Above: Watch the 3A Boys Championship from Red, White and Blue
---
The second Boys Team Power Rankings of the 2023. We saw a lot of teams exceed expectations and others fall a little bit short. We tried to not overreact, but made the changes necessary to reflect team performances.
Please note - These early season Power Rankings are subjective and include some speculation.
Episcopal Academy remains at the top and North Allegheny remains in second. That being said, there are a number of teams vying for a higher ranking and they're starting to apply pressure to our Top 2.
- - -
Boys Top 20 Teams - Rankings #2
RANK(PREV) | TEAM | RATIONALE & NOTES |
1 (1) |
Episcopal Academy | EA has not yet made its Invitational Debut, but they're expected to be in action next weekend at the George School Invitational. We'll get a good idea of where this team is at then. |
2 (2) |
North Allegheny | North Allegheny won the Red, White and Blue Classic, over Hampton and Grove City. The win wasn't as dominant as we're used to seeing, but the team got the job done. We'll continue to monitor North Allegheny's strength, but at this point the squad has earned it's No. 2 rank. |
3 (8) |
| La Salle College looked incredibly good this past weekend. Its obvious that they've replenished their ranks, and could be title contenders in 3A this year. At Briarwood this past weekend they placed four boys in the top ten; Cole Casadei, Nolan Yeagle, Will Palopoli, and Sam Kelchner. Plus, they went 1-2 in the Freshman Boys race as Ben DiCola and Bobby Franklin covered the hilly 3K course in 9:58 and 10:02 respectively. |
4 (5) |
| Grove City finished third at the Red, White Blue Classic behind North Allegheny and Hampton. However, MJ Pottinger was able to win, and the squad placed three runners in the Top-10. They were without Colsen Frank, but with him in the line-up, they might've had four in the Top-10. That would've been enough for them to win. |
5 (3) |
| Manheim Township did not compete this weekend. We'll most likely see them in action again at the PIAA Foundations Invitational on 9/23. |
6 (4) |
| North Penn finished third to La Salle and Council Rock North at the Briarwood Invitational. They showed flashes of potential, especially in the freshman race where Caleb Rothenberger and Matthew Connelly excelled. They placed third and fourth respectively. |
7 (7) |
State College | State College finished second to the Nationally Ranked University (WV) squad at the Spiked Shoe Invitational. They impressively posted a 16:34 average and notched a 39-second compression. |
8 (18) | Hampton finished second to North Allegheny at the Red, White and Blue Classic. They proved that they'll be a contender in 2A this year and even beat Grove City, the defending 2A State Champs. But Grove City did hold out a Key Contributor. Hampton probably deserves to be higher in these rankings, but we'll let them continue to prove that throughout the season. | |
9 (6) |
| Parkland did not compete at an Invitational this weekend. |
10 (NR) |
| We slept on Chambersburg and it was obviously a mistake. The team dominated at PTXC and knocked off several ranked opponents. Led by Ari Snyder - they were able to flex their stuff and place four boys in the Top-25. |
11 (12) | Penncrest looked solid at the Unionville 2 Mile Bash. The team's Top 5 all had times amongst the 15 fastest of the day. Most importantly, the squad looks like it will roll as a pack. | |
12 (NR) | Council Rock North enters the rankings after finishing second to La Salle at the Briarwood Invite. They edged out North Penn and placed four boys in the Top-15. | |
13 (9) | Exeter finished second to Chambersburg at the PTXC Invitational. They didn't have the perfect day but still looked strong and had good finishes from several boys. | |
14 (10) |
| Downingtown East was not in action at an invitational this past weekend. |
15 (11) | Council Rock South finished fourth to Chambersburg and Exeter at PTXC but they were only three points back from Exeter. They averaged 17:29 on the hilly and muggy course. | |
16 (13) |
| Hershey did not compete at an Invitational this past weekend. |
17 (17) |
| Conestoga performed well at the Cherokee Challenge in NJ and was tabbed third in the post-meet, overall Meet Merge. The team's top five boys averaged 10:31 (3200m) and split 40-seconds. |
18 (15) |
| The Downingtown West squad also performed well at the Unionville 2 Mile Bash. The team averaged 10:12 over the 2 Mile course. They were led by Richard Planck who finished first overall with a 9:40. |
19 (NR) |
| The Ridley starters averaged 10:19 at the Unionville 2 Mile Bash. They were not far behind Downingtown West's average. |
20 (16) |
| Butler did not compete at an Invitational this past week. |
NR | Teams on the Bubble (NR) | Elizabethtown Area, Unionville, Cumberland Valley, Hempfield (3), Easton, Souderton |
.png)
.jpeg)
.jpeg)