PIAA Foundation Invitational - Boys' Gold Race (3A) Preview
The final varsity race of the day should present some fireworks, as four top ten teams in the state will do battle.
The newly-minted PA#1 Mount Lebanon squad will go for its fourth win in four weeks. They were winners at Kiski last week, but two weeks ago was a great win at the Red, White & Blue Classic. Mount Leb's squad has great depth, with a front pack comprised of Bryce Brandenstein, Patrick Anderson, Peter Cosentino, and Alex Brokaw. Saturday will be a chance for them to prove to the entire state that they are capable of winning a state title.
But don't count out PA#3 Seneca Valley. The Raiders were third at Red, White & Blue (the second best PA squad, though). With medal hopefuls in Sam Owori and Seth Ketler, along with Mars Area transfer Connor Volk-Klos, Seneca Valley has the chops to run with Mount Lebanon. Also from the WPIAL in the Gold Race is North Allegheny (PA#8). The perennial power is led by Daniel McGoey, who has emerged as one of the state's best as a sophomore. NA will want to close that gap to McGoey, but they will nonetheless be a factor in the team race.
PA#10 Boyertown, which was second at PTXC9 and winners at the Harrier Invitational last week, will face a strong field as the top District 1 squad in the field. But teams like Spring Ford, Central Bucks East, Owen J. Roberts and West Chester East will also be strong repping D1. State College Area is also a strong team, led by Mitchell Etter, who will look to compete for a spot in the top five. SC could make a push for the top ten by day's end. All in all, the team battle will be quite interesting on Saturday afternoon.
The individual race will be exciting, too. The favorite is PA#1 Rusty Kujdych of Neshaminy. After a strong performance at PTXC9, Kujdych roared to the win at Briarwood, running a great race. He'll go for a third straight good race at Hershey. He'll have many challengers, though.
NA's McGoey has been one of the west's best this year. He was second at Red, White & Blue and ran well at Boardman last week to take fifth against Ohio's best. Expect Owori and Ketler to be in the mix near the front, too. State College's Etter won at Penn State a few weeks back and will look to carry in that momentum.
OJR's Liam Conway won at DeSales a few weeks ago. He enters at PA#5 and a strong race will help to solidify that. He was third in the Gold Race last year. Spring Ford's Jacob McKenna has a lot of momentum on the heels of a win at Harrier and a team-leading race at PTXC9, so look for him to be up there.
Taylor Allderice's Ethan Hermann and Tavonne Davis have both made nice leaps this season and should be inside the top ten come Saturday. Fox Chapel Area's Christian Fitch is off to a good start to his season and should figure into the equation as well.
Manheim Township's Evan Dorenkamp, Stroudsburg's Matt Bodon, CB East's David Endres, Southern Lehigh's Colin Cramer, and Boyertown's Josh Endy are among the others in this race that could compete for a high finish. In a deep field like this, there's plenty of room for some sleepers to emerge.
Watch highlights from last year's race: