither were in the medal mix by season’s end.

All the same, Ehrgott stepping up and challenging (beating) Early in this meet is a good sign for the defending state champs. Seems to me they will four guys with medal potential by season’s end for the second straight year. Then it will just be about finding that 5^th man needed to win the title. Seems like a few guys, including varsity returner Matt Mullen, are interested in making that happen.

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.

Weekend Recaps are Back and The Same As Ever!

By Jarrett Felix (UPDATED 9/4 @ 11:13 AM)

Ladies and gentlemen the 2017 XC Season is here! We are back and ready to discuss all the action from the opening weekend of what is sure to be another exciting season. The weather was solid up here for a good portion of the day on Friday/Saturday so hopefully the PA folks got similar good fortune. I’ll be recapping the races and analyzing the results of the weekend meets in alphabetical order so feel free to skip around or skim or control F for your name. Let’s get back into it …

Bear Mountain

Lock Haven’s course is usually very quick and this year’s early season results were no exception. Three runners broke 16 minutes on the layout, led by a 1-2 punch form General McLane’s Nate Price and Erik Andrzejewski. The two juniors were on my AA watch list after a big sophomore campaign and both clearly are still in top shape. Their team, a top 10 squad in AA last year, also won the team title.

While the times of 15:43 and 15:50 are definitely a bit inflated by the fast layout, it’s also worth noting that these same two guys ran roughly a minute slower last year on the same loop. And it’s not like they are slouches: I considered both for my preseason top 50 and think they will be medalist in AA. These guys are legit and clearly in shape to do big things this year.

The final sub 16 came from another man who was AA a year ago, Bellefonte’s Brett Pope. Pope was 5^th in D6 last year behind a group of returners, but clearly has made great strides this past summer. Pope wasn’t really in the mix for a top 50 or top 25 finish at states last fall, but this year he has already stamped himself as a possible medal contender in AA and he could be in the district title mix individually (although the district is looking much strong than a year ago).

Some other interesting notes from this one. Ethan Knoebel and Tyler Holcomb finished 1-2 at this meet last year in the 16:20s. Although both ran nearly 20 seconds faster, they ended up 5^th and 6^th in this loaded group. Knoebel was the #2 A runner in the field behind a freshman Tristan Amell of Coudersport in D9. Keep an eye on him looking forward as he ran 16:01. Holcomb was the top AAA runner in the field and qualifies out of D2 because there are not a lot of AAA D4 schools.

In other team news, A squad Mount Caramel defeated preseason darlings Southern Columbia with 164 points to SC’s 211. That being said, it looks like Columbia was missing one of their key contributors in Nick Kuzo and his presence could have potentially swung the meet back in their favor. All the same, Mount Caramel has emerged as an interesting third horse in what we previously expected to be a one v one between SC and perennial powerhouse Northeast Bradford. Tyler Adams led the way for MC in 19^th place overall.

Big Valley

In what runhigh listed as a RAINY day, Isaac Davis successfully defended his Big Valley title with a second straight 15:54. The early favorite for AA state champ produced a quality win against a solid field of up and comers. Besides Davis, there was only one other Senior in the top 13 overall and a total of four freshmen in the top 11!

The big story out of this one has got to be Penns Valley. The A squad won the team title over a slew of large schools and dominated with just 44 points. This team was already on the radar (a consistent program right around the top 10) and were expected to do well this season, but everything changed when two freshmen were added to the equation. Brendan Colwell and Colton Sands of PV placed 4^th and 7^th in the race and became the #1 and #3 runners on a team that already returned two top 40 finishers from last year’s state championship and the top 2 runners from D6 A. Brendan Colwell, who may be the younger brother for reigning district champ and state medalist Chris Colwell, took 4^th with an impressive 16:38 and gives the team another medal contender right off the bat. Chris was a strong 6^th in 16:49 as the team’s top 4 were all under 17 minutes. Sam Gray was the team’s #5 runner and really brought it home. Penns Valley is a legit title contender after what we just witnessed in week one.

Amazingly, the Penns Valley froshes weren’t even tops in their class. Brayden Harris of Mifflin County ran 16:21 to take 3^rd overall in the race as just a freshman. He finished only 2 seconds behind Garrett Baublitz of Juniata, the freshman sensation in the state last year. That is a hugely impressive result for Harris who now bolsters a young core of Chase Shaeffer and Chayce Macknair who ended up 12^th and 13^th in this race. Even without Seth Phillips in the line-up, D6 AAA squad Mifflin County was able to ride their front running to the top performance in their classification with a 2^nd overall team finish. They defeated State College who is expected to be their rivals looking ahead for that one state qualifying spot.

