Millage and Training

Preface (MUST READ): So I think I wrote this post 4 or 5 times on the train and I’m really just not sure how to go about posting it. There is a lot to say about how millage works and how different people react to different styles of coaching. When I’ve talked to other runners in high school and in different college programs it seems that most coaches try their best to cater towards their athletes to make a group of them as successful as possible. It’s tough, especially for high school coaches, who can see up to 70 guys during an XC season and then try and maximize all of their potentials. As my assistant coach in high school, Rob Rogers, said to us all the time: “You’re only as good as your slowest runner.” Running in high school can mean a lot of things to a lot of people and coach all of these types of personalities and body types, it is impossible for a high school coach to be perfect. At college and then professional levels the focus narrows more on why each runner is there and the number of runners under a coach also deceases (usually, I know some small schools allow coaches to specialize better) and this helps each athlete get more attention to specific needs. I write this preface to try and help everyone reading this article understand that all of your coaches are correct and are training you to the best of their abilities. I don’t write this article to have all of you questioning training methods, ect, but instead to help start a discussion and help all of you become more aware of different types of training that go on. I have seen a couple types of training methods and been in different programs and after seeing different methods I have begun to branch out more to try and find what works best for me, we will all find something different. Not one training method is correct, but there are many that work very well as overarching frames to help high school runners succeed. And remember guys like Galen Rupp are on a 15+ year training plan, while your coaches have you at best for 12 seasons (4 years) so the plans will be shortened and they want to help make you as successful as possible in those years.

So remember as you read this article do not forget my opening words. Your coaches are doing a fantastic job and they want you to be as successful as possible.

Types of Training: All of these methods that I will discuss have been used by different professional athletes and they have been successful in doing so. Here are some numbers to start us off so you can see that millage isn’t everything.

20 Miles per week: High school runners such as Miles Batty ran 4:22 in high school with only 20 miles per week, my roommate ran 4:21 in high school with this millage as well. Batty ran for BYU and set the indoor mile record of 3:54.54 and went on to win the DMR and Indoor mile once and was runner-up in the 1500m outdoors. He runs about 60 miles per week now. Now, can you be successful maintaining 20 miles per week? A) Yes. For two reasons. 1) Our bodies don’t fully develop physically until we are older. Most runners peak from around 24 to 27, so you will not peak in high school or college physical, but you can break/wear your body down. Pushing high millage at younger ages can be detrimental to careers if not done correctly (aka slowly raising millage, very, very slowly). High schoolers with low millage often explode onto to the college seen much like Batty did. Other guys ran D3 or barely at all in high school and college such as Nick Symmonds and Matthew Elliott (who ran 4:42 in high school), but kept training and gaining strength and have gone on to race very well on a world level (3:34 and 3:37 1500’s which are well under the 4:00 barrier as equivalents).

2) Charles Jock: If you don’t know who Jock is, he was a 2x runner up for 800m at NCAA’s and is one of the gutsy 800m runners I’ve ever seen. With a 1:44.85 PR he often goes out in 50. Or faster, usually with the lead, and helps bring his competitors, like Robby Andrews, to great times. In college for UC-Irvine, Jock ran 18 to 20 miles per week. He worked with strength and speed training along with very fast runs. He would always be under 6:30 pace, usually under 6 minute pace for every mile he ran. Low millage can work with supplemented training such a pool, and weight room. He is currently working up to 25 miles a week and is doing so over a 6 month period. This is quite slow, but it’s to ensure that he does not get injured to the change in training. – When I increase millage it would be about 5 miles every month, but a very slow build, so 20 miles, 22, 23, 25, 24, 26, 28, 30, 22, 28, 31, 32 ect. to ensure that the body is health and is ok with the higher levels. And then down weeks every two months can help recovery. Again, I’m only a sophomore in college so do not take this post as how to do everything correctly. I’m just trying to begin a conversation on how millage works for different types of people.

45 miles per week: RTJ as often said he believes this should be the limit for high school runners. In many ways I don’t think there should be a cap on how many miles runners do in high school as long as they have a coach watching them who understands training correct. Guys like Magaha ran low millage but he was very successful, vs guys like Quinn Devlin who ran 100 to 110 miles per week and got a stress fracture his senior year (at least this is what he said in his XC journal for PennTrack). Guys like Matthew Centrowitz ran 60 miles a week: “His father, who has coached the American University team to national prominence in just 10 years, has also influenced Matt’s training, keeping with his Oregon tradition of relatively low mileage, that it’s better to underdo than overdo. Until this year, Matt never ran more than 60 miles a week and only ran once a day.” http://www.runnersworld.com/high-school-profiles/hs-profile-matt-centrowitz. Guys like Nick Symmonds (1:42.95 800m and 3:34 1500) run 60 miles per week as professionals.

