Weekend Results

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Viking Invitational
I wouldn't call it a big win for Ross Wilson this weekend, but he had a very solid effort after what has been a brutal past couple of weeks at CRN's training camp and they got 1 more week left. He'll be ready to roll by Briarwood.

The course was in really good condition from what I heard and was well received by the runners. The uphill really helped the long distance guys from the more speed oriented ones like Francis and Logue. Both of those guys will need to make some strides later in the season, but I'm not too worried about either of them, especially Francis. Coach Molloy always has Bensalem peaking at the right time.

I didn't think Brophy would run this fast! That's a 10 second 5k PR in the first meet of the season! At this rate look to see him sub 15:20 at districts. I'm glad to see the Kazanjian's bouncing back after a rough track season, XC really seems to be their sport and I think they've got a shot at both being on the podium this year. Chris has taken a few strides over Matt, but they work together everyday in practice so I'm sure he's capable of sub 16. The Marcelis brothers both ran quite well, Tristan was faster most of last season, but he and Lukas are closer than ever. This 1-2 punch will help them place high in district 1.

Well PennTrack is making me look bad, William Tennent had a great 1-4 spread. If their 5th man can get up with the pack and they'll be in great shape. Council Rock North placed 5th and really looked bad out there. Brian Arita seems to have taken it to the next level, but Griswold will need to step it up for them to have a shot at making it out of districts. It is still very early in the season, my senior year I raced against Tennent at a road race at the beginning of the season and I would have been 13th on there team... I went on to beat all of them at districts.

8th Oakbourne Relays 
We didn't see a bunch of Hendersons Varsity this weekend including Russell and Collins which I'm not surprised out. Coach Kelly does this quite often. Those who did run for WCH did pretty well. The times were much slower than last year. I'm not sure if the conditions were bad or the changed the course, but I'm not at all concerned about the shape of these athletes. DTW seemed to have a really nice pack of 6 guys all running together, which is positive to see from this team. 

38th Cliff Robbins Invitational
This invite was not on my list at all, and it should have been. Dallas and Scranton Prep had a really great battle with Dallas edging them out 70-71. Dominic Deluca dominated the field with a comfortable victory, helping give Dallas the low stick they needed, but if there spread doesn't get pulled down from over 2 minutes they could have issues come the state meet. Scranton Prep has a great pack right now which will come in handy later in the season. Dominic Hockenberry was one of the So's I wanted to watch this season and he started off with a strong second place showing in this meet. If he continues to improve he'll be a top 5 contender in AA. I thought Abington Heights would have a tigher pack than they do right now, they've got some work ahead of them if they want to compete at the state level. 

42nd California University Invitational
I wasn't sure who would step it up for Mt Lebo to be a state meet team, but right now they're looking pretty good. Todd Gunzenhauser is just a sophomore and made huge strides this summer and has become an immediate impact runner for this team. Their 3-5 all finished together giving them a nice pack, but I'm not sure if it'll last in bigger invitationals... It seems to me they tempo'd this invitational. They did get my attention however and I'm excited to see how they fair later in September against some bigger competition. This is an encouraging sign. 
 
Big Valley Invitational 
A - Not sure what to say about the 'A' team's, but North Claron looks pretty solid right now and they're young.

AA - William Kachman and Zane Baker are on my So watch list and they ran quite well with a 1-2 finish. Baker really let his teammate and training partner go and has a lot of work to do if he wants to take that next step. Bedford is a very young team, they may not make tons of noise this season, but the next couple of years they may be at the top of the AA scene. Bo Dinger hasn't quite made the strides I was hoping he would, but it's a long season so he's got time to catch up to the Bedford Duo.

 AAA- Not a very big meet, but oh boy was State College dominant. Their 5th man from last year Kevin Drago wasn't even on the varsity squad in the meet has they had a 55 second spread 1-5 and their 6-7 looked really solid. Beating their District 6 rivals Altoona 23 to 60 this early is a great sign for their program. I'm very interested in there Fr Nick Feffer. It's rare to see freshman making it onto varsity squads at the beginning of the year, this kid could be in their top 5 come October. I'm liking this team more and more. Brad Foust had a nice race outleaning Adams for second place. Altoona is going to need someone to step up into that number 5 position if they want to challenge SC this season. 

Hornet Harrier Invitational  
I don't have a lot to say about this meet, but West Middlesex looked really strong right out of the gates. They've got a nice spread and their 3-5 guys are only sophomores which is a good sign for the future. They'll need to tighten the gap a little bit, but this is a team to watch for in the coming months. They're only a 'A' so depth isn't a huge factor, but they don't really have a 6th man or a low stick, so they'll need to stay healthy in order to place well. 

22nd Gateway Invitational  
A nice 1-2 victory for the Fox Chapel twins at this meet, pulling away from Jake Susalla of Plum at the end. Susalla really impressed this weekend being only a few seconds behind the Martin twins who are both All-Region runners in my mind. The fact that he was right with them the whole way says that he put in the work this summer and has the potential for a fantastic season. Keep him on your radar. Fox Chapel won the invitational, but they had over a 2 minute spread for their team. They're 5-6 guys were right with each other, which is encouraging that they have some depth in the back and hopefully they can work together to bring that spread down to about 1:15 to 1:30. This is a daunting task, but they'll need to do it in order to make it out of WPIAL's. 
  

That's all for now Folks!

--ForrestCRN