Denny Dyroff’s notebook looks at the SOL’s top teams and top runners at Friday’s District One AAA championships.
By DENNY DYROFF
This is the time that the premier cross country runners from the Suburban One League have been waiting for.
Now, it’s time to get serious.
On Friday, the District One Cross Country Championships will be held at Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus just south of Bethlehem. The top runners and teams from the district meet will advance to the PIAA Championships, which are scheduled for November 1 at Hersheypark’s very challenging Parkview Course.
Only the top five team finishers at the District One meet earn berths at the state championships. Individually, the top 25 finishers not on qualifying teams also earn tickets to the “Big Dance in Chocolate Town.”
According to the district team rankings published by PennTrackXC.com, three of the top five are SOL boys’ teams -- top-rated Central Bucks West, third-rated Council Rock North and fourth-rated Central Bucks East.
However, many regard second-ranked Downingtown West as the favorite to win the team gold medals -- including Central Bucks West coach Greg Wetzel.
“We look strong and focused,” said Wetzel. “We are confident that we can improve on last year’s third-place finish this Friday at Districts. Finishing third as a team last year was our best finish since 2007, when we finished eighth. Six teams advanced to States that year, prior to the PCL joining the PIAA.
“Downingtown West is the clear favorite for the District One Championship this year. But, we know that if we make hanging with them our goal, we will qualify as a team again for states, which is the most important objective of the weekend for everyone.”
Wetzel is a realist, but he isn’t ready for his boys to meekly hand the trophy to the Whippets from the Ches-Mont League.
“Rock Fortna’s 15:32 and Brian Iatarola’s 15:54 on Friday at the Suburban One League Championships signal that they are all ready to roll, since our guys know they are all capable of doing what their teammates can do,” said Wetzel. “Keeping a tight pack will be critical for us to make it a close race.”
Fortna was runner-up in the Continental Conference race last Friday and Iatarola placed fourth. West placed all of its scorers in the top nine to win the meet with 29 points while Central Bucks East was second with 63. The Bucks’ other scorers were Ben Smullen (sixth), Declan McDonald (eight) and Brian Mass (ninth).
While the two “Wests” appear to be on a plateau all their own, the next three positions -- the next three state berths could be filled by a number of different teams…with Council Rock North leading the way.
“Those two teams are head-and-shoulders above everybody else,” said North coach Dave Marrington. “And, there are about eight other teams seriously competing for the next three spots. We’ll be in contention. Last week (SOL National Championships) was our best meet of the season. That’s for sure.”
North’s scorers at the conference meet were Ben Heintz (fifth), Tim Haas (sixth), Ryan Campbell (seventh), Bryan Keller (eighth) and Ethan Koza (11th).
“We were coming off two dual meet losses early in the season and that gave us an advantage,” said Marrington. “We had things to do and we stuck to our race plan. Being down by six points (from dual meet losses) and coming back. I don’t think that’s ever been done.”
It may not have been done before but, amazingly, it was done again later in last Friday’s SOL meet. Wissahickon had a six-point deficit heading into the SOL American race. The Trojans erased it and won the championship with 32 points while Cheltenham was second with 49 and Upper Dublin third with 54.
“We went in with two losses,” said Wissahickon coach Bill Gallagher. “That was a big deficit to overcome. But our kids really believed we could do it. They ran what was probably one of the best races a Wissahickon cross country team has ever run. We had to overcome six points and the kids did more than that.”
The Trojans were led by Lukas Marcelis, who won his second consecutive American Conference gold medal. Their other scorers were Andy Harman (third), Ben Hoyer (sixth), Cameron Christopher (seventh) and Matt Maiale (15th).
Central Bucks East will have a big advantage in its quest for one of District One’s state meet berths -- Jake Brophy, the defending district and state champion who is currently the top-rated runner at both levels. The Patriots’ crew also features Joshua Goetz, David Endres, William Schulz, Cade Sands, Dan Powell and Cole Sands.
The PennTrackXC.com rankings feature 11 other SOL teams in the District One Class AAA Top 25 -- 5. Spring-Ford, 6. Owen J. Roberts, 7. Hatboro Horsham, 8. William Tennent, 9. West Chester Henderson, 10. North Penn, 11. Pennsbury, 12. Wissahickon, 13. Pennridge, 14. Harriton, 15. West Chester East, 16. Phoenixville, 17, Lower Merion, 18. Perkiomen Valley, 19. Abington, 20. Quakertown, 21. Cheltenham, 22. Council Rock South, 23. Havertown, 24. Upper Dublin, 25. Avon Grove.
