Photo by Dan Beck
Boys' Brown Race (3:15pm) Preview
Plenty of star power is packing the start line for the boys' Brown Race on Saturday afternoon. Leading the charge will be PA#3 Nick Dahl of Germantown Friends. Dahl blasted a 15:23 at the George School a few weeks ago and appears fitter than ever and ready to drop a really fast time. A sub-15 is the goal, though the wet weather may have other plans. Still, the senior is in a spot where he can go really fast on Lehigh.
His best competition may come from out-of-state with Dalton Hengst of McDonogh School in Maryland. He was seventh in this race a year ago, but ran 15:37 at Carlisle last weekend and a has a 4:10 mile on his resume. Sewickley Academy's Griffin Mackey is signed up to race, but the senior and reigning Single-A state champ has been MIA for most of this XC season with the exception of an early season race in Texas. He was third last year in this race.
Two District 3 runners with a chance to make some serious noise are Eprata's Zach Lefever (PA#7) and Mechanicsburg's Morgan Cupp (PA#17). Lefever ran very fast at Big Spring a few weeks ago, and Cupp is coming off a ninth place run at Carlisle. Both should stack up nicely against this field, and may even be able to steal a win with a good race. In addition to Cupp, look out for Mechanicsburg's Alex Tomasko, a talented runner just outside the top 25 in the state rankings.
Photo by Patty Morgan
Springfield (Delco)'s Liam Galligan is coming off a win at Briarwood a few weeks ago. He's much improved from a year ago and surely primed to drop a really fast time at Lehigh. Speaking of fast kids named Liam, Owen J. Roberts' Liam Conway has been a consistent top quality performer this season. After a third place run at Hershey last weekend, he'll come down to the flatland of Lehigh's course and should contend up front. Neshaminy's Rusty Kujdych was a winner at Council Rock last weekend and is also in this deep field. All three have the potential to finish very high in this race.
Others to watch out for are Winchester Thurston's Tristan Forsythe, Pleasant Valley's Seth Slavin, North Pocono's David Haines, Cumberland Valley's Josh Higgins, Hempfield's Nick Norton, Pennsbury's Eric Kerston, Lower Merion's Matthew D'Aquila, Central Bucks South's Matthew Scarpill, freshman phenom Carlos Shultz of Conestoga and South Williamsport's Hunter Crawley in this deep (did we mention deep?) field.
Photo by Ethan Rissell
As far as the team race is concerned, there are two Saucony Flo50 squads in the race in #9 Parkland and #10 Spring Ford, but many teams just on the outside should get in the mix too. Hempfield was sixth at Carlisle last week, while Mechanicsburg was seventh and Cumberland Valley was eighth. All three of those D3 teams are talented with some frontrunners. It'll come down to depth. While Districts is about a month away, these teams are definiely looking to send a message to the other teams.
Spring Ford was without one of its top runners---Zachary Smith---at Hershey and if he returns, it'll provide a big boost to that team. Germantown Friends was dominant in victory at George School. The Independent Schools state favorites will look to have a good run against a bigger field. William Tennent, Conestoga, Easton, Pennsbury, and Lower Merion are other strong squads in this race. As far as the out-of-state compeititon is concerned, the top teams that could challenge for the win are Quince Orchard (MD), Centerville (OH), and Lee-Davis (VA).