Photo by Phil Grove
Boys' Preview
Zach Skolnekovich was a close second to Beaver Falls' Domenic Perretta last season, before the then-junior went on to win the District 7 AA title (Perretta was in Class-A) and place second at states in AA. Perretta is now graduated and off to penn State, so Skolnekovich becomes the new favorite. And he's a strong favorite at that. For reference, those two were over a minute ahead of third place at this meet last year.
Freedom's Jarrett Boyd and Ellwood City's Billy Lott should also be up near the front, fighting for second.
The team race will be closer, but Quaker Valley will still be favored. With some states ambitions churning in this team, Thursday will be an important test. Mars Area will be their main compeititon. They return two from a top five that managed just a 31 second gap last year to win. The top guy for Mars will be freshman Zachary Leachman, who ran well at Slippery Rock last week. Meanwhile, Quaker Valley looks strong, coming off a team win at the Sharpsville Blue Devil Invitational earlier this season. After Skolnekovich, QV has Daniel Ford, Jake Smiley and Ryan Torbic that should place near the top ten.