Jiminy Cricket Power Rankings

Ladies and gentlemen, we have ourselves a big treat today. After a commenter suggested a sort of power rankings, our very own Jiminy Cricket took the liberty of crafting this very insightful, thorough list. I am very excited to see what all of your thoughts on the list are, and I'm very grateful for the content. Enjoy!


**Any formatting errors in the list below are my fault. The document transferred very oddly and I had to spend a lot of time fixing some spacing and formatting issues.**


Indoor Track Top 50
Week #1 (1-7-19)
Honorable Mention: Noah Demis (North Penn/Junior)- District 1; Brandan Knepper
(Mechanicsburg/Senior)- District 3; Seth Phillips (Mifflin County/Senior)- District 6; Brendan
Colwell (Penns Valley/Sophomore)- District 6; John Zawislak (Spring Ford/Sophomore)-
District 1

50. Brendan Campbell (Haverford/Senior)- District 1
A 4:34 mile at the beginning of the season gets Campbell a spot on the list. He also has a 1:58 to his name, meaning that he is a threat in both the 800 and mile. Haverford was arguably the breakout team of the fall, and now they boast a stable of talented runners. Campbell seems like he could be a key piece on their DMR and/or 4x8, which has already gone under 8:20.

49. Jakolby Fackler (Palmyra/Sophomore)- District 3
I had never heard of Fackler until he beat Ethan Knoebel in an early season XC invite, but I probably should have known of him sooner. 4:32 and 9:46 are quick times, but they are simply outstanding coming from a 9th grader. Now a sophomore, Fackler opened up at the F&M meet with a strong 4:37/9:14 double.

48. Isaac Valderrabano (DT West/Senior)- District 1
Valderrabano’s 4:37 at the 4th TFCAGP meet doesn’t sound like much, but surprisingly it is an indoor PR by 15 seconds. The man just has not done much indoors. Obviously he is capable of so much more, as evidenced by 4:24 outdoors. DTW never seems to be that concerned with the indoor season, so I’ll just leave him here and expect to see more come spring time.

47. Payton Sewall (DT West/Senior)- District 1
It’s no secret that Sewall has been one of the state’s best cross country runners over the past two years. However, he has yet to show that same spark on the oval. I don’t want to harp on him too much; 4:30/9:03/9:36 are still very good times. But I think that he still has more to give. If he can do this, a sub-8:50 is within reason.

46. Frank Brown (Radnor/Junior)- District 1
The junior returned to his favored mile distance and ran a strong 4:29 at Kevin Dare. He finished last track season with a 4:24 PR and a medal in the always-tough District 1, and now he seems ready to continue where he left off. With the emergence of Doug Rosin and the superstar Zeh up front, Radnor is looking really good for the relays. Brown might be the x-factor that determines his team’s success in both the 4x8
and DMR.

45. Jason Cornelison (Cheltenham/Senior)- District 1
After narrowly missing out on the indoor state meet last year, it appears that an injury knocked Cornelison out of the outdoor season entirely. He came back to enjoy a solid XC season, but he still left without a medal. Look for him to be very motivated to do some damage over 3000 meters.

44. CJ Thimons (Highlands/Junior)- District 7
A quick 1:59.02 earns Thimons a spot in the rankings. He has a 1:55 career best so he should have a good chance of shaving off a couple more seconds and getting safely into the state field.

43. Zachary Leachman (Mars/Junior)- District 7
Leachman competed indoors for the first time in his career at Youngstown State and he did quite well. 4:32 was a decent 1600 time, but then he came back for a stellar 9:41 3200. That won’t be enough to get into states but it is a good place to be in early January.

42. Jack Seiberlich (LaSalle/Senior)- District 12
A tough day at Hershey was surely not how Seiberlich wanted to end out his XC career, but he bounced back well with a 4:31 behind his teammate Twomey at the Briarwood meet. With a 4:22 best outdoors, Seiberlich will be looking to qualify into the mile field. At the very least, he will be a leader for the ridiculously deep LaSalle relays.

41. Joshua Lewin (WC East/Junior)- District 1
The head blogger has already pointed out Lewin’s debut indoors, a 4:34 in the open mile and a leg on East’s DMR. This is big news because Lewin has the pedigree to make some noise. 4:21 and 9:31 are elite times, and I imagine the 9:31 could be a lot lower considering it came at the end of his freshman year. This is someone to keep an eye on.

