RANK (PREV)

TEAM

RATIONALE & NOTES

1 (1)

State College has been on a tear this season, winning the Big Valley Invitational, Spiked Shoe Invitational and PIAA Foundation Invitational. They most recently finished third at the Carlisle Invitational but they were without their No. 1 Isaac Opperman. With him back in the line-up, they would've won handily.

2 (3)

Grove City has been dominant amongst the 2A ranks and would be in contention for the 3A title if they were in that classification. At the PIAA Foundation Invitational, the team showed off by placing four boys in the top five of the 2A race. In the team merge, they would've finished second behind State College with four boys in the top 15. As their No. 5 continues to develop, they'll only get better and better.

3 (2)

La Salle finished second at the Carlisle Invitational, behind Tatnall (DE) and in front of State College. The team has looked strong this year and won the Briarwood Invitational in a tiebreaker with Council Rock South back on September 14th. They'll head to the Manhattan College XC Invitational this weekend.

4 (13)

Council Rock South has been good, like really good. The team lost a tiebreaker to La Salle College High School at the Briarwood Invitational on September 14th, and then finished second to State College at the PIAA Foundation Invitational on September 21st. In that effort, they posted a 91-second spread. They've showed that they can compete with the best and will be back in action at the Manhattan College XC Invitational this weekend.

5 (5)

North Penn has flown under the radar this season but they've been consistent. At the Carlisle Invitational the team averaged a 16:21 and had a 53-second compression. They were 34 points behind La Salle College HS in the effort. Achilles Shui has looked terrific for the squad in 2024 and they're continuing to find their stride.

6 (10)

North Allegheny has been fighting its way to the front this year. The team was third to State College and Council Rock South in the PIAA Foundation 3A race. Prior to that, the team won the Boardman Spartan XC Invitational in Ohio. The team's spread has been consistently been around 60-seconds which will help them in Championship races.

7 (11)

With back-to-back wins at the DELCO XC Championship and the 50th Paul Short Run, Penncrest proved that they belong with the best in the state. At Paul Short, they placed Rowan Carr and Edomias Mulugeta in the top 8. With Nick Fante in 33rd, they were propelled to the victory. They'll look to carry their momentum through the month of October.

8 (15)

Like Penncrest, Episcopal Academy has also found momentum over the last few weeks. They were second to Penncrest at the DELCO XC Championship and the Paul Short Run. The margins were small in both of those races, as they lost by 12 points at DELCOs and just five points at Paul Short. Eli Engelman, Curtis Conner and John Ricketts have occupied their top 3. They all ran 15:52 or faster at Paul Short.

9 (4)

After a shaky start to the season, Manheim Township bounced back in a big way with a fourth place finish at the PIAA Foundation Invitational (3A). The team then finished fourth at the Paul Short Run behind Penncrest, Episcopal Academy and Monroe Woodbury (NY). Led by Adam Kingston, Ethan Peffley and Cole Stevens, the squad will look to establish some consistency going into the back half of the season.

10 (9)

Council Rock North showed some gusto at the William Tennent Invitational this past weekend. The squad unleashed a 35-point victory with a 1:04 compression and a 16:11 average. Matt Gosling, Lucas Poliseno and Jayden Neels went 1-2-4 for the squad and all broke 16-minutes. A couple of weeks ago, the team also won the Council Rock Invitational.

11

Despite battling the injury bug, Hershey has been resistant and continues to churn out strong finishes. At PIAA Foundation, the squad finished fifth before finishing fifth at the Paul Short Run. In each of those efforts, they finished just behind Manheim Township. They have a solid 1-2 in Vinay Raman and Jacob Abraham leading the way. Raman was second at Paul Short and third at Foundation.

12

Norwin has been sneakily impressive this year. They were fifth at the Red, White and Blue Classic with a 16:55 average back on September 7th, but have turned up the heat lately. In fact, the team returned to the White Oak course this past weekend for the Bald Eagle Invitational. There, they won with 18 points and posted a 16:24 average. On Wednesday, the team won the Westmoreland County Coaches Association Championship.

13 (14)

Central Bucks East finished second to Council Rock North at both the William Tennent Invitational and the Council Rock Invitational. Their compression has hovered just over a minute. They don't have the front pack like Council Rock North, but they have a solid five that they can string together for a strong finish.

14 (20)

Fox Chapel looked strong at PIAA Foundation, finishing sixth in the 3A race. Some were surprised to see Fox Chapel in our preseason rankings, but they've proven themselves thus far. The team most recently swept the WPIAL AAA Section IV Championship by going 1-5.

15 (NR)

Haverford looked competitive at the PIAA Foundation Invitational, and the team finished seventh in the 3A race behind Hershey and Fox Chapel Area. Teddy Foster finished 11th overall, which is a solid low-stick that they'll need. At Paul Short, Haverford finished 10th overall, but they were without Sean Lawson who is consistently the team's No. 2. 

16 (NR)

Great Valley has had an interesting year so far. At the PIAA Foundation Invitational, the squad placed 10th in what could be considered a disappointing finish for the team. They then rebounded with a sixth place finish at the Paul Short Run. The squad was only three points behind Hershey and 20-points behind Manheim Township. If they can continue putting together finishes like that, they'll be in the mix.

17 (17)

Chambersburg was dominant in its efforts to win the Gettysburg Invitational last weekend. The team posted a 59-point victory with four boys in the top 13 and a fifth in 25th. Liam Kirkpatrick scored the individual victory for Chambersburg as well. Previously, the team finished 11th at the Carlisle Invitational, just behind Great Valley and Haverford.

18 (19)

Souderton performed very well at their home twilight invitational on September 21st. The Souderton squad posted a 16:29 average with a 1:19 compression. We need to see more from this team, but they've showed some signs of strength.

19 (NR)

20 (12)

Truthfully, we don't really know what to expect out of Henderson yet. They've only run one out-of-state 5K invitational and they finished fifth with a 17:06 average and a 25-second compression. They certainly have potential and we're looking forward to seeing them race against PA teams over the 5,000m distance.

NR

Teams on the Bubble (NR)

Seneca Valley, Downingtown East, Methacton, Butler, Red Lion