PTXC Blog: The Long Haul
WKS 1&2 Preview | WK 3 |
Follow The Final K - weekly stories and more from the trails of PA XC - click here
Katie Kinkead's weekly journal | Wade Endress' weekly journal
I enjoyed reading the Milesplit XC journals of Wade Endress and Katie Kinkead. Both have lofty and attainable individual goals, but their team goals are what impressed me the most. Kinkead wants to help get CB East to states for the first time in school history. They are #5 in the latest PTXC poll, so it looks as if they are on target. As for Endress, he wants to help bring a state title back to Altoona and make a cross-country trip to Portland with his team for the Nike Cross Nationals.
Races to Watch
One of the most exciting matchups of the weekend will be Sargent-Piccirillo Round 1. They will square off at least one more time this XC season (Foot Locker Northeast Regional) and maybe twice (Foot Locker Nationals). It will be interesting to see who has the early edge. We are still eight weeks away from regionals. The North Allegheny-North Hills battle at the Central Catholic Invite will give an early indication to who is the favorite for the WPIAL title. North Hills will need all three Malone sisters to be on top of their game if they want to break up the Tigers’ pack.
As for the boys there are two big races, the Pittsburgh Central Catholic and Steel City Invites. In the City of Champions, #1 North Allegheny, #6 Baldwin, and #1 (AA) Quaker Valley will compete at Schenley Park in the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Invitational. Last year those three teams went 1-2-3 respectively. There will be a tight individual battle as well between North Hills Three-Headed Monster of Zach Hebda, Joe Kush, and Juris Silenieks and North Allegheny’s Ryan Gil. In Coatesville, Endress and Council Rock’s Chris Campbell will have a rematch of last year’s race that Endress won with a 15:35 to Campbell’s 15:41.
Showdown Saturday returns. Several of the top teams and individuals will square off in District 3 Country at the Carlisle Invite and PIAA Foundation XC Invite. Ranked teams Altoona, Conrad Weiser, Cumberland Valley, Holy Ghost Prep, La Salle College and North Allegheny will race at Carlisle and either confirm or shake up the rankings. Top individuals Ryan Gil (North Allegheny), Wade Endress (Altoona), Logan Mohn (Conrad Weiser), and Ed Schrom (Central Dauphin) will lead the charge up front and chase Coatesville's Kyle Dawson’s record of 15:17. Endress took the first meet against Mohn and Schrom at PTXC-2.
Leigha Anderson will look to defend her Carlisle title and break Aisling Cuffe’s record of 18:05. The team race will be close with ranked teams North Allegheny and Cumberland Valley battling for the top spot. Last year, the Academy of Notre Dame beat 3-time State Champ Emmaus on the tiebreaker. Who knows what this year holds?
Meanwhile in Hershey, small school and large school teams will be in separate races. There is still a great battle between three-time defending Foundation champ Jess Cygan of Liberty, Sara Sargent of Pennsbury and Cygan's teammate Amy Darlington. Sargent will looking to erase the demons of her only misstep in 2009 as she continues building on her strong early season. Pennsbury should dominate in the team score too. Leah Ann Wirfel of Forest Hills will look to defend in the Blue race. In the boys' race, Whitehall senior Matt Kacyon is the defending champ.
