The Central League meet is Saturday at Rose Tree Park. Here's a look at how things may or may not shape up in the team and individual competition.

On the girls side, Strath Haven's Hannah Grossman is the individual favorite, especially coming off last week's victory at the Delaware County Championships. What will be interesting to see is if Haverford's Sophia Meehan, the defending Central League champion, can close the 35-second gap they had a Delcos. Last week, Haverford ran hard in a dual meet on Wednesday, then came back and ran again Saturday. While Strath Haven also had a dual meet last week, the finishing times suggest that Grossman did not go all out in that meet. Haverford did not have a dual meet this week, so we'll see if a little more rest from competition makes a difference or not. Others who could be a factor include Haverford's Tess Meehan, Penncrest's Grace Chang and Springfield's Francie McNally.
Haverford is the team favorite here, with Strath Haven and Conestoga looking to challenge, as both teams have decent depth, just not as much as Haverford.


On the boys side, individually it appears to be a bit more of a wide open race. Haverford's Woo Kim, Lower Merion's Michael McGowan, Strath Haven's Noah Frick and David Gao, Conestoga's James Ferguson, Harriton's Peter Downs, Penncrest's Brian Craft and Upper Darby's Andrian Reist could all challenge for the crown.
On the team side, Haverford will try to defend its title. It's sure to get a strong challenge from Conestoga, as Haverford won a closely contested dual meet 10 days ago. Also Strath Haven and Penncrest will factor in the scoring for the team title as well.

Quote to Run By
This is from famous author William Faulkner, and applies particularly to runners.
"Don't bother just to be better than your contemporaries or predecessors.
Try to be better than yourself."

Here's a quick look at the Delco meet scheduled for Saturday afternoon at Rose Tree Park. Something to note, is that due to construction, the course will be slightly different. The finish has been extended some to make up the difference in distance, but the course still may be a little short.

First, the boys side.
Individually, you've got Cardinal O'Hara's Chris Garrity, Glen Mills' Mahdi Moliso, Harriton's Peter Downs, Haverford's Woo Kim and Strath Haven's Noah Frick all look to contend for the title. A lot will depend on who had to run hard in Wednesday's dual meets and who could coast a little. Haverford ran hard and beat Conestoga for the Central League title, so it might not be quite as sharp Saturday. Moliso also ran a fast time Tuesday, but the extra day may be just enough for him to bounce back today. Downs didn't run in a dual meet this week, so assuming he's healthy, he could have a good race, and expect Garrity to be strong as well.
As far as the team scoring goes, look for O'Hara to run well as it was second in the championship division at the Briarwood Invitational in September. Then you've got Haverford, depending on how much they have left in the tank after Wednesday, and Strath Haven should be a factor as well.

On the girls side, individually, Strath Haven's Hannah Grossman has been consistently fast all season. She could get a challenge from Archbishop Carroll's Katie Rodden. After that there are Haverford's Sophia and Tess Meehan, Notre Dame's Maria Seykora, Springfield's Francie McNally and Penncrest's Grace Chang.
Team wise, even though they appeared to run hard on Wednesday, Haverford has consistently shown the most depth this season. Also looking to challenge will be Strath Haven, which did not run all out Wednesday, so maybe it will have a little more left for Delcos, along with Notre Dame and Cardinal O'Hara.

And the quote for this post:
When it's hard to run, run hard.

OK everybody, I've spent some time the last few days going through all of the major meet (this meaning the invitationals) results and listed only how the Delaware County runners finished in those races. Going through all of those, I certainly could have missed somebody, so you can just e-mail me and let me know. With the Delaware County meet coming up Saturday at Rose Tree Park, this might give you a little insight on who the top competitors are.

