District 12 Class A Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
Individuals To Watch: Calder Burke (Masterman); Matthew Gorman (Conwell-Egan); Patrick Rullo (Devon Prep); Keaton Rush (Devon Prep); Ike Willis (Masterman);
Contending Teams: Devon Preparatory; Masterman
The Skinny: Expect a close race for the D12-A crown on Thursday. It will likely be a good race between Public League champion Willis and his runner-up Burke from Masterman and Devon Prep's Rullo (12th in the PCL) and Rush (17th in the PCL). Willis' time from the two meets (on the same course) was the best, though Rullo should supply a good challenge. It's going to be a tight one.
Masterman and Devon Prep feel like good bets to land both of the state qualifying spots here. Masterman won the Public League handily last week and Devon Prep was fifth in the Catholic League. As for the district title, Masterman has a slight edge if you combine the results of the PPL and PCL championship meets, but it should be close when the team line up head-to-head on Thursday.
District 12 Class AA Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 10
Individuals To Watch: Aaron Drumwright (Engineering & Science); Andrew Drumwright (Engineering & Science); Anthony Gargani (Lansdale Catholic); Michael Glavin (Archbishop Carroll); Gary Martin (Archbishop Wood)
Contending Teams: Archbishop Carroll; Archbishop Wood; Bartram; Engineering & Science; Lansdale Catholic
The Skinny: Martin should cruise to the district title for a second straight season before he chases another state title in AA -- he will be the overwhelming favorite in Hershey. It remains to be seen how fast he'll go on less than a week's rest since the PCL Championships, but Martin is the easy pick for the individual win. Gargani has had a terrific season and will be a contender for a high state meet finish next week, but before that, he's a good bet to take second in this race, and it should be a close race for other spots in the top five.
The team race should be interesting. There are two spots up for grabs. Wood was fourth in the PCL and comes in as the favorite. They will have some teams hot on their trail, though as Lansdale Catholic (sixth in the PCL), Engineering & Science (second in the PPL) and Bartram (third in the PPL) are all in the mix for the top two. This will be a very competitive race for those two tickets to Hershey.
District 12 Class AAA Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 10
Individuals To Watch: Drew Brill (LaSalle); Zachary Brill (LaSalle); Cole Casadei (LaSalle); Patrick Casey (Saint Joseph's Prep); Francis Dougherty (LaSalle); Josh Lloyd (LaSalle); Ryan McGinley (LaSalle); Will Rau (LaSalle); Quinn Worrell (Saint Joseph's Prep)
Contending Teams: Father Judge; LaSalle College; Saint Joseph's Prep
The Skinny: The LaSalle College boys will be going after the state title this season, but first the Explorers will look to win its eighth District 12 AAA title. LaSalle will be the heavy favorites for the win with its terrific mix of frontrunning and depth.
There are two state qualifying spots up for grabs, and with LaSalle all but certain to take the top spot, it will likely come down to St. Joe's Prep and Father Judge for the second spot. The saving grace for the third place team is that there's a good chance they could still bring a scoring team to states through individual state qualifying spots.
Individually, the race for the district win will probably come down to the Brill brothers, Drew and Zach. Drew missed the PCL meet, but is expected to return for districts, and has generally had the upperhand this season, but Zach ran a great race to take second to Gary Martin at PCLs. Casey from Prep will look to break up the LaSalle scorers as he did at PCLs.