PTXC 7
Gold Races
The annual PTXC Invitational will take place this Saturday at Kutztown University. This year's edition will have its work cut out to top last year's race, but it will definitely be one of the most competitive PTXC meets ever!
Last year, Dominic Hockenbury of Lake Lehman finished 2nd to Colin Abert in a course and meet record performance. Hockenbury will make his return to the meet, and he will be a favorite to win. Hockenbury ran 15:58 at this meet last season, the 4th fastest time at Kutztown for this meet. He is coming off a victory at the Cliff Robbins Invite last week, and as the defending AA state champion, he'll want to make a statement.
Zach Seiger of Red Land is the district 3 AAA runner up and a bronze medalist from last year's meet. The Mid-Penn conference champ only has one sub 16 minute performance of his career and will look to make it two on Saturday. Kevin Lapsansky of Easton had a big year running behind Abert. Now he will be shouldering the load of being the top guy on his team. Can he lead as successfully as he followed Abert?
Yahya Soliman will lead Cumberland Valley's challenge for the team title against Virginia's Stone Bridge squad that will look to return home with the team championship. Jackson Morton will lead the Virginia representatives. AAA 3200 meter state qualifier Connor McMenamin of Souderton will make his debut. He is one of the top returning juniors in the state this season, finishing the state meet as the 3rd best sophomore last year. Jack DiCinto of Wyomissing will also contend for a top five finish as the reigning AA state runner up to Hockenbury.
In the girls race, Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley will be a big favorite in this race as she goes for her first career PTXC win. She finished 2nd last season and will want to atone for that defeat this time around.
Like every PTXC before this one, the girls field is absolutely loaded! AA state champion Ally Rome of Dallas will be making her invitational debut. Rome missed this race last season but ran 19:44 two years ago here. She is coming off an 18:47 dual meet performance from yesterday. Brooke Hutton of Coatesville won the Big Valley Invite last season and was the winner of the PTXC 6 Blue race a year ago. She will step up to the gold race this season and the 9th place AAA state finisher in cross country and the 3200 meter run will look to test her abilities against the best.
Maddie Villalba of Central Bucks West is looking for a big statement performance in this race Saturday. The two time AAA 800 meter outdoor champion is ready to translate her track success to the cross country course. Fellow 800 meter All American Olivia Arizin of Cardinal O'Hara will run solo and test her skills against the best as O'Hara's top cross country runner from last season. Two time district 12 AA champion Kayla Connelly of Lansdale Catholic will test herself against these big runners. She is the reigning Paul Short White race champion with an 18:39 personal best. Abby Yourkavich of Chambersburg won first team all-state honors last fall and was 7th at this meet a year ago.
Blue
Class A team champions Central Cambria will defend their blue race championship in their season debut after last week's Father Bede Invite was canceled due to thunderstorms. Sydney Gilkey, Emma Wes, Sam Koss, Sydney Croft, and Carly Kaschalk can all finish in the top ten on Saturday. Add in competition from two 9th graders who were part of the middle school victory last year and they may be a scary proposition for anyone to challenge.
As for individual contenders, Madison Landis of Christopher Dock had a big spring and will make her debut on Saturday. Landis has only finished outside the top ten one time in her career. Andrea Demko of Hershey has only run three career races, but has a 19:06 personal best to her name.
In the boys race, Bryce Descavish of Central Cambria got his season off to a winning start at the Father Bede Invite last Friday. PJ Murray of Conestoga will look to secure a victory for a team that starts their district 1 title defense on Saturday. His team will face competition against Elizabethtown Area, Coatesville, and Central Cambria.
Red White and Blue
Due to a construction project, the varsity races will be split up between AAA schools and AA/A schools.
AAA boys state champions North Allegheny will make their season debut and show everyone what their team is made of after some key graduations. They will still be favored to defend their meet title, but should expect a battle from Mount Lebanon, winners of the Cal U Invite last weekend. Jacob Stupak will be charged with leading the champions this season. Stupak was 45th at the state meet last season and he carries a 16:45 personal best. Todd Gunzenhauser will lead Mount Lebanon despite a rough start last week with a 5th place finish. Class A champions Winchester Thurston is stepping up to the AAA race to start their title defense. Will Loevner will lead the way looking for a big finish against the big boys. Mike Kolor of Seneca Valley is also a contender for individual gold after a sensational 2014-15 year.
The girls AAA race will have Mount Lebanon, Seneca Valley, and AA champions Villa Maria Academy square off for a key early season win. Kelsey Potts did not compete last weekend and will be scheduled to toe the line on Saturday, looking for the win in the absence of Madeleine Davison. Mariah Mack will lead Seneca Valley's push to a victory. She is a two time state cross country medalist with an 18:53 personal best from this race last season.
Claire Brown is back to lead the AA champions in their title defense. Her sister Grace, Hannah Ricci, and Carlee Constable will look to have big seasons this year. Danielle Hinish of Bethel Park was 3rd at the Gateway Invite last week and is a top ten district finisher.
In the boys AA/A race, Grove City's road to redemption begins after missing out on the state title last November. Braydon Pile was the top runner on that tough November day and he is back to lead the squad. They will have a strong challenge from Quaker Valley to contend with led by Zach Skolnekovich, who is primed to have a big year. Griffin Mackey runs his first race in PA after running 15:48 last week in Texas.