From what I’ve seen from 30 to 60 miles per week is usually a very health millage number. Now, each runner usually has a range that is safe for them. For me it’s 45 to 60 miles per week. In high school I hit 70 on occasion to try and catch up due to missed summer runs or to get ahead of the competition, but this only ended poorly for me as I cannot handle that type of millage, it destroys my body. It’s all about finding your niche and sticking with it, or slowly, like Charles Jock, pushing the envelope on how high you can go. One does not simply jump 10 to 20 miles without sever trauma to the body, usually resulting in injury.

Guys like David Rudisha (WR holder and Olympic Champion for 800m in 1:40.91) and Galen Rupp (only non-African to break 27 minutes for 10k and Silver Medalist in the event) both run from 90 to 110 miles per week. Rupp has built up to this since high school, he is now 27 years old. Other runners such as Cameron Levins (University of Southern Utah who double goaled at the 2012 NCAA outdoor championships in the 5k and 10k) ran 190 miles per week during the 2011/2012 season, but after joining Nike he has gone down to 135 to 140 miles per week, and he has been very successful.

As we can see, all types of millage can be very successful. All of these runners are older and more mature, allowing their bodies to be stronger and handle more heat, which is why most of them supplement with strength training. Other than core and push-ups, strength training in high school for the most part isn’t needed unless of course your coach has a program in place, in which case it’s probably very keyed in on specific area’s and will be helpful. Just lifting on your own will probably hurt you.

I want to end this article by saying that all types of millage and training as the potential to work for many different people. Roger Bannister, the first man to break 4 minutes in the mile, only trained for 30 to 45 minutes a day, as he was a junior doctor at the time and has gone on to be a fantastic neurologist. So keep listening to your coaches, but do listen to your bodies as well. If something is hurting, ect get it checked out. My high school millage was too much for me and I’ve been practically injury free in college after deceasing millage, which helped bring me to PR’s, while others like my roommage jumped from 20 miles a week up to 50 and then to 70, which only ended in a very long term injury keeping him out of running for the whole XC season. Having higher millage can be beneficial, but it is never the be-all, end-all. And if you strive to run more miles, talk with your coaches and make a plan, don’t do it on your own. They are all in their positions for a reason and have seen all types of runners and can help key you in on what can help make you all the best you can be.

That’s all for now Folks,

--ForrestCRN

New Posts

So it is the summer months and I was wondering what all of you would like to see post wise. I'm on a 3 hour train ride to Connecticut and I'll be on another 3 hour one on Sunday, so I'll have a lot of time to blog. Please message me on Facebook (Forrest Bender-Kentwell), E-mail me (fk246898@muhlenberg.edu) or post here about what you would like me to write about. I'm up for discussing just about everything.

Right now I'm working on a post about Matthew Elliott, Charles Jock and a couple other runners who have very different training but are all very successful. I'd love to discuss training methods on this blog, because I'm constantly following professional runners and studying training methods and how it pertains to you guys as high school students.

If all of you aren't really big into professional runner, I would HIGHLY recommend  watching the following interviews with Matthew Elliott who placed 4th at the US championships this year. He is truly inspirational in many ways and had a big impact on my decision to write a post on high school training.
http://www.flotrack.org/speaker/17787-Matthew-Elliott/video/717340-MUST-WATCH-More-insight-into-Matthew-Elliott-after-33707-talks-about-response-from-public-after-USAs
http://www.flotrack.org/speaker/17787-Matthew-Elliott/video/715050-Matthew-Elliott-Full-Time-Teacher-Gets-4th-at-USAs-Watch-this-Interview

Updated Runner and Teams List. No explanations

I want this to be the top post for a while, but I think I'll do more in depth team discussion things as well coming up later in the month. I would like to see more top 10, 25, 50 ect Runner's in the state post so we can discuss it along with team rankings. I love hearing what you guys have to say and since I'm new to posting formally it helps me out. The more discussion the better the sport and blog is, in my opinion.

Also, I'm thinking about doing mini write up interviews where I send questions and you the runners can answer them and we can have them posted on the blog. I'll edit anything I believe gives away too much about training, ect. Although that is something I'd love to discuss on the blog in the future was well: Training methods. I study training methods quite a bit and I believe there can be many ways to be a successful runner. Let me know if you guys would be interested in that as a topic of discussion at some point. My e-mail is fk246898@muhlenberg.edu if you want to do an interview. I want to try and do a skype interview at least once a week during the XC season and maybe during the end of summer get a few up as well in preparation for the season. If you guys or anyone you know who is a PA high school runner might be interested in this please feel free to contact me. And don't forget to post new idea's for the blog as well, I'm always open to criticism and just totally new directions as well. I want to try and keep it interesting and engaging for everyone :)

Also if you would like to discuss courses in any district to post up on the blog feel free to E-mail me as well. I'll do little write up's for Briarwood, and other courses that I've raced before about the week before the races, but if I could get a nice list of courses with your input and descriptions to get ready for the season that'd be fantastic! fk246898@muhlenberg.edu is the e-mail if you forgot.

