Teams and individuals will qualify for the district championships from their respective leagues, based on team and individual finishes. This applies to class AA and class AAA only.
Here is the breakdown for qualification by league/conference:
BCIAA
AA Boys – 3 teams + 12 individuals
AA Girls – 4 teams + 12 individuals
AAA Boys – 3 teams + 21 individuals
AAA Girls – 3 teams + 9 individuals
LL League
AA Boys – 4 teams + 14 individuals
AA Girls – 3 teams + 9 individuals
AAA Boys – 6 teams + 24 individuals
AAA Girls – 7 teams + 21 individuals
Mid-Penn
AA Boys – 4 teams + 14 individuals
AA Girls – 4 teams + 12 individuals
AAA Boys – 7 teams + 28 individuals
AAA Girls – 7 teams + 21 individuals
YAIAA
AA Boys – 3 teams + 12 individuals
AA Girls – 3 teams + 12 individuals
AAA Boys – 5 teams + 20 individuals
AAA Girls – 5 teams + 15 individuals
Class A
The top 2 teams from the District 3 class A Championship advance to states.
Trinity enters week 4 as the #1 in class A. Jasper Burd (sr) ran 16:46 at Carlisle, leading the way for Trinity. He is currently the guy to beat in class A. Connor Pushart (sr), Isaac Burd (fr), Owen Charles (jr), and James Redmond (sr) could all factor into the top 10-15 at the district meet.
Tulpehocken, York Catholic, and Kutztown are becoming more compressed in the battle for the #2 team qualifying berth for states. York Catholic moves back into the top 3 with a solid performance at PIAA Foundation. Kutztown looked good at the Carlisle Invitational.
Of the teams chasing Trinity, York Catholic has the strongest 1-4, but they will need their #5 man to close the gap if they are to beat Tulpy (and potentially Kutztown). Catholic got a strong performance out of Moseley Driscoll (sr) at Foundation after he had missed a couple of contests over the past 2 weeks; he could be an individual title contender. James Volk (jr), Ethan Schuler (jr), and Jack Driscoll (so) join Mosley Driscoll to give York Catholic a formidable top 4. Tulpy has the talent to win the district title. In fact, their returning district medal winners from last year are currently running as the team’s #3 and #4 guys this fall (David Bednarczyk and Jayden Manbeck, both juniors). Allen Ebersole (so) and Ethan Guss (sr) currently lead the way for the Trojans and both could be top 5 challengers at districts. They need all 4 to be on point in late October to ensure their spot at states. Kutztown needs to get two guys into the top 5-10 to give themselves a chance against the top 3 ranked teams. That looks possible with Jack Kornfiend (sr) and Rylan Ebner (jr). Kornfiend could compete for a top 3 finish.
This one is close!
Class AA
The top 3 teams from the District 3 class AA Championship advance to states.
Class AA District 3 Championships – Projected Qualifiers and associated Team Rankings:
Not much has changed as the top 5 teams from last week stay firm in their ranking. In addition, there appears to be clear separation between each of the top 3 teams between each other and from the rest of the field. At present, the top 3 seem destined for Hershey. Lampeter-Strasburg showed that they belong amongst the top 3 teams in the state following their showing at PIAA Foundation on Saturday. Their top 5 individual could all win district medals.
Wyomissing remains a bit of an unknown. They are scheduled to run at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh this Friday; that should give us a better view of their 2021 squad.
The top 4 individuals in class AA appear to be the #1 runners on each of the top 4 ranked teams. Colin Whitaker (so) for Lampeter Strasburg, Weber Long (sr) for Greencastle-Antrim, Matthew O’Brien (jr) for Susquehannock, and Garrett Quinan (sr) for Kennard-Dale. Whitaker and O’Brien both look to be real challengers to Weber Long.
Class AAA
The top 4 teams from the District 3 class AAA Championship advance to states.
Class AAA District 3 Championships – Projected Qualifiers and associated Team Rankings:
There appears to be 7, and possibly 8 teams that I believe are still in the running to earn one of the 4 state qualifying spots in class AAA. This one is way too close to call. We take a closer look at each of the contenders below. The district meet should be an exciting one!
