Mid-Penn's and More!

Simon Smith – Towanda – 9^th at PTXC and Victory at NTL Invitational over Levi Upham (21 seconds). No idea how I missed him.

To whomever suggested I write a Mid-Penn’s post by itself, I was hoping I wouldn’t have to, BUT Mid-Penn’s is the most interesting league in PA right now, but they also have made my life so much more difficult. Here is a list of complaints I have with Mid-Penn’s, and hopefully these guys can get some stuff sorted out! :)

1. Cole Nissley: Nissley OUT KICK’S Zach Brehm, the 4:08 miler. DANG. Really strong race for Nissley who is by far the most consistent guy in this league. He shows up at every race. I just don’t know if he is a top 15 guy yet, but I think he can be.
2. Inconsistency: Now the issue on why I don’t know just how good Nissley truly is, is due to the inconsistency of Zach Brehm and Jeff Groh. I’d like to think both of these guys are potential top 10 runners in the state and I wouldn’t be surprised if Groh grabs his second District 3 title next weekend (He won as a sophomore and placed 60^th as a junior). Which Groh will show up? And is Brehm holding back these past few races?
3. Daniel Green: He placed second to Connor Holm at Carlisle’s Invitational, but this is a huge breakout race for him to place 3^rd at Mid-Penn’s. He probably should have been on the top 50 list, so I apologize for missing him, but this guy is looking really solid. He’s only got a  9:48 3200m PR. I think we’ll see him running really fast this spring as well.
4. State College: This team clearly needed a break from racing big invitationals. They arrived just 20 minutes before the meet in cars since there bus did not arrive and they packed it up and ran really solid with a 36 second spread. Cather will be holding back again at districts to save for states, so look for them to continue to have a small spread next week. This team earns back there 5^th place ranking. 
5. Lower Dauphin: This team had a bad race. Santeusanio is a top 15 guy in D3 in my opinion and Weidner has been ~ 10 seconds behind him most races this year. Their freshman Cassel did step it up however and he looks to be a really solid 5^th. Place their 3-4 where they usually have been (10^th and 18^th) they score 67 points and win the meet. I can’t move them out of #4 just yet.
6. Aaron Lauer/Red Land: I think they were resting him. They’ve run a lot of big invitationals recently and I think next week with a week-off will be key for this squad, much like the week off for State College was. They’ve raced tough many times this season and I think they’ll bounce back by districts.
7. Hershey: Opening their season with a decent result. I expect more out of Demko and Sponaugle who ran really well last season. I think they’re like Henderson in that they’re just warming up. Expect them to race much faster at Districts.

New News other Than Mid-Penn’s:

Jeremy Parson’s continues his winning streak with another Invitational win at Rocky grove. His teammates finished 2-3 as well.

Wissahickon won the 8^th Souderton Twighlight invitational scoring only 19 points. Their spread wasn’t impressive enough for me to believe they can compete for a top 5 spot at districts however.

NTL Coaches Invitational: NEB ran really well for the invitational Victory with 36 points.

IMPORTANT: Simon Smith of Towanda earns a Victory at NTL Coaches Invitational defeating Levi Upham of NEB by 21 seconds. He placed 9^th at PTXC and I totally missed out on how talented this kid is. He’ll be making a big splash into the top 50. I apologize for missing him.

That’s all for Now Folks!
--ForrestCRN