D2-AA Boys - Team & Individuals Breakdown
- Preseason Rankings: Team | Individual
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
- 2019 Individual Champion: Chris Hine (Holy Redeemer) - 16:56
- 2019 Team Champions: Lake Lehman - 87 points
Individuals Breakdown
Holy Redeemer's Chris Hine looks to make it two-in-a-row in D2-AA. Last fall, Hine ran to the district crown, pulling away to win convincingly by over 25 seconds. He followed that up with a 23rd place state finish -- an impressive junior campaign. Now a senior, he'll be in pursuit of another district crown and an even higher state finish.
There's a good group of returners from D2-AA that will be in the mix for high finishes again this season. Mid Valley's Michael Novak was third in the district last year, while Wyoming Area's Michael Branley was fourth. Both return this year looking for top five finishes again. Lake Lehman has a pair of top ten finishers from last year back in Nick Hockenbury and Chandler Longstreth. Expect both to go after high placings this fall.
With Wallenpaupack moving to AA for this season, one boy to watch is Kyle Kellstrom. He was sixth in the district last year in AAA and ran ran a faster 5K last fall than anyone in AAA, a 16:29 at Paul Short. He'll be a big factor here. Hanover Area's Stephen Rowley (11th in D2-AA last year) is another boy to keep an eye on.
Team Breakdown
Lake Lehman came out on top in a close race for the District 2 Class AA title last season, in what was a fairly wide open team field last year. With six boys back this season, Lake Lehman is the team to beat this year, on the heels of a 17th place finish at the state meet. Hockenbury was strong as a freshman last year and, along with Longstreth made for a good 1-2 punch.
But LL should expect a good challenge from last year's runner-up, Mid Valley, which also brings back six varsity boys from a year ago. MV was 12 points off LL for the district title last year, and took 18th at states, just nine points off LL. This is shaping up to be a good intra-district matchup for the title.
Of course, there will be plenty of other teams looking to get in the mix to grab one of the two allotted state qualifying spots. Crestwood wasn't took far off the top two last season, and it brings back its full varsity team from a year ago. Expect C'Wood to make a run at the top two.
Wyoming Area should be a factor, too, with five varsity boys back from last year's squad that placed sixth in the district. Look out for Wallenpaupack, which makes the move to AA from AAA from this season. Wallenpaupack was fourth in D2-AAA last season.