Class AAA Boys Individuals Preview - PIAA State Championships
The AAA boys race was a wide open field last year, and it culminated with Brady Bigger of State College running to the state title in the "heats" format the PIAA put in place due to the pandemic. Well, it's back to an "all in one race" approach for this year, and with another relatively open field entering the race, it will be good to see AAA's battling it out in one race for the top spot in the state.
There are a lot of talented boys in AAA this season, as per usual, but the favorite looks to be CJ Singleton of Butler. He is the top returner from last year, when he took sixth at the state meet. The Notre Dame recruit has had a great senior campaign. He collected wins at Marty Uher and Slippery Rock, and placed second to nationally-ranked Larry Josh Edwards from West Virginia at the Carlisle Invite. He ran to the Distict 7 (WPIAL) title for the second straight year last week, and will be looking to win his first state title on Saturday.
But Singleton will have plenty of boys also gunning for the victory. Among his top challengers will be his teammate, Drew Griffith. Griffith, just a sophomore, put down one of the surprise performances of the season when he won the TSTCA title over Singleton and a number of other western PA talents. Griffith was second at WPIALs behind Singleton, and in his first state meet, will look for another big surprise.
Meanwhile, we can expect a number of North Allegheny boys to be in the mix, with four boys that return from the top 35 in the state from last year. But leading NA this year has been a freshman, Jack Bertram. Since winning the Red, White & Blue Classic, Bertram has turned in a number of strong performances this year. He was third in the WPIAL. Fellow Tiger Ryan Podnar was sixth in the WPIAL and should be a factor near the front on Saturday. NA's Scott Nalepa is a bit of a question mark. He was eighth in the state last year, but did not race at TSTCAs or WPIALs. If he runs at the state meet and is healthy, look for him to be a contender up front, as well. Peters Township's Brett Kroboth, Seneca Valley's Noah Petersen, Moon Area's Jacob Puhalla, and Butler's Sage Vavro are among the other District 7 boys that are worth watching for Saturday.
Hempfield's Aidan Hodge will be a contender up front, as he looks for a big state race. He was fifth at Carlisle and besides that, it's been all wins for the junior, including at Paul Short and the District 3 Championships last week. After a 21st finish last year, he's in a great spot to move up in a big way. Hodge out-dueled Carlisle's Ray Bondy and York Suburban's Cole Adams for the D3 win this past week. Bondy has been a breakthrough performer this year, and it'll be interesting to see how he does in his state meet debut. Adams, meanwhile, was seventh last year (the No. 2 returner) and he earned a big win at Foundation earlier this season.
Hatboro Horsham's Brian DiCola won an intense battle for the District 1 title. The junior outkicked Haverford's Ethan Fingerhut for the win. DiCola, who was second to Gary Martin at Paul Short has also taken some big strides forward after a 16th finish last year at states. Fingerhut, the Central league champion, has been running well as of late and seems primed for a big states performance.
District 2 champion Caleb Kenyon of North Pocono has had a big senior season, and he's got some big potential for a good states race up front. He was second to Hodge at Paul Short and clocked a 15:23, the No. 3 5K time in AAA this season. He also went sub-16 to win the D2 title, ands he's one to watch. LaSalle will be battling for team points, but the team has plenty of individuals with a shot at big individual runs. Drew Brill, Zachary Brill, District 12 champion Will Rau, and Ryan McGinley will be medal contenders for the Explorers. Drew Brill was 12th a year ago, and has had a very strong junior year. Patrick Casey of Saint Joe's Prep has kept pace nicely with the city's best the past few weeks (he was third at PCLs and in D12) and he could be ready for another good day at states.
As always, there's a deep group of District 1 boys that will be in the hunt for top ten finishes, and many of teammate duos. Fingerhut and his Haverford teammate Patrick Lawson will be up there. So will the Downingtown East pair, Caiden Leen and Brendan Flynn. Leen was third in District 1. Owen J. Roberts' Thomas Damiani and Andrew McGonigle were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the district. Methacton's Vaughn Lackman (fourth in D1) and Neshaminy's Ryan Tarapchak (ninth in D1) will also be in the mix on Saturday.
District 3 is always ripe with fast boys, looking to crack the top ten, including Central Dauphin's Timothy Roden, Hershey's Dillan O'Shell, York Suburban's Grant Kern, Manheim Township's Tyler Stevens, Cumberland Valley's Jordan Tiday, and Northeastern's Cole Perry. In that group, Kern (11th), Tiday (13th), Perry (15th), Roden (19th), and Stevens (20th) are all returning medalists from the state meet in 2020. That experience running well on the Hershey will be crucial this weekend.
State College's Charles Endres and Trent Dinant went 1-2 at the District 6 meet last week. Both have run well all season long and should have a good shot to finish up well at states. Freedom's Alex Heidemann has also had a solid season all around, which resulted in a District 11 title last week. The senior should be a factor for the top ten. Jack Barnhisel of Taylor Allderdice won both the Pittsburgh City League and the District 8/9/10 Sub-Regional race. He's run in a number of big races this year, and he'll be a medal contender, too.
It's a very deep AAA field, with a few favorites up front, but the reality is, this race is wide open for spots in the top ten, and it should be a thriller of a finale on Saturday afternoon.