Abington
GIRLS PREVIEW by Bill Coren(Strath Haven)
Although many of the TOP girls teams and individuals will be at the PTXC5 meet at Kutztown, 24 girls teams will run at the popular Abington Invitational(Brian Deck does a great job with this meet).
3 teams will get trophies in the Varsity race. The apparent TEAM favorites are DOWNINGTOWN WEST, STRATH HAVEN, UPPER DUBLIN and GWYNNED MERCY.
DWEST was the TEAM CHAMPION in 2013 and returns 2 of their top 3 and adds a miler from track who ran close to 5:00. DWEST got 2nd at Oakbourne Relays last week, losing only to UNIONVILLE. SHAV was 3rd last year and was a AAA STATE QUALIFIER. SHAV returns 3 of their top 5. UDUB finished 3rd last week at Sharp, running very well against 2 tough CENTRAL BUCKS’ foes. GMERCY is ranked #5 AA this pre-season and won AA Districts in 2013.
PREDICTION-----STRATH HAVEN(Hopefully this is not just wishful thinking, but the pick is based on past and current results)
As for the individual first place trophy and the Top 10, there are a number of girls who will be taking home some nice hardware! DWEST Devlin is the odds-on favorite!! She was 2nd in 2013 and was 4th at AAA Districts and last week ran faster splits than all of the UNIONVILLE girls. 3 other girls have an outside shot against Devlin. Black of WISS was 5th last year, a STATE QUALIFIER, and ran sharply 3rd last week at Sharp. Visconto of NAZERETH was 9th last year and had a great track season!! Mesyngier(STRATH HAVEN) finished 11th last year and was close to Devlin last spring in the 3200 at Districts. Others who could/should be Top 10 are Barnhill(DWEST), Planck(DWEST), Szekely(GMERCY), Wolters(SHAVEN), L.Ionescu(UDUB), and Smith(UDUB).
PREDICTION------Devlin(DWEST) may win going away!!!!
Boys
Downingtown West boys will run their first 5000 meter race on Saturday. The potential on the roster was on display last Friday at the Oakbourne Relays, as the Ches-Mont favorites came up just 30 seconds short of Conestoga in the 4x2 mile relay meet. Defending champions West Chester East won by just 3 points over a Penncrest squad that qualified for the state meet. Eric Diestelow will look to lead WC East back to the top on Saturday, while Penncrest will be running their first race since the graduation of the Kazanjian brothers, Chris and Matt. Avon Grove's Josh Smith is the top returner in the competition from last year, finishing 5th. He will have some tough company to fight off, including Diestelow, and the Downingtown West duo of Ryan and Charlie Barton.
Red, White and Blue
Boys
The big event of the weekend in Western PA is the annual Red, White and Blue Invitational. Over 60 teams and over 2000 runners will look to get a fast time under their belt on what should be a wonderful day for competition.
In 2013, North Allegheny dominated the competition with a score of 30 points with a top six inside the top 11 and a top 7 inside the top 16 with a 20 second spread between their 1-5 runners. How can they top that performance? That in itself may be difficult. However, sending a message to the rest of the state about their title credentials for this season could go from a message to a shockwave! Matt McGoey will lead the way for the AAA state title favorites and he also enters the meet as the top returner from last year (4th). AA team Quaker Valley finished in the top five at this meet last season and will look to duplicate that feat to send a message to their state title rivals. Zack Skolnekovich finished in the top 50 last season and will look to start his sophomore season well. Class A champions Saegertown will start their title defense at Baldwin. They were 12th at this meet last season.
Individuals looking to have a big race are Grove City's Aaron Benka, Will Loevner of Winchester Thurston, Todd Gunzenhauser of Mount Lebanon and Zack White of West Allegheny. These four finished inside the top 20 in this race a year ago. They also all finished behind four North Allegheny juniors.
Girls
Mount Lebanon enter this race as the champions and are coming off an impressive 2014 debut performance at California University of PA on Saturday. The team scored 24 points and they were led by state title contender Kelsey Potts, who won her first race of the season. Potts will have to be on her toes again this weekend, as she will have top competition chasing her to take her Red White and Blue championship.
Saturday will mark the debut of Class A state champion Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy. Adbalah finished 2nd to Potts in this race last season and she broke 18 minutes in the process. How can the champion top her debut season? A victory over Potts may be the first step towards bettering 2013. In the mix with those two stars will be Alexis O'Shea of West Allegheny. O'Shea won the Gateway Invitational on Saturday to get her season off to a winning start. Her team has been bumped up to the AAA division this season, making Saturday's match up with Potts the first of many head to head battles this season. Last but not least in this hot contest will be Madeleine Davison of North Allegheny. Last time we saw her, she was giving Brianna Schwartz all she can handle in the 1600 meter final. Davison will be looking to make the next step up the ladder to the top, and a good race on Saturday will start her on her way. Can O'Shea make an impact in the AAA division? Can Davison bring her spring form to the fall? Or will Potts maintain her throne as the best in the District?
