PA Independent Schools (PAISAA) Championship - Boys' Preview
Germantown Friends rebuilt in a big way this season. Despite the loss of reigning PAISAA champ Nick Dahl, the Tigers looked primed to grab yet another independent schools title on Saturday at Belmont Plateau.
Colin Riley led the way for GFS with a second place finish at the Friends League Champs. Zach Goldberg has had a strong season as well to make for a solid 1-2 punch. Tim Peterson has also emerged this season and should be a factor near the front to provide a low stick for GFS.
Malvern Prep, the Inter-Ac champs, are a squad that could challenge GFS for the win. Malvern has a low stick in Peter Borger, who was second at Inter-Acs. Freshman Collin Hess has also come around nicely for the team. GFS may have the advantage when it comes to depth, but Malvern will make this a close one.
The Haverford School, Westtown School, and Episcopal Academy are among the other teams with sights on the top five for Saturday.
Individually, the race is fairly wide open with the graduation of Dahl, a two-time XC champion of the PAISAA. Jeffrey Love of George School won the Friends League title in 16:30. He won his home invite (against a number of boys he'll face Saturday) and will hope to close out his senior season with a PAISAA win.
But Episcopal Academy's Elias Lindgren may have others plans. The Inter-Ac individual champ went 16:26 to win on Monday. He won at Briarwood in the Challenge Race earlier this season, so he'll look to make it three-for-three at the Belmont Plateau this season.
Borger will look for redemption on Lindgren after taking second at Inter-Acs to him. Riley, Goldberg, Peterson, Westtown's Ryan O'Donnell, and Haverford School's Will Merhige are among the other title hopefuls in this deep field set.