However, the State College boys appeared to be holding some of their cards in reserve. Owen Isham, Mitchell Etter and Sam Horn, three of the team’s top returners, were all MIA at this meet. State College was actually read by, you guessed it, another freshman! Bennent Norton took 18^th overall and gives the Little Lions another piece to use in their fight to stay atop the district standings. If Isham and Etter can be as good as projected, SC is going to be tough to beat yet again. However, the addition of Brayden Harris makes Mifflin County a very dangerous rival. Especially if they can add back in Seth Phillips in the not so distant future.

Some other quick notes here. Lewisburg put together a nice pack. This is a program that is always strong. Look for them to put together a nice run this season and stay in the mix in D4 AA. Van May, yet another freshman, ran 17 flat for 11^th in this race. He’s from Bedford High, the same school that produced Will Kachman. May could be an interesting factor in the D5 championship picture against Somerset’s dynamic 1-2 punch of Mazzariello and Walker.

Cliff Robbins

In XC, nothing is ever guaranteed and we saw further proof of that this weekend at Cliff Robbins. Back to back state champions Dallas were logical favorites against their district 2 rivals but, despite 4 top 10 finishes, the champs were upset by A’s Montrose 53-67. Dallas has looked darn near invincible in recent years and I’m still a believer in these guys after meet #1, but it will be interesting to monitor their depth moving forward. Jason Culp was a super valuable contributor for this team who they lost to graduation and I’m looking forward to seeing who steps up to fill his shoes. They won’t need anything huge as it looks like Dallas has 4 guys with top 50 potential, perhaps 3-4 medalist candidates as well (although the AA section is loaded individually this year).

So let’s talk about Montrose here. The school moved down to A last year and took off, winning the district title and quickly becoming my favorite sleeper team to discuss in the state title picture. Montrose had a couple key graduates, but they’ve clearly reloaded. Brandon Curley looks just as good as ever and could be a top 5-10 in A this season. Laim Mead impressed me last year and was 8^th at this meet. Max Brewer was the team’s #5 today, but also the team’s #5 last season and has big potential to move. They’ve got nice depth all the way through #6 as they had 6 top 20 finishers in a pretty deep meet. I was high on Montrose in my preseason ranks and I’m staying that way looking ahead. I love the way last year’s JV guys stepped right up into the varsity line up with confidence. I think this team has a ton of potential.

Holy Redeemer had a strong showing in the team picture as well. Even without Lucas Volpetti, a top 10 finisher last year at districts, Redeemer was 3^rd in the standings with 5 top 30 finishers. The big climber in the varsity line up this year seems to be Conner Stevens, who was just behind their workhouse Zapusek in 12^th.

In another notes, Franklin Cunningham of Hazleton, a former district champ I believe as a sophomore, was the top AAA man in the field. He took 7^th overall. Jack Zardecki of Dallas won the meet and looks in great form. We haven’t talked a ton about him as an individual since team results have really driven the discussion around him, but Zardecki deserves some individual state title love. He’s in that conversation no doubt.

Enos Yeager

Coming into this season, you didn’t know what you would get out of Carlisle. They lost their 3 top dogs and, on paper at least, didn’t have a ton of pieces coming back after a legendary breakthrough in 2016. But Carlisle looks like they’ve recovered just fine. The defending district champs got a big win at this meet over Chambersburg and AA Gettysburg with 8 of the top 15 overall finishers.

However, individually I was most impressed by Jack Wisner. The Carlisle junior rolled to a very fast 12:24 on the course and won by some 30 seconds. If we thought this top tier talent would take a step back due to losing some training partners, we were sorely mistaken. The Junior ran the fastest of the past 10 seasons for a junior on the course and was just 4 seconds slower than won Sam Affolder ran last year (when Sam was 2^nd). Wisner’s stock is on the rise.

Also adding their names to the elite sub 13 crew for this odd distance are Casey Padgett, a sophomore from Carlisle who ran 10:02 last spring, and Chambersburg’s Trentin Overcash. Carlisle’s top 7 featured just one senior and a bunch of guys who I highlighted in my preseason preview for having produced on the track.

In other notes, I like the 1-2 punch I saw out of Gettysburg. Either Luke Milhimes or Bradley Filler could be a factor near the top of the D3 field and they’ve got a nice 1-2-3 punch developing. If they can find a way to bolster the back half of the line up, they could make a nice little team run this season.

Also I noticed Cade Rush on Carlisle as a senior. That’s not the same Cade Rush from Waynesburg Central last year I’m assuming? Just a name coincidence? Cade Rush of Waynesburg was 15^th in the AA WPIAL champs last year and, if it’s the same guy, could be a nice addition to Carlisle’s already deep core. If it’s just a coincidence, shout out to this Cade Rush for stepping up from out of nowhere as a senior to join a deep Carlisle varsity contigent.

