EDIT 12:30 AM--
I forgot Scott Mason. He was ranked 49th last list and won DII race @ Briarwood in a 16:37 effort. That's right with Comber and Bilotta from the DI race, but he solo'd with a 20 second win. He should be ranked 26th, but I'm not going to change it right now.
Original
Wow, let me first say that an hour ago the blog hit 50k views, so I wanted to thank all of you for keeping this rolling and commenting on the contend. It means a lot to me and I hope all of you are enjoying it so far! I'm working on a possible podcast right now which I'm pretty excited about.
Now onto the Individual Rankings. Before you read them, let me say that I believe the top 8 guys are all within 5 seconds of each other and any one of them could be deserving of the #1 ranking. Dominic Deluca (ranked 8th) is the only one in AA, making the AAA race out front extremely exciting. This was by far the hardest list for me to make as many guys ran well these past two weekends. It's hard for me to judge where Carlisle times rank up against Foundation times, ect. So I'm trying to figure it all out! Please let me know your thoughts.
1. Ross
Wilson (4 to 1): Wilson has beat out some really solid runners and is 3-0 on
the season. He recently picked up victories at Briarwood (15:51) and CR
Invitational (15:50).
2.Tony
Russell (1 to 2)- Win over Cummings by 10 seconds @ tri-meet Wednesday. Won’t
move him down any further due to lack of Invitational racing.
3. Zach
Brehm (10 to 3) – Huge win this past weekend at Carlisle Invitational over some
elite runners and looked smooth doing it. He’s racing a lot like Tony Russell
did last season: let the race play out in the first mile, close second mile,
take off 3rd mile. He had much more in him too from watching the
race video.
4. Brent
Kennedy (2 to 4) – Still yet to race since RW&B, but is a returning FL
finalist.
5. Ethan
Martin (3 to 5) – Still yet to race since RW&B, but is the returning 3200m
champion.
6. Kevin
James (Same) – James had a strong showing against Wilson, losing by only 5
seconds.
7. Colin
Martin (Same) – Hasn’t raced since his big Invitational Win over brother &
Kennedy.
8. Dominic
Deluca (Same) – No racing since PTXC. But 2-0 and class of the AA field.
9. Patrick
Reilly (25 to 9) – Huge win at Big Spring 2 weeks ago, beating
Todaro’s time from last season. Runner up in 15:34 effort behind Brehm @
Carlisle this past weekend.
10. Chris
Cummings (12th to 10th) – Really impressed with a win @
Foundation in a 16:13 clocking. Came in second to Russell in a tri-meet by 10
seconds.
11. Jeff
Groh (19 to 11) – I said two weeks ago Groh would have to prove his consistency
to get moved up. He did that with a great run @ Foundation in 16:17 which was
good for second place.
12. Aaron
Gebhart (16 to 12) – Gebhart opens his season with a 5th place
finish @ Carlisle. The kid looked really strong. Can’t wait to see more from
him.
13. Matt
McGoey (15 to 13) – Placed 3rd @ Foundation, leading his team to a
big victory.
14. Reiny
Barchet (5 to 14) – Placed 10th @ Carlisle and lost to Cummings by
24 seconds in a dual meet. He probably shouldn’t be this high, but he’s a 2x
All-American. I have faith he’s in really good shape right now.
15. Colin
Abert (11 to 15) – Hasn’t raced since 4th place @ PTXC. Really
excited to see what type of shape he’s in next race.
16. Griffin
Molino (17 to 16) – Hasn’t raced since Spiked Shoe, but moves up as his 2nd
place to Brehm seems more impressive.
17. Aaron
Lauer (31 to 17) – After a solid finish at PTXC (8th) he places 7th
@ Carlisle just seconds behind Gebhart. I really like the direction he’s headed
in.
18. Cole
Nissley (Same) – Ran a really nice race at Foundation for 4th place.
19. Seamus
Love (37 to 19) – Ran fantastic @ Foundation just a second behind Nissley
20. Hunter
Wharrey (44 to 20) – Wasn’t sure how good Wharrey would be, but ran step for
step with Love and Nissley @ Foundation. He really impressed me.
21. Sam
Webb (9 to 21) – Placed 7th @ Foundation in his season opener and
can pretty close to Wilson in a dual meet. Will have to see more.
22. Jeremy Parsons (13 to 21) – Parsons
is undefeated this season (3-0) but he hasn’t run anything stunning, mostly
since he hasn’t faced great competition yet. It’s hard for me to place him, but
he was 18th overall at McQuaid this weekend but he handily won his
section.
22. Jim
Belfatto (21 to 22) – Ran well at Briarwood for 5th place over some
good competiton.
23. Jaxson
Hoey (Unranked to 23) – PA’s always got a couple breakout sophomores and he’s
the top one right now. Hoey placed 9th in his past two meets leading
a young, strong, Malvern Prep squad. I really like what he’s got beating out
Barchet and a slew of strong runners this past weekend and sticking close to
Belfatto last weekend.