Viking Invitational, Sept. 3
Boys
Peter Downs, Harriton, 16:28
Max Norris, Harriton, 16:38
Corey Schauerman, Penncrest, 16:59
Zach Smalls, Penncrest, 17:01
Chris Garrard, Penncrest, 17:28
Craig Casey, Penncrest, 17:42
Isaac Jennings, Harriton, 17:52
Conner Wortley, Harriton, 18:13
Zach Kline, Penncrest, 18:14
Ramses Caro, Harriton, 19:01
Ryan Smith, Harriton, 21:07

Girls
Grace Chang, Penncrest, 19:58
Sarah Nellis, Penncrest, 20:11
Allison McLaughlin, Harriton, 21:27
Mackenzie Baxter, Penncrest, 22:09
Natalie Virbitsky, Penncrest, 22:47
Sara McWaters, Penncrest, 23:04
Samantha Lincoln, Harriton, 24:08
Erin Shemeluk, Interboro, 24:37
Andrea Sobel, Harriton, 24:42
Karen Irvine, Harriton, 25:39
Shae Medendorp, Interboro, 25:49
Brittany Moyer, Interboro, 27:00
Natalie Gsell, Interboro, 27:44
Taylor Fisher, Interboro, 27:48

Maroon and Gold Classic at Kutztown University, Sept. 4
Boys Under 20 minutes
Noah Frick, Strath Haven, 17:14
Jeff Seelaus, Strath Haven, 17:27
Michael Wright, Ridley, 17:59
Rob Marro, Springfield, 18:23
Sam Perricone, Strath Haven, 18:31
Thomas Reuther, Ridley, 18:44
Christopher Pfeiffer-Kel, Strath Haven, 18:58
Daniel Parsons, Strath Haven, 19:04
Mitch Engleka, Strath Haven, 19:13
Alex Grajac, Springfield, 19:37
Gil Giacaterino, Springfield, 19:38
Parker Sultzer, Strath Haven, 19:39
David Gao, Strath Haven, 19:59
Philip Host, Strath Haven, 19:59

Girls Under 25 Minutes
Francie McNally, Springfield, 20:47
Christina Smith, Springfield, 21:31
Julie Marro, Springfield, 21:51
Mary Galligan, Springfield, 22:07
Holly Sinnot, Springfield, 24:29