Top 50 Runners (If you want me to add Team, Grade and District I will)
1. Tony Russell
2. Brent Kennedy
3. Ethan Martin
4. Ross Wilson
5. Reiny Barchet
6. Kevin James
7. Sam Webb
8. Dominic Deluca
9. Colin Martin
10. Zach Brehm
11. Colin Abert
12. Jake Brophy
13. Jeremy Parsons
14. Sam Ritz
15. Matt McGoey
16. Aaron Gebhart
17. Griffin Molino
18. Cole Nissley
19. Matt Willig
20. Christian Kardish
21. Jim Belfatto
22. Ben Szuhaj
23. Aiden Demko
24. Eric Stratman
25. Chris Kazanjian
26. Patrick Reilly
27. Jeff Groh
28. Sam Haugh
29. Cordon Louco
30. Seamus Collins
31. Aaron Benka
32. Dominic Hockenberry
33. Eric Diestelow
34. William Cather
35. Chris Cummings
36. Matt Kazanjian
37. Seamus Love
38. Kyle Francis
39. Nathan Sloan
40. Brady Wilt
41. Alex Knapp
42. Brandon Bilotta
43. Billy Caldwell
44. Aaron Lauer
45. Caleb Wakeley
46. Joesph Logue
47. Scott Seel
48. Chris Kienzle
49. Jacob Connors
50. Kevin Moy

Top 10 Teams
1. West Chester Henderson
2. Cardinal O'Hara
3. North Allegheny
4. Lower Dauphin
5. Council Rock North
6. Great Valley
7. State College
8 Tunkhannock
9. Fox Chapel
10. West Chester East

That's all for now Folks!

--ForrestCRN

Updated Top 10 Teams List

Well it seems as though I missed some things. I’m still not really positive about the back of this list (9 and 10), but I missed Morro for O’Hara and after doing research (and thanks to some fellow bloggers) I found that Mike Meehan of North Allegheny graduated this past year, which does change some things up.

Top 10 Teams 2013 XC Season

1. West Chester Henderon—District 1: They have the Returning State Champion, a two time All-American, 4 All-Americans, and they’re the returning state champions in XC. What more could you ask for? Oh wait, about 14 guys with the potential to make varsity. This team has such extreme depth that they would still contend for the title with injuries to Russell and Barchet (Reiny). Obviously I hope this doesn’t happen. These guys could be as good as ’06 Coatesville and if everything goes well they’ll be competing for a national championship. Crossing my fingers here, cause I’d love to see 4 or 5 medalists at the state meet from them and I think it’s possible.

2. Cardinal O’Hara – District 12: Going into the past two season’s O’Hara has been one of the top two teams and finished 2^nd on tie breakers. They’re going to have to work really hard and get lucky to finish top 2 again this season, but they do have great pieces despite the loss of 3 in their top 4. Kevin James is one of the best runners in the state and Belfatto is a great #2. Nick Smart was injured during XC last season, but he’s a 1:55 strength guy who could break into the top 50. Christian Donnelly and Drew Pastore traded off spots quite a bit last year and both will need to step up to push O’Hara into the top 2. They also have an upcoming sophomore in Morro who ran 9:50 for 3200 which is very promising. He could end up as their #3. Overall this is a squad that has 6 solid runners which is more than most teams in the state currently have and if they improve it could be another trip to nationals for them.

3. North Allegheny – District 7: I’ve had to re-evaluate this team. They’ve got a really solid top 4 in Louco, Seel, McGoey, and Love, but how close will their spread be? All season they were under 20 seconds, but completing that at the state meet is very difficult as we saw last year. They fell apart a bit at the state meet, but still managed to finish 4^th. They’re all a year older now and this experience could help them to that. Last teams to have such small spreads were ’06 Coatesville and ’96 Council Rock. If they want to win they’ll need to do so. They’ve got some solid guys behind them. Chang and McClure are both rising seniors and Baime made my rising sophomore list. One of the 3 will need to step up for them to compete for a title.

4. Lower Dauphin -- District 3: This team returns its top 4 and they have a lot of room to grow on last season. Cole Nissley and Jeff Groh are a great 1-2 tandem and their 3-4 guys from last season, Josh Santeusanio and Josh Weidner, both ran solid at the state meet. They seem to be the top team in district 3 right now, and coming out of a strong district like that on top is always helpful. There 6-7 guys are also returning which provides them with a greater depth than most teams. Weidner seemed to take the next step this spring with a 4:30 1600 and Jack Mulligan started to catch up with the group. Groh will have to reprove himself in XC after he asserted himself this spring track season.

