Meet Results 10/16 & 10/17

Tri-State Coaches Invitational 

Based on Weather.com it seems as though it was raining and around 60 degrees during the time of the meet, which would account for the slow times (minute behind last season) that being said, XC is about beating bodies and that’s what Ethan Martin did today. He dispels the injury rumors a bit and seems to be fit and ready with Colin just 3 second behind. So I’m glad they’re running well.

But there are really four big stories coming out of this meet:

1) Aaron Benka. He places second just behind Ethan Martin (got beaten out on the line). He is really coming on at the end of the season and I think he’ll take the win at District 10 fairly easily, although his teammate Ryan Budnik was 5^th overall and looked strong. This junior duo is really getting on the radar and Benka most definitely proved he is worthy of the top 50 list. Since the times are so off it’s hard to tell how good he is, but for now I’m think around 30^th. 

2) Nathan Sloan is back in action! He was injured at the start of the season but placed 4^th in this meet above some strong competition in Martinez (North Hills), Van Kooten (PCC), and all of the Mt Lebo squad. I’m glad he’s running well and I think he’ll be right behind the NA guys.

3) NA takes the weekend off. This lack of racing tells me that they’ve revamped their season and goals. They came into the season wanted to compete for a state title, but now I think they’ve realized that there is a very real chance they can not only make it to nationals, but place top 10 as a team. That being said I bet they’ve upped training which is why we haven’t seen them racing. I think they’ll come out guns blazing at districts and states, but now they’ll also preparing for nationals, which is really great to see if you ask me.

4) Mount Lebanon: They win Tri-States with a 26 second spread, but not a great total score (97 pts). I’m glad they’re packing it up and they should easily be the 2^nd best team out of district 7, but I’m not sure if they’re worthy of a top 10 spot just yet, however, I think at states they will be in the top 10.. They do have a lot of potential and it’s nice to see that they have a different guy out front every week.

Also to note that Altoona is looking pretty good, but I don’t think they’ve have much of a chance beating out State College. I am glad to see Caleb Wakeley of Shaler area is back racing. He and Kennedy were the only sophomore medalists two years ago and he has since been constantly injured and Kennedy just got a stress fracture. More on Sophomore information to be announced next week.

Berks County Championships

Twin Valley runs a fantastic race sporting a 21 second spread and a strong 6^th man for a 21 point victory over Wilson. I think this team will mix it up for that 4^th spot out of District 3. They’ve young and strong and must have a bunch of confidence after this meet. Jacob Connor of Wilson gets the win as he is looking to be rounding into the shape he was in last season.

Good to see Kyle Shinn (jr) and Jack Di Cintio (So) of Wyomissing Area running strong for a 2-3 finish. Shinn was on my junior watch list and he’s starting to prove himself as the post-season rolls around. I think he’ll make it to states. Gov. Mifflin ran solid, but I was hoping they’d be able to mix it up with Wilson. 

Chentral League Championships

The Kazanjian’s looked great out front with a 1-2 finish in a sub 16 clocking 30 seconds faster than they were last season and just 7 seconds behind Max Norris’ time from last season. I think these two are setting themselves up for top 10 finishes out of District 1. Marston of Conestoga proved he  is the real deal over 5k, beating out Fowler by 18 seconds (only 5 behind Matt Kazanjian). This sets up Conestoga really nicely as they had two strong packs after him. They’re 2-4 came in 7-9 30 seconds behind Marston with a 5 second spread. 30 seconds behind that pack they’re 5-7 finished 12^th-14^th with a 1 second spread. That’s a strong varsity and I am going to bet that one of those 5-7 guys steps it up at districts to help them challenge CRN for second place. I’m not worried about the Radnor duo of Holm and Hanson or Fowler. Seemed like a tune up race for them before districts and I have no doubt they can run with Marston. 

Pioneer Athletic Conference

Paul Power had a very good sophomore campaign, making it to the state championships individually, but we haven’t seen much of him this season. He comes out and gets the Conference victory in a pretty swift clocking of 16:30 (7 seconds faster than Curtis Watro ran last season who ran 16:48 at the state meet).Watch out for him at Districts. Right behind him is a new name, sophomore Jeff Kirshenbaum of Methacton who ran 16:34. He led a very strong Methacton team that kept a 34 second spread. They should be in the mix for a top 10 placing at districts.

Colonial League Championships

Not too much from this meet. Kyle Gonoude of Salisbury gets the easy victory in just under 17 on a fairly difficult course. He was a second faster than my, now teammate, Jaryd Flank ran last season who ended up running 16:48 at the state championships. Gonoude barely medaled last season in AA and I think he’ll be in the running for a top 20 to top 15 placing this season.