The girls AA/A race will be the season debut of the two time Class A state champion Marianne Abdalah of Vincentian Academy. Abdalah finished 2nd at this meet two years ago and will look to start her season off with a win this time around. Abdalah has never finished worse than 2nd in ANY PA race in her first two years. Lauren Gronbeck of Eden Christian Academy and Cal U Invite winner Riley Kwiatkowski of Greensburg Salem will look to see where they stand against the state champion.
The other big debut belongs to AA team contenders Quaker Valley and the AA 1600 meter champion Hannah Bablak. The state cross country medalist will also be joined by Lucie Kubinski, who finished two places ahead of Bablak at states (12th to 14th). Saturday's race could be a huge statement of intent sent by the AA favorites.
Abington
West Chester East, Abington, Haverford Township and the other PA squads will look to prevent AP Schalick (DE) and Lenape (NJ) from crashing their early season party. Liam Boyes will lead Haverford as a contender for individual gold and his first career top ten finish. Jake Good of Abington will look to do the same for the host team. Good was 8th at this meet a year ago and finished in the top ten in his league meet last season. Joe Dougherty will lead West Chester East, searching for his first career top ten finish as well. The team with the best depth will have the best chance to keep the meet crown in house.
GIRLS PREVIEW by Bill Coren(Strath Haven)
Although many of the TOP girls teams and individuals will be at the PTXC5 meet at Kutztown, 16 girls teams will run at the popular Abington Invitational. Last year's heat was oppressive, but this Saturday looks PERFECT!!!
3 teams will get trophies in the Varsity race. The apparent TEAM favorites are NORTH PENN, STRATH HAVEN, GREAT VALLEY, and UPPER DUBLIN. NORTH PENN returns 3 of their Top 5 and are always very tough! STRATH HAVEN returns 4 of their Top 5 and have added Bonner-Prendi's #1 who recently moved into the neighborhood. GREAT VALLEY returns 2 Top runners and are always well coached. UPPER DUBLIN competed fairly well at SHARP and should be in the trophy hunt!!
PREDICTION------STRATH HAVEN and NORTH PENN tie and STRATH HAVEN wins on their 6th girl!
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!
Maia Mesyngier(SH)(12) won the race last year and her 3200 in Spring shows she should be sharp this fall. NORTH PENN's Phoebe Clowser(12) and Mikaela Vlasic(11) ran really well in Spring, both qualifying for STATES. These 2 will battle it out for Top 10 spots along with Anna Willig(GV)(12), Emily Meehan(GV)(11), Isabel Cardi(SH)(11), Naima Okami(SH)(12), Olivia Dyer(NP)(10), Catherine Kluchinski(CHELT)(11), Sarah Rickert(CHELT)(12), Stephanie Szekaly(GMERCY)(11), Sarah Smith(UDUB)(11), and Tabitha Lucci(NHSOLE)(11). If FRIENDS CENTRAL runs, Gabrielle Wilkinson(10), who broke 5:00 in the Mile last spring will likely be 1st or 2nd.
PREDICTION------Mesyngier(SH)(12) defends her title!!
Centaur
Pennridge girls will look to make it two wins in a row after starting the season last week as John Sharp Invite champions. They emerged as five point winners with five in the top 25 led by Monika Brill's 5th place finish. This week, they will face the challenge of an Owen J Roberts squad ready to make a run to qualify for states. Allison Brunton, Alex Glasier, and Andrea Shade will lead the PAC 10 squad. Downingtown East is also looking for their 2nd win in a row after winning the Northampton Invite with five runners under 21 minutes with a 44 second spread. Gillian Kasitz of Boyertown and Mikaya Stoudt of Parkland will square off for individual honors. Kasitz qualified for the state meet last season while Stoudt will look to return to the state meet.
The boys race could be Parkland's coming out party. After missing out on District 11 glory last season, 2015 will be a season of redemption and it starts at Desales. Hailemichael Geiger finished 12th at this meet last season and will be tasked with leading the charge for his team. He will face stiff competition from Liam Conway of Owen J Roberts, a state qualifier as a freshman last season. Joe Espinal of Wilson (11) was the winner of the Lions Invitational last week in 16:17 and will look to make it two wins from two.
Spiked Shoe
Outside of the high school race, the big story is the season debut of Madeleine Davison in the college 6000 meter race. Davison is running unattached and it will be her first race of the season. She will be lining up against the likes of Penn State, Bucknell, West Virginia and Syracuse.
As for the high school race, Carlisle and State College boys and girls teams will square off. State College had a strong start to the season at the Big Valley Invitational last week, with Natasha Fedkina and Alex Milligan leading the way. Carlisle started at the 2.35 mile race at Chambersburg with good success. A win for either team can go a long way towards their end result at states.
Cherokee
Unionville and Pennsbury girls will see each other for the first time at the 2 mile class Cherokee Invite on Saturday. Unionville have won this meet the past two seasons and has been a good indicator of how their season plays out. Pennsbury will display their power up front with Olivia Sargent and Hannah Molloy running in the senior race. Anna Juul and Kacie Breeding will lead the way for the AAA runners up.
Downingtown West will also compete at this meet where they've had good success in recent seasons. Aislinn Devlin and Emma Planck will lead the girls, while the deep boys team will look to get all their top guys on the line ready to run. The Hoey brothers Jaxson and Josh will look to make their debuts after Henry Sappey and Ryan Barton started their season last Friday.