Photo by Don Rich
Ben Bloser Bulldog Invitational - Boys' Meet Preview
The boys race, like the girls race, should be action-packed, as runners get a preview of the District 3 Championship course they'll see at the end of October. It should be fairly wide open in both varsity races.
AAA Race
District 3 is seeing big change this season after the graduation of many of the top runners from a loaded senior class last fall.
The top boy in Saturday's field look to be Lower Dauphin's Jared Giannascoli. He was 15th in AAA last season and Saturday will mark his invitational season debut. He'll have a host of challengers as a number of boys look to make a good impression on the district course.
Manheim Central's David Merkey (36th at states in '16) is in the field, along with the Hempfield duo of Christian Groff and Max Lessans, who should all be up near the front. So should Manheim Township's Evan Dorencamp, Lower Dauphin's Mark Walsh, Wilson's Jake Underwood and Cedar Crest's Adam Wolfe.
Elizabethtown's Christopher Scharf ran a strong race to take second at PTXC9 and should be a factor again at Big Spring, too. Overall, the race is fairly open to anyone who can rise to the occasion.
We should learn plenty more about the state of the teams in District 3 after Saturday, but the team race figures to be a battle between Hempfield, Cedar Crest, Central Dauphin, and Central York, but there's room for some sleeper teams to emerge.
Photo by Don Rich
A & AA Race
He won the District 3 Class A title last season and now Upper Dauphin's Brenden Miller is set to open up his 2017 XC campaign. The senior went 15:46 on the track at the end of this past spring and seems primed for a big season after spending much of last season under the radar.
Bellefonte's Brett Pope, who ran 15:51 at Lock Haven a few weeks ago is also in the field, hoping for another strong race.
The team race should be close, but expect Milton Hershey, led by Rafael Mendez, and Boiling Springs to duke it out for that title.