District 2 Class A Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
Individuals To Watch: Daniel Danilovitz (Riverside); Oliver Heintzelman (Northwest Area); Justice Johnson (Elk Lake); Woobie Kupsky (MMI Prep); Nate Sinkovich (Montrose)
Contending Teams: Blue Ridge; Dunmore, Holy Cross; Montrose
The Skinny: There's quite the youth movement going on in D2-A this season. Up front, it'll be a battle between the sophomore talents Sinkovich and Danilovitz, and the freshman upstart Heintzelman. Danilovitz was second last year and Sinkovich was third in the district last year. Meanwhile, Heintzelman made his presence known in a big way with a fourth place WVC Championships finish last week. Johnson should be right near the front pack looking to make it interesting.
Montrose looks to be a good bet to take home the district title. The team has good depth and a strong pack after its No. 1 Sinkovich. This is a team that could make a big splash at the state meet, but it all starts on Wednesday at the D2 Championships. The second spot will likely come down to Blue Ridge, Holy Cross, and Dunmore and it could be very close.
District 2 Class AA Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 10
Individuals To Watch: Tom Brady (Holy Redeemer); Nash Greene (Crestwood); Nick Hockenbury (Lake Lehman); Aidan LaTourette (Honesdale); Weston Medvetz (Crestwood); Jack Scanlan (Crestwood); Grant Smith (Holy Redeemer)
Contending Teams: Crestwood; Dallas; Holy Redeemer; Honesdale; Lake Lehman; Mid-Valley; Scranton Preparatory
The Skinny: Hockenbury has had a very strong junior season that includes a win at the Wyoming Valley Conference Champs last week against some of the top competition he'll see in the district. He could be the one to beat, but he'll have challengers, like LaTourette, Smith, and Medvetz.
The team battle is going to be very close for both the title and the second state qualifying spot. Crestwood is fresh off a win at the WVC Championships, beating fellow D2-AA squad Holy Redeemer by four points. Dallas was third and Lake Lehman was fourth, providing a good preview of the top teams ahead of Wednesday district race. A lot can change in a week, and will see if that order changes back on the same course this week. Crestwood has the lowstick, but HR wasn't far off at all. Honesdale is not in the WVC, so there's a bit of an unknown, but this team is capable of competing for a spot in the top two, too. The same goes for Scranton Prep and Mid-Valley, which both ran well at some big meets this fall.
District 2 Class AAA Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 5
Individuals To Watch: Nicholas Booth (Abington Heights); Aiden Horne (North Pocono); Caleb Kenyon (North Pocono); Brian McCormack (Scranton); Mason Natalini (North Pocono); Sean Rooney (Abington Heights); Gavin Ross (Abington Heights); Tommy Walsh (Abington Heights)
Contending Teams: Abington Heights; North Pocono
The Skinny: The battle for the district title and the lone state qualifying spot will likely come down to two squads: Abington Heights and North Pocono. These two teams faced off in a pair of cluster meets this season with NP taking the win in the first and AH taking the win in the second (though NP was down a top runner in the latter). Expect a really close race with a state spot and district crown on the line between these two very evenly matched teams.
Individually, Kenyon is the one to beat. He's in the midst of a terrific season that included a second place finish and 15:23 at Paul Short. He'll be a factor for a high state finish, but first he'll look to win his first XC district title. After Kenyon, his teammate Horne will look to hold off the Abington Heights boys for second.