FAB 50: New faces in new places

by Sheldon Shealer

September 10, 2019

Early season results often bring surprises -- and that was especially true this past weekend.

Anthony Wayne (Ohio) girls posted a solid win over perennial state challenger Strongsville (Ohio), earning a spot in the Top 15 this week. ... Greenwood (Ky.) girls won a apir of matches at the Lady Eagle Invitational to vault from the state rankings to a No. 29 FAB 50 ranking. ... Fishers (Ind.) girls have a pair of ties with nationally ranked teams, which are the lone blemish on an otherwise perfect record. ... On the boys side, Albuquerque (N.M.) made a spalsh by knocking out former Top 25-ranked Cleveland (N.M.) on its way to the Metro tournament title. ... In Kansas, Blue Valley West (Kan.) stunned favored Olathe West (Kan.) in penalty kicks in aat the Big Dawg tournament to earn its place in the FAB 50.

It's all shaping up as a season with a lot of turnover in the rankings.

Now, on with the rest of the rankings ...

BIG MOVERS: BOYS: North Penn (Lansdale, Pa.). No doubt, the District 1-AAAA race is wide open -- and several teams likely are to cycle through the top spots from the district located in suburban Philadelphia. For the time being, though, North Penn has risen to the top and in doing so moved from No. 34 to No 24 in this week's FAB 50. ... GIRLS: Conestoga (Berwyn, Pa.). Although Conestoga is only 2-0, the wins helped the team make a seven-spot jump to No. 20, the largest move this week among the girls ranked teams.

NEWCOMERS: BOYS: No. 25 St. Anthony's (Melville, N.Y.), No. 28 Blue Valley West (Overland Park, Kan.), No. 30 Louisville Collegiate (Louisville, Ky.), No. 35 Lyons Township (LaGrange, Ill.), No. 37 Chaminade (Creve Coeur, Mo.), No. 39 Pennington School (Pennington, N.J.), No. 40 Detroit Catholic Central (Novi, Mich.), No. 44 Broomfield (Colo.), No. 45 Albuquerque (N.M.), No. 46 Gilman (Baltimore, Md.), No. 47 Worthington Kilbourne (Worthington, Ohio), No. 48 St. Patrick (Chicago, Ill.), No. 49 [Rockhurst Jesuit m-m] (Kansas City, Mo.), No. 50 [Gateway Legacy Christian il-m] (Glen Carbon, Ill.). ... GIRLS: No. 15 Anthony Wayne (Whitehouse, Ohio), No. 22 Christian Academy-Louisville (Louisville, Ky.), No. 23 Sacred Heart Academy (Louisville, Ky.), No. 29 Greenwood (Ky.), No. 34 Fishers (Ind.), No 39 Quince Orchard (Gaithersburg, Md.), No. 40 Sidwell Friends (Washington, D.C.), No. 48 American Fork (Utah), No. 49 Cibola (Albuquerque, N.M.), No. 50 Niskayuna (N.Y.).