40. Eric Albright (Garnet Valley/Sophomore)- District 1
I was looking to get another 800 guy onto this list, and Albright made that an easy thing to do. 1:59 indoors is always impressive, but even more so when it was a) run by a sophomore, and b)accomplished with a 28 second last lap. The youngster ran 2 flat as a 9th grader, and now he has already surpassed that. Do we have a star in the making?

39. Luke Klingenberg (Cumberland Valley/Senior)- District 3
The second most important transfer in the state, Klingenberg had an impressive first year in PA. A head-turning performance at the Carlisle invite highlighted a consistent regular season and eventually led to a state medal. It is questionable as to how he will adjust to training in the winter, but a 4:25 1600 best earns him a spot on the list.

38. Josh Lewis (North East/Senior)- District 10
For the first half of the XC season, Lewis was the biggest story in the state. The postseason was not as kind, but we shouldn’t forget just how talented the North East runner is. Assuming he can carry over some of his XC abilities, Lewis is primed to take down his 9:08 3k personal best. I’ll bet that he will run times close to his outdoor 4:23/9:26 PR’s this indoor season, making him a medal threat in either event.

37. Andrew Healey (Holy Cross/Junior)- District 2
In a pleasant surprise, the Class A XC runner-up threw his hat into the ring with a 4:32 indoor debut. As with everyone else from smaller schools/districts, there’s no guarantee he will get many more opportunities to run fast this winter. I really hope he does, since Healey would be a welcome addition to the mile or 3k fields.

36. Mark Brown (Greensburg Salem/Senior)- District 7
Brown didn’t have his best day last year at indoor states, but his 4:21 1600 best indicates that he can mix it up with the best. Running with his teammate Binda, Brown recently went 4:31/9:58 for his opener. Those times are nothing crazy, but look for him to get back down into the low 4:20’s (or better) this season.

35. Jack Baker (Cedar Cliff/Senior)- District 3
Baker was somewhat of an unknown entity on the state level before tearing off a bunch of 1:56’s last spring. He got that time all the way down to 1:55 low at districts. He will need to improve his indoor chops to get into the state meet, but the 800 meter expert surely can make some noise.

34. Robert DiDonato (Germantown Academy/Sophomore)- Independent
I’ll admit I was slow to hop on this guy’s bandwagon. I never seem to give Independent league runners the credit they deserve. But after beating a known runner in Jeffrey Love at their XC state meet, I can’t sleep on DiDonato anymore. He began his campaign with a 4:37 PR, and now he’s dropped down to 4:30. This kid has some serious upside moving forward and certainly seems to be the second best runner in the class of 2021.

33. Jack Wisner (Carlisle/Senior)- District 3
This placing is a hedge. Wisner didn’t run a single race indoors last year and hasn’t PR’d since freshman year. However, 1:56 and 4:18 are just way too good to not be included. I’ll assume that we won’t see much (if any) of Wisner this season, but don’t sleep come spring time.

32. Cameron Binda (Greensburg Salem/Senior)- District 7
C. Binda is another guy who can run several events, but the mile is his sweet spot. He raced to a WPIAL championship and a 5th place showing in Shippensburg last spring, which came after placing 6th indoors. If he can get down to the 4:15 range, he will become a contender for state gold. He opened up with a 4:29/10:04 out in Ohio.

31. Andrew Foster (Ephrata/Senior)- District 3
Foster began his 2019 campaign with a 9:13 victory at F&M. That bodes well for the distance standout, who has run sub-9:30 for 3200 outdoors and recently became a state XC medalist. Any chance he and Shue team up for a nasty DMR?

30. Saabir Ali (Overbrook/Senior)- District 1
Something that frustrates me about track is that most guys seem to only focus on one event. Fans like me are left speculating as to how fast runners can go over certain distances. For this reason, I love Saabir Ali. His 2:01/4:34/9:09 resume this early on shows a willingness to test his abilities across the whole spectrum. The question then becomes if he can drop a few seconds off of any one of these times so that he can get to the state meet. But I have to applaud the guy for going after it.