Abington Invitational Boys Under 20
4 #308 Kim, Woo 12 Haverford To 5:16.6 16:23.64 4
8 #805 Frick, Noah 12 Strath Haven 5:20.2 16:34.63 8
9 #832 Seelaus, Jeff 11 Strath Haven 5:22.1 16:40.49 9
14 #494 Craft, Brian 12 Penncrest 5:25.7 16:51.87 14
15 #517 Schauerman, Corey 12 Penncrest 5:25.8 16:52.17 15
22 #869 Reist, Adrian 12 Upper Darby 5:30.2 17:05.66 22
29 #520 Smalls, Zach 12 Penncrest 5:31.1 17:08.46 29
31 #322 White, Erick 12 Haverford To 5:31.6 17:10.12 31
33 #305 Kays, Jon 11 Haverford To 5:31.8 17:10.79 33
34 #303 Gross, Jared 11 Haverford To 5:32.0 17:11.32 34
39 #868 Nitz, Andrew 11 Upper Darby 5:32.5 17:12.75 39
40 #318 Thompson, Ryan 12 Haverford To 5:32.6 17:13.36 40
47 #311 Mogavero, Jeff 11 Haverford To 5:36.5 17:25.39 47
50 #836 Stewart, Daniel 11 Strath Haven 5:37.5 17:28.32 50
51 #493 Cassey, Craig 12 Penncrest 5:37.6 17:28.89 51
52 #609 Wright, Adam 10 Ridley 5:38.0 17:29.93 52
63 #500 Gerrard, Chris 12 Penncrest 5:43.9 17:48.47 63
70 #507 Kline, Zach 11 Penncrest 5:46.2 17:55.60 70
76 #300 Clair, Josh 11 Haverford To 5:49.5 18:05.74 76
85 #606 Reuther, Thomas 9 Ridley 5:52.0 18:13.55 85
89 #824 Perricone, Sam 12 Strath Haven 5:53.3 18:17.45 89
93 #406 Moore, Matt 9 Marple Newtown 5:57.3 18:29.89 93
94 #823 Parsons, Dan 11 Strath Haven 5:57.6 18:30.80 94
98 #825 Pfeiffer-Kelly, Ch 11 Strath Haven 5:58.8 18:34.58 98
105 #812 Host, Philip 11 Strath Haven 6:09.3 19:07.21 105
106 #873 Yashin, Christophe 10 Upper Darby 6:11.2 19:13.06 106
109 #408 Pham, Paul 12 Marple Newtown 6:13.2 19:19.48 109
110 #600 Dowrick, Stephen 10 Ridley 6:15.7 19:26.99 110
Girls Under 25 Minutes
3 #761 Grossman, Hannah 11 Strath Haven 6:05.1 18:54.08 3
5 #290 Meehan, Tess 10 Haverford To 6:08.5 19:04.85 5
8 #289 Meehan, Sophia 11 Haverford To 6:16.1 19:28.42 8
12 #471 Chang, Grace 10 Penncrest 6:25.5 19:57.48 12
15 #278 Clinton, Elizabeth 11 Haverford To 6:28.9 20:08.09 15
16 #789 Rutkowski, Sarah 12 Strath Haven 6:29.1 20:08.68 16
18 #480 Nellis, Sarah 10 Penncrest 6:32.2 20:18.38 18
29 #287 Macedo, Amanda 11 Haverford To 6:41.3 20:46.76 29
38 #281 Houcke, Ellie 10 Haverford To 6:48.7 21:09.58 38
44 #750 Balmer, Katie 12 Strath Haven 6:51.6 21:18.52 43
57 #292 Naser, Courtney 9 Haverford To 6:59.1 21:41.84 56
58 #276 Anzalone, Maggie 12 Haverford To 6:59.3 21:42.45 57
59 #767 Herrara, Hannah 10 Strath Haven 6:59.5 21:43.15 58
67 #856 Sweeney, Julie -- Upper Darby 7:06.6 22:05.39 66
71 #398 Stephanou, Alexand 12 Marple Newtown 7:09.0 22:12.58 70
80 #754 Cheruka, Caitlin 11 Strath Haven 7:13.6 22:27.11 78
82 #849 Jackson, Audrey 12 Upper Darby 7:15.0 22:31.28 80
88 #467 Baxter, Mackenzie 12 Penncrest 7:18.7 22:42.92 86
89 #486 Virbitsky, Natalie 10 Penncrest 7:19.2 22:44.36 87
91 #855 Scudder, Maria -- Upper Darby 7:20.8 22:49.39 89
93 #390 Geida, Sam 10 Marple Newtown 7:21.5 22:51.58 91
102 #481 O'Donnell, Maddie 12 Penncrest 7:28.4 23:13.07 100
103 #479 McWaters, Sara 10 Penncrest 7:28.9 23:14.45 101
104 #781 O'Donnell, Summer 12 Strath Haven 7:30.2 23:18.55 102
106 #388 Feinberg, Karli 10 Marple Newtown 7:30.9 23:20.70 104
108 #396 Rinaldi, Jess 10 Marple Newtown 7:31.9 23:23.92 106
110 #845 Carroll, Victoria 11 Upper Darby 7:34.6 23:32.33 108
114 #389 Geida, Danielle 12 Marple Newtown 7:39.4 23:47.16 112
118 #392 Keenan, Alyssa 12 Marple Newtown 7:42.5 23:56.82 116
125 #475 Kelleher, Lauren 12 Penncrest 7:51.4 24:24.49 123
126 #779 Meyer, Hannah 12 Strath Haven 7:53.1 24:29.85 124
127 #395 Morrow, Carly 11 Marple Newtown 7:57.2 24:42.51 125

