Central League
We anticipate two very tight team title races on what will be the coolest and perhaps windiest day of the season.
By Bill Coren
GIRLS TEAM TITLE--- There are 12 Central League teams. RIDLEY ran awesome at DELCOS and will be in a real fight with LOWER MERION and HARRITON. There are 2 teams who are the favorites for the Central League Meet Championship--STRATH HAVEN and CONESTOGA. These 2 foes battled this past Wednesday and STRATH HAVEN came away with a 1 point victory(28-29). STRATH HAVEN took 1st place, CONESTOGA 2-3, STRATH HAVEN 4-5-6 and CONESTOGA took the next 7 places!!! CONESTOGA is the defending champ and will try to use their depth to take down undefeated STRATH HAVEN.
INDIVIDUAL---The TOP 7 Girls make 1st team ALL-CENTRAL. It looks like these girls will garner this honor--Mesyngier(SH)(12)(1st 2014 2nd 2013 7th 2012)-Okami(SH)(12)(22nd 2014 JV2nd 2012)-Nasman(CON)(12)(4th 2014)-Greene(HAR)(11)(5th 2014 30th 2013)-Joseph(UDAR)(11)(9th 2014 11th 2013)-Green(RID)(10)(16th 2014)-and Shultz(CON)(10)(15th 2014).
??Can Mesyngier(SH)(12) defend her title??
??Can Green(RID)(10) beat Mesyngier(SH)(12) like she did at DELCOS??
??Can Shultz(CON)(10) or Nasman(CON)(12) finish ahead of Mesyngier(SH)(12) after they lost to her on Wednesday??
The boys race will come down to Lower Merion and Harriton for the team title. Matthew D'Aquila will lead Lower Merion's title push, while Jonah Gillespie-Sickman will lead Harriton. Both will also view for individual league honors, with Haverford's James Abrahams, Liam Galligan of Springfield Delco, Ian Reid of Strath Haven and PJ Murray of Conestoga lined up to be their toughest challengers.
Mid Penn
Cumberland Valley girls have managed to win big meets by close margins, and the league championship meet shouldn't be any different.
Palmyra will be ready to give them a big run for their money. Kelsei Bixler will lead the way for Palmyra, who will look to take advantage of Cumberland Valley's wide 1-5 spread, which is due in large part to Mady Clahane's front running.
Clahane will lead the team up front in her final league title race, and her performance will play a part in the team title race. Abby Yourkavitch of Chambersburg will look to spoil her title defense and ruin the chances of her team winning the league. The key for Cumberland Valley will be breaking up Palymra's 3-4-5-6 runners, where the meet will likely be decided. The Palmyra runners in that pack are in the 52 second gap between Cumberland Valley's 3-4 runners.
In the boys race, Alex Miligan and his State College squad will face their toughest challenge of the season. They will face off against Cumberland Valley and Hershey for league title glory. State College has the strongest top 2 of the contending teams, while Cumberland Valley and Hershey will rely on pack running to win the title. Mike Morris will lead Hershey. He's been the top freshman in the state this season. Andrew Brown will lead Cumberland Valley.
As for the individual crown, Milligan will be in the mix with a lot of contenders for the crown. Lower Dauphin's Kyler Shea is the lone sub 16 minute runner in the field, Dan Filler of Gettysburg is coming off a win last weeked, Zach Seiger of Red Land will be aiming for his first major title after finishing 2nd at Districts last year, and the Mechanicsburg duo of Morgan Cupp and Alex Tomasko will team up to try and cause an upset.