AIS Preview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2017 Season Overview for AIS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Replay History was made on Marathon Sunday at Van Cortlandt Park last year as Trinity won its first AIS championship and snapped Collegiate's 19 year winning streak. Trinity's Aidan Ryan repeated as champion in his senior year to lead the Tigers in its nip-and-tuck battle with the Dutchmen as both teams placed five runners in the top 20 on the way to a 47-52 score. Ryan and 2nd place finisher Graham Rainsby of Packer Collegiate graduated after outstanding careers, and they will be turning the reins to the AIS over to a new group of top runners. Eleven of the top 20 finishers from last year's championship are back,and the talent is spread around fairly evenly among the top five teams. Teams Trinity won't have quite as robust ratings as it did in the 2016 preseason, but the Tigers still will be the AIS favorite, as they have Geordie Young, Stephen Andryc, and Jason Kauppila back from last year's top 5. Collegiate has its own top three of Jacob Barber, Clay Hard, and Adam Kenet to match the Tigers. Poly Prep has more balance and almost an identical speed rating to Trinity and Collegiate, so this year there could be a trio of teams as part of the three-headed monster at the top of the AIS. Hackley and Riverdale Country Day are also close enough for maybe five sets of jaws to be snapping for the crown. Individuals Five guys who finished in the top 10 of last year's championship will be stepping forward to replace Ryan as the next AIS champion. Collegiate frontrunner Jacob Barber won a back-and-forth battle with Riverdale Country Day's Jackson Harris for 3rd place in 2016, and the two of them could be squaring off again this year with 1st place on the line. Trinity's Geordie Young, Poly Prep's Julien Hinz, and Hackley freshman Jonah Gorevic were also in the top 10 and will likely be the frontrunners for contending teams this year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The guys from the AIS speed across Van Cortlandt Park on the morning of Marathon Sunday. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top 5 Teams at 2016 AIS Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Projected Top 8 Teams for 2017 from Returners' 2016 TR Ratings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Following his repeat win and Trinity's triumph at the AIS championship, Aidan Ryan went on to finish 7th at the Federation meet in his senior year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Top 2017 Returning Runners by Last Year's TR Rating | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Packer Collegiate's Graham Rainsby finished 2nd at the AIS championship in his senior year. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||