Meanwhile, Potts' team will be defending their team crown they narrowly earned over Morgantown, WV. A repeat win for Mount Lebanon will be good for their state title credentials after finishing 3rd at states last year. Four juniors, including Potts will be leading the way for the district 7 champs. North Allegheny will have something to say about that, as they will introduce a new looking team that will be replacing five seniors. AA favorites Villa Maria had the 2nd seven compete last weekend at Gateway and they finished in 3rd. This weekend, their best seven that were 3rd in AA last season will be lining up to kick start their season. Last season, they finished in a very solid 4th place at this meet. A duplicate performance will place them firmly in the driving seat towards reaching their ultimate goal on November 1.
CB East Invite
The annual Central Bucks East Invitational is also the traditional first match up between rivals CB East and North Penn. For the past five seasons, the head to head match ups between these two girls powerhouse teams have been too close to call. This season should be no different. CB East may be one of the favorites to make it to the state meet out of District 1, but North Penn has some unfinished business after coming up short of state qualification last season. North Penn bring back Phoebe Clowser, Ali Valenti, and Mikaela Vlasic, three of the runners who had to go through last season's disappointment. CB East is coming off their opening weekend win at John Sharp, with Lizzie Morris, Jackie Kinkead, and Tate Dawson leading the way. Who will draw first blood on Saturday?
Along with the leaders of the CB East and North Penn squads, Kayla Connelly of Lansdale Catholic will be making her 2014 debut. The District 12 champion and AA top ten finisher will be looking for her first career invitational win.
In the boys race, CB West are back after impressing at John Sharp last Friday. The black and gold had a sub 60 second spread between their 1st and 5th runners and will be big favorites to make it two wins out of two. Also looking for two wins out of two will be Jake Brophy of the host school CB East. Last Friday at John Sharp, Brophy was comfortable in victory, but can he continue that streak on his home turf? A victory for him and a win over their local rivals would be a perfect home meet performance. Ryan Tung of North Penn will look to get his season off to a good start after breaking 16 minutes last season.
Quad X
The annual 4x2 mile relay at Belmont Plateau is back and the meet will have some heavy hitters attend this season.
Pennsbury will be making their season debut at this competition, and the foursome of Erin O'Connell, Olivia Sargent, Hannah Molloy and Meredith Twomey will be looking to start their journey towards regaining the state title on the right foot. In the boys race, Sam Webb will look to lead the Pennsbury boys team to an early season win. Alek Sauer, Thomas Wick, and Ari Bortman will be joining him in that effort, as they look to make a return trip to the state meet. Spring Ford will be led by Paul Power in their first competition of the season.
Twin Valley
The Cardinal O'Hara girls team will be making their 2014 season debut on Saturday! The Lady Lions are coming off their best state finish since joining the PIAA and they bring back the young core of that 6th place 2013 state finish. Grace Mancini will be the leader up front for O'Hara. Olivia Arizin, Sara Hayes, and Maura Lyons are now sophomores who will give O'Hara a solid foundation behind Mancini this season. Downingtown East will look forward to challenging the District 12 champions as they look to put themselves back into the District 1 state qualifying hunt. Maddy VanBlunk will be leading the way along with her sister Lexi.
The boys race will see Twin Valley look to defend their home turf for the 2nd year in a row. Last season, Twin Valley was very successful in doing just that, scoring 24 points with five runners in the top ten. This time they will have some good competition in AA District 1 favorites Holy Ghost Prep and their leader Patrick Dineen. Can Holy Ghost Prep get off to a good start on their journey back to the state meet?
Northampton
AA girls state champions Holy Cross get their title defense on the road as they take on the challenge of the Northampton Invitational. Six of the seven that won the title are back and will be led by Tess Kearns and Mackenzie Greenfield, their top two on that special day. Jessica Hendricks of Northampton will look to defend the home course for her team. In the boys race, Parkland will look to march towards the state meet, and they will be led by Grant Newman and Daniel Kyvelos.
Mill St
Council Rock North is back again after getting their season started at John Sharp with a 3rd place finish. Brian Arita led the way with a 2nd place finish, and now they will be favorites to take home the team title at Mill St. In the girls race, Jerrica Bauer of George School will make her debut after missing the John Sharp Invitational. Bauer is the reigning Independent School and Friends League champion. Caroline Harmon of Lower Moreland and Julianna Kardish of Mount St Joe's will hope to keep close to Bauer.