Boys' Independent Schools Championships Preview
Nick Dahl will look to close out his XC career in PA with another state title. It doesn't look like anyone can come close to the defending champion at the state meet. Dahl is having his best XC season to date, with wins at George School and Paul Short. He had a rough day at Manhattan before winning his fourth straight Friends League title. He should be ready to roll to take his second straight Independent Schools' state crown.
His Germantown Friends' team will be heavily favored to take the team title as well. The 2015 champs have a deep squad that rolled to wins at George School and Friends League. They were 40 point winners last week. After Dahl, Zach Goldberg, Colin Riley, and Daniel Stassen will look to place among the top ten on Saturday. Goldberg was eighth last year.
Two other returners from the top ten last year are Ryan O'Donnell of Westtown and Jeffrey Love of George School. The pair have had strong seasons thus far. Love went sub-16 at the William Tennent Invite, but O'Donnell was second to Dahl at the Friends League. That should be an interesting battle in the top five.
Malvern Prep's Peter Borger is in the midst of a great junior season. He won the Inter-Ac title on the state course and will look to keep that momentum rolling into Saturday.
Owen Ritz of GA is a wild card. He hasn't raced in a while and didn't appear at the Friends Schools League, but if he toes the line on Saturday, he could be a factor.