5. Council Rock North – District 1: You can rag me for putting these guys in the 5^th position, but hear me out. Ross Wilson is a fantastic front man; Arita and Griswold have both started coming into their own and are in great position to break out next season. Jesse Laitman was 17:13 at districts and he’ll be moving onto the varsity squad. Rob Simmons will be running XC for the first time and he’ll be the biggest question mark on the top 5. He ran fantastic relay splits, but wasn’t great in open races. I think of XC in many ways to a relay squad because you’re running for a top 5 spot on your team and low points. Again, this is a team with a great front runner, a solid 2-3 punch and a 4-5 that should be decent enough to get them out of district 1. Plus they have historically great coaching.

6. Great Valley – District 1: Much like 06’ when Coatesville was dominant beyond imagine, the Ches-Mont league was extremely strong. This could be the case again. GV has a shot to prove themselves again as a top squad in PA. Lead by Matt Willig who looks to verify his prowess as an XC force they have a really strong pack behind him. Doran hit 9:03 at the Yale relays but never got close afterwards and Zatlin (9:41 3200) has battled injuries the past two years. Both guys are waiting to break out. Behind that they have two 4:41 1600 guys in Peter Flanagan and Sam Marano. Both will need to prove themselves in XC, but have strong potentials. Kyle Kilroy will also be back for XC, I don’t believe he runs track, and was their 6^th man last season. If this pack can come together being Willig they very well could pass CRN.

7. State College Area – District 6: They’ve got a real nice front runner in Cather (4:22/1:55) and there spread 2-5 last season was under 30 seconds. If they can keep this up with their top 6 guys returning you might see SC become a force at the state meet. I don’t know too much about the guys on this team, but they really could be a top 3 team if they keep improving. It all depends on how fast there 2-5 can be at the state meet. They didn’t make it last season which makes it tough to really predict where they will be for XC. Here are some quick stats though: Sam Bollinger 4:33/1:58, Kyle Adams (#2 last year) 1:57, Matt Beyerle 4:48/10:01, Alex Milligan: 4:44/10:07. Most were underclassman, so if they can make the sophomore to junior jump we may see this team climb the list very quickly.

8. Tunkhannock – District 2: It’s rare a AA team gets on the list, but they had a 34 second spread last year at states and they return their top 4 and their 6^th man Jacob Toczko who was just a freshman and right behind their track stud Alex Nole. This group should continue to improve together and with a 40 second spread of less they should take the AA title quite easily. Hopefully they get into some big XC meets to prove themselves against these AA teams, since they have a solid 5 guys unlike many teams on this list. Toczko is another freshman to look for as he ran 4:51 and 10:35 which are real solid marks for a freshman. If he takes the next step and even leads this group they’ll be golden and maybe a top 5 team in PA.

9. Fox Chapel – District 7: Behind WCH they easily have the best 1-2 punch in the state with the Martin twins. Scoring 10 points or so with two guys is always helpful when it comes to team scoring. Behind them are juniors Elias Graca and Aaron Bliss. Both were only 18 flat last season on the Hershey course, but if they can push each other, and with the help of the Martin twins they could both really improve. FC will still need a 5^th man that could come through in Chris Good (10:41 3200), but these 3 still have a long way to go.

10. West Chester East – District 1: Cummings, Diestelow, and Dages. This is a wonderful top 3 that will serve WCE quite well. There 4-7 graduated though which is a big hit to this team. I’ve heard rumors about Ryan Orr (jr ) being a solid #4 who was injured in XC and didn’t run track, but they’ll need more than that if they want to make it to states. The biggest thing they have on their side is a lot of competition on a daily basis in the Ches-Mont league. Guys could step out of the woodworks for them.

Teams to Just miss the list: Abington Heights (return 1-5 and missed states by 1 point), North Penn, Pennsbury, William Penn Charter, and Hempfield. 

Updated Top 50 Runner List

Top 50 Runners XC 2013 going into the season

I feel as though I wasn’t fair to you guys with the list being scrambled so I re-did it. They are in order of where I believe they are going into this 2013 XC season. I will make the list with just names right after this.

1. Tony Russell, Sr West Chester Henderson (1AAA) – There have only been two repeat AAA champions in the past two decades and both were exceptional runners: Danny Coval and Craig Miller. I think Russell has a 33.3% chance of joining this small group. He’s the strongest of any guy in the field, fantastic coaching, and great work ethic. The state course makes it difficult for guys to repeat and so many things can happen on any given day, but I believe he’s the top XC runner in the state of Pennsylvania. He wasn’t as mind blowing on the track as he is in XC, but 4:12 split for a mile and 9:08 with a good bit of leading in the 3200 is no joke. He’s the Hershey course record holder and defending NXNE Regional champ, it’s tough to bet against this guy.

2. Brent Kennedy, Sr Kiski Area (7AAA) – State Runner up for XC in 15:52. He’s a FL finalist, 15:03 5k on the track, 4:17 mile, and 9:13 3200. He was second to Russell last year and is a very strong runner. I’ve always been fairly up on Kennedy, but for some reason I’ve got my doubts on where to place him and I’ve got an odd feeling he’ll be like Jaskowak and underachieve in XC compared to the year before. He’s as hungry as Wilson I’m sure. I’m truly hoping he proves me wrong, because if a senior is going to take the title from Russell I think he’s got the best shot of doing so.