Hornet Harrier

Zac Tingley of Lakeview, one of the top returners from A, wont eh race with a time of 16:43. Noah Bernarding, the top freshman in A last year, took second for D10 rivals Cochranton. The top teams in D10 A this year are pretty wide open as some key pieces graduated. Bernarding’s Cochranton team stepped up in week one to take the top D10 honors with a second place finish. Two of my preseason sleeper picks, Lakeview and Reynolds, were 4^th and 6^th overall. D10’s Hickory (AA) was 3^rd. Reynolds got an awesome run out of Troy Hart who placed 5^th in team scoring.

The top overall team in this race was the WPIAL’s Shenango. The boys from Shenango have had some painfully close runs at state championship qualifying out of D7 A and look just as loaded as ever this season. Matt Salem took 3^rd in this race at 17:01 and was joined by Nick Pindel as a top 10 finisher. Pindel is just a freshman this season.

Lions Invitational

The 1-2 punch from Abington Heights have received a lot of love from me this preseason, but Saucon Valley’s Ethan Bernstein decided to come out and turn the tables on the D2 standouts in their season opener. Bernstein, the D11 AA champ last year, rolled to a 16:35 victory over Burke and Uhranowky of Abington Heights. Sheamus Hammerstone of Notre Dame GP was 4^th overall in the race, just a few seconds back of 3^rd. If Hammerstone keeps running like this Notre Dame could be a fun squad in AA this year. Their returning state medalist, John Koons, was missing from the front of the field this weekend, but if he comes back, watch out for this team.

The team title in this won was taken by Nazareth Area in an impressive surprise. This squad wasn’t a huge factor in the battle at the top of District 11 last season, but they seem to have bolstered their depth and guys like Blake Samsel have taken a nice step forward in 2017.

In other notes, the top A finisher in the race was Palmerton’s Jacob Martinez. Martinez will get Wayne Reilly this year at districts to decide who grabs the state title. Bangor’s Morgan O’Brien was the top D11 AAA performer in this local meet.

Marty Uher

It’s going to be a fun year in the WPIAL this season and Mount Lebanon, who missed out on a trip to states last fall, will be the main reason why. The Lebo boys got off to yet another hot start at the Marty Uher Invite on the brutal Cal course. They averaged an impressive 17:28 and scored just 26 points to take the team title in impressive fashion.

For Lebo, their two state qualifying athletes picked up right where they left off last season as Peter Costentino and Patrick Anderson took the team’s top two spots in the meet. PC was 2^nd overall just fractions of a second behind Top 50 man Mark Brown. Anderson was 3^rd overall just ahead of fellow Top 50-er Cameron Binda. Lebo had 9 members of the top 20 overall in the race even without Bryce Brandenstein. It’s a great start for this squad, but they will need to prove they can maintain this intensity all the way to Coopers.

In other news out of the event, Greensburg Salem looks to continue the momentum they picked up a year ago when they won the WPIAL title. This squad’s terrific top 3 was in good form as they took 1-4-12 overall. However, the 4-5 were a little further back. That being said, GS still was 3^rd in the team standings and tops among the AA squads in attendance. They also had a 6-7 that was just a few spots back of the 4-5 and could push them in meets looking forward.

Upper St Clair was 2^nd overall with 72 points, led by Chris Hess in 8^th place.

McDowell

Just as Lebo pulled out a strong win in their opener, so too did budding WPIAL rival Butler. The Bull Dogs (yes, I’m sticking with Bull Dogs for now) only raced 5 guys in the varsity race at McDowell but still picked up the team victory over Taylor Allderdice of District 8 by double digits. Butler’s Noah Beveridge ran 15:27 in a runaway victory, topping the unreal mark Austin Pondel of Corry posted in 2012 (15:36). Pondel went on to be a Footlocker Finalist at season’s end. I’m high on Butler for this season and I thought their opener went quite well, but there’s still work to be done if they want to contend for a state or district title. Worth noting, Butler also picked up a big JV win from senior Doug Kostelansky who won the race in 17:21, a 37 second margin of victory. This kid could be a key piece as Butler continues to try and shrink that spread.

Honestly, the most impressive team performance to me was from Allderdice. The District 8 squad was pretty good last year, but lost their state medalist Amadou Diallo. However, the Allderdice boys don’t seem to have lost much of a step. Tavonne Davis and Ethan Hermann finished 4-5 in this race. That’s a big breakthrough for Hermann, who posted a 16:20. That’s a nice 1-2 punch bolstered by the fact that I think this team is actually deeper at the #5 spot than they were a year ago. It’s going to be hard for this District 8 squad to sneak into the top 10 teams at states, but this could be one of their best ever squads (which is ironic because I thought last year would have been that team). Shout to Allderdice.

