It's a double main event Saturday to wrap up September. The Carlisle and PIAA Foundation Invites will take place tomorrow and we have all the information you need to get ready for this special Saturday!
Foundation
The boys Gold race will have AAA state champions North Allegheny make their first trip to Hershey since winning the title last November. So far, their title defense has been solid. They were the top AAA team at Red White and Blue, and came up one point short from winning the D1 race at Boardman in Ohio. Marc Migliozzi and Jacob Stupak have led the way in the early part of the season.
Lasalle is competing in the gold race and have a wave of momentum on their side thanks to a runner up finish at Briarwood last Saturday. They were 12 points behind CB West, but they recorded a 35 second 1-5 spread, showing some signs of the 2008 team that recorded a sub 20 second spread to finish 2nd at their first ever state meet. Patrick Grant will be the leader of the group.
State College has earned two wins in two invitational races thanks to Alex Milligan leading the way. A win on Saturday would make it three invite wins in a row. Mount Lebanon and Seneca Valley have yet to knock off North Allegheny this season, failing to do so at Red White and Blue. Cardinal O'Hara finished 4th to Lasalle last week despite having two top five finishers. Consistency within their squad will be required to make a solid push on Saturday.
Jake Brophy returns to the home of his biggest win, his 15:24 state title win last November. So far he's proven to be unbeatable, winning the John Sharp meet and the Briarwood Championship last week in convincing fashion. Nick Wolk of Peters Township has been the breakthrough star on the boys side in the early stages of the season, winning the Red White and Blue & Slippery Rock titles. But he will now face his greatest challenge in Brophy. Jeff Kirshenbaum of Methacton finished 2nd to Brophy at John Sharp. How much of that 15 second gap can he close on Saturday?
The girls Gold race could be Seneca Valley's time to shine as the District 7 favorites heading into the 2nd half of the season. Only Villa Maria Academy have defeated them thus far, and North Allegheny and Mount Lebanon have yet to defeat them. Kelsey Potts' official return tomorrow will help Mount Lebanon, but will it be enough to knock of the Seneca Valley squad and their tough top four?
Cardinal O'Hara were the top PA team at Briarwood last week, but will seek a better 1-7 performance on Saturday. Olivia Arizin was victorious in the race, but the rest of the team will want to improve. What better way to do that than to defend their Foundation title.
State College has been off to a good start this season, and Saturday will be their greatest challenge. Natasha Fedkina will lead the way, but can they record a statement win? Perkiomen Valley were 2nd at PTXC 7, surprising several teams in the process. Annie Glodek is leading the team on their quick rise, but can it continue on the tough Hershey course?
Arizin will be challenged by the debuting Kelsey Potts of Mount Lebanon and the on fire Lauren Finikiotis of Oakland Catholic. FInikiotis has been running wild through District 7 in Potts' absence, spending a week at the PA#1 spot after her Red White and Blue win. With Potts' return, can she stay on top? Clara Savchik of North Allegheny will look for a landmark win, while Mariah Mack will lead the Seneca Valley front four.
Blue Race
Villa Maria Academy girls are a runaway train at the moment with no signs of slowing down. They have crushed their competition, AA or AAA, at Red White and Blue and Slippery Rock, and a successful title defense at Foundations appears to be next on their quest to keep their state title. Claire Brown, Grace Brown, Hannah and Melissa Ricci, and Bernadette Pritchard are a formidable top five.
Who will come closest? Villa Joseph Marie might despite a young varsity squad. They have two 3rd place invitational finishes, and they will have nothing to lose on their first Hershey trip. Katie Irelan has emerged as the top runner this season. She was 2nd at John Sharp on the opening day. Northwestern Lehigh has had success at this meet, and they were the winners of the Lions Invite on the opening day. Abington Heights have Katie Dammer leading the way for a team that has qualified for states at the AAA level in recent years.
Claire Brown and her teammates along with Dammer and Irelan will also be individual title contenders against state champion Ally Rome of Dallas, who was 4th at the PTXC 7 Gold race last time out. To secure a win, Rome will have to do it without former Lindsey Oremus, who ran side by side with her last November.
The boys Blue race will have plenty of individual star power on the course. AA state champion Dominic Hockenbury is the defending champion of this race and is striving to break 16 minutes on this course. District rival Matt Kravitz of North Pocono is looking for an edge on the champion after coming up short all of last season. He's run a faster time thus far, but this head to head battle may be the race he needs to give the champion a run for his money. PTXC 7 Blue race winner Bryce Descavish of Central Cambria is in the best fitness of his career and is ready to square off with the top runners in his division. Jack Zardecki of Dallas is a talent in the making of becoming a star.
He will also be leading his Dallas team in the chase for the team title against the state champions York Suburban and their powerful pack running. Dallas were 3rd at PTXC 7 Gold withf our sophomores in the varsity squad. York Suburban won at Big Spring last week, and now await the challenge of Dallas and Grove City. This will be Grove City's chance to exact a small bit of revenge for last year's state title race. They finished 3rd in their last appearance with a 20 second spread and zero sub 18 minute runners.
White Race
The Class A champion Central Cambria girls impressed on their debut at PTXC 7, cruising to the defense of the Blue race crown. Now they return to the site where they were crowned champions last season with a stronger squad that has added three 9th graders to the five state title winners from 2014. Sydney Gilkey still leads the squad.
The race will be district rival St Joseph's Catholic Academy's first time to square off against the champs, and they will want to see how they measure up. They were victorious at Lock Haven and were the top Class A team at Altoona last week, finishing 3rd overall. Vincentian Academy will bring 2 time individual Class A champ Marianne Abdalah and a talented squad that has been unbeaten out west. How can the team step up in a high stakes meet on the state course? Are they a title contender?
We do know that Abdalah will be a big favorite in the race. She has never lost on the state course and will look to keep that winning streak intact. State runner up Emma Seifried of Country Day School of the Sacred Heart will look to close the gap on the champ.
In the boys race, champions Winchester Thurston are back and are coming off a 3rd place finish in the AAA Red White and Blue race. Only Mount Lebanon and AAA champions North Allegheny have defeated them this season, making them favorites on Saturday. Camp Hill will challenge with Blake Behney and Cooper Leslie looking to lead the line. The duo make up one of the toughest 1-2 punches in the Class A division. How devastating can they be to the champions?
Individually, Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy enters the race with the state's fastest time and he will be ready to tackle the hills of Hershey against Behney and Leslie. Joe Previdi of Masterman will also be in the mix for the title as well.
Carlisle
Puma Challenge
Saturday's Puma Champions race will mark the full debut of the Downingtown West boys. The Whippets are favored to win the state title this season. This will also mark the cross country debuts of Jaxson and Josh Hoey for Downingtown West. Will they fly out of the gates and look the awesome force many foresee them to be, or will they have some rust to shake off first? West Chester Henderson and Pittsburgh Central Catholic will be their top in state challengers, while Maryland's Our Lady of Good Council and West Virginia's University will be strong out of state opposition.
A PA trio will be in contention to keep the individual title in house. Will Kachman of Bedford will look to keep his winning streak going that spans three weeks. He's run 15:42 this season. That time is likely to improve. Nathan Henderson of JP McCaskey ran 15:50 last week and is said by some to be one of the next big stars this season. A good performance here will put him well on his way. Zach Seiger of Red Land was 2nd at the PTXC 7 Gold race, but this will be a real opportunity for him to get under 16 and earn a monumental win.
The individuals lining up for the girls race will make for an exciting race. Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley will look to win this race for the 3rd year in a row, but she will have some strong competition. Brooke Hutton Coatesville came with an eyelash of beating Clahane at PTXC 7, and Hutton will have her chance at revenge on Saturday. Abby Yourkavitch of Chambersburg was 3rd behind them in the same race. So the rematch could be anyone's race to win. Clahane and Yourkavitch will also look to lead their teams to team title glory, but will face a strong challenge from University of West Virginia.
But the rematch could be over shadowed by one Aislinn Devlin of Downingtown West. Devlin is geared for a big season, and she has recorded a top ten finish at this meet in the past. The winner will give their state title chances a major boost in the right direction.
Champions
Sam Signor of East Pennsboro, Nathaniel Frierson of Milton Hershey, and Austin Maxwell of Kennett will be contenders for the boys title on Saturday. All have run 16:40 or better this season. Frierson will also look to lead his Milton Hershey team to glory as well against Palmyra.
In the girls race, Maddie McLain of Eastern York will look for her first sub 19 minute performance and a land mark win after running a lifetime best 19:10 last week at Big Spring. The team chase will be led by Upper Dublin and JP McCaskey against a trio of out of state squads.
Bull Run
Strath Haven girls will have their full squad ready to run on Saturday at their annual trip to the Bull Run Invite in Maryland. At full strength, they were victorious at Abington. Without Maia Mesyngier and Naima Okami, they had a tough race at Briarwood. They will face six of the top ten teams in Maryland.
Bowdoin
Germantown Friends will travel to New York to run the Pre NXN Northeast race at Bowdoin Park. Nick Dahl and his male teammates are coming off a George School Invite win.
Council Rock
Lotte Black of Wissahickon will look for a 2nd win of the season and 3rd top three finish on Saturday at Council Rock. Jen Mickens and Lizz Eberhardt of Pleasant Valley will look to knock off the SOL American champion. The team title chase should be a close one. John Sharp winners Pennridge return to the course, while Council Rock South and Twin Valley seek an invite victory.
Tucker Desko of Pennridge will look to get a win in the boys race. Should CB West stack it up, Rock Fortna will look to stand in his way after earning two top five finishes already this season. Fortna defeated Desko at John Sharp on the opening night. Lukas Marcelis of Wissahickon has broken 16 this season, the only runner in the field to achieve that this season in the field. The host school Council Rock North will look to defend their home course against reserve Lasalle and CB West teams.