D2-AA 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: Mitchell Rome (Dallas) - 16:46
- 2018 Team Champion: Holy Redeemer - 27 points
Individuals Preview
The race for the top individual spot in D2-AA will be an interesting one this year, as the top five boys in the district from last year and seven of the top ten have all graduated. It will be a much different looking district this time around.
The top returner is Chris Hine of Holy Redeemer. Last season, he took sixth in the district and placed 74th at states, playing a big role on HR's strong squad. Scranton Preparatory's Justin Goodrich (eighth in the district last year) and Holy Redeemer's Nick Pikul (tenth) are the only other returners from the top ten last year.
The only other boy that broke 18 last season returning is Joey Rowley of Hanover Area. He was 15th at districts. Honesdale's Dustin Edsall and Lake Lehman's Chandler Longstreth are among the other potential contenders in the district this season.
Hine looks to be the one to beat for now, but there will likely be a lot of boys who will have their sights set on the top spot in the district this season. As we see it in August, it's wide open.
Team Preview
In 2018, Holy Redeemer stormed through District 2 Class AA, en route to a very solid fifth place finish at the state meet in Hershey. Holy Reedemer scored just 27 points at the district meet, putting four in the top six and five in the top ten.
But now, five of those boys have graduated and Holy Redeemer will have to rebuild its varsity squad if it wants a shot at qualifying for states this season. Hine and Pikul are among the district's top returners and make for a good 1-2 punch. They just need the depth after that to fill in the gaps.
Lakeland may perhaps be the team to beat right now in the summer. It was third last season, missing the top two for states, but this year, the team looks strong with five varsity returners all entering their senior seasons. Zach Reeves, Chris Noldy, and Matthew McGowan finished in a row last year at the district meet as the team's top three. Those guys are back and if they can work together to move up, this will be a tough team to beat in D2-AA.
Lake Lehman should be strong this season. It was fifth last season and brings its full varsity squad back from its young squad from last year. Expect LL to make a run for Hershey. Dallas has won a number of state titles this decade. It loses its top runner and 2018 district champ Mitchell Rome, but brings back the next six after that. Look for Dallas to compete well for a high finish.
Abington Heights, the second place finisher in the district in 2018, loses its top three, but this team could rebuild to find the pieces to get in the conversation. Wyoming Area and Scranton Preparatory each have a good group of boys back and those teams could get in the mix this fall, too. It's really a wide open district this fall and anything can happen. There are two spots to states on the line and any number of squads could make a legitimate run towards states as it stands now.