In D10 news, we already talked about Lock Haven champs General McLane, but two of their toughest rivals fought hard at this meet. Grove City and Harbor Creek, my early picks for the state qualifying spots, took 3-4 in the team standings behind the AAA squads with just 6 points between them. Grove City was led by an excellent front runner in Jonah Powell (2^nd overall in 16:01) while Harbor Creek utilized their trio of state medalists to take 3-10-11 in the standings. Grove City held off Harbor Creek with depth, but Harbor Creek showed that they are retooling nicely at the 4-5 spot. I was worried about the back half of their varsity but I thought Nate Dougan and Nolan Weber, who both broke 18 minutes, were solid in this opener. Weber is still just a sophomore.

Wrapping up the rest of the action, popular sleeper pick Leshawn Huff started off his season with perhaps his best ever XC performance. The 1600 district champ dropped a 16:21 for 6^th place overall. His New Castle squad was up in the mix at 5^th place with 121 points. New Castle picked up a key addition in freshman Jonah Miller (29^th overall) who really helps bolster the depth of this burgeoning squad. Bradford Area’s Logan Caruso looks to be hitting his stride once more after a top 10 finish to start 2017, He helped his Bradford team to 8^th in the standings and #4 out of AA schools. In the D10 A battle, North East stepped up with a big statement run. The 2007 state champions rolled to 171 points behind two top 20 finishes from Josh Lewis and sophomore Zane Courtwright. That 1-2 punch helped them hold off perennial power Seneca and their solid post-Myers pack.

Northampton

The top two probably look familiar in this one as Avery Lederer of Penncrest gets his revenge on CB East’s David Endres in a flip of last year’s top 2. These boys both cracked 16 minutes as Lederer rolled to a 15:43 winning time. However, Endres had arguably the last laugh as he was able to lead his CB East boys team to a narrow victory over Penncrest. Both of these programs are right in the mix for one of the final state spots and can pick up some confidence from strong showings in weekend one.

CB East absolutely rolled at this meet last year and, although this result wasn’t quite as dominant, I think that’s a good sign. This squad will look to time their peak a little bit better so that they can get back to states. East is very impressive as their young core was on full display. Cole Sands took 7^th (junior) and sophomore Andrew Conte took 17^th. But Penncrest also had young stars to lead on as their #3 and #4 were both sophomores in Patrick Theveny (8^th) and Andrew Woolery (24^th).

This course is definitely quick, but it’s not crazy to think that these guys can match these sort of marks at season’s end and average under 16:30 at Lehigh.

Individually, we saw some big breakthroughs. Easton’s Joseph Ozgar was a big surprise as he rolled to a 15:59 and took 3^rd place. He topped one of my personal sleeper picks for 2017 in Colin Cramer who was 4^th and Quakertown’s 800 superstar Hudson Delisle who was 5^th. Ozgar and his Easton teammates took an impressive 3^rd overall in this race and will look to stay in the state qualifying picture out of District 11.

Southern Lehigh, the early favorites for the D11 title, were just 9^th overall but actually had, in my opinion, a great result. This was arguably Cramer’s best ever XC race, showing great ability after a breakthrough on the track, and then SL had a nice punch of up and comers at the 2-3 spot including a frosh with upside in Alec Dicesare. SL’s #2-5 returners from last year’s state meet, including talented miler Thomas Matsumura, were all missing from the results. Add those guys back in within the ball park of Cramer and this team looks very strong. But we will have to wait and see if everyone is healthy enough to make that assumption down the road.

In other news, Pope John Paul picked up the AA victory fairly convincingly with a 17:20 average. This will be a big season for JP2 as they are the early favorites to knock off powerhouse HG Prep in District One AA. However, we haven’t seen this team in the state results anytime recently so they have something to prove. Nice to see they’ve handled the pressure well in week one.

Oakbourne Relays

It’s hard to read too much into a 2 mile relay meet, but it’s also hard to not be impressed by the boys from DT West. In addition to flooding the JV results, West posted a strong win in the varsity meet over their rivals from West Chester Henderson. DTW’s 4 teams all took top 5 spots, only being eluded the sweep because of Conestoga’s stand out relay led by top tier talents Robinson and Shultz.

I don’t always know which splits go with which names (every once in a while it gets flipped on us), but it looks like the fastest race of the day was posted by Henderson’s Spencer Smucker. The three time state medalist posted splits of 4:55 and 4:52 which are up there with the top results at this meet. Last year Nick Dahl ran 4:51 and 4:55 splits and Rusty Kujdcyh ran 5:03 and 4:59. So Smucker is up there with two guys who smoked the Lehigh Course.