Bulldog Invitational
3 Miles at Rose Tree Park
Boys under 19 minutes
Peter Downs, Harriton, 15:50
Noah Frick, Strath Haven, 15:57
Jeff Seelaus, Strath Haven, 16:02
Max Norris, Harriton, 16:03
Adrian Reist, Upper Dargby, 16:14
James Butler, Harriton, 16:18
Andrew Nitz, Upper Darby, 16:22
Nick Scarpato, Springfield, 16:23
Joe Manion, Radnor, 16:28
Mike Ciaveralli, Monsginer Bonner, 16:35
Jake DeLehman, Radnor, 16:37
William McDermott, Monsignor Bonner, 16:40
Kevin Montgomery, Monsigner Bonner, 16:45
Dan Stewart, Strath Haven, 16:51
Michael Wright, Ridley, 16:50
Dan Stewart, Strath Haven, 16:51
Andrew Thompson, Upper Darby, 16:53
Quadree Counsel, Monsignor Bonner, 16:55
Sam Perricone, Strath Haven, 17:02
Robbie Marro, Springfield, 17:03
DeClan Evans, Radnor, (between 17:03 and 17:13, no time listed)
James Carino, Radnor, 17:13
Kyle Moretti, Sun Valley, 17:15
Preston Kagiri, Upper Darby, 17:19
Mike West, Interboro, 17:21
Anthony DiLucido, Monsignor Bonner, 17:23
Chris Pfeiffer-Kelly, Strath Haven, 17:24
Clay McDermott, Monsigner Bonner, 17:27
Issac Jennings, Harriton, 17:29
Vince Concordla, Radnor, 17:31
Mitch Engleka, Strath Haven, 17:34
Dan Parsons, Strath Haven, 17:43
Conner Wortley, Harriton, 17:46
Neal Overbeck, Radnor, 17:51
Ahmed Gasim, Upper Darby, 17:51
Gil Giancaterino, Springfield, 18:01
Ali Abdul, Upper Darby, 18:13
Stephen Dowrich, Ridley, 18:17
Alex Krajek, Springfield, 18:20
Steve Lee, Upper Darby, 18:29
Dimitri Courous, Harriton, 18:34
Kyle Taggart, Interboro, 18:41
Francis Scandle, Ridley, 18:45
Eugene Whalen, Interboro, 18:58
Ryan Mulholland, Interboro, 18:59

Bulldog Invitational Girls
3 Miles at Rose Tree Park
Under 23 Minutes
Francie McNally, Springfield, 19:08
Alyssa Rudowsky, Garnet Valley, 19:33
Fiona Egan, Cardinal O’Hara. 19:39
Allison McLaughlin, Harriton, 19:43
Emily Creghton, Cardinal O’Hara, 19:44
Christina Smith, Springfield, 19:48
Julie DelGrosso, Cardinal O’Hara, 19:59
Mary Galligan, Springfield, 20:02
Meredith Steely, Radnor, 20:08
Brittany Boyer, Cardinal O’Hara, 20:34
Kelsey Kilgore, Archbishop Prendergast, 20:40
Megan Hotz, Cardinal O’Hara, 20:42
Julie Marro, Springfield, 20:42
Julie Sweeney, Upper Darby, 20:43
Margaret Gress, Radnor, 20:44
Angel Bucci, Upper Darby, 20:45
Megan Shea, Radnor, 21:13
Sinead Egan, Cardinal O’Hara, 21:24
Laurel Lamoureaux, Archbishop Prendergast, 21;32
Maria Scudder, Upper Darby, 21:34
Kate Levenberg, Radnor, 21:35
Jen Petrella, Garnet Valley, 21:41
Emmie Nguyen, Springfield, 21:42
Veronica Parkinson, Archbishop Prendergast, 21:55
Brehen O’Dea, Archbishop Prendergast, 22:02
Rachel Fluck, Archbishop Prendergast, 22:08
Victoria Carroll, Upper Darby, 22:04
Holly Sinnot, Springfield, 22:21
Bridget Golato, Archbishop Prendergast, 22:23
Audrey Jackson, Upper Darby, 22:27
Alex Hudson, Garnet Valley, 22:32
Brittany McDevitt, Radnor, 22:39
Lynnese Beyan, Upper Darby, 22:43
Carolyn Oxner, Archbishop Prendergast, 22:57

Other top finishes from the weekend: Cardinal O’Hara took second in the boys’ championship race at the Briarwood Invitational. O’Hara was led by Chris Garrity’s third-place finish in 16:24 and Mike Bilotta in eighth in 16:44.
On the girls’ side at Briarwood, Notre Dame’s Maria Seykora was 10th in the championship race in 19:30 and teammate Julianne Garvey was 19th in 20:13.

