Sharpsville Blue Devil Invitational - Meet Preview
GIRLS PREVIEW
The Blue Devil invitational will see a great matchup up front between a number of fast girls.
Quaker Valley has a powerful top three that will be on display. Annie Wicker was third at Red, White, & Blue and enters the weekend at PA#22. Lucie Kubinski was sixth at that same meet. Along with Audrey Durbin, QV should make an impact in the medals on Saturday.
McDonald (OH)'s Malina Mitchell won the D3 race at Boardman last week. Now she'll cross state lines to PA to do battle with some of these top names.
Fairview freshman Maddison Hayes has had a hot start to her high school, placing third at Lock Haven and then second at Commodore Perry. Look for her to be up near the front once again at Sharpsville. Sharon's Gianna Labbiento (PA#20) was the winner at that Commodore Perry race (along with two other races). The freshman is entered in both Sharpsville and the PIAA Foundation Invitational, so we'll wait and see which one she races. Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Rylee Kopchak should challenge for the win. She opened her season with a second place finish at Red, White & Blue and should put herself near the front on Saturday.
Warren Area's Naomi Hahn was second at this meet a year ago. Now a sophomore, Hahn will be looking to move up one spot to take the crown on Saturday. Neshannock's Abby Hutchison, Greater Latrobe's Maria Cawoski, General McLane's Devyn Bayle, Lakeview's Claire Oliver, and Franklin Regional's Sterling Simek are also among the top ten hopefuls in this field.
Ohio's McDonald will be favored to take the team title, but Quaker Valley, Norwin, Fairview, and General McLane will look to pose a challenge to the out-of-staters.
Photo by Phil Grove
BOYS PREVIEW
One of the top names to watch out of District 7 will toe the line on Saturday. Chartiers Valley's Czar Tarr, who made a big impression in his season debut at the Red, White & Blue Classic, will be one of the favorites at Sharpsville. He went 15:33 to take third in the AAA race and hopes to keep riding that momentum into a win on Saturday.
His best challenge will likely come from Grove City's Jonah Powell, who was second in the A/AA race at Red, White & Blue. Powell has been second twice at invites this season, so he'll be hungry for a shot at the win this weekend.
Harbor Creek will bring a pair of strong runners to the line in Ryan Starvaggi and Aidan Weber. Both should be up near the front, as Starveggi is coming off a win at Commodore Perry (Weber was second). General McLane also brings a powerful duo to the line with Nate Price and Erik Andrzejewski. Those two went 1-2 at Lock Haven to open their seasons.
Freedom Area's Adam Hessler, Franklin Regional's Matt Busche, New Castle's Le'Shawn Huff, Norwin's Matt O'Neill are among the other individuals that will figure into the equation with the leaders on Saturday.
The team race here should heat up, too. The top District 10-AA teams---Grove City Area, Harbor Creek, and General McLane---will all look to get a leg up on each other. There are only two states spots for those three teams. Grove City was a mere five points up on Harbor Creek at Red, White & Blue. New Castle, a District 7-AA squad will be worth watching for as well. So will Norwin, McDonald (OH), and Chartiers Valley.