I’ll be honest 3-5 is tricky for me. Wilson didn’t lose to Barchet last year at all (Barchet beat Wilson freshman year at XC districts I believe). If someone could find a race where it happened show me, but right its Wilson 7-0. Martin and Wilson have gone back and forth but in this past year in state meets Martin is 3-0 vs Wilson. (Wilson got him at Penn Relays). Barchet is an XC All-American though. I wish I could give them a tie for 3^rd, but I know that would piss everyone off, so here’s my best go.

3. Ethan Martin, Sr Fox Chapel (7AAA) – 3200m State Champ and was a double gold winner at WPAIL’s for the 1600 and 3200 over his twin brother and Kennedy. I want to say it’s Colin’s time to shine, but Ethan seems to be a few steps ahead both with speed and strength as he threw down a 28 closing 200 at states. He placed 5^th last year and is the 3^rd returner. Having his brother to train with everyday won’t allow him to slack at all after his recent success, as Colin will be gunning for him. This will keep him sharp and ready for XC, but don’t be too surprised if his brother steps it up.

4. Ross Wilson, Sr Council Rock North (1AAA) – I’m sure I’ll get ragged on for this pick, but Ross Wilson is the most motivated guy in the state right now. Russell, Brehm, Martin all have state titles, and he’s hungry to join that group. I think he’ll end up doing it in the 3200 outdoors, but just falling short in cross. He’s grown his speed running 4:17 for 1600 and has one of the top times in the 3200. Etrain continually said he couldn’t keep running hard, but the man ran 8:29, 9:09, 4:17/9:21 double, 9:14 district win, and 9:12 at the state meet. He’s a tank and comes from a program of great coaching and history. I think he goes to nationals as well. placing 5^th at Footlocker.

5. Reiny Barchet, Sr West Chester Henderson (1AAA) – The only XC All-American from PA. With such an amazing squad, that could be as good as the Coatesville team from ’06 he’ll have tons of motivation for this season. His list of credentials is as long as his teammate Tony Russell, and if they 1-2 at the state meet I wouldn’t be shocked. He started to burn at the end of outdoor; probably due to the extended seasons, but with some time off he’ll be back for his primary sport: XC. He’s got a big dog to chase, so he doesn’t have the spot light and this could open up an opportunity for him to take the individual state title away from his teammate, mush like Quinn did to Hibbs two years ago. He’s got a 9:08 to his name for 3200 as well, don’t forget it.

6. Kevin James, Jr Cardinal O’Hara (12AAA) – Hunger + Redemption = A great combination for high success. Kevin James no longer has hopes at a team title as he did the past two years, but instead will be pushing to win a title of his own individually. Without guys like Savage and Pitone in front of him will and team aspirations, will he have the drive to succeed as he has this past season? I believe he does. James know how to get it done and became the spot light this past season unlike many underclassman who are in the shadows of their senior counterparts. He may have a better shot than Brehm to take the title as a Jr. He’s got a 4:15 Mile and 9:13.9 3200.

7. Sam Webb, Jr Pennsbury (1AAA) – How many times can a junior run sub 4:20 for 1600 and 9:14 for 3200, be a multi-state medalist as a sophomore and somehow be 2^nd  in his class? Yeah, these guys are ridiculous, but so is Sam Webb. His training partner and mentor, Connor Harriman, is now gone which does bother me a bit, but Webb has his eyes on state gold and he’s got competition on all levels whether its dual meets with Wilson or trying to become the top Jr in PA. He’ll be ready to roll and he’s got a solid group behind him looking for a top 5 XC finish after missing out on making it to states last year.

8. Dominic Deluca, Sr Dallas (2AA)—Deluca placed second last year at Foundations to Harriman’s big kick, but was nicked by an injury and placed 11^th at AA states last XC season. He is the top returner in AA, and oh… he silently ran 9:13 for 3200 at the Henderson Distance festival this spring. He will be looking to take on the mantle of the great AA runners from last season, and I think he will step up to do so. Don’t look for something amazing at states, but he’ll be in the mix with these top guys throughout the season at XC meets all over.

9. Colin Martin, Sr Fox Chapel (7AAA) – Being the twin of a state champion is always tough, but he’s almost at his brother’s level. He’ll be looking to prove himself after a breakout spring season. FC has two up and coming juniors and with one more piece they’ll be a force. He’ll be looking to finish top 5 with his brother at the state meet. He was 16^th at XC last season before his big break out. 4:18 1600 and 9:14 3200

10. Zach Brehm, Jr Carlisle (3AAA)—After running the top Mile time in PA as only a sophomore and winning the 800 at states, Brehm looks to continue the trend and be the 3^rd junior in a row to win the AAA XC state title. His 9:18 is a solid mark, but he’s the 5^th returning So, and has to prove himself on the hills. The kid is crazy talented, but I don’t see him taking down the title. I’m sure I’ll regret this decision later on. I think he takes 3^rd at states, but ends up going to nationals in a 8^th place finish at regionals, if he pans out as an XC runner. If not, he could fall as ‘low’ as 15^th at the state meet.