In other news, it appears the Unionville 1-2 punch of Conway and Walker each had solid days with multiple splits at 5:10 or faster. Also in that top group of splits appears to be Tyler Rollins of DT West (5:01-5:07) and Evan Kaiser of DT West (5:05-5:07). My apologies if I flipped anyone’s name.

If anybody has Gateway results, hit me up with those. Otherwise, let me know if I missed another meet and I’ll add it to the recap. Top 50 updated rankings will be coming later on this week …

Also, here's a Gateway recap that we got from one of commenters that is very well done:

The Gateway results aren't currently on milesplit, but the results were sent to the participating teams. Here's my takeaway: The Boyce Park course is about 2 minutes slower than most courses (according to the meet director). We'll see how accurate this is as athletes compete on faster courses. Riverview's Ben Barnes ran 17:33, not far from the (unofficial) meet record of 17:28. Christian Fitch was the only other runner to dip under 18 with a 17:49. Fitch would have to settle for another second place finish as his Fox Chapel team lost in a tiebreaker to Norwin by virtue of a slower #6 runner. Plum was third in the 13 team field. Only 3 teams in this meet were A or AA. There were more, but they were all incomplete teams. Deer Lakes, the only AA school finished 9th. The most impressive team result of the day was from last year's single-A WPIAL runner ups, Riverview. They managed to place 6th against mostly AAA teams. The only other Class A school was Eden, who placed behind Riverview in 7th.

Past Week One Breakthroughs

Yes, it’s only the first week of meets, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have breakthrough performances or emerging sleepers right from the jump. I’ve compiled some of the biggest week one storylines over the past 10+ years from some of the very same meets that will be contested this coming weekend. Hopefully you recognize some familiar names. I’m looking forward to adding more names to this list in the very near future.

P.S. Make sure to hit us in the comments section with the “Other” answers that so many people are listing in the poll. And feel free to share some of your favorite breakthrough opening weekend performers from year’s past.

Austin Pondel, Corry (McDowell 2012)

During his junior season, Pondel proved he was a strong cross country runner. He medaled at states and was among the top 7 PA finisher at the Footlocker Regional Championships. However, he was still a relative unknown when compared to the likes of Dan Jaskowak of Grove City (within his own district), not to mention the District One super powers. As far as most were concerned, Pondel was good but not great.

Well the senior quickly changed the narrative as he started his 2012 season with a blazing 15:36 for the 5k at McDowell. Pondel smoked a strong western field that included reigning 1600 meter state champ Ryan Smathers and fellow returning state medalist Ean DiSilvio by 37 and 21 seconds respectively. That started a huge year for Pondel that included a sub 16 at Hershey and a Footlocker Nationals appearance.

Dave Adley, Baldwin (Gateway 2007)

It seems like every year there is a dominant individual force in the WPIAL, but entering the 2007 XC season we didn’t think it would be Dave Adley. Heck, if it was a Baldwin runner, most would have bet on TJ Hobart, the sophomore sensation with 1:52 speed. But Adley emerged from the jump as a contender and never relinquished his spot. He won the Gateway Invite in 17:28 (listed as a then course record) and finished the season as WPIAL champion in Coopers a few months later. All this after Adley was a complete non-factor in the championship picture a year prior. Dave also dropped into the 9:20s on the track and clocked a 4:16 for 1600 meters producing a terrific breakout senior year after being a relative no name in D7.

Mitchell Etter, State College (Big Valley 2016)

Etter’s results were hidden in the JV race, but the then junior raced to a 16:44 completely uncontested across the Big Valley course. That time won the race by 100 seconds and would have placed him 6^th in the varsity race. Although Etter got injured this past fall, he raced to multiple fast 3200s on the track and earned a spot in the preseason top 50 rankings. We will see what he has this year when he takes to the course.

Michael Stolar, Mercyhurst Prep (McDowell 2006)

We are going way back in the archives for this one. Stolar was 20^th at states as a junior at Mercyhurst Prep and, although that finish is nothing to gloss over, he was buried on the returners list behind some big names including the 5^th place finisher Ben Hahn. But Stolar showed he was ready to make a big leap right from the jump at his opening invite. He dropped a 15:49 to defeat Hahn by 5 seconds. Both runners were over a minute ahead of the rest of the field in this epic dual. At states, the two would finish within a second of one another, this time Hahn had the edge with his 4^th place finish while Stolar took 5^th. Mike made up 12 seconds on Hahn over the final mile, but came up just short of edging out the eventual 3200 state champion from outdoors.

