D6-A Boys - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Non-Team Individuals: 10
- 2018 Individual Champion: Brendan Colwell (Penns Valley Area) - 17:03
- 2018 Team Champion: Penns Valley Area - 34 points
Individuals Preview
The two favorites for the individual top spot in D6-A are Penns Valley Area teammates Brendan Colwell and Colton Sands. Colwell is the defending district champ, after running to the win decisively last year as a sophomore. Colwell went on to place sixth at the state meet.
But Sands will also be strong. Despite a fourth place district finish, Sands went on to win the Class AA 3200 meter title on the track, clocking a 9:24 (he also ran 4:16 for 1600 meters). Sands was 18th at the XC state meet. Expect those two to not only mix it up for the D6-A win, but also the state title in Class A.
Saint Joseph's Catholic's Carter Kauffman and Marion Center Area's Hunter Armstrong are among the other talented returners in the district. Kauffman was second to Colwell at districts and then placed 23rd at states to grab a state medal. Armstrong, who was third in the district, just missed a state medal, taking 29th last season. He'll be looking to move up to the podium this season.
SJCA's Josh Hershbine and Penns Valley's Daniel Kelly will also look to return to the top ten in D6-A this season, a district that has a good amount of talent back this fall.
Team Preview
Penns Valley Area ran to its fifth straight Ditrict 6 Class A team title last season. After rolling to the 1A state title in 2017, PVA lost some key pieces, but saw plenty of boys step up to play crucial roles in 2018. Penns Valley won the district by 24 points and went on to take fourth at the state meet, a solid encore to its state title team from the year before.
PVA loses just one varsity runner from the year before, so this squad (which is packed full of rising juniors) will be the favorites for the district crown again this season. Colwell and Sands will both be in the hunt for the individual state title while Kelly and Max Feidler add depth. Penns Valley enters the season at No. 2 in the Class A state rankings and will look to win its second state title in three years this fall.
Marion Center Area, which took second in the district last year and 14th at states, also returns six varsity boys from 2018. Armstrong is a strong No. 1 runner, and MCA will look to move its 2-3-4-5 up in the field to go after another state berth.
But Saint Joseph's Catholic Academy will be looking to win that second state qualifying spot in D6-A. The Wolves bring back its full varsity squad from 2018, which was 17 points off Marion Center for second place in the district. Kauffman, a state medalist, is back from last year's team that had three freshman crack its top seven. Expect the battle for the two state spots to be hotly contested this season in D6-A.
United, West Shamokin, and Richland are among the other teams looking to improve and make a run at state qualifying this season.