Individuals Breakdown: District 9 Boys

D9-AA Boys - Individuals Breakdown

While the team battle for the lone state qualifying spot will be fierce, so will the individual battle. A number of boys will look to be in contention for the individual D9 prize this fall at Ridgway.

Punxsutawney Area's Ethan Brentham is the returning champion. The rising junior ran his best race of the season at districts last year to take the district crown. His teammate Owen Bartlebaugh and Jake Dinger led a 1-2-3 finish for Punxsy. Dinger has graduated, but Bartlebaugh is only a sophomore and looking for more this fall. He was the top finishing Punxsy runner at states, taking 85th overall.

But we can't forget about a strong Bradford squad that took the next four spots at that district meet. Logan Caruso won the district title in 2014 and 2015. Caruso will be going for his third D9 individual title in XC to close out his career and he'll have a great shot to do it. He ran 16:55 as a sophomore and is coming off a solid spring on the track. Vinnie Bizarro was Bradford's top runner last fall. He was fourth at districts last season and clocked a 17:06 early last fall. Senior Cade Hayden and sophomore Andrew Kraft were part of that group from last year and will look for a nice improvement this year.

Clearfield Area rising juniors Isaac Swanson and Jeremiah Vezza were eighth and ninth at districts last year, but only Swanson grabbed a state spot, with Vezza just missing out. These two should be motivated to make sure the full pair heads to Hershey this fall.