29. David Endres (CB East/Senior)- District 1
Not to be too critical, but I think we can all agree that Endres is not a model of consistency. But you cannot deny that on his good days, the dude is a beast. His 1:55 at Ocean Breeze a year ago was one of the most shocking runs in a while. He capped off the season with a 1:54 for 6th in a deep states race. He couldn’t quite recapture the magic during the spring, but his potential is tantalizing. A 1:58 win this past weekend implies that Endres is back into top form.

28. Connor Shields (Warwick/Senior)- District 3
The first time I heard of Shields was when he unexpectedly made it into the mile field last year indoors. His 4:34 was fairly far off the 4:31 standard, and my guess was that the PTFCA had played some favoritism by rewarding him for running at the meet they hosted. Whether or not that was the case, Shields showed that he belonged. Shields ran a nice 4:29 at that meet, then proceeded to rip off 1:55/4:22/9:31 outdoors. Wow. He even added an XC medal for good measure, showing off his undeniably good range. A 4:33 win over a sneaky good F&M field is a nice start to the season for the senior.

27. Evan Dorenkamp (Manheim Township/Senior)- District 3
After a strong end to his XC campaign that saw a district title and 7th finish in the state, Dorenkamp clearly has elevated his fitness to a new level. He will now look to qualify for his first indoor state meet. Even though he appears to wait until the outdoor season to really get things going, his 1:58 speed (from sophomore year) coupled with 4:23 mile capabilities tell me he will certainly be in the mix this winter.

26. Jarett Zelinsky (Holy Ghost Prep/Senior)- District 1
1:58 sure is a quick time for December, so I gotta reward the man for his run. It will take another leap to get from 1:58 to the 1:55 or so necessary to be a medalist, but I wouldn’t put it past him.

25. Christian Fitch (Fox Chapel/Junior)- District 7
Fitch has come painstaking close to two notable barriers, running bests of 4:31 and 9:01 (3k). After a very good XC season (5th in the state), look for him to shatter both of those times and cement himself as one of the top candidates to medal in the 3000.

24. Patrick Theveny (Penncrest/Junior)- District 1
Patrick Theveny knows how to run the 3k. He qualified in the event last year, then stormed to a solo 9:03 at Robert Burdette. He just added a 9:47 over the full 2 miles at the Armory, which converts down to around 9:10. Can he take a stab at the 8:50 barrier?

23. Chayce Macknair (Mifflin County/Senior)- District 6
I’ll nominate Macknair as one of the most underrated runners in PA. He flew under the radar as a
4:23/9:33 sophomore, then announced himself to the state with an XC medal in 2017. The next year, he added a berth to indoor states, a 4:20 1600, and an 8th place XC finish to his name. Yet he is not even the best runner on his own team, which robs him of the recognition he deserves. I’ll do my best to acknowledge his abilities. He has now gone 4:28/9:09/9:48 this season, showing promise for both the mile and 3k. The 3000 still seems to be his best event and I can envision him dipping into the 8:40’s.

22. Seth Ketler (Seneca Valley/Senior)- District 7
He was not the same force on the trails as he was last year, but Ketler still ended up with another top-15 finish at Hershey. He has mostly chosen to run the 800 and got to the state final outdoors before getting caught in the collision. He has also run 4:20 before, making him a threat in that distance. But all of that might be moot if he chooses the same route as last year: sacrifice individual events for team glory. SV kept their guys fresh for the DMR last year, so it will be interesting to see if the reigning champs use the same strategy this time too.

21. Vincent Twomey (LaSalle/Junior)- District 12
The LaSalle standout salvaged what had been a tough XC campaign with a state medal at Hershey, and now he returns to the discipline where he made a name for himself. Outdoors, he was 4th in the state in the 1600 and ran many times in the low- 4:20’s. LaSalle will almost assuredly run the DMR, and possibly the 4x8 as well, which could complicate individual aspirations. He got off to a good start with a 4:31/9:20 double.

20. Ian Miller (Manheim Township/Senior)- District 3
Miller has mastered the 3000/3200 distance, earning a spot in both state finals last year. He even snagged a 7th place medal indoors and is the top returner in the event. 8:56 behind Harris proves that he is ready to roll once again. Coming off an impressive 13th in XC, it is time to recognize Miller as belonging in the upper echelon of PA runners.

