Individual Rankings Update #2 (9/29)

 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 3^rd 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 (12^th to 10^th) – 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 5^th place finish @ Carlisle. The kid looked really strong. Can’t wait to see more from him.

13. Matt McGoey (15 to 13) – Placed 3^rd @ Foundation, leading his team to a big victory.

14. Reiny Barchet (5 to 14) – Placed 10^th @ 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 4^th 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 2^nd place to Brehm seems more impressive.

17. Aaron Lauer (31 to 17) – After a solid finish at PTXC (8^th) he places 7^th @ 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 4^th 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 7^th @ 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 18^th overall at McQuaid this weekend but he handily won his section.

22. Jim Belfatto (21 to 22) – Ran well at Briarwood for 5^th 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 9^th 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 3^rd 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 12^th and 14^th 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 16^th @ 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 10^th 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 11^th @ 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 4^th 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 14^th @ 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 15^th @ 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 5^th @ 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.