Photo by Don Rich
PIAA Foundation Invitational (Hershey, PA)
- VIRTUAL MEET
- 2016 Meet Page
- 2015 Results
- 2015 Girls Individuals Champions: White Race - Marianne Abdalah (Vincentian Academy); Blue Race - Katie Dammer (Abington Heights); Gold Race - Annie Glodek (Perkiomen Valley)
- 2015 Girls Team Champions: White Race - Central Cambria; Blue Race - Villa Maria; Gold Race - Perkiomen Valley
- 2015 Boys Individual Champions: White Race - Griffin Mackey (Sewickley Academy); Dominic Hockenbury (Lake Lehman); Jake Brophy (Central Bucks East)
- 2015 Boys Team Champions: White Race - Winchester Thurston; Blue Race - York Suburban; Gold Race - North Allegheny
GIRLS WHITE RACE PREVIEW
Photo by Don Rich
After a near miss at states last season, Country Day of the Sacred Heart's Emma Seifried surely had this meet circled on her calendar headed into this XC season. Seifried and Vincentian Academy's Marianne Abdalah will duel again at Hershey's course for the first time in XC since last year's state meet where Abdalah beat Seifried to win her third straight Single-A state title.
Abdalah, however, is yet to race yet this season. She didn't toe the line like usual at the Red, White & Blue Classic. Seifried raced once this season at the Bulldog Invite at Rose Tree in Media and won easily. If Abdalah is healthy and on the line, this will make for what should be another great race.
Meanwhile, a number of upstarts will look to steal the race. Forest City's Jennifer Korty has been on a tear this season, winning at Cliff Robbins and the Lackawanna Co. Commissioners Invite and appears to be greatly improved from a year ago. Abdalah's Vincentian teammate Katherine Fedko is coming off a win at Red, White & Blue and should contend as well.
In the team race, the favorites are Vincentian. Certainly if Abdalah runs, it will help, but Fedko and Marissa Canzian have done well without her. Elk Lake, Dock Mennonite, and Cranberry should also be in the conversation.
GIRLS BLUE RACE PREVIEW
Photo by Don Rich
Some major shakeups to the classifications of certain teams in PA haven't really had an impact n the season yet...until Saturday. Some top individuals and teams made the move from A to AA and as the Foundation invite is broken up by classification, those changes will have an effect on Saturday.
While we won't see Central Cambria (the reigning White Race champs, who have moved to AA this year), PennS Valley's Rebecca Bierly (above) will be one of the favorites in the meet. PV also changed to AA, so Bierly and her team will make the leap to the Blue Race and AA. Bierly is currently PA#23.
Villa Maria, which won the AA state title last year and the Blue Race will look to defend its title at Foundation. Grace Brown will lead the Villa Maria squad and she should contend up near of the front of this race. Villa Joseph Marie and Katie Irelan should be factors as well.
Overall, the Blue Race should be a fairly open battle.
GIRLS GOLD RACE PREVIEW
Photo by Lex Mercado
We've seen some good races so far this season in PA girls' XC, but the Gold Race on Saturday will be, by far, the most competitive we've seen in 2016. In total, eight Saucony Flo50 Top 25 individuals and six out of top ten teams will toe the line. Wowza!
It's very difficult to pick a favorite for this race (so we won't!). Unionville's Anna Juul is #3 in those Flo50 rankings, but she didn't race with her team at the Cherokee Challenge in NJ or the Oberod Invitational in Delaware. She did look strong at the opening Oakbourne Relays, so if she opens up for 5K on Saturday, she'll definitely be a factor.
Annie Glodek of Perkiomen Valley was the champion in this race last season, when she edged out North Allegheny's Clara Savchik. Glodek and her PA#1 team are coming off a second place (and top PA team) finish at PTXC 8 and riding the momentum of a dual meet victory over a strong Spring Ford team this week. PV should be a very big threat, both in the team and individual race.
Savchik is yet to race this season, but she is on the list of entries for this weekend. Her North Allegheny team was also second last year and they'll need Savchik to compete again this year. Oakland Catholic's Lauren Finikiotis is off to a great start to her senior season. She's picked up two wins and her team has been very strong as well. Finikiotis was fifth here last year, so she'll definitely be looking to move up this time around.
Abington Heights' Katie Dammer won the Blue Race last season, but her team moves up to AAA this year, where Dammer (who has the state-leading time) should be in what will likely be a crowded front pack. Coatesville's Brooke Hutton should be a strong threat as well after a high finish at PTXC 8. Pennsbury is a much different team than last year's state championship squad, but they do return Mary Webb. The Falcons are yet to go full-strength this season, but Saturday should be our first look at what the reigning champs have to bring to the table. Cheltenham's MaryGrace Rittler was strong in her XC career invite debut at Abington and she'll look to follow that up on Saturday.
Central Mountain's Alyssa Laughner, North Hills' Ava Pietryzk, and Stroudsburg's Allana Powlette are some of the Flo50 bubble runners to look out for.
Other individual contenders include Unionville's Madison McGovern, Spring Ford's Isabella Marchini, Penn Wood's Terri Turner, Owen J. Roberts' Allison Brunton and out-of-staters Natalia Jacobo of Broadneck (MD) and Lia Hanus of James. W. Robinson (VA).
