Photo by Patty Morgan
AA Boys | With 6 returners, Dallas primed for repeat state title
D2-AA Boys Team Preseason Rankings
Dallas pulled off a big win at last year's state meet, beating reigning champs York Suburban by a narrow margin of eight points. Dallas returns six from that squad and all five scorers, so all signs are pointing to another big year for them.
Jack Zardecki, a junior, is the top returner. He was a state medalist last season and looks primed for a big year. Adam Borton and James Culp make up the next two after finishing 28th and 36th in the state respectively last season. Repeating is never easy, especially with talented teams from York Suburban, Knoch and Grove City lurking to capitalize on any off days from Dallas runners, but they have the pieces in place.
Berwick was second to Dallas at districts and then took seventh in the state in AA. They return six of seven and should be threat once again for a state berth. They had a very strong 1-5 gap last season that was just 29 seconds at districts and 43 seconds at states. They did have over a minute drop from their fifth to sixth guy and with the graduation of one member of the top five, they'll need to find a way to clog that up. Either way, they'll have a strong team led by Ty Fisher.
A squad that returns everyone from 2015 is Holy Redeemer. They are a young team made up of three rising sophomores. After taking fifth last season, they seem ready to make the jump to a states team. Scranton Prep, fourth last year, lost three guys from last year's team, but they return their middle pack of four that were separated by just 12 seconds at districts. Holy Redeemer and Prep will be in a heated battle for that final spot.
North Pocono, led by David Haines, the early season favorite to win the individual title, should be in the conversation as well.