PIAA Foundation Meet Preview

PIAA Foundation Meet

I'm pretty hyped up for this meet. It may not be crazy fast out front, but there will be tons of large packs and huge competitions with some really great battles. This meet will be a lot of fun, so I wrote up a preview of it all on it's own.

I also just posted up a short rundown of the 34th Centaur Invitational since the results were just released from that, so be sure to check that out as well. I will be posting a weekend preview for the rest of the meets within the next two hours to be alert!

Blue Race: Team race should be pretty good between Pottsgrove (D1) and Dallas (D3). Pottsgrove is the class of this field, but I’m interested to see how close Dallas will be. They’ve got the clear front runner in this race with Dominic Deluca. I’m pretty upset he won’t be in the Gold race, but I think he’ll be in the 16:30’s. He won’t be pushed too much so it’s him against the clock. Don’t be surprised though if he’s sub 16:20.

Gold Race: We’ve got #2 NA, #4 LD, #5 SC, and #6 WCE duking it out in the team race along with Mount Lebanon who is just outside of the top 10. 

We’ll truly get to see some teams who are close in rankings go at it on the state course. I don’t see NA losing this one. They’ve got some class act runners and a nice pack. Last season they didn’t run their whole varsity and scored 75 points, and I see something very similar happening this season. I would say they score around 80 to get the victory and McGoey places in the top 10. 

Next we’ll get to see a real battle all over the course whether it be the low-sticks or the 5^th men battling for places. LD, SC, and WCE all have very different team dynamics which will make this race really fun to watch and probably a very close score. Last year Groh collapsed about 200m before the finish line which really hurt LD in the end. This season he’s back with confidence after a huge track season and a strong 2^nd place finish at PTXC. With him and Nissley around the top 10 this will be a great help to the LD squad. William Cather will also be in the top 10 pack as he looks to help lead SC to a victory at Foundation. After his team missed out on the state meet last season this will be valuable experience for the SC squad on such a tough course. WCE has got Chris Cummings who is on fire right now, and I think should be in the top 3 of this race followed by Diestelow who will look for a top 15 placing. 

Then the race gets really fun as LD and WCE have similar 3-4 punches who will look to be in the top 30 to 40 in this race and praying they get a 5^th man in the top 60 to 70 while we get to see the Maroon jerseys of SC flying in with their top 2-6 guys all in the top 50 and their 7^th man in the top 70. SC will be looking to put 20 to 30 guys between their 5^th man and LD/WCE’s 5^th man. I’m really excited for this battle all around and these predictions are based on how I think people will race if they are all at close to top form.

NA- 81 (5+13+15+17+27)

LD – 131 (3+8+21+25+74)

SC – 150 (4+26+30+43+45)

WCE – 152 (2+11+23+30+86)

I think that in a best case scenario LD, SC, and WCE will all be within 25 points of each other, but if one person has an off day a lot can get switched around. Also NA’s 5^th man Wharrey will really be tested this weekend on the hills, I’m interested to see how he and the rest of the #5 guys for these teams fair.

With those rankings out there we see 4 people I have in the top 5, Cummings 2^nd, Groh 3^rd, and Cather 4^th and McGoey 5^th, but who is first? I’ve got Webb. He was 14^th at the state meet a year ago and 7^th at Foundation, but I don’t see him being beaten. A lot of these guys are on a roll, but it’s his first big meet of the year and he’ll come out of the gates strong. I’m interested in Pennsbury’s strategy here. Last season they opened up 3 weeks earlier at Viking and dominated that meet and ran really well to capture 3^rd at Foundation, but faltered at Districts and missed going to the state meet. This season it seems as though some training changes have been made and I bet it does this team a lot of good. 

I know putting 3 guys ahead of McGoey in this meet,  but NA doesn’t usually kill it here in terms of individual place and honestly I’d be surprised to see him in the top 5. Cather will be on a down week as will Groh based on their team training patterns while NA is on the up with millage. This is all speculation. 

Other guys to look out for: Alexander Balla of Quakertown just ran away from Christian Kardish this past weekend so I expect to see him in the top 10. Also look for Avon Grove’s Josh Smith to mix it up in the again this week after two back to back top 5 performances on flat courses I’m excited to watch him hit the hills. Manheim Township’s Brian Delany is just a sophomore who placed 10^th @ PTXC so I’m looking for him within the top 15 if not top 10, and I’m hoping to see Kyle Francis bounce back after a couple of tough races that knocked him out of the top 50. This race will also give us a look to see exactly where Mt. Lebo’s guys are since a few could sneak on the top 50 list in my opinion if they race well. I think this squad scores around 225 points. I bet their top 3 will be seen from 15^th to 25^th. 

Freedom’s Ben Ziegler and Dan Quigley are also top 20 contenders after 11^th and 17^th respective placing @ PTXC. I’m also looking to see how Cedar Cliff does after their dominant performance at their opening meet.

Comment Away! Do you have place predictions for the Foundation Meet either Team or Individually? Post them Below! 

--ForrestCRN