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West Chester Henderson is the strong favorite to end the two year reign of champions North Penn. They return virtually their entire 2008 roster that was 4th in district one and 7th in Hershey, including individual title contender Will Kellar and fellow sub 16-minute runner Stash Grab. With the six teams in front of them in 2008 graduating at least two seniors, Henderson will be the most experienced team in 2009.
Lasalle surprised everybody last season and snagged second place honors in their first trip ever to Hershey with a 24 second gap between their first and fifth runners. Seniors Tom O’Kane and Shawn Quinn lead five that have run under 16:40 in 2008. Lasalle will look to their strong pack running to get them back on the podium, and this year they will know what to expect.
North Hills returns with a young, deep team that was 14th in 2008. They had one of the stronger track seasons in 2009, with two runners outside of their top seven having strong track seasons to accompany four sub 9:46 3200 meter runners. Look for Joe Kush and Juris Silenieks to be a very strong 1-2 combination at the front of every race, making this team a threat for the podium.
Other teams looking to make the podium are Cumberland Valley, who return four runners under 16:35 and all ran on their 9th place state qualifying team. Hatboro-Horsham will look to return to Hershey with four runners who ran under 17 minutes in 2008 with another Hibbs leading the group, Sam Hibbs. Altoona returns three runners under 16:30 and finished 13th in Hershey last season. Coatesville returns three under 16:50 led by seniors Ben Hackmeister and Zach Mains. Council Rock South return three runners under 16:46 and separated by eleven seconds.
Individuals: Will Kellar is the highest returning runner from the 2008 XC state championship, finishing 2nd and he had a solid track season, running 4:21.65 for 1600 meters. Kellar will look to take the top spot to help his team regain the team title. Vince Perozze of Perkiomen Valley was 9th at Hershey, but returns with a 4:14.30 1600 meter run from Shippensburg, finishing 2nd in May. Perroze may have one of the stronger finishing kicks in 2009 with that kind of speed. Brad Miles was 7th and had a 4:20/9:36 double outdoors, placing 10th in the 1600 at states. Teammate and 2nd year harrier, senior Sam Bernitt, finished 10th in Hershey and will look to move up in North Penn’s title defense. Wade Endress of Altoona was 14th last year and he brings a 1:54.97 800/4:23.09 1600 from last season, and will carry a very strong kick to challenge the other frontrunners at the end.
Other top ten hopefuls include Grove City’s Jacob Kildoo (15:47 XC, 9:31.25 3200), Council Rock North’s Chris Campbell (15:49 XC) and Mike Mahoney (15:52 XC, 9:27.41 3200), Unionville’s Matthew Fischer (15:49 XC), Central Bucks West’s Nick Scarpello (15:54 XC), Methacton’s Brandon Mash (15:54 XC), Perkiomen Valley’s Scott Armstrong (15:58 XC, 9:22.26 3200), Central Bucks South’s Tom Mallon (15:58 XC, 1:51.79 800), North Allegheny’s Ryan Gil (15:58 XC), Haverford’s Ed Donnelly (16:01 XC, 4:18.59 1600), and St Joe’s Prep Chris O’Sullivan (16:04 XC, 4:16.27 1600).