Mid Week Long Run

First of all I just wanted to say I really appreciate all the comments and questions. I'm working the best I can to fill you guys in on my thinking. Still on my to do list is the Conner Quinn talk and the "How'd they get here?" segment for talking about how the top guys looked in their younger days.

But for right now I wanted to continue my new trend of posting called the mid week long run and talk about the meet I'm looking forward to this weekend which is the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh Universtiy. I myself will be there this year for the college races (not the high school ones this year as I am not reporting) and the atmosphere should, as always, be electric. Admittedly mud looks like it could be a slight issue again, yet I still expect to see fast times. The weather on race day itself seems pretty solid.

This race always features big names and fast times, plenty of guys usually smoke the 16 minute barrier and this year I see no signs that things will be different. Last year 6 guys were under 16 minutes in the Brown race and out of the AAA guys, 5 went on to grab state medals and a few more AA men went on to grab medals of their own including outdoor 3200m state champion Jon Trueman (18th last year).

Just running down the list here are some guys I currently either have on my top 50 or think easily could be on my top 50 that are signed up to run this Friday across from Goodman Stadium. Sorry if I forget someone or mix up team names in my head.

#26 Sean Burke, Abington Heights
#19 Korey Replogle, Altoona
#38 Dylan Moutain, Altoona
#1 Dustin Wilson, Chesnut Hill Academy
#4 Quinn Devlin, Downingtown West
#43 Kenny Leidel, Downingtown West
Cole Campbell, Emmaus
#6 Ned Willg, Great Valley
Matt Willig, Great Valley
# 13 Max Norris, Harriton
Jon Kays, Haverford
#42 Zach Israel, Holy Ghost Prep
Ryan Horgan, Holy Ghost Prep
#14 Tom Coyle, LaSalle
#7 Brendan Shearn, North Schