BOYS A PREVIEW: Winchester Thurston in familiar territory; individual gold is a toss up!

Teams

Like 2014, state champions Winchester Thurston did not win their district 7 championship last week, falling to Sewickley Academy for the 2nd year in a row. Winchester will now to repeat their turnaround of 2014t become champions once again. They certainly have the squad with six of the seven members of last season's title winning team back. They were victorious at PIAA Foundation in late September and finished 3rd in the AAA Red White and Blue Invite race. It will take something big to knock them off.

Sewickley Academy will believe they can knock them off after missing out at states last season. They will have the most formidable duo up front in Griffin Mackey and Ben Clouse. Mackey won the Foundation Invite and has finished in the top five in all PA competitions. Clouse will stay as close as he can to Mackey. He was 2nd at Foundation. Should the rest of the squad feed off of those two up front, they can defeat the champions once again.

Away from district 7, Northeast Bradford will look to win their second Class A title after winning the first ever title in 2012. They will do the job with pack running. At the district 4 championships, they recorded a 15 second spread to win the team title. A spread similar to that will be tough for anyone to beat. Levi Upham and Casey Ellis will lead the team who have finished in the top three in all races since October.


Camp Hill believed last season they could be champions, but this year was likely going to be the better chance to give it a real go. Blake Behney, Cooper Leslie, and Ian Gabig are a strong top three. They defeated Sewickley but fell to Winchester Thurston at the Foundation meet. Since that meet, they won at Gettysburg and finished 7th at Mid-Penn, defeating a couple of AA state qualifying teams from district 3. The top trio will have to do a lot to give their team a chance at the title.

Seneca won district 10 and will have the Myers brothers of Donovan and Phoenix leading the way. New Hope-Solebury will look to emulate Northeast Bradford's success by using a tight spread. Penns Valley are the district 6 champions that have a good top five.

Individuals

Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy will be the favorite to win the gold medal and his first state title. Mackey was on a tear in the early part of the season, travelling to Texas, North Carolina, and Lehigh University to find some good competition. His first real slip up took place at district 7 to track phenom Domenic Peretta of Beaver Falls. Hopefully the travelling hasn't caught up to him, but he will need to rebound and run like the favorite he's been all season. Teammate Ben Clouse will be right on his heels to pick up the slack for himself and his team should Mackey have another rough meet.


Cross country is not necessarily Peretta's cup of tea, but he has made an improved effort to contend in the division. The Penn State signee has won his last four races, including his 2nd straight district title. He finished 7th last year at states, but the four time track state champion will believe this year that he can win it.


Joe Previdi of Masterman has spent the majority of the 2015 season running against the clock in his district. He has four wins on the season, which include Salesianum, and Rose Tree. He finished 3rd at Foundation to Mackey and Clouse, the only two runners to get the best of him all season. Previdi is relishing the opportunity to race against other competitors and become the first District 12 individual state champion.


Hunter Crawley of South Williamsport was teammates with former two time state champion Griffin Molino. Crawley won the district 4 title last week and has run 16:09 this season. It will be a tough ask to win the title, but upsets do happen.

Cooper Leslie of Camp Hill won the district 3 championship and will be in the mix with Blake Behney for a top ten finish. Isaac Wilson of North Clarion was a top five finisher at the Foundation Invitational in September. Connor Walsh of Cambridge Springs and Tristan Forsythe of Winchester Thurston will also chase top ten finishes after consistent seasons.