In the team race, Perkiomen Valley will duke it out with Oakland Catholic, Unionville, Central Bucks East, Seneca Valley, Cardinal O'Hara, Stroudsburg, Central Bucks West, Owen J. Roberts, Pennsbury and State College in a crowded team battle.
BOYS WHITE RACE PREVIEW
Photo by Lex Mercado
It hasn't been an ideal start to 2016 for Sewickley Academy's Griffin Mackey. The senior and reigning Single-A state champ didn't have his best race at Marcus I in Texas and then didn't race at the Red, White, & Blue Classic. He's entered for Foundation on Saturday and we'll see what kind of shape the champ is in if he does, in fact, race.
With that said, the favorite looks to be Winchester Thurston's Tristan Forsythe, who has ran a pair of solid races to open up his season with one coming at Red, White & Blue and the other in Ohio at the Galion Cross Country Festival. Forsythe and his teammates were champs in this race last year, but wound up a disappointing fourth at the state meet a month and a half later. Along with Shaun Hay and Ben Littman, Winchester Thurston doesn't want to have that happen again this season, but a strong race on Saturday is still important. Those three WT boys should all be near the front.
Camp Hill's Ian Gabig won last week and Big Spring and seems primed for a big season. The senior will lead the defending Class-A state champs Camp Hill back to the place where they won the state title last season in Hershey.
Look out for Brookville's Ryan Thrush in this field. The senior was a beast on the track, winning the AA state title in the 400 meters and running a 1:52 for 800 meters. He's won a pair of dual meets this season and could be a serious sleeper in XC this year.
BOYS BLUE RACE PREVIEW
Photo by Don Rich
There's a nice field in the AA boys' Blue Race. Up front, the battle for the win will likely com down to a pair of Flo50 top 25 individuals with Jersey Shore's Isaac Davis and South Fayette's Aaron Pfiel. Davis got his season off to a hot start winning at the Big Valley Invitational, while Pfiel ran 16:19 to take third in a loaded Red, White & Blue Classic race. It's a rekindling of a rivalry in some ways; Pfeil was eighth and Davis was ninth at states in AA last season, separated by just one second. We could have a battle on our hands. Grove City's Jonah Powell is off to a hot start in 2016 as well, winning at the Big Red Invitational.
Pfeil's teammate and training partner Sam Snodgrass should be up there as well. Greensburg Salem's Mark Brown will be a contender as well after winning at Marty Uher and taking second to Forsythe at Red, White & Blue. His G-S teammates Cameron Binda and Frankie King will all be up there around the top ten.
Other strong runners include Dallas' Jack Zardecki, Indiana Area's Samuel Lenze, Knoch's Max Freyermuth, and Wyomissing's Joe Cullen. They should all be in the mix on Saturday.
We'll also get an early season look at some of the team favorites in AA as Dallas (defending AA state champs), Grove City Area, Holy Ghost Prep, and York Suburban will clash. Wyomissing Area wasn't far off York Suburban at PTXC 8 and they are an intriguing team to keep an eye on. Greensburg Salem, with that top three, will be a force as well.
BOYS GOLD RACE PREVIEW
Photo by Lex Mercado
Five Saucony Flo50 top ten teams and five Saucony Flo50 top 25 individuals are in for the Gold Race and it should be a good one.
There are a number of individuals that will gun for this early season title. Souderton's Connor McMenamin, Owen J. Roberts's Liam Conway, State College's Nick Feffer, Cardinal O'Hara's Ryan James and Seth Slavin are those five top 25 individuals, but that lead pack should be even more crowded with names like Matthew D'Aquila of Lower Merion, David Endres of Central Bucks East, Eric Kersten of Pennsbury, and Amadou Diallo of Taylor Allderdice.
It's hard to separate that group, but one thing's for sure: it'll be a battle.
Feffer was sixth here a year ago, one spot ahead of James, while Conway also snuck into the top ten. Feffer won at Spiked Shoe and took second at Big Valley. James was second at Briarwood, while Conway won at DeSales and at the Harrier Invite (2 miler) over McMenamin. This could really come down to a fight in the last mile.
As the team race goes, PA#2 Cardinal O'Hara will look to keep it rolling after winning at Briarwood last week, but PA#3 LaSalle (third at Briarwood) is hungry for redemption. North Allegheny has proven to have a very strong pack the last two weeks, but how will they look in a big meet against some of PA's best? Spring Ford is also deep, but they have yet to run a 5K in a big invite this season, though they've run well in off-format races. State College Area is another top ten team and they will try and make a good statement after winning two invites already this season. Mount Lebanon, Pittsburgh Central Catholic, Taylor Allderdice, and Seneca Valley make up an interesting list of western PA teams that should contend. From the east, North Penn, CB East and Pennsbury are equally intriguing and Saturday may prove whether or not they can be state qualifying contenders come late October.
This race should be very exciting from both a team and individual perspective. When all is said and done from Hershey, we'll have a much better idea of the overall picture in boys' XC in Pennsylvania.