District 6 Class A Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 2
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 10
Individuals To Watch: Aiden Lechleitner (Central Cambria), Tyler Rader (Huntingdon Area), Evan George (Central Cambria)
Contending Teams: Central Cambria, Westmont Hilltop
The Rundown:
Is it possible that the 1A Boys race is the best race of the day? In terms of the individual battle, it could be.
Six boys enter Saturday with season bests faster than 17-minutes. Lechleitner leads them with the 16:22 he ran last week to finish second at LHAC. He held off his teammate, Evan George, who finished 20-seconds behind him.
Off of Lechleitner's shoulder could be Tyler Radar (Huntingdon). But we've only seen him race once. He ran a really impressive 16:26 at Spiked Shoe. If he is healthy, look for him to be at the front.
The team battle should yield some expected results. Central Cambria, which will be a contender next week, should claim the district title. We'd expect to see Marion Center Area in second to claim the other bid. Westmont Hilltop or Forest Hills could fill out the top-3.
Central Cambria just won the LHAC title, Westmont Hilltop was second.
District 6 Class AA Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 5
Individuals To Watch: Logan Strawser (Juniata), Chad Muckey (Philipsburg-Osceola Area), Wyatt Stroup (Juniata), Joseph Bomberger (Juniata)
Contending Teams: Juniata, Bellefonte Area
The Rundown:
With only one automatic bid available, Juniata should come out the victor and punch its ticket to states.
Behind standout Logan Strawser, Juniata has two other boys, Wyatt Stroup and Joseph Bomberger, who have both run 16:30 or faster. With that, Juniata could place three in the top five. There four and five runners should also place in the Top-10.
Chad Muckey could give Strawser a surprise run for his money. Strawser did run a very impressive 15-flat earlier this year, but we doubt that he'll be going all-out. Muckey ran 16-flat earlier this year, but we haven't seen him run since September 17th.
District 6 Class AAA Boys - Race Preview
- State Qualifying Spots For Teams: 1
- State Qualifying Spots For Individuals: 5
Individuals To Watch: Nick Sloff (State College)
Contending Teams: State College Area
The Rundown:
Like on the girl's side, the State College Boys should utterly dominate the rest of District 6. They may in fact, pick up the 1-5 sweep. Based on season-best 5K's, State College has a 1-5 average of 16:47. The next closes team (Altoona) runs an average of 17:42. There is just too big of a gap for anyone to make up.
No one will touch Nick Sloff. It has been a breakout XC season for Sloff who most recently finished second to Timothy Roden at the Mid Penn Championship. It was an impressive 16:02 in a field of loaded talent. He beat boys like Vinay Ramen (Hershey), Ari Snyder (Chambersburg), Kevin Shank (Carlisle), and several other studs.
Andrew Quinn (Altoona) has a chance to break-up the five front boys from State College. He enters with the sixth-best time in District 6 with the 17:15 that he ran at the John Sample Grove City Invite.