Boys
D3 Top Medal Contenders
The race for the individual title could feature two teammates. Penns Valley junior’s Colton Sands and Brendan Colwell have been two of the state’s best all season. Sands burst onto the scene as a freshman and has gotten better each year. The classmates went 1-2 at the PIAA District VI championships with Sands running 15:14. That is the 2nd fastest time statewide (all classes) this season, trailing only Mt. Lebanon senior Patrick Anderson’s 15:09 (Anderson is a UNC commit). Colwell has also gone sub-16 on the season. Sands looks to be in a different class right now and you can expect him to be the heavy favorite heading into Saturday.
Mitchell Brett (jr, Kutztown) and Jacob Mavretic (sr, Millersburg) appear to be serious medal contenders. Based off of their District III Championship’s performance, Brett should battle for a top 10-15 finish and Mavretic should compete for a top 20 finish.
Team Race
Kutztown is the lone representative from District III. They will compete to finish within the top 10 teams.
Girls
D3 Top Medal Contenders
At last weekend’s District III A Championships, Erika Moriarty (jr) used a strong final mile to move ahead of eventual 2nd place finisher Braeten Peters (so, Annville-Cleona) to win the individual title. Her end of race surge suggests to me that she may be able to go even faster. Look for Moriarty to battle for a top 10 finish at states this upcoming weekend. Peters ran her best race of the year at District’s and looks to be peaking at just the right time. She also appears to be a solid medal contender. Look for her to challenge for a top 15 finish.
The Camp Hill trio of Grace Shartle (jr), Janelyn Vorkapich (so), and Laura Sakol (sr) could also make a run at a state medal.
Team Race
Camp Hill is District III’s team representative and they figure to be in state title contention. A top 4 finish is likely. They will do battle with Westmont Hilltop, Marion Center, and Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy for the team championship. Camp Hill may have the best team depth (runners 1-7) of any of the 4. Westmont Hilltop has the strongest 1-4 runners, but have arguably the worst depth of this grouping. Marion Center and Saint Joseph’s may have the smallest 1-5 spreads. Should be a close battle!