York Suburban entered the state final as the favorite, having earned several big victories combined with their solid pack running. Despite their success, they still had stiff competition to shake off. Grove City had rebounded in a big way after defeat to York Suburban in September, while Scranton Prep and Pottsgrove were looking to finish off the season strongly.
Grove City looked to match up toe to toe with York Suburban with their front two of Aaron Benka and Brandon Pyle. Brady Wilt and Donovan Mears were up for the challenge as they look to set the pace for their pack. Scranton Prep had 6 seniors on the line and they contested the race by throwing everything they could at the competition, especially Ben Evans and Kyle Perry. Pottsgrove looked to get their pack together, but they were also fighting the crowds in the middle of the race that proved to be difficult to navigate.
York Suburban, Grove City, and Scranton Prep each had two in the top 11 team places. Grove City and York Suburban’s number 3 runners left Scranton Prep behind and made it a two team race. Then the pack of York Suburban took over, as their 4th and 5th runners were ahead of Grove City’s 4th and that sealed the championship for the District 3 winners 86-117. Scranton Prep scored 123 to finish 3rd.
Dominic Hockenbury of Lake Lehman entered the race as the favorite to win the title. But he had company trying to take control of the race in an effort to wear him down. Jack Di Cintio of Wyomissing and Simon Smith of Towanda forced a quick 4:45 pace at the first mile, forcing Hockenbury to reclaim control before the halfway mark. Di Cintio and Smith then struggled to keep up through the hills and Hockenbury had a healthy lead in the final mile of the race. As he raced to the finish, Hockenbury looked to break 16 minutes, only to just miss by one second, winning the title in 16:01. Di Cintion held off a surging Daniel Green of James Buchanan to finish 2nd, 16:14-16:15. Smith was 4th in 15:18, and Kyle Shinn of Wyomissing was 5th in 16:26.