11. Colin Abert, Jr Easton (11AAA) –He finished as the top sophomore at XC states last season (12^th), and now I’ve got him ranked 4^th in his class. This may be my biggest mistake on this list. Abert went out really hard and Etrain and I both thought he would die, but he ran strong the whole race. He’s really gutsy and added a 4:20 1600 to his credentials this past spring season. He didn’t make much noise in the 3k or 3200 (9:40), but I’d have to imagine he’ll find his way into the top 10 at AAA states.

12. Jake Brophy, So Central Bucks East (1AAA)—Yes, I know, Jake Brophy, a Sophomore is in my top 10 list. It hasn’t happened since Vince McNally in ’05. Abert was 12^th this past year as the top So, but Brophy was just 5 seconds off medaling last season and is a gutsy runner. The first 3200 he ran at Helman was a 9:43, he went out in 5:00 with Brian Arita and then dropped a 4:43. He then improved that time with a 9:32 finish at districts. Sam Webb ran that same time at districts as a freshman and finished 14^th at XC the next season, but Brophy has a bigger XC background. With the solid coaching of Paul Wilson (yes father of Ross Wilson), Brophy will look to begin to make his dents in PA history.

13. Jeremy Parsons, Sr Maplewood (10A) – He’s probably the best XC runner you’ve never heard of. Top returning A runner after placing 5^th last season. A was really quite strong last year, but this division lost a lot of great guys, we’ll see if he can step up to prove that A is worthy of recognition once again. In the spring he didn’t run very much, but does have a 9:45 3200 to his name, and it seems he will be a factor again in the A scene. (16:28 @ states). His twin brother Jake had an off-day at states and could very well be a top finisher. Watch out for this duo.

14. Sam Ritz, Jr Germantown Academy (Independent League) – Sam as under his old brother Ben’s shadow all year until his breakout race at the distance festival where he ran 4:11 for a full mile. He’s also got a 9:22 3200 under his belt. He’ll be in the spot light now, which does scare me a bit, but I think his talent will propel him to be an XC stud. It’ll be tough to show how good he truly is, but I hope he places well at regionals. I doubt he’ll have what it takes to get to nationals though.

15. Matt McGoey, Jr North Allegheny (7AAA) – NA will be gunning for WCH this season and McGoey will be leading the charge. He had a poor race last year at states, but stepped up this spring season with a 9:23 3200. I think he’ll be the one to step up and lead this really tight pack.

16. Aaron Gebhart, Jr New Oxford (3AAA) – It’s easy to be over looked when you’re in a class of 3 Sophomore XC medalist’s and a 4:09 So Miler, but Gebhart has silently improved and placed well in both XC and in spring track. He was 28^th at states in XC (16:33) and ran 9:32 in the 3200. He will need a big jump to keep up with his fellow classmates, but he should still be a force in District 3 and a state medalist in AAA.

17. Griffin Molino, Jr South Williamsport (4A) – Molino was 8^th in A last season and was overshadowed in District 4 by Williams and Jewett. Now that they have left he’ll be taking the spotlight. He really broke out this spring running 9:26 for 3200 and 4:24 for 1600. I think he’s got a great shot at being the second A state champion in state history.  (16:36 @ states).

18. Cole Nissley, Sr Lower Dauphin (3AAA) – On an LD team of some up and down runners, Cole Nissley has proved to be extremely consistent. He finished 6^th at districts and came back to place 33^rd at the state meet. It’s always tough to complete that back-to-back. He and Groh will be a force in district 3 and they hope to lead LD to a top 5 finish at the state meet.

19.  Matt Willig, Sr Great Valley (1AAA) – Hmmm, what to say about Matt Willig… He seems to always step it up at the best times. Right when I start thinking that he’ll be a bust, he does something like place 29^th at the state meet.

20.  Christian Kardish, Sr Holy Ghost Prep (1AA) – Kardish was out most of last XC season due to an onset on Mono. He recovered quite nicely and in spring going 4:20 for 1600. He was a 4:18 guy as a sophomore and ran well in XC before the mono and I think he’ll be out to prove himself as a senior. HGP has had some very successful runners recently and I think he competes for a AA title.

21. Jim Belfatto, Sr Cardinal O’Hara (12 AAA) – Belfatto was fairly unheard of until his amazing 9:22 on the track in XC last season before regionals. He went on to run some solid 1600’s and 8’s indoors and outdoors. It seemed that he sacrificed a lot to try and help the O’Hara relays that sadly never panned out. With his focus this season on longer distances, much like Logue, we could very well see him explode. He’s a strength runner which is great for XC and he’ll be looking to help O’Hara back to the state meet/

22. Ben Szuhaj, Jr Penn Charter (Independent League) – Ben ran very well at XC regionals for a sophomore and his 9:00 3k in December really impressed me, but he fell off the map until the Henderson distance festival where he ran 8:51 for 3k. He could be coming into his own and if so he’ll be a real force next season and may be battling with Sam Ritz.

