DyeStat NE#4 North Penn PA 44 Pat DuPont, Fairport 12:30 North Penn's 12:57 is fastest 5-man average of the day. left, Pat DuPont photo by John Nepolitan Boys Varsity D Report - by Matt Soja North Penn HS of Pennsylvania exploded onto the national stage today by not only upsetting the 2nd best team in the Southeast, Midlothian VA by a huge margin (44-98), but also running the best time average of the day. Their 12:58.0 was the only sub-13 average of the meet and nearly five seconds faster than Danbury CT, ranked #1 in the Northeast. The PA team will surely move up in the rankings, perhaps even to the top spot. What’s even more interesting, NP did it while its best runner Zack Hoagland was sick with congestion and ran about 15 seconds slower than usual. Therefore, the team was led by Zach Montijo, finishing 3rd in 12:44.6, followed by Brad Miles and Hoagland in 6th and 7th. North Penn had a very impressive 30-second spread between first and fifth, which at this level of performance is very hard to beat. Coach Ron Jaros said he was surprised that his team ran the best average of the day despite Hoagland’s illness. He admitted he did not know much beforehand about his rivals from outside PA, so the margin of victory was a little unexpected. He added he was not sure yet if his team would attempt to qualify for Nike Team Nationals at the regional meet. Midlothian finished a distant second, mostly because its fifth runner barely broke 14 minutes, resulting in 60th place finish. However, they are very strong up front, with their star Jason Witt, ranked #20 in the country by Dyestat, finishing 2nd in 12:41.8. They also took two more spots in top 10, resulting in only a three-point deficit to North Penn through the first three runners, but their depth was nowhere near their opponents’. Bishop Hendricken RI upset Ithaca NY, ranked #8 in the state, in the battle for third, 215-225. Pat DuPont of Fairport NY edged out Witt for the individual win, hitting the proverbial tape in 12:29.4, 12 seconds ahead of the Virginian. DuPont, who is an avid student of music and wants to pursue it as his college major, said his main goals for the remainder of the season include winning the AA New York state championship and qualifying for Footlocker finals.

 1 North Penn 44  
 2 Midlothian 98  
 3 Bishop Hendricken 215  
 4 Ithaca 225  
 5 Walter Johnson-Bethesda, MD 238  
 6 Hatboro-Horsham, PA 242  
 7 LaSalle, RI 266  
 8 Horace Greeley, NY 308  
 9 Fairport, NY 317  
 10 Malden Catholic, MA 348  
 11 Rush-Henrietta 387  
 12 Tatnall 397  
 13 Bayport BP 403  
 14 Corning 440  
 15 South Kingston 453  
 16 Holmdel 469  
 17 Pearl River 485  
 18 Archbishop Ryan 508  
 19 Harry S. Truman 521  
 20 Herndon 534  
  
1 Pat DuPont Fairprot 12:29.32  
2 Jason Witt Midlothian 12:41.72  
3 Zach Mantijo North Penn 12:44.53  
4 Mike Hickem Pearl River 12:46.75  
5 Michael Hammond Midlothian 12:47.56  
6 Brad Miles North Penn 12:50.68  
7 Zach Hoagland North Penn 12:53.00  
8 Drew Perilli Lockport 12:53.67  
9 Chris Moen Walter Johnson 12:53.94  
10 Brayden Burleigh Midlothian 12:54.69  
11 Brian Quntrell North Penn 13:07.18  
12 Bronson Vanable Bishop Hendericken  13:08.77  
13 Greg Wommer Arch. Ryan 13:12.29  
14 Connor Mercuiro LaSalle Academy 13:13.28  
15 teve Topper Hatboro-Horsham  13:13.84  
16 Chris Mezias Horace Greeley  13:14.18  
17 DOm Camoasso North Penn 13:14.53  
18 Ryan Boyd Bayport Blue Point 13:17.62  
19 Brian Gaves Walter Johnson 13:19.44  
20 Jared Cornfield Corning 13:19.94  
21 Darren Barlow Midlothian 13:21.51  
22 Younes harif Ithaca 13:23.65  
23 Sean Malon Arch. Ryan 13:22.68  
24 Todd Vaivluline Herndon 13:24.44  
25 Chris Butterfiled Delbarton 13:24.88  
26 Brian Doyle Bishop Hendericken  13:25.49  
27 Kristofer Kroeger Harry S. Truman 13:27.34  
28 Dan Craighead Ithaca 13:28.33  
29 Tim Stauring North Penn 13:28.84  
30 Conor McCloskey South Kingstown (RI) 13:29.33