Hempfield remains the team to beat in class AAA. Aidan Hodge (jr) has looked like one of the top 5 runners in the state this season. He’s made a habit of braking 16-minutes so far this year and will very likely do it again on Friday at Paul Short. Hodge was only 13-seconds back from Notre Dame commit CJ Singleton at Carlisle this past Saturday. Joe Fahrney (jr) and Dale Winand (sr), both returning district medalists, appear to be getting stronger as the season progresses. The Black Knights have 6 guys who appear to be competing for the next 4 team spots for the post-season. Nice problem to have!
Carlisle has a really strong top 3 in Kevin Shank (jr), Ray Bondy (sr), and Andrew Diehl (jr). These 3 could all win district medals later this season. Carlisle also has a nice #4 in Briar Thompson (sr). Closing the gap between their #5 runner and Thompson will be a focus for the 2nd half of the year.
Exeter Township matches up very nicely with Carlisle. They are led by Alex Holbrook (sr) who has individual title aspirations. He’s run well at both PTXC and Ben Bloser and he and his team will be back in action at Paul Short on Friday. Jack Sahaida (jr) has developed into a really good team #2 and could battle for a top 20 finish at districts. Team #3 Cody Schabener (sr) broke 17-minutes at Ben Bloser. The Eagles could get a boost come post-season if senior Den Fantilli is able to return to action. He was a top 4 performer for them last season.
York Suburban’s top 3 will likely score the least amount of points amongst all teams top 3 at the district meet. Cole Adams (sr) has looked great early in the season, winning the Ben Bloser and PIAA Foundation Invitational titles. He is the #2 returner from last year’s state meet and looks the part. Grant Kern (sr) placed runner-up to Adams at Ben Bloser and gives Suburban 2 potential top 5 finishers come districts. Shea Walsh (sr) looked really strong at Foundation and rounds out their Big 3. Freshman Neil Oestereich has given the Trojans a nice #4. Suburban’s challenge is that there is a big gap between #4 and the rest of their team. Their depth could haunt them come late October.
Manheim Township has been a tricky team to rank this season. If healthy, they could compete for a top 3 finish at districts, maybe even top 2. Tyler Stevens (sr) looked great at Foundation, leading for nearly half the race before dropping out due to injury. He has been nursing a sprained ankle for the past 2 weeks. If healthy, he will compete for the overall title. The emergence of Luke Papadimitriou (jr) and senior newcomer Jacob Mathers (sr) has Township’s state hopes pointing in the right direction. Freshman Cole Stevens was running in the team’s top 3, but he too is currently out with injury.
Dillan O’Shell (sr) may give Hershey the “low-stick” they will need to break into the top 4 at districts. This is a deep team that runs at least 8 strong. Vinay Raman (fr), Ayden Bertoldi (sr), Adam Nielson (sr), Nathan Nielson (sr), Eddie Liszka (so), and Nick Kelly (sr) could form the tightest pack between their #2 and #7 runners. This was their recipe for success back in 2019 when they advanced to states. Bertoldi did not run at the Carlisle Invitational. They will likely need him running up front if they are to finish top 4.
Chambersburg has a great pack of guys 1-7. In fact, their top 5 may be separated by less than 60-seconds. Nick Monheim (sr) could give the Trojans a top 15 finisher at districts. Ben Colli (sr) and the development of Ari Snyder (so) provides them with a strong 2-3 combo. Karter Reath and Zach Yourkavitch are both seniors and Chambersburg will need them to have good days if they are to crack the top 4, something both are capable of.
Cumberland Valley challenges for a top 4 spot if Jordan Tiday (jr) regains his 2020 form. He did not compete at Carlisle this past weekend and his status is unknown. He is the #1 returnee from the 2020 district meet. If he can press into the top 10 again this season then the Eagles have the depth to be dangerous. Shane O’Connell (so) will take over team #1 duties if Tiday is unavailable.