Dylan Mountain, Altoona (Big Valley 2011)

With all-time great Wade Endress now at Penn State, Altoona would need some step up performers if they were going to stay at the top of the state rankings. The man expected to lead the charge in 2011 was Korey Replogle, who had served as Endress’s #2 the previous fall and earned a state medal for his trouble. However, Dylan Mountain quickly asserted himself as a name to watch. The senior blazed to a 16:25 victory at Big Valley. After being a relative non-factor on the state scene as a junior, Mountain climbed into the state medals finishing 21^st. He also posted terrific marks at Tri-States and Districts. Dylan went on to have a fantastic collegiate career at Lock Haven.

Jake Susalla, Plum (Gateway 2013)

The Martin twins were coming off a terrific year on the track. Ethan was a surprise state champion in the 3200 and Colin had dropped major time to break 9:20 and join his twin on the medal stand. Entering the 2013 season, both runners were among the title contenders in a loaded WPIAL. But at the opening invite of the season, they got an unexpected challenge. Sophomore Jake Susalla finished the course in 17:27, just 2 seconds back of the Martin twins who raced together in 17:25. The Plum sophomore didn’t make a big tent in the 2013 season, but in 2014 he was 3^rd in the WPIAL and a state medalist. Then, in 2015, Susalla overcame an injury ridden fall to explode to sub 16 on the Hershey course, posting a top 8 finish at States.

Will Kachman, Bedford (Big Valley 2013)

As just a sophomore, Kachman entered the Big Valley Invitational with something to prove. He had been solid as a freshman in AA, but hadn’t made a major impact on the state scene. However, he quickly established himself as a contender, defeating State College’s Will Cather 16:16 to 16:17. Kachman went on to finish 3^rd at the state championships in AA. Will also won the Big Valley race each of the next two seasons. Kachman stacked a lot of medals in his trophy case over his XC career and, as a senior, posted one of the fastest ever AA times on the Hershey layout. Cather had a strong showing in his own right. The senior placed 25^th at states and led State College to a top five finish as a team.

Mount Lebanon (Marty Uher 2011)

There was a lot of talk entering the 2011 season about the talented group of returners at Mount Lebanon High School. Although they had some depth, it was hard to imagine this school competing for a state or district championship considering they ran in the same section of the state as North Allegheny and would have to contend with D1 powers like Henderson. Well, Lebo blazed out the gates and put themselves on the map from the jump by taking the top 7 spots at their opening invite, led by defending state medalist Alex Moran. Although Lebo didn’t ultimately grab their coveted titles, they still posted one of the best finishes in school history by taking 4^th place in the state. Lebo was one of the breakout stories of a wacky year in 2011 that included the rise of O’Hara and the resurgence of North Penn.

Alex Milligan, State College (Big Valley 2014)

Milligan had a solid sophomore season on the track, gaining fame as a key alternate for the 2014 4x800 state champions from State College. However, he really hit his stride his junior season. Milligan opened the year running 16:24 to take 2^nd at the Big Valley Invite, ahead of district rival and state medalist Brad Foust as well as defending district champ Dominic Stroh. Milligan would go on to win the District title and place 16^th at states that season.

Colin Abert, Easton (Northampton 2011)

It’s not every day that a sub 15 5k guy comes waltzing through Pennsylvania. But back in 2011, a freshman by the name of Colin Abert started his journey to that historic number. Abert won the Northampton Invite as just a freshman with a time of 16:22. Although he didn’t return to the course in the years that followed, Abert went on to take 12^th, 2^nd and 5^th at states in the next three years with three district titles and a sub 15 performance at Paul Short.

Dominic Hockenbury, Lake Lehman (Cliff Robbins 2014)

We already knew that Dominic Hockenbury was good. He took 2^nd at states in 2013 and finished his sophomore track season as state champ in the 3200. But Hockenbury proved he belonged among the state’s elite, regardless of school size, right from the jump in 2014. The eventual 5 time state champion clocked a 15:51 to dominate the Cliff Robbins Invite and assert himself as a potential Footlocker Finalist. It was the first of two straight championships for Hock at this meet. 

TheRealTrain Course Comparison Database

For those of you who didn’t see it, here was an idea from one of our readers named Jiminy Cricket:

Etrain, how would you feel about creating some sort of comparison system for XC courses/meets? Since every course is different, it would be useful to be able to take someone's time and convert it into a time that works across the board (same idea as Speed Ratings, but this would be much more informal). I'm thinking we use the states course as the baseline/reference point.

For instance, from my experience, the updated Red White and Blue course (Schenley Park) is about 30-40 seconds quicker than the new Hershey course. Cooper's Lake is roughly 15-20 seconds faster than Hershey. The idea is that we get a bunch of people to comment with their own subjective conversions, agree on a consensus, and then have an idea of how fast an individual performance is on a known course (to most people). Hopefully, we cover just about every major meet throughout the season so we can judge each runner's time.

