Class AAA Boys Team Preview - PIAA State Championships
Like the individual race, the team battle at the PIAA State Championships in AAA boys is likely to be close, and will feature a number of contenders.
At the forefront of those contending teams are the same three teams that have placed in the top three each of the last three years (is that enough threes for you?). It's also the teams that have won the last three state titles in AAA: LaSalle College, North Allegheny, and Downingtown West.
LaSalle won the 2017 state title and placed second each of the last two years. The Explorers, which scored 19 to win District 12, lost some key pieces from last year's team, but have retooled very well. The Brill brothers and Max Manganiello have been a solid top three while the return of Patrick Coyle from injury provides a significant boost for this team, which will be hungry to get back on top of PA. LaSalle won the pre-state Foundation Invite by ten points, and will look for another strong day at Hershey.
North Allegheny was third at the state meet last season, a year after taking the title in 2018. NA's composition is a lot different than that last state championship team; instead of a powerful top two in Zach Kinne and Dan McGoey, it's all about the pack for the Tigers. NA has had 1-5 spreads of 40, 19, 25, and 29 seconds in big meets this season. Nalepa has emerged as the team's No. 1, but Graham Wolfe, Gregory Kossuth, Andrew Kollitz, and Jackson Hickel haven't been far behind. The Tigers were second to LaSalle at Foundation, but NA will look to move its pack up further in the field than that meet. That is the key for NA if it wants to win its second state title in three years.
Then that brings us to the defending champions from Downingtown West, which made it out of the always-tough District 1. The Whippets top three from 2019 returns with Barnhill, Rymer, and Betz, but it's a whole new back half of varsity for this team. Barnhill and Rymer are individual title threats, while Betz should also be a lowstick, too (he nearly medaled last year). It will come down to those 4-5 (and maybe even 6) runners, who will need a big day. An 8-team field helps a team like D-West, which figures to get low scores from its 1-2-3.
It won't be just these three teams, though. State College Area has looked very strong as of late. The Little Lions were ninth a year ago, but have seen nice improvements from the returners from that team. SC won convincingly at Mid-Penns and District 6. With a solid No. 1 in Bigger, Sean Adams and Trent Dinant are a good 2-3 that should put this team in the mix with the favorites.
Hempfield has come on in a big way this fall. After not making it to states last year, the Knights won the L-L League and District 3 crowns. Hodge has been the igniter up front for this team, which put four in the top 20 in D3. Hempfield will need a big day from its No. 5 runner to close the gap to its top four.
Other qualifying teams are the District 2 champions Abington Heights (heat 1), District 8/9/10 Sub-Regional champion Taylor Allderdice (heat 2), and District 11 champions Parkland (heat 2).
But it's tough to say who the top team will be because there simply haven't been many big meets to give any perspective this season. Foundation matched up three of these contending teams, but that was over a month ago. NA has cleaned up out west over the last month, while Downingtown West won its only two meets of the season out east. LaSalle has the most notable win in the field with its Foundation victory, but the Explorers have been relatively quiet since then besides cruising to the win in D12.
State College has done quite a bit to improve its stock since its sixth place finish at Foundation, winning impressively at its league and district meet. Hempfield, too, has looked strong in the past few weeks.
Like we mentioned in our girls' preview, matchups could play a crucial role. Downingtown West, Hempfield, and State College are matched up in the first heat, while NA and LaSalle are together in the second heat. That is a more fair alignment than the girls' AAA races, but the small fields will still end up resulting in runners racing the clock in many instances.
This has been a crazy year, so it's only fitting that the final boys races of the PIAA season will be something we've never seen before. Every place always matters at the state meet, but that will be even more true this time around.