23. Aiden Demko, Jr Hershy (3AAA) – It’s tough coming out of District 3 and running well at the state meet. Todaro was able to do it, but Demko may have lost a lot of deserved credit after placing 12^th at districts and then 85^th at the state meet. He beat Gebhart, but didn’t have a great track season, only running 9:43 for 3200. He’s going to have to step it up to be considered as a top jr, but still has great potential with a good running partner in Will Sponaugle.

24. Eric Stratman, Sr West Chester Henderson (1AAA) –Stratman will very likely be there #3 as he has 4:19 1600 and 9:28 3200 to his name. He was there #3 at Ches-Mont’s but 6^th at states, his high positioning gave them the win. But with this teams depth even a guy like him could be fighting to stay on the varsity team.

25. Chris Kazanjian, Sr Penncrest (1AAA) – Chris shocked a lot of people with a huge race at XC states placing 20^th. I was hoping this would be the start of a breakout career for him, but he was quite silent on the track. He’ll be looking to bounce back and prove he’s worthy of medaling again in a very deep AAA field.

26. Patrick Reilly, Sr Dallastown (3AAA)- He placed second at Districts last year, but had a bad race at the state meet. He only ran 9:35 for 3200 this spring, but he’s always performed better during XC.

27. Jeff Groh, Lower Dauphin (3AAA) – Groh was the district 3 XC champ two years ago as just a sophomore, but he had major issues in XC last season. He came back well on the track running 4:16 and 9:23. He could very well be in shape to place top 10 at the state meet, especially with a great partner in Nissley. I’m still a bit hesitant to put him any higher, but he could easily move up on this list.

28. Sam Haugh, Jr West Chester Henderson (1AAA)—Here begins the WCH pack. Honestly, I hate having to pick one guy over the other for this team as anyone could step up for them to take a spot 3-7. Haugh got injured before regionals, but was there #4 man at states and Ches-Mont’s for XC. It seems to be his sport and he’ll be looking to gain that back this season.

29. Cordon Louco, Sr North Allegheny (7AAA) – Louco made some major improvements as a junior and he’ll be the big senior leader on this NA squad. He ran 9:29 for 3200 and was very consistent throughout XC and track this past year.

30. Seamus Collins, Jr West Chester Henderson (1AAA) – And now it seems we round out Henderson’s top 5. Collins looked to be a great 1200 with fantastic strength indoors and the start of outdoors until he faded while Moy and Stratman came on the scene. I think he comes up big during XC for them and runs some strong times.

31. Aaron Benka, Jr Grove City (10AA)- Benka is the next man in line to be a great Grove City runner after recent success stories like Jaskowak and Kildoo. This coaching staff knows how to mold runners and both guys had big breakout seasons as Jr’s and Benka is hoping to do the same. Look for him to be competing for a top 3 spot in AA. (18^th @ AA States in 16:53)

32. Dominic Hockenberry, So Lake-Lehman (2AA)- Very few freshmen break the 17:00 mark at the XC state meet, but he was able to do so. Hopefully this young man continues to improve on his already obvious talent. (22^nd at AA States in 16:56)

33. Eric Diestelow, Jr West Chester East (1AAA) – Wasn’t totally sure were to put Diestelow on this list. He’s an XC stud for sure, but didn’t have a breakout track season. He’s a year older and most guys’ breakout as juniors. I think he can really blossom this XC season and will be fighting for a medal at the state meet.

34. William Cather, Sr State College (6AAA) – Cather really broke out in the 800 both indoors and outdoors until he was plagued with an injury around his district meet. He had a disappointing finish last XC season, taking only 68^th place in 17:01, but he looks to turn around his luck with a new year.

35. Chris Cummings, Sr West Chester East (1AAA) – Cummings was a real stud in XC for WCE as he placed 40^th at states. He had a tougher time on the track running 4:35 and 9:35, which is solid, but up to par with his XC times. He’ll be with some great training partners in Dages and Diestelow (whose name I’m hoping to be able to spell by the end of this year!) and I could see him climbing up this list.

36. Matt Kazajian, Sr Penncrest (1AAA) – Matt was a total miss on my last list and I apologize for that. His twin has had some big races, but they train together and Matt has big upside. He worked as an 800 to up his speed and strength this past season but he ran 9:34 for 3200 as a sophomore and finished 47^th at states a year ago.

37. Seamus Love, Jr North Allegheny (7AAA) – Love ran a 4:28 mile and 10:36 3200 on the track and he’s in a tight working pack. Look for him to continue improving with the help of his teammates this XC season. 