24. Cordon
Louco (27 to 24) – Louco went from NA’s 2 to 5 this past race, but he’ll always
be in the mix with this great squad’s tight pack.
25. Scott
Seel (38 to 25) – Seel moves up after a big 16:37 performance @ Foundation.
26. Sam
Ritz (14 to 26) – Ran a pretty solid opening race @ Carlisle. Did thing he
would be ahead of this though.
27. Chris
Kazanjian (24 to 27) – He’s got 2 second place finishes and a 3rd
place finish this season and keeps putting himself in races, plus he comes up
big when it counts.
28. Casey
Comber (NA to 28) – He’s won two invitationals (Large School races), and just
held fairly well with Ross Wilson at the CR Invitational. Maybe I should give
him more credit, but I would still like to see some more.
29.
Dominic Hockenbury (32 to 29) – Won the Blue race @ Foundation by over 15
seconds. Looked really strong with a 16:43 effort.
30. Zach
Seiger (NA to 30) – Ran really well for Red Land this past weekend and I like
the improvement he’s showing. He’s placed 12th and 14th
in 2 of the biggest PA invitationals.
31.
Brandon Bilotta (42 to 31)– Has ran some really solid races all season,
outkicked by Comber last weekend @ Briarwood and then placed 16th @
Carlisle.
32. Eric
Stratman (23 to 32) – Opened the season well for Henderson as their #2 with a
16:04.
33. Connor
Holm (49 to 33) – This kid has continued to get faster and faster, and has now
come out with a big victory in the Championship race for Carlisle in a solid
16:04 clocking.
34. Jack
Tidball (31 to 34) – Haven’t seen him since Spiked Shoe.
35. Brian
Delany (46 to 35) – Really like what this young guy is doing. He ran 16:44 for
a 10th place finish @ Foundation.
36. Drew Pastore
(NA to 36) – He’s run some solid races and really stepped up at Briarwood
37.
Jonathan Perlman (NA to 37) – Pearlman really surprised me as he placed 11th
@ Foundation. Interested in watching his improvements; he was a 4:25 1600 guy
as a soph.
38. Seamus
Collins (27 to 38) – Ran a nice opening race. I expect him to move up the list.
39. William
Cather – (26 to 39) – This guy has raced invitational after invitational, all
of them being big races. I think it’s starting to catch up with him and the
rest of the SC squad.
40. Matt
Kazanjian (29 to 40) – Ran a solid race behind his brother @ CR Invite for 4th
place.
41.
William Kachman (36 to 41) – He’s 2-0 this year in small races, I’ll need to
see more from him, but he beat Bryce England (17:10 @ Foundation) easily earlier
this season.
42. Josh
Smith (34 to 42) – Ran another solid race @ Foundation. His first time on the
course since he’s from DE.
43. Alexander
Balla (NA to 43) – Ran an incredible time @ Centaur Invitational and then
placed 14th @ Foundation in 16:51.
44. Aiden
Demko (22 to 44) – Still yet to race, I’m leaving him on the list for 1 more
week.
45. Jake
Brophy (20 to 45) – Brophy ran decent against Comber and Bilotta who beat him
by 6 seconds at Briarwood. Did expect more from him, but he peaked fantastically
last season.
46. Eric
Diestelow (33 to 46) – Placed 15th @ Foundation Gold race.
47. Gary
Olson (NA to 47) – Placed second to Parsons @ Sharpsville Invitational, beat
out Benka and Van Kooten.
47. Jeff
Van Kooten (NA to 47) – Placed 5th @ Sharpsville, but ran really
well @ Carlisle.
48. Rob
Morro (39 to 48) – I liked what I saw @ Briarwood, but need to see more from this
youngster. Tons of potential here.
49. Alex
Knapp (41 to 49) – Fell two miles into Carlisle and still finished well. I have
to give him a lower spot due to the time, but I expect him to move up after
Manhattan. Could be this team’s #3.
50. Brady
Wilt (40 to 50) – Placed first in his Big Spring Invitational Section easily.
Just Missed list could have tons of guys. This was
really difficult for me.
That's all for Now Folks (Top 10 teams list coming Tuesday!)
--ForrestCRN
P.S.
After really looking at the
Henderson results this weekend I have to say they did run very well. I didn’t
expect them to totally kill the meet, but I expected them to win and that’s
what they did. Allegheny has been dominating meets by scoring 31 points, so
when I saw that headline I expect to see 5 in the top 15. This year to last
year Henderson’s average improved by 7 seconds and they didn’t have Russell,
plus the course it apparently slightly slower. All that being said Henderson
should have of course improved, it’s 1 year later with basically the same team.
I do not think this can set them in front of NA, because NA’s guys are beating
people and running times that I have to see as top 35 in the state while
Henderson runners took loses this week to some guys I barely imagine hitting
the top 10, which doesn’t help their cause. I understand Knapp fell which is
terrible, but these things happen. Barchet is the only one who worries me right
now, but he’s a very up and down racer so I shouldn’t be. Henderson will peak
at the right time, so I think they’ll improve more as the season goes on that
NA, but we’ll have to see. For now I think NA will keep the ranking.