Again, just an idea. But I think this will be real useful, especially as XC starts back up and we don't know how credible breakout performances really are (flashing back to David Endres going like 15:45 in the 1st meet last year). Let me know what you think!

Personally, I think this is a very interesting idea and, with the right input from all of you, I think we could build our own little database of sorts. Hopefully you guys agree and we can work together to start piecing something together that will grow in the years that follow.

For starters, I’m putting together an excel sheet that will have some more numerical inputs to use to create a less subjective approach. Once I get the beginnings of that sheet up and running, I’ll post it up online and readers can add to it. I’ll explain all the ins and outs of the sheet once it’s ready.

In the meantime, I think it’s important to also have a subjective component of this. We need to make sure the numbers make sense with what we logically think because there are a lot of variables that go into this undertaking (time of year, weather, competition, natural variability, etc.). So I think we should start getting comments of course comparisons from the readers.

There are a lot of ways to contribute, but I think what is most important is to get a variety of ideas and discussions. Some ideas on how to share your thoughts:

1) Give a straightforward conversion. Maybe you think Lehigh’s 5k course is 45 seconds faster than Cooper’s Lake. Or maybe you think Carlisle’s course is 15 seconds faster than Big Spring’s. These give us a feel for how courses stack up and an easy way to compare times.

2) Rank courses in difficulty. Maybe you have run a bunch of different courses in your career. You can provide a quick ranking from easiest to hardest of the layouts. For example, say you raced 5 courses over the year. You may rank them from easiest to hardest as:

Lehigh

Carlisle

Belmont Plateau

Hershey

Salesianum

It doesn’t provide an exact # equivalence, but those are usually hard to hypothesize about. This gives an order that we should expect the times to trend. Remember, more than just hills goes into a course being hard. Bad footing, sharp turns or pavement sections could change your opinion even more than hills.

3) Provide some insight on courses that aren’t particularly well known. We know about the big courses, but what about some of the smaller invitationals? What about dual meet courses? If we get enough input, we can have data on these courses as well. People who are out in Erie County can benefit from those in the Catholic League and vice versa.

4) Provide info on how courses have changed over time. There are always changes going on to make something easier or harder. Maybe a course moved locations. These things can have an impact when we look back on year to year comparisons rather than just comparisons within a certain year.

Let me know what you guys think and be on the lookout for the spreadsheet as I continue to try and compile some data for us all.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Top Small School Runners Who Didn’t Make The Top 50: AA Individuals

AA

Aiden Weber, Jr Harbor Creek (10)

Christian Babo made the XC Pre-Season Top 50 last year. Ryan Stravaggi made it this year. But Aiden Weber could end up being the best of the Harbor Creek big 3 in 2017. Weber was a state medalist last year, taking 21^st overall just 1 second behind his teammate Stravaggi. A year earlier, as a freshman, Weber finished ahead of his district champion teammate and just outside the state’s top 50. He’s also run very quick marks of 16:26 and 10:03 plus he’s been 4^th and 3^rd at the District 10 championships. Weber is a stand out performer with a ton of potential just like his two star studded teammates. I’m excited to watch this young core in action.

Jarrett Raudenski, Jr York Suburban (3)

If York Suburban is going to get back to the top of the podium in 2017, they will lean on rising junior Jarrett Raudenski. Not only does he have a dope name, Jarrett also boasts state finishes of 38^th and 40^th in his first two high school seasons with district finishes of 3^rd and 7^th. Personally, I think this kid could be sitting on a big breakthrough as he enters his junior season. He reminds me a bit of his teammate Bryce Ohl who had been knocking on the door of state medal position for two seasons before a tremendous breakthrough his junior year where Ohl posted a top 10 finish. By the way, Ohl is among the many talented teammates who will be pushing Raudenski in practice and races each week. That should provide an extra boost for the 16:40/2:00 junior.

Mitchell Rome, Jr Dallas (2)

Speaking of the state title picture, the boys from Dallas are looking for a 3^rd straight team title this year against Raudenski and York Suburban. The x-factor could end up being Mitchell Rome. Rome was the lone sophomore in Dallas’s top 5 from the 2016 state meet and, as the youngest scorer, may have the most upside of the bunch heading into 2017. Rome made the jump from 73^rd as a freshman (which was amazingly just the 10^th best freshman performance in his loaded class) to 37^th as a sophomore (9^th best, yes this class is still loaded) and was a key contributor in two tight title races. I probably don’t need to say this again, but Rome does have a pretty famous last name in Dallas circles as well. No pressure of course. His own times speak well enough for themselves as he’s clocked 16:43 and 10:01 before even starting his 3^rd year of high school running. Dallas vs. York Suburban is going to be one heck of a match up this year.