Sept. 25, Strath Haven’s Hannah Grossman had the top time of the day at the Bull Run Invitational in Maryland, finishing the difficult course in 19:45


Paul Short Invitational
Oct. 1 at Lehigh
Boys Under 19 minutes
Noah Frick, Strath Haven, 16:57
Jeff Seelaus, Strath Haven, 17:02
Woo Kim, Haverford, 17:19
Erick White, Haverford, 17:23
John Livsey, Marple Newton, 17:25
John Kays, Haverford, 17:27
Jared Gross, Haverford, 17:30
Jeff Mogavero, Haverford, 17:32
Ryan Thompson, Haverford, 17:32
Sam Perricone, Strath Haven, 17:47
Bill Merrick, The Haverford School, 17:50
Thomas Reuther, Ridley, 17:49
Dan Stewart, Strath Haven, 17:50
Michael Wright, Ridley, 18:08
Gil Giancaterino, Springfield, 18;14
Chris Pfieffer-Kelly, Strath Haven, 18:25
Tyler Clapp, Strath Haven, 18:26
Mitch Engleka, Strath Haven, 18:28
Kyle Moretti, Sun Valley, 18:32
Dan Schuster, Sun valley, 18:38
Matt Moore, Marple Newtown, 18:53
Paul Short
Girls Under 23 Minutes
Hannah Grossman, Strath Haven, 18:33
Sophia Meehan, Haverford, 19:21
Maria Seykora, Notre Dame, 19:25
Tess Meehan, Haverford, 19:28
Francie McNally, Springfield, 20:00
Siobhan Dougherty, Notre Dame, 20:03
Katie Rodden, Archbishop Carroll, 20:07
Brittany Boyer, Cardinal O’Hara, 20:17
Caroline Powers, Notre Dame, 20:17
Sarah Rutkowski, Strath Haven, 20:27
Julianne Garvery, Notre Dame, 20:29
Alyssa Rudowsky, Garnet Valley, 20:30
Julia DelGrosso, Cardinal O’Hara, 20:31
Amy Kelly, Cardinal O”Hara 20:36
Elizabeth Clinton, Haverforde, 20:36
Katie Balmer, Strath Haven, 20:38
Courtney Naser, Haverford, 20:42
Amanda Nacedo, Haverford, 20:42
Nicole DelGrosso, Cardinal O’Hara, 20:43
Fiona Egan, Cardinal O’Hara, 20:54
Christina Smith, Springfield, 20:55
Emily Creighton, Cardinal O’Hara, 21:02
Mary Galligan, Springfield, 21:03
Hannah Herrara, Strath Haven, 21:26
Ali Hostler, Haverford, 21:27
Nancy McNulty, Cardinal O’Hara, 21:28
Sam Snyder, Strath Haven, 21:47
Brigid Beckley, Strath Haven, 21:53
Phoee Hollyer, Strath Haven, 22:17
Alexandra Stephanou, Marple Newton, 22:15
Darcy Curtis, Notre Dame, 22:21
Jessica Rinaldi, Marple Newton, 22:48
Kelsey Hoekstra, Marple Newtown, 22:52

Other notes of interest from the weekend: Glen Mills’ Mahdi Koliso won the Harrier Invitational in Pottstown in 16:38

This is the first post for this new blog. I understand the cross country season is about half over, but the high schoolers are also entering the most important time of the year.
In the upcoming days, I will break down how the Delaware County runners have fared in the major meets this season, and also take a look at some interesting dual meet results.
Since we've had our share of rain the past few days, I'll leave you with this quote, which may help you get through the next rainy-day run. It's often said in the Army, where poor weather is not an excuse to stop doing something.
"If it raining, we ain't training."
Have a great day