Plenty of Recaps To Go Around! PART 1

*EDIT*
Just a quick site update, not going to be able to post at all today, so check back tomorrow for Part 2 of the league recaps, and another surprise post!

As promised, we're here to take a look at the hundreds (well, feels like it) of league meets that went down this week. Because there's so many, and I don't want the quality of content to decrease just to get all the meets in one post, I'll probably break this into two parts. But anyways, I really love league meets. Before the pressure of qualifying/advancing ensues the next week, you and your teammates toe the line against rival schools in the area for nothing other than pride. For some, who realistically don't expect to make it through to states in most circumstances, this is their last chance to feel like they're fighting for something alongside their best buds one last time. League titles mean little to nothing for some programs, but for others, it means everything, and I've always respected that. Not that in anyway I condemn coaches who wisely rest their athletes for meets with higher stakes, but I always felt like lining up on your home course starting line week after week with some of your best friends held a certain level of sentiment that could be comparable to the excitement and adrenaline of big qualifying meet. But I digress. So how about those recaps!

Washington County Coaches Meet-
Out at Mingo Creek Park, Peter's Township ace Zack Marmol picked up the individual win, being the lone runner to dip under 17. Marmol is ranked #14 in the WPIAL from Jiminy Cricket's rankings, and is expected to advance through to states out of the crowded District 7. Finishing runner up was Ringgold's Lucas Pajak. I've mentioned him periodically throughout the past few weeks, as he's continued to find himself towards the front of race results. As I've said before, Ringgold has a history of athletes making absurd jumps at the state meet (look up Noah Curtin if you're too young), so I think Pajak is absolutely a medal threat with how consistently he's been running. Canon-McMillan picked up the team win over Peter's Township, 41-59.

YAIAA League Cross Country Championships-
In a great individual race, relatively unknown Andrew Hirneisen from Gettysburg took down a host of York Suburban runners and others. He quietly had an impressive run at Ben Bloser weeks ago, and that seemingly set him up to come in and steal the league crown. Hirneisen is definitely poised to fight for a top 10 finish in D3 AAA right now, and could be a big sleeper moving forward. Possibly an even bigger surprise in this race was the runner up, Northeastern's James Herman. With a 4:49/10:16 track resume, and having never broken 17, this was a huge breakthrough race for Herman. Herman will also navigate his way through this crowded D3 AAA field, and I'm really pulling for him to make it through. Unsurprisingly, York Suburban handily took down the field by over 40 points. They're gearing up for what should be a good battle with Wyomissing next week, and I think they're in the driver's seat right now for that D3 AA crown.

Lancaster-Lebanon League Championship-
In one of the craziest individual races we've seen all year, with the top 4 separated by 4 seconds, Nathan Grucelski pulled the upset (?) win for the league title. There were tons of individual studs in this race, with some of the expected names not even finishing towards the front, like Evan Kreider. Seeing as that Grucelski is a 4:20 miler with very solid closing speed, I shouldn't be surprised that he won a race that came down to a kick. With that being said, a win is a win, and he took down some big time distance names. Basically all of the top 7 finishers have gotten some kind of individual glory at some point this season, and all but Horst will have a rematch at the D3 champs next week, with the YAIAA and half of the Mid-Penn thrown in. Damn, this is going to be a blast! Team-wise, Warwick secured the victory, as I would've expected. I have them as the 2nd best team in D3 right now, and they should semi-comfortably make it through with the Shields-Martin duo up front. The big result to watch here was Manheim Township finishing just 3 points off of Cedar Crest. I said Cedar Crest has started to look more and more vulnerable as the season has progressed, and its showing. I feel comfortable about the top 3 teams in D3 right now, but man, there are some really good teams that are going to get left home. Hershey, Cedar Crest, Palmyra, Manheim Township, and Chambersburg have quite literally all gone back and forth all year long, and I could make a case for every single team here to grab that last spot.

Friends School League Championship-
Historically, no matter the circumstances, GFS just always seems to build an army to some extent. At their private school league meet, they showcased their depth yet again. They put 4 in the top 6, and 6 in the top 15 en route to scoring just 29 points for the win. While this isn't an NXR type of team, or even a top PIAA caliber team, I think credit is deserved where credit is due. As the last of the Dahl era faded with Colin Riley graduating last year, I'm sure many thought this team would slowly fade out of the picture. Their ability to rebuild so quickly with an entire new set of names is a testament to the coaching and culture over at GFS, and I think there is a lot to say about that. Individually, Jeffrey Love unsurprisingly cruised to a 30 second victory, winning with a fairly quick 16:21. This is the fittest Love has been in his HS career, and he may finally get his coveted Private League state title. However, I've said it before, the young guns in DiDonato and Brill are going to make things very interesting.

Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Championship-
In a mad dash to the finish, Easton's Joseph Ozgar wound up stealing the district title from Parkland's Riley Williamson by just a second. This sets up what should be a crazy rematch between the two at the D11 championships next weekend. While Ozgar snagged the individual win, it was Williamson's Parkland squad that found themselves as the league champs. Parkland caught many of our eyes when they finished as the top PA squad at PTXC way back during opening weekend, but have been relatively quiet since then. I think some may forget how good this team is, and when they likely roll to a district championship next week, they will have their eyes set on a top 8 or so finish in AAA. The intriguing part of this race though, was the battle for second. I was just about ready to hand the state spots to Parkland and Easton and call it a day, but not so fast. Even with Ozgar winning the title, Easton only held Stroudsburg off by 5 points. Stroudsburg is actually a stronger team through 4, but loses tons of ground from their #5. That will be the key to upsetting Easton for the 2nd qualifying spot. With Easton's #6 being very reliable though, I still feel safe about picking Easton to advance through to Hershey next week.

Colonial League Championships-
It was all Southern Lehigh in this one. With freshman phenom Alex Kane taking the win, SL won by basically 80 points. I'm really excited to see how Kane holds his own with the EPC guys at D11's next week. The hype is about the Ozgar/Williamson rematch, but don't rule out the rookie from mixing it up at the front.

Berks County (BCIAA) Championships-
In yet another meet containing likely D3 qualifiers, Twin Valley put on one of their best performances of the year, winning the title over Wyomissing 48-82. I feel more and more comfortable about Twin Valley qualifying through the D3 madness. This team has been crazy inconsistent this fall, but the past few weeks, they've started stringing together some solid performances. Servis continues to get back into his top form as a low stick, finishing 3rd overall. Schlegel has had his fair share of consistency issues this fall, but put together a nice performance to finish 6th. I don't think Twin Valley quite has a shot at the title, but this is a very experienced squad who has been around the front for awhile with the Knorr twin's presence. Wyomissing looked strong finishing 2nd, as they look to try and challenge York Suburban for a district title in AA next week. I think they're going to have to run a little stronger to win the title, but its certainly not impossible. Ben Kuhn is looking like an animal. He won this race by over 25 seconds, in a respectable 16:21. He went out a little hard with Jack Miller at Paul Short and paid the price for it, so I don't think people realized how fast this kid was until this race. The 4:21/9:32 track stud learned a lot under Cullen last year, and is a big threat to watch for in AA.

Wyoming Valley Conference XC Championships-
The big takeaways from this meet: Mitchell Rome is still a stud, despite losing the entirety of his training group from last year. Holy Redeemer is going to blow away the D2 AA field, and is a big sleeper moving amongst the crowded team race in AA. I expected Zapusek to be a bit closer to Rome in this race, but I still think he could be in the hunt for the medals if he runs as well as I think he can at Hershey.