D12-AA Boys - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
- 2019 Individual Champion: Gary Martin (Archbishop Wood) - 16:58
- 2019 Team Champions: Lansdale Catholic - 53 points
Individuals Breakdown
Last year brought a good battle for the individual title in D12-AA, as Archbishop Wood's Gary Martin outlasted Lansdale Catholic's Anthony Gargani for the win. Both boys -- rising juniors -- are back this season and looking to duke it out for the title again. Martin had a best of 16:45 last year, while Gargani's 5K best was 16:49.
Martin, who went 16:58 for the win last year, rode the momentum of his strong XC season into the winter, where he went 4:22.16 to take fourth in the mile at the indoor state meet. He looks to be the favorite in D12-AA.
Nine of the top ten finishers at districts in D12-AA return this season. Bonner's Brian McGarrity was fourth in the district last year and should be a factor near the front. He'll look to use his senior experience.
Lansdale Catholic's Brinker Meers and John Murphy, Engineering & Science's Andrew Drumwright and Aaron Drumwright, Cardinal O'Hara's Elijah Babcock, and Wood's Donnie Schwender are among the other top ten returners here looking for return trips to Hershey this season.
Team Breakdown
While Martin beat out Gargani for the D12-AA title last fall, it was Gargani's Lansdale Catholic squad that edged out Archbishop Wood 53-57 for the district title in the team race. Both squads qualified for the state meet, though, where Wood took 13th to LC's 15th with only 14 points separating the two.
Both LC and Wood have a good crop of returners after their frontrunners. LC returns a very solid top three and six of its top seven from last season. Wood, meanwhile, brings back its top three and four of its top seven. It figures to be another intense battle for the district crown, but luckily for both teams there is still two state spots allotted to D12-AA, and both LC and Wood would be in the driver's seat to net those two spots.
Engineering & Science was a close third last season, just missing a trip to Hershey by seven points. It brings backs the Drumwrights and would look to add some depth to make it a contender with the top two squads. Msgr. Bonner & Apb. Prendie and Cardinal O'Hara are among the other teams that would look to get in the mix for a high finish and perhaps a state qualifying spot.