38. Kyle Francis, Sr Bensalem (1AAA) – As a breakout 800 start with a couple 1:51 splits Francis could very well become an XC star. He has made it to states the past two season and usually surprises at districts on a fast course. I bet he can place top 10 or 15 in district 1, but it’ll be tougher for him to medal at states due to hills. He may prove me wrong, and if he does he’s got top 20 potential. He was 57^th a year ago.

39. Nathan Sloan, Sr Hampton (3AAA) – I really liked what Sloan did this outdoor season as he dropped a 4:19 1600 and a 9:43 3200 on the double from a 4:24 early in the season. He seems to be a strength runner and that will greatly aid him for XC.

40. Brad Wilt, Jr  Biglerville (3A)- Wilt stepped up at states last year in XC for a 12^th place finish in A and he’s looking to continue that success this season. He won D3 AA in the 1600 with a 4:28 effort, along with his got the XC credentials he may have a big breakout season.

41. Alex Knapp, Jr West Chester Henderson (1AAA) – Yes, I think that Henderson will have all 7 of their guys in the top 50 at some point this season. I have no idea if Knapp will be the one to cap off this group as Gordy Barchet and company look to grab spots of their own on this varsity squad. Knapp was 7^th man a year ago and I thought it was only fair to put him on this list.

42. Brandon Bilotta, Sr La Salle (12AAA)- Most of La Salle has graduated, leaving Bilotta, Greco, and Sophomore Patrick Grant. He ran well indoors and outdoors in the longer distances and seems to be an XC guy. With 9:25 3200 credentials and sub 2 800, he’ll be trying to lead this team back to states in what should be a battle for the District 12 championship.

43. Billy Caldwell, Sr Downingtown West (1AAA) – Caldwell really impressed me at the end of the track season with his 4:20 mile and 1:55 800. He was 65^th at states last season and he’ll be working off this momentum.

44. Aaron Lauer, Sr Red Land (3AAA) – Lauer was 64^th a year ago in XC and he added a 4:21 1600 to his name this spring season. He’ll be looking to improve into the mid to low 30’s in AAA or even grab himself a medal during XC.

45. Caleb Wakely, Sr Shaler Area (7AAA) – I do follow Caleb closely hoping for a comeback, and I should have given him respect on the list. If you are unsure who he is, he placed 25^th at states his sophomore year and went on to run 9:32 for 3200. He hit some major injury issues and only placed 33^rd at WPIAL’s during XC. He recovered slightly and ran 9:36 during this past track season, but it seems he’s still got work to do. If he can get some solid summer millage under his legs and a healthy XC season he should move up this list quickly. But even so he’s a very talented kid and should place top 50 even if he does have some issues.

46. Joesph Logue, Sr Pennridge (1 AAA) – Logue has never seemed like much of an XC guy, but he showed great speed in the 1500 with a 3:55. As he has grown and now has no relay teams to work with, I believe he’ll be moving up in distance to the 1600. This XC season will be giving him the base and I think he’ll be upping millage. This could be a bust, but Logue is a hard, driving worker and I believe he’ll be successful with this change.

47. Scott Seel, Jr North Allegheny (7AAA) – Seel was 45^th last year during XC, but only ran the 800 at track invitational’s this spring. This does worry me a bit, which is why he’s ranked as there 5^th guy. Not sure if NA will hold all 5 guys on this list and I may be giving them and WCH too much credit, but I do like the spreads of both teams and if you’ve got a 14 second spread, it’s hard to have 1 on the list without the other 3

48. Chris Kienzle, Sr Kennett (1AAA) – He’ll have a ton of competition coming out of the ches-mont league which is as strong as ever this year. Kienzle has 4:28 and 9:43 to his name and looks to make his way to the state meet out of a tough district one.

49. Jacob Connors, Jr Wilson (3AAA) – Connors is only an XC guy, but was able to run 17:03 at states for a 71^st place finish. If he can have a breakout season he’ll be in great shape for a medal run.

50. Kevin Moy, Sr West Chester Henderson (1AAA) – A 4:16/1:55 guy is 50^th on this list and 7th on his team? That’s what you get with WCH. Moy may not even be on the top 7, but after a huge breakout this spring he may also be making his way up this list by the end of the season. He really doesn’t have any XC credentials and he should probably be on the just missed list, but he’s too go in my opinion not to be.

Updated Just missed list in no particular Order

Trevor Blackwell, Jr New Castle D3 AAA

Jared Luckanitz, Jr Governor Mifflin D3 AAA

Jeffery Wiseman, Sr Council Rock South D1 AAA

Dylan Butera, Sr Strath Haven D1 AAA

Joe Sullivan, Sr Mrg Bonner (12AA)

Christian Donnelly, Sr Cardinal O’Hara (12AAA)

Alexander Balla, Sr Quakertown (1AAA)

Doran and Zatlin of Great Valley (1AAA)

Brian Arita, Jr Council Rock North (1AAA)