Jacob Pasake, Sr Western Wayne (2)

There’s not much to dislike here. Pasake proved his worth last year with a 3^rd place finish at districts and a 12^th place finish at states. He’s the #7 returner for states and the first AA medalist to be left out of the Top 50. In fact, only Manheim Central’s David Merkey ran a faster time at Hershey last year across all classifications without breaking onto the preseason top 50 list for 2017. Add in the fact that Pasake’s track bests are 4:31, 9:08 (3k) and 9:53 and you’ve got yourself a very deserving member of the honorable mention club. He’s already got a best of 16:18 for 5k so this could be a big year for the Western Wayne senior.

Nate Price, Jr & Erik Andrzejewski, Jr General McLane (10)

General McLane was one of my favorite storylines from the final weeks leading up to states. A pair of sophomores helped lead this squad through a difficult district meet and onto states where both Nate Price and Erik Andrzejewski were top 40 finishers. In fact, Andrzejewski was the top finisher at states for all of District 10. He absolutely caught fire down the stretch en route to that 18^th place finish at states. His success should be a confidence booster for Price as well who is fresh off a track season that included times of 4:28 and 9:38 for 1600 and 3200. Andrzejewski was not far behind in 4:31 and 9:41. Amazingly, D10 still basically has everyone back from the top of the district so these guys still have their work cut out for them if they want to get to states as a team and stay in the top 10 of D10. But they’ve got the talent and momentum to do a whole lot more than that in 2017.

Cejay Walker, Jr Somerset (5)

District 5 is rarely stealing the spotlight in Pennsylvania distance running, but Cejay Walker of Somerset has quietly been developing into a medal threat. After a strong freshman season, Walker came back better than ever as a sophomore. He has now run 16:38, finished in the top 50 at states and ran 2 flat for 800. The kid has range, a high quality teammate in Dominic Mazzariello (who is perhaps even better than Walker) and a steady progression that could mean another nice jump in 2017. Walker has his work cut out for him as 15 of the 25 state medalists return (as well as 26 of the top 40 and 32 of the top 40), but he’s got just as good of odds as anyone else at breaking through and sneaking into the top 25.

Le’Shawn Huff, Sr New Castle (7)

Huff is a bit of a wild card in 2017. The New Castle senior was 105^th at states last year and isn’t even his squad’s #1 returner from districts (that’s rising soph Anthony Litrenta). However, Huff became something of a household name when he stunned the 1600 field at WPIALs and took the district title in a huge PR of 4:24.18. That’s moving. In the process he beat out a ton of top 50 guys, including multi time state medalist Sam Snodgrass.

Sometimes those big breakthroughs can do wonders for the mental side of the equation. Huff went from running 4:33 and 4:34 in his first two milesplit worthy invites in 2016 down to 4:24 in the blink of an eye. If he makes a comparable jump in XC, he will be a state medalist.   

Ethan Bernstein, Sr Saucon Valley (11) & John Koons, Jr Notre Dame (11)

A year ago, Ethan Bernstein was the District 11 champion in XC, but it was his rival John Koons of Notre Dame who left with the state medal. Bernstein has run some terrific times in the past year including a 16:18 5k and a 9:39 for 3200 meters. He also placed in the top 50 at states for XC. Koons boasts the state medal, taking 25^th overall as just a sophomore. His 5k PR is only listed at 17:02 on milesplit, but he does boast a 16:04 for 3 miles. We will see if things hold consistent in 2017 or one of these runners builds up a clean sweep at districts and states.

Bryce Zapusek, Jr & Lucas Volpetti, Jr Holy Redeemer (2)

District 2 has proven itself as a high quality district in AA. With just two teams and 10 individuals, they’ve produced almost exclusively top 10 teams and top 50 placing individuals. Last year, 6 of the 10 at large qualifiers were in the top 50 and D2 in general had 13 top 50 guys. For comparison, District 3 had 5 in the top 50 (3 from YS) and District 7 had 10. Team wise, District 2 had the champs (Dallas) and the 10^th place finishers (Holy Redeemer). Plus, Berwick, who didn’t make it to states out of the loaded D2, had 3 individuals in the top 45.

All this is basically a long way of saying, I trust in the district. That means I’m going to trust that some of its rising stars may be ready to step up in 2017. Bryce Zapusek and Lucas Volpetti seem like just as good of candidates as anyone. Zapusek was just outside the medals last year in 27^th and he and Lucas were a key part of this team’s big 3 that allowed them to punch a somewhat surprise ticket to states. With 3 other varsity guys back, the momentum should continue to roll in the HR hallways. Don’t sleep on Volpetti this year. He had a heck of a season on the track running 4:35 and contributing to a 4^th place 4x8 at states.