With all the craziness that went down yesterday, its going to take a lot of time to break it all down for you. As I'll begin recapping all the action in full depth for all of you starting tomorrow, lets give some key talking points to discuss just 24 hours after the state meet.
A:
-Jenkintown has to be the best A team we've ever seen, and probably will be for while. All 5 on the medal stand??? That's absurd. Very well deserved title for both Miller and his Jenkintown squad.
-My Wyalusing Valley upset pick for the podium didn't quite pan out as they settled for 3rd, but hey, congrats to Winchester Thurston. Most other years, they'd have a pretty close shot at winning the whole thing.
-Penns Valley??? Wow they came out of nowhere. Kudos to the defending state champs for really wrapping things together nicely after not getting 5 guys under 20 to kick off the season. If Sands is healthy, this squad finishes 3rd.
-Although Healey is the top returner for next year, the end to Hessler's season was pretty special. Throw in the return of the Penns Valley duo next year, and this A race is going to be very crowded up front yet again.
AA:
-Tough to see for Josh Lewis. Obviously I picked Powell to beat him, but I thought Lewis would still be top 3. He had an incredible season and should not hang his head.
-The story of this race for me was the General McLane boys. They sure as hell made a case for at-large bids. After missing out on states as a team on a 6th man tiebreaker, their 3 individual qualifiers went and all finished in the top 13! Price, Throop, and Andrzejewski all had incredible races, and if they got just average races out of their 4th and 5th men, they could've podiumed in this race.
-Speaking of surprise finishes, freshman phenom Jacob Hess had a historic race that should not go unnoticed. He was the only freshman across all classifications to break 17:15 (he ran 16:55!), and to be very clear, with the mud and the changes they had to make to the course, I think this actually ended up being one of the harder versions of Hershey we've seen in years. Absolute monster race for this kid.
-Hess, Baublitz, Throop, Kuhn. Who ya got taking it next year?
-I'm glad I stuck with my Greensburg Salem pick. Their top 3 didn't even run as well as I expected, but their 4 and 5 developed very nicely across the season. They were too good to lose.
-I mentioned that Indiana Area had a small chance to sneak onto the podium, but I can honestly say I had no expectation for them to. Getting on the podium with zero medalists and a 16 second time spread is pretty dang cool in my opinion. Awesome team effort from these guys and very well deserved.
AAA:
-Patrick Anderson, wow. I really don't think anyone gave this kid a chance. When I saw Kinne open about a 5 meter gap past the two mile, I thought it was over. But Anderson hung tough, caught Kinne on the long, gradual hill parallel to the finish, and Kinne just couldn't reel him in on the final straightaway. One of the craziest XC races I've seen since Brophy reeled in Hoey on the final stretch in the last 50 meters in 2015.
-Super pumped about Brayden Harris! Knew this kid was going to have a big day, but 4th was incredible.
-McComb and Demis. Tough day for D1. McComb looked like he never really got in it, whereas Demis dearly paid the price for trying to runaway from the NA boys early. While it didn't pay off, I respect the move by Demis. He and McComb both had great seasons and were PA's shining stars at Manhattan.
-Gotta give credit to LaSalle. I really slighted them when I predicted they'd finish 5th. I just didn't think they were going to show up, but they packed up, and were 20 points or so off a state title repeat.
-The top 6 teams in AAA really separated themselves from the rest of the state. I think these were the squads we all gave some shot of finding the podium, and we saw why. If Chamoun and Barnhill replicate their D1 performance, Dwest wins this thing with 85 points or so. Lots of talent all around from all these teams.
-Weird fact I found interesting. Embrace your training partners! 4 team duos made up a large part of the top 14! Ketler/Owori, Dorenkamp/Miller, McGoey/Kinne, and Harris/Macknair all finished in the top 14 of AAA. Kudos to these guys.
All of these and many more headlines to come in the next couple days! Thanks for hanging around the PAXC scene for yet another year!
-The RunningHub
The D1 hype received a shocking dose of reality. Lehigh is no Hershey.
ReplyDeleteJenkintown the second best team in D1
DeleteWpial takes 4 of top 5 Spots, 5 of top 10... Toughest district in the State for AAA
ReplyDeleteDon't agree that DTW would have taken it with Chamoun performing well. Or even Barnhill performing like he did at D1. The same could be said for Koors at D12, if he would have performed as well. LS took 2nd with one of their top 5 runners, Seiberlich, and returner from last season blowing up. If their 7th man, Seiberlich, would have been where he normally was, there was a real possibility that this would have come down to a point or two with NA and a real possibility that LS would have repeated. It is a testament to the depth of their team that they were able to take 2nd with their usual top 5 runner coming in 191 with a time in the 18s. It is almost the exact same thing that happened to DTW with their top 5 runner coming in at 18+ too. Considering both teams had a member of the top 5 drop out of scoring position and fall so far back, I have to think LS would have still taken it. Their spreads 1 thru 7 are just tighter historically than DTW. But, as someone posted earlier, these two teams are very similar. Without Kinne moving to the state, the team battle was really between these two powerhouses. It has also been noted that both of these teams have deep JV teams to pull from for next season. Barring any transfers into the state, these two teams have a shot again next year.
ReplyDeleteIn the team merge, Dwest moved down to 4th position. LaSalle is just slightly stronger as a team than Dwest.
DeleteProps to Anderson. I thought Kinne was the clear favorite and that Mcgoey was 2nd best runner in state. I had Anderson a tad below them (5th was my prediction), but clearly this guys is super talented. I had NA #1 all season but change my mind this week. I had LAS #1 and NA #1 thinking that LAS #5 would come in before NA #3. Congrats to NA on a great season. I also thought DTW and SV also did well and congrats to those teams. Individually a few surprises, Congrats to Harris. Didn't see that coming.I clearly thought western teams (individual) were more talented this year but I was hoping D1 would break up it up. Kudos to Sewall and Cole. Nicely done. I was hoping for a Demis and McComb top 10 finish but Hershey course can do lots of damage if you push past your limit. I have to give Demis for going after it. Not the right strategy in my opinion but gutsy move. Congrats to all state runners.
ReplyDeleteIndiana Area, 16 second spread! Wow! WPIAL dominated AA Boy's Teams.
ReplyDelete"If" NA's #7 hung with McGoey and Kinne they would have won with 60 points. The race is over, no 'ifs'. Everyone has a bad race now and then, that's why varsity's race 7 and not 5, to cover a bad day.
ReplyDelete^^^Thank you; enough with what could have happened. What happened is that NA showed why they had been ranked #1 all year and how fast times at Lehigh and Belmount Plauteu don't really mean much when a state title is on the line in sloppy conditions on one of the hardest state courses in the country. Additionally, it wasn't like NA even snuck by with a state title, but rather they handily won by 22 points, so congrats to them.
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