District 8/10 Sub-Regional - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 5
- 2020 Individual Champion: Christian Mattern (McDowell) - 16:17
- 2020 Team Champions: Taylor Allderdice - 20 points
Individuals Breakdown
McDowell's Christian Mattern will aim to retain his sub-regional title this season, and despite eight of the top ten from last year returning, he is still the big favorite. Mattern rolled to the win by a large margin last year before placing 44th at the state meet. Now a junior, he'll certainly have his sights set on a state medal at Hershey, and Mattern will have a good shot at a high finish.
Looking to challenge him will be Taylor Allderdice's Holden Eagle. He was second to Mattern at the sub-regional, but only a couple spots behind him at the state meet. Eagle was 46th at Hershey and the senior will look for more in 2021.
After those two, the other returners include Allderdice's Aleff Teshome, Jack Barnhisel, and Owen Bluman, and McDowell's Nicolin Pierce, Caleb Willis, and Daniel Easley. Barnhisel was 62nd at the state meet last year, while Bluman was 70th.
Team Breakdown
Last year, Taylor Allderdice won the sub-regional as a team, and with that, booked the one trip to Hershey allotted to the sub-regional. But McDowell also brought a full scoring team of five to Hershey by qualifying five individuals. The same thing could happen this season, as Obama Academy is the only other team that competed with these two teams last season.
So, there a good chance that two scoring teams from the sub-regional will head to Hershey, but of course, the top spot is important because it allows the winning team to bring a full seven runners to Hershey instead of just five.
It should figure to be a close battle this time around. Allderdice, the defending champs, bring back four of its top seven from last season, led by Eagle. McDowell, meanwhile, has six of its top seven from last year returning. The meet could turn into a de facto duel meet, so every point will be crucial.
Last year, the difference for Allderdice was putting its top five ahead of McDowell's No. 2 runner. If McDowell's secondary pack can make some moves on Allderdice's pack, this will be a very close battle.