Other SOL runners who are in strong position to claim one of the district’s 25 state-meet berths are Bensalem’s Rahi Shah, Neshaminy Rusty’s Kujdych, Souderton’s Connor McMenamin and Joe Breen, Central Bucks South’s Matthew Scarpill, Council Rock South’s Joe Maguire, Hatboro Horsham’s Matthew Allen and Jared Bixler, William Tennent’s Sean Rahill and Evan Hutton, Pennridge’s Tucker Desko, Pennsbury’s Eric Kersten, Quakertown’s Hudson Delisle, North Penn’s Brendan O’Toole, Abington’s Jake Good, Upper Dublin’s Riley Hannon and Upper Merion’s Noah Falasco.
On the girls’ side, it’s inconceivable that -- barring something catastrophic happening -- any team in District One will be able to mount even the slight semblance of a serious challenge to Pennsbury
For the second year in a row, the Pennsbury girls took the top seven individual places at the SOL National Conference Championship meet at Lehigh University’s Goodman Campus.
When the Falcons return to the same course this Friday, they won’t even take the top five individual spots -- but then we’re talking the district meet with dozens of top-flight runners.
In the PennTrackXC.com individual rankings, Pennsbury’s Olivia Sargent is first and Hannah Molloy is third. All seven Falcon runners are listed in the Top 30 -- Mary Webb (sixth), Maddie Sauer (18th), Meredith Twomey (22nd), Bailey Balmer (25th) and Rachel Estey (29th).
A lot of teams would be delighted to have just one runner in the Top 30 at the highly competitive District One Class AAA meet.
In the district team rankings, SOL teams other than top-ranked Pennsbury are North Penn (second), Central Bucks West (fifth), Upper Dublin (ninth), Central Bucks East (10th), Council Rock South (14th), Pennridge (17th), Souderton (22nd) and Upper Merion (24th). Quite a few of them have their sights set on earning a trip to Hershey.
“I think we’re in there to be considered,” said North Penn coach Jim Crawford. “There are a lot of good teams with Pennsbury and Unionville at the top of the list. Perkiomen Valley and Owen J. Roberts look outstanding. Great Valley and Downingtown East are strong and both C.B. East and C.B. West are really good.”
In last week’s Continental Conference race, North Penn placed all five scorers in the top 18 to finish with 44 points while C.B. West logged 60 to place second. North Penn’s scorers were Ariana Gardizy (second), Olivia Dyer (sixth), Phoebe Clowser (seventh), Mikaela Vlasic (12th) and Lauren Matulevich (18th).
“This was our first conference title since 2011,” said Crawford. “It was a good confidence-builder for our girls. They felt good after the race.”
C.B. West will be a serious challenger for a state berth, and its leader Maddie Villalba - who is ranked fourth behind Sargent, Downingtown West’s Aislynn Devlin and Molloy - will be one of the runners infiltrating Pennsbury’s pack at the front. Other scorers for the Bucks last week were Jillian Keyte (ninth), Laura Roth (11th), Megan Kolbe (19th) and Marlee Evans (22nd).
Upper Dublin’s crew of Sarah Smith, Saddie Gustafson, Sophie Gustafson, Emily Stewart and Madeline Spaulding won the American Conference race last week and are on the bubble of potential state qualifiers.
“I was actually disappointed with our team’s performance last week -- which is unusual because we did win,” said Upper Dublin coach Tony Giammarco. “Our girls didn’t run well time-wise. Some of them said their legs were sluggish. Others got a little complacent because things were going well place-wise.
“We’re reducing our mileage this week -- just one short workout today (Wednesday). Districts is going to be very difficult. Making states as a team is a long shot -- but there’s a shot. Some of the teams ahead of us ranking-wise are all within reach. But, we’ll have to run our absolute best.”
Upper Merion, which finished a close runner-up to Upper Dublin in the American race, will enter districts as one of the better teams -- but not good enough to be in the elite category.
“I'm very proud of my girls for how they ran at leagues,” said Upper Merion coach Doug Symonds. “Our goal as a team is to run our best times of the year by districts. We train to run well at the end of our season.
“The girls have put in a lot of work and run very well together as a team. This Friday at districts I'm hoping for one more solid race out of them and see how we fair in the toughest district in Pennsylvania.”
Other SOL girls who are in good position to move on to the PIAA Championships are Cheltenham’s Sarah Richart, Souderton’s Emily Bonaventure and Ellie Bell, Hatboro Horsham’s Alyssa Quinn and Hannah Knudsen, Central Bucks East’s Hannah Morris, Pennridge’s Monika Brill, Wissahickon’s Lotte Black, Council Rock South’s Elizabeth Sauers, Quaktertown’s Madeline Ocamb and Neshaminy’s Kabrina Weaver.
The race schedule for Friday’s District One meet at Lehigh is: 9:30 AM - Girls A; 10:00 AM - Girls AA; 10:30 AM - Girls AAA; 11:00 AM - Boys A; 11:30 AM - Boys AA; 12:00 PM - Boys AAA; 12:30 PM - Boys Non-Seeded; 12:30 PM - Girls Non-Seeded and 1:30 PM - Awards.
- Log in to post comments
