Saturday Thoughts

District 6 AAA

Big win for Alex Milligan over Brad Foust by .3 seconds as both runners just dipped under 16 minutes. Nick Feffer looked strong in 3^rd place with a time of 16:24. SC and Altoona took every other place in this race until Keenan Walker broke things up taking 7^th place. When the dust cleared State College took their second District title in a row 27 to 36. Matt Beyerle underwhelmed in his 12^th place finish for the team, but Owen Wing and Matt Balogh have really stepped up at the end of this season. I think these guys could surprise with a top 7 finish this season. Last year their total time through 5 at this meet was 1:22.51 and this year they are at 1:22.57 (6 seconds difference). That being said Foust should be a lock to medal once again this year, but I’m not 100% sold on Milligan just yet, we’ll see how my rankings play out. 

Foust, Stroh, and Sunderland will all be repping Altoona at the state meet and Mifflin will have Walker and Aultz racing. 

District 6 AA

I was pretty impressed by Milligan and Foust’s sub 16 efforts, but Kachman solo’d a 15:56 for the win, and he did it by over a minute!!! This junior is extremely talented and I can’t wait to watch him battle with Hockenbury this year. I think Hockenbury has the edge now, but Kachman could really surprise.

The team race behind Kachman was fantastic. Central Cambria’s top runner Bryce Descavish took second place over Somerset Area’s Dominic Mazzariello by just 3 seconds. Somerset would put two more runners before CC’s 3^rd, but then Central Cambria packed in 4 runners between 10^th and 15^th to help them tie Somerset who’s 4^th and 5^th place 17^th and 19^th. Willi Buss of SA and Tommy Opdenhoff of CC battled, but Buss came out on top in 24^th place to Opdenhoff’s 25^th! What an amazing team race we had and congratulations to everyone who battled; 

District 6 A

Well talk about skilled pack running. Penns Valley Area had a spread of 12 seconds and placed their top 5 from 9^th to 13^th overall lead by Nick Fuller and finishing with Adam Mothersbaugh. This easily got them the title and they will move on to states. St. Josephs Catholic Academy took the first two places with Bian Heckman and Eli Urban as a nice 1-2 punch. The two will be headed off to states to see what they can do. Both runners should have a shot at medaling.

District 10 A

Sebastian Curtin looked really strong with a win in 16:38. He took the first mile out in 4:48 and is clearly getting prepared to get out hard at the state meet. He’ll have his hands full with Griffin Molino, but I think we’ll see an effort out of Curtin similar to Parsons of last season: sticking it out with Molino as long as possible. He and his young brother Noah (3^rd place) helped qualify Mercyhurst Prep to the state meet in the second spot. Seneca took the District title with 78 points thanks to a group of 3 sophomores leading the team. Maplewood’s Hanz Wentz was the first individual qualifier in 4^th place, and I’d like to note Zach Tingley a freshman from Lakeview who also made it and senior David Johnson who grabbed the last spot.

District 10 AA

Interesting results from this championship: Grove City their top runner Aaron Benka grabbed championships, which was too be expected, but Benka’s training partner, Ryan Budnik, was right up during the first mile (4:59) but then he fell back a minute during the second mile (11:44) and finished in 14^th overall. He was 22^nd at the second mile, but worked back up. He must have fell, so I’m excited about this team. John Paul Depew came out of nowhere to place 4^th overall after being in 7^th at the second mile, while Braydon Pyle moved from 4^th to 6^th. This team scored 38 points and honestly could have been in the 20’s with Budnik placing second overall. This team is looking fantastic out of AA. 

Harbor Creek also grabs a Q behind freshman stud Christian Babo’s 3^rd place finish in 17:04. Andrew Maxwell of Slippery Rock has made some big improvements this season and broke 17 minutes and should be a medal threat. 

District 10 AAA

McDowell gets the only spot to the state meet after a very close race again Cathedral Prep. Freshman Ryan Zimmerman of McDowell grabbed the victory in 17:29, but then Cathedral Prep placed 2^nd, 3^rd, and 5^th, before McDowell squeezed four runners in front of Cathedral Preps 4^th man Kevin Haight who was beating out by just 1-3 seconds by 3 members of McDowell’s team. That’s really really heart breaking for the sophomore Haight, but he did get the last qualifying spot for states and hopefully he’ll have another great race at the state meet. 

Independent School Meet

Sam Ritz wins the individual title this year after losing to Jaxson Hoey last season, who seems to be out for the year. Ritz’ time of 16:01 is just a second faster than last year, but like I said, he’s really impressed me this XC season. Josh Hoey is back in business however taking second place in 16:11 over teammate Billy McDevitt who was 16:16. Both runners easily handled sophomore stud Nick Dahl was 16:29 for 4^th place over Mercersburg Academy’s stud Gabriel Allgayer (16:32). Strong races from Herman, Kim, Newmann, and Hepp to beat out Wills, Szuhaj, and Doane. This being said Malvern Prep still won the title 48-54 over GFS even without Jaxson. It’s a shame he’s out, because this team is really starting to come together beautifully. 

Fantasy State Meet

Just talked with Etrain and he and I will be hosting a Facebook Fantasy State meet drafting just AAA runners on Wednesday Night. If you would like to join  in please message either he or I on Facebook or shoot us an e-mail to get involved. This has worked quite well in the past with 8-10 participants, but the more the merrier. I know RJJL cannot revel his identity, but as the defending champion I am challenging him here, and now to join our Fantasy League to knock me off my throne. Make a separate Facebook account if necessary :)

Come one, come all, and good luck taking me down. The challenge has been issued, who will answer it's call?

--ForrestCRN