D9-AA - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 5
- 2019 Individual Champion: Owen Bartlebaugh (Punsutawney Area) - 16:59
- 2019 Team Champions: Punxsutawney Area - 23 points
Individuals Breakdown
Last year, Aiden McLaughlin took second as his senior Punxsutawney teammate Owen Bartlebaugh ran to the district title. Now Bartlebaugh has since graduated and McLaughlin is a senior. He'll look to keep the district crown within the team this season.
McLaughlin ran his season best of 17:04 at the district meet last year and he went 17:09 at the state meet to take 44th at the state meet. He's the top D9-AA returner and he should be the one to beat this fall.
Bradford's Ryan Cottillion was third in the district last season, and he'll look to challenge McLaughlin for the title in D9-AA. He was 86th at the state meet. DuBois Area has three boys back this year that earned individual state qualifying spots from last year: AC Deemer, Mckellen Jaramillo, and Joseph Foradora. All three will be gunning for a return trip to Hershey this fall.
Bradford's Manny Diaz was 11th in the district and just missed a spot in the state meet last year. Now a sophomore, he'll look to crack the top five.
Team Breakdown
The race for the lone team state qualifying spot in D9-AA should be a very interesting one this fall. Punxsutawney Area scored just 23 points to win the district title last year. Punxsy went on to take a strong sixth at the state meet. But that team loses five varsity boys from last year, including its top runner in Bartlebaugh.
That will make it a close battle this season on the team side with a trip to Hershey on the line. Punxsy will look to see some JV runners or newcomers step into the spotlight to give it a shot at a third straight district title.
DuBois Area returns all three of its individual state qualifiers from last season and loses just one varsity boy from last year's team. That will make DuBois a dangerous squad and they will certainly be right in the mix for the district title after a third place finish in 2019.
Bradford Area can't be counted out, either. It loses state qualifier Tyler Kraft to graduation, but brings back the rest of its varsity squad from last season. Cottillion is a strong lowstick and this is a senior-heavy team that will be motivated to make a run at Hershey.