Above: Sounds of Riverside produced by David Nguyen
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A few Pennsylvania teams made the trek to Ohio this past weekend to compete at the Riverside Kickoff Classic. In particular - a couple of teams and individuals shined in the muddy conditions... taking advantage of an early season invitational opportunity.
The Manheim Township Girls could surprise us this Year...
The Girls from Manheim Township finished second on Saturday night, scoring 80 points with a 1-5 Split of 60-seconds. They averaged 20:51 despite the muddy conditions and indeed turned some heads.
With the effort, they posted a 91.8 Speed Rating, an excellent mark this early in the season. For perspective, the State College squad that finished runner-up at the PIAA Championships (3A) in 2022 posted a 100-rating average at the State Meet.
Manheim Township finished 17th at the State Championship last year, but that was considered a disappointing finish for the team. Entering the state meet, they were ranked 9th in our Power Rankings after winning the District 3 Championship.
You could chalk up their disappointing 2022 finish to inexperience. After all, five of their starting seven were first or second-year students. With another year under their belts - they could be poised for some rather sensational finishes throughout the year.
Led by Elena Barrall, Ava Shirk, Lexie Kauffman, Kaila Atteberry, and Marina Papadimitriou - they'll likely have five runners under 20:30 later this year.
Grove City Boys pick up where they left off...
We wouldn't have expected any less.
The Grove City boys picked up where they left off by winning the Division 1 race dominantly. They outscored the next highest team, Hoover (OH), by nearly 40 points, averaging 17:12 on the muddy course with a 1:20 1-5 compression.
MJ Pottinger led the way for the squad, finishing fourth despite making a wrong turn while leading late. He still managed to run 16:24 over the 5K course and was the second Pennsylvanian behind Kamden Kramer (McDowell).
Sophomore Timothy Sabella was second for the team as he continues to ascend the ranks. He ran 17:10.
The Grove City boys posted an average speed rating of 149.6 which is not far off the 161 they posted at the PIAA State Championship last fall (TullyRunners).
They may not be in quite the same form as last year yet, but feasibly, they could be better than last year, given some time.
Oh, and if we want to look towards the future, Grove City eighth grader Miles Jenny won the Middle School Boys 2 Mile in 11:15. Grove City also won the team race at the Middle School level.
The 2A dynasty could continue well into the future.