CB East's David Endres will look to keep his big start to 2016 rolling at Abington (Photo by Howard Anderson)
Abington XC Invitational (Abington, PA)
- VIRTUAL MEET
- 2016 Meet Page
- 2015 Results
- 2015 Boys Individual Champion: Jake Good (Abington) - 16:28
- 2015 Boys Team Champion: West Chester East - 69 points
- 2015 Girls Individual Champion: Ariana Gardizy (North Penn) - 19:26
- 2015 Girls Team Champion: Strath Haven - 60 points
GIRLS PREVIEW (By Bill Coren, Strath Haven coach):
North Penn's Ariana Gardizy will look to defend her title at Abington (Photo by Patty Morgan)
Although many of the TOP girls teams and individuals will be at the PTXC6 meet at Kutztown, 19 girls teams will run at the popular Abington Invitational. The time schedule has been adjusted to beat the heat!!
3 teams will get trophies in the Varsity race. The apparent TEAM favorites are NORTH PENN, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST, GREAT VALLEY,, and ARCHBISHOP WOOD.
NORTH PENN was 2nd last year and finished 6th in District 1 and returns 4 of their TOP 5. CB EAST did not run at ABINGTON last year, but look really strong after last week's 2nd place finish by only 2 points to Easton at the Northampton Invitational(CBE was 9th in District 1 last year). GREAT VALLEY was 3rd last year and return 2 very strong sophomores. WOOD is always well coached and have 4 of their TOP 6 back from last year's District 12 AA title.
PREDICTION: NORTH PENN 1st--CB EAST 2nd
As for the individual first place trophy and the Top 15, there are a number of girls who will be taking home some nice hardware!---Last year's TOP 15 returnees---1)Gardizy(11)(NP)(
Other noteworthy competitors-----Joseph(11)(
Iafolla(11)(CBE)(2nd at Northampton)--Billingsley(10)
PREDICTION: Gardizy(11)(
BOYS PREVIEW
Photo by Patty Morgan
After a big opening week performance, Central Bucks East is out to prove that last week wasn't a fluke. David Endres and co. will look to keep it rolling at Abington. Endres was a big winner last week at Northampton, emerging as one of the state's top sophomores.
Winning in back-to-back weeks won't be easy, though. Springfield (Delco)'s Liam Galligan will open up his invite season on Saturday and look to challenge. He's PA#16 in the latest Flo50 top 25. After a big spring for Galligan, he may still be the favorite over Endres.
Penncrest's Avery Lederer started strong last week at Northampton, too. He was second to Endres in a big effort. He should be in the mix once again like he was last week until Endres broke away around two miles.
Holy Ghost Prep went to Moravian Academy last week where it opened up. Senior Callahan Lennon picked up the win. The Firebirds have a solid squad this year and the Abington Invite will serve as a good parameter for where they are. Lennon should battle with the leaders.
A couple of New Jersey squads will threaten up front, with Toms River North and Lenape Regional coming across the Delaware. Toms River North is led by Justin Farley, who ran 15:50 in NJ last year. He struggled at NJ Groups last year, but surely the senior is hungry to start off his 2016 season in a big way after that.
Want a sleeper in this field? Council Rock South's Andrew Zawodniak ran some nice times on the track last spring and he could be ready to make a big jump up in XC this fall. Look for a strong effort from him on Saturday.
The team race will come down to CB East, Toms River North, and Holy Ghost Prep. Who will have the most firepower on Saturday to pick up the early season win?