PIAA District 6 Championships - Boys' Preview
Class-A
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
The state's top 1A team, Penns Valley Area, will take to Forest Hills to go for its fourth straight district title. This is the best Penns Valley team we've seen yet led by seniors Chris Colwell and Mark Bierly, along with freshmen upstarts Brendan Colwell and Colton Sands. Those four will contend for top five spots.
Chris Colwell is the defending individual district champ, but he'll get a good matchup with Southern Huntingdon's Andrew Stanley. The senior was third last season and has traveled near and far to find competition this season.
Michael Hanik of Bishop McCort, Carter Kauffmann of Saint Joseph's Catholic, and Hunter Armstrong of Marion Center are the other individuals to watch for on Saturday.
Class-AA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
Juniata's Garrett Baublitz will look to defend his D6-2A on Saturday, but he should have a host of challengers. Baublitz, a sophomore, has been in the top five in each of his races this season, running 16:03 at Carlisle, where he placed third in the Champions Race.
Brett Pope of Bellefonte Area will look for the win, too. He went 15:51 at the beginning of the season at Lock Haven. He took second at the Northeast Invitational and will look to move up from his fifth place finish in 2016. Tyrone Area's Joe Kohler and Forest Hills' Mitchell Chunta took second and third last season in the district. They, too, are expected to be in the mix for the win on Saturday. Chunta was second in the LHAC last week.
Central Cambria will be favored to take the team title. The Red Devils ran away with the LHAC title last week. Nate Kuntz, Ohm Vyas, and Ike Haycisak make up a good pack near the front for Central Cambria. Juniata and Forest Hills will be gunning for the upset.
Photo by David Beyerle
Class-AAA
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
State College Area will look to make it five-in-a-row in District 6 on Saturday. Led by the strong individual favorite in Mitchell Etter, it will be hard to stop the Little Lions.
The team with the best chance of knocking off State College is Mifflin County. Led by freshman Brayden Harris and Chayce Macknair, Mifflin County has strung together a strong season. But State College had a 66-point advantage on them at the Mid-Penn Conference Championships, so they'll need a big day to earn the lone state qualifying spot.
Etter, after missing most of last season with an injury, will look to continue his strong senior season with a win. Harris and Macknair will look to challenge him up front. Central Mountain's Corbin Green, State College's Owen Isham and Erik Boethius, Altoona's Greg Williams, and Mifflin County's Chase Sheaffer are among the other individuals to watch for.