D11-AA Boys - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
- 2019 Individual Champion: Thomas Smigo (Palisades) - 16:28
- 2019 Team Champions: Northwestern Lehigh - 109 points
Individuals Breakdown
Saucon Valley's Matthew Chaikowsky will be the one to beat in D11-AA this season. Last year's district champion -- Thomas Smigo of Palisades -- moves to A this season, and the door is open for Chaikowsky to take the district crown. He has the fastest returning 5K time (16:01 from the Northampton Invite) in D11-AA by well over a minute. He was third in the district last season, but he'll be a big favorite this time around.
Four other boys are back from the top ten of the district from last season after Chaikowsky. Notre Dame-Green Pond's Cody Smith, North Schuylkill's Jack Flynn, and the Allentown Central Catholic's duo of Nathan Harris and Michael Driscoll make up that list of top ten returners.
Saucon Valley's Jacob Huber (17:36 at Paul Short last year), North Schuylkill's Justin Williams (11th in the district last year as a freshman) and Blue Mountain's Colin Phipps (12th in the district) are also worth watching for this season in D11-AA.
Team Breakdown
It was a high-scoring, close affair for the district title last year, as well as second place and the the two state qualifying spots. Ultimately, it was Northwestern Lehigh that pulled out the win with 109 points in a close one over Palisades, which beat out Notre Dame Green Pond (both scored 111 points) on a sixth runner tiebreaker. Allentown Central Catholic was fourth, but right in the thick of it, scoring 113 points.
It could be a close one again with each of the teams having a bunch of returners. Palisades moves to Class A, but nonetheless, it'll be a barnburner for the win and those state spots in D11-AA.
NW Lehigh returns its top six from last year, a team that placed 14th at the state meet. It lacks a traditional frontrunner, but makes up for it with depth -- its 1-5 spread was just 44 seconds at districts last year. This is a young team that should only improve from last season with another year under its belt.
Notre Dame Green Pond, which was on the unlucky end of the tiebreaker to Palisades last season, returns its whole varsity squad, so we can expect this team to make a run for the title with plenty of motivation after the sting of last season. Allentown Central Catholic also brings back its full varsity squad, as well, which will makes things interesting. ACC should also be plenty motivated after just missing out on states by two points last season.
Blue Mountain will look to get itself in the mix with a good core of returners. Palmerton Area and Saucon Valley will look to add some depth to make them contenders, as well. Expect a good battle between some strong teams this year in D11-AA.