PIAA District 12 Championships - Boys' Preview
Class-A
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
It doesn't look like anyone will be stopping Masterman, as it is in pursuit of its sixth straight District 12-A crown, which has been every district title since 1A was introduced to the PIAA in XC in 2012.
Individually, Neumann Goretti's Kamil Jihad ran down Masterman's Daniel Bici in the final loop at Belmont Plateau last season to earn the district title. Could we see a similar performance from the 800-meter specialist this year? Well, both Bici and Jihad are running some of the best XC of their careers. Bici clocked a 17:19 PR at Belmont to win the Public League title, while Jihad ran faster than he did last year at PCLs. Bici's time indicates that he's the favorite, but anything can happen on race day, just like last year.
Then Masterman's Isaac Colon has been running well, too, clocking an 18:02 at Public Leagues last week. Along with his teammates Edward Brown, Noah Bradley, and David Lawrence, let's see just how few points Masterman can score on Thursday.
Science Leadership Academy will be a team to watch to grab that second state qualifying spot out of D12-A. They were third in the Public League.
Class-AA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
Last year, Msgr. Bonner & Abp. Prendie edged out Conwell-Egan for the district title in 2A and both teams earned trips to Hershey. We could expect a similarly close battle for the top spot in D12 on Thursday.
Individually, the favorite is Bonner's Anthony Harper, the reigning district champ, who is having another strong season in XC. It will be tough to stop him on Thursday and we'll see if anyone can challenge him. Overbrook's Saabir Yasin Spann had a breakthrough at Public Leagues, running a strong PR of 17:28 to place second behind Bici. We'll see if he can give Harper a run up front.
But the team battle is what's intriguing here. Bonner are the defending champs. Harper's low stick, along with a strong finish from Brian McGarrity will be critical, and the Friars will look to find the pieces in the backend of its top five to ensure a spot in the top two. Lansdale Catholic was a place behind Bonner at PCLs. LC has a nice pack, but will need that group to move up on Thursday.
Overbrook has that low stick, too, but like Bonner, can those other runners make a charge higher in the pack? Conwell-Egan, state qualifiers from 2016, have a strong top three led by Jeremy Capella, but their depth must improve if they want to earn another states bid.
Ultimately, the fight for these two state spots will come down to performing their best on the right day.
Class-AAA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
LaSalle College rolled through the PCL Championship, scoring a historic 15 points for a clean sweep of the league. The road to Hershey will be a breeze for the Explorers, which should handily take the D12-3A title. Led by senior and Pitt commit Evan Addison, LaSalle has seen an influx of young runners---Vincent Twomey, Ethan Maher, and Bradden Koors---along with another senior Sean Egan, turn this team into arguably the state's best. It'd be easy for this team to look ahead to Hershey, but first, it's one last run up Parachute Hill.
The the battle is on for the second state qualifying spot. Entering PCLs, we figured the battle for No. 2 would be between Cardinal O'Hara and Saint Joseph's Prep. O'Hara beat Prep big, 58-97. Signs would point to O'Hara, led by Tom McNicholas and Jack Becker taking the second and final state spot. Still, look for Prep's Ricky Raup and Calvin Willie to compete for spots in the top ten.