19. Sam Owori (Seneca Valley/Senior)- District 7
Owori is in the same position as Ketler; he can run well in many events but so far has put the team ahead of individual pursuits. But he has been killer in those relays, handing off ahead of Jonah Hoey in 3:07 for the winning DMR and running a strong opening leg for SV’s 4x8 outdoors. The mile would be my guess for Owori’s best event due to his 4:19 from two years ago.

18. Christian McComb (Boyertown/Junior)- District 1
You can’t fault McComb for barely losing to two stars in Walker and Miller. The races were honestly very encouraging as they show that he has put his states performance from November behind him. He has run right around 4:30 3 separate times, showing good consistency. He is in the same boat as a lot of guys later down the list who are competitive in both the mile and 3000; I don’t have a feel for where they will decide to go. I’ll say 3000 for McComb, but that is just a hunch.

17. Nathan Grucelski (Conestoga Valley/Senior)- District 3
Grucelski kicked off his year with a 4:27 for 4th in the deep Kevin Dare field and a new indoor PR. That is a very encouraging result for the senior who qualified into the mile field at last year’s PTFCA championships. With outdoor bests of 4:20/9:30, Grucelski would be a wise pick to snag a state medal this season.

16. Jack Miller (Jenkintown/Senior)- District 1
A couple of early season victories continue the winning ways for the Jenkintown stud. He narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 3000 last year and had to settle for the mile. This time around, I bet that he is all-in on the 3k. He certainly turned a corner from last year and I envision him being a major force as he closes out a fine high school career.

15. Cole Walker (Unionville/Junior)- District 1
A 4:28 win over McComb on the first weekend of the season shows that the District 1 champion is ready to roll on the track. With a 9:30 3200 to his credit, Walker is a threat in either the mile or 3k. If Unionville qualifies a DMR, the mile/DMR is the most likely route.

14. Tyler Shue (Ephrata/Junior)- District 3
I originally had Shue at #4, but his 4:56 opener shows that he is not in tip-top shape yet. That’s ok, as I still expect the two-time state silver medalist to be a major contender down the line. However, with these rankings supposed to reflect who is running well right now, I had to knock him out of the top 10.

13. Ben Kuhn (Wyomissing/Junior)- District 3
I forgot how good Kuhn is on the track. He probably wanted better than 3rd at Kevin Dare, but sub-9 is always an excellent performance. Coupled with his 4:26 earlier in the season, he is running times that are in line with his 4:21/9:32 PR’s outdoors, putting him in the enviable position of most likely getting to choose which event to attack at states. Maybe both?

12. Aiden Tomov (Haverford/Senior)- District 1
Tomov broke through with a huge indoor and outdoor season last year, ending up with a 1600 best of 4:20. His XC season was a little disappointing, but he has returned to his natural habitat on the track with times of 2:01/2:33/9:09. His choice of individual events may depend on Haverford’s relay choice(s), but I’ll predict he at least goes for the mile.

11. Collin Ochs (CR South/Senior)- District 1
Ochs opened up his season with a 1:58 at TFCAGP #2, beating Zelinsky by 2 full seconds. That is a very strong start for the 1:54 man, who surely is a real contender for 800 gold. He showed that he isn’t just a one trick pony, though, with his sub-16 on the trails. That deadly combo of strength and speed, in addition to his hot start, is why I have Ochs so high up on my rankings.

10. Jonah Powell (Grove City/Senior)- District 10
Powell ran a ton of races last spring, including many times when he was on the double. Consistently hitting 1:57/4:20 type marks, he nudged his PR’s all the way down to 1:55/4:18. He was rewarded with a 3rd place medal in the 1600. Now a state champion, Powell should have the confidence that he can take on anyone. I am encouraged to see that the D10 standout has ran indoor meets before, with a 4:30 being his best. It is still possible we don’t see him at all this season, yet it is equally likely he adds another state medal to his collection.

9. Dan McGoey (North Allegheny/Junior)- District 7
Another terrific XC season for McGoey means that fans like myself are again (unfairly) expecting him to dominate just as much on the track. He did break 9:30 for the 3200 3 times last spring and earned himself 5th in the state, so he’s not too far away. Look for him to dip into the 8:40’s for 3k this season.

8. Tyler Wirth (Wallenpaupack/Senior)- District 2
At this point, we need to recognize Wirth as arguably the most well-rounded runner in the state. XC? 5th and 6th in the state the past two years. Outdoors? 4:14 and a 1:53 FAT split as a sophomore. Indoors? 4:20 full mile and the top returner. He has all the tools to be a state champion. It’s a matter of having it all come together on the right day.

7. Ethan Zeh (Radnor/Senior)- District 1
Originally, I had Zeh sitting around 25th in these rankings. Then, he made a big-time statement with a 4:23 at Penn State. I probably shouldn’t be too surprised; the man ran 4:27 last spring then added a sub-16 in the fall. Still, it is always a little different when someone actually goes out there and does it. I would still argue that the mile is his off event. He made a name for himself in the 800, running a PR of 1:54 to get 6th at Shippensburg last spring. Zeh now enters the common territory of having to balance relays with open events; 4x8/800/DMR might be on the table.

6. Garrett Baublitz (Juniata/Junior)- District 6
I have been a huge believer in Baublitz ever since his 4:19 as a freshman. Coming off a very strong runner-up finish in XC, I believe he has the talent to become an unstoppable force on the AA scene. He surprisingly chose to sit out of the indoor state meet last year (I never heard if it was injury or not), but that’s no reason to move him down.

5. Matt Eissler (Pennridge/Senior)- District 1
The 800 specialist has continued to shine in the 4-lapper. He played a key role on the PA #1 4x8, rattled off a 1:58 at the Marine Corps meet, and finally dominated the Kevin Dare field with a 1:55. With Pennridge again boasting a strong mid-distance crew, the senior surely has his eye on double gold at the state meet. He will have lots of competition in the open 8 but this great start shows he is ready for the challenge. By the way, his twin brother Luke probably deserves a spot on this list with his 2:01 right behind Tomov.

4. Brayden Harris (Mifflin County/Sophomore)- District 6
Harris made quite the indoor debut, a 9:32 over 3200 meters at Dickinson. Then, he kept the momentum rolling with an 8:51 win at Kevin Dare. Much like McGoey, the question going into this season is whether he can translate his XC prowess (4th in the state) to the track. His opening two races indicate that he is ready to do just that. A possible twist is if his team puts together a DMR, something it has all the pieces to do but would hamper Harris’ outlook individually. That is a tough decision that will have to be made later down the road.

3. Patrick Anderson (Mount Lebanon/Junior)- District 7
A lot has already been said about Anderson’s XC season, so I’ll just write about his track exploits. He has so far chosen to solely attack the 1600/mile distance. He finished a respectable 10th in the state last indoor season before turning it up a notch outdoors. A 4:20 at districts led to a 6th place 4:21 in the state finals, making him one of the top returners in that event. I would argue, though, that Anderson had more to give, considering he ran 4:18 in the prelims and made a possible tactical error by making a big move to take the lead with 600 (or 1000, I forget) to go in the final. But that all happened before he turned into one of the best runners in PA, so you gotta imagine he’s figured things out. I have a feeling he will dabble in the 3k/3200 too, making him a threat at multiple distances.

2. Jonah Hoey (Bishop Shanahan/Junior)- District 1
Hoey, following the footsteps of his brothers, has already had a busy indoor campaign. He started out with a rather uninspiring 4:35 mile at the Armory a couple weeks ago, but then came roaring back with a 1:56 for 3rd in a loaded field this past weekend. In my mind, this reinforces the notion that he is a better 800 runner, especially once you factor in his 1:52 from Henderson. But he missed out on the medals from the state meet last year in the 800, then chose the 1600 as his event outdoors. Regardless of where Hoey focuses, he will be a contender for gold. His lack of an XC season is a slight concern, but I’ve learned to never doubt a Hoey on the track.

1. Zach Kinne (North Allegheny/Senior)- District 7
I’ll leave the top spot for the Illinois transfer. After a strong cross season that resulted in a berth at NXN, he now will turn his focus to the track. His outdoor PR’s of 4:14/9:03 are obviously spectacular, but my initial concern was that he had never run indoor before and might not be used to running fast in the winter. Wrong. 4:15 and 9:09 (3200) prove he has done just fine on the indoor oval. I am curious to see if Kinne will take a crack at the mile/3k double, which I think he could definitely do. In the meantime, we’ll wait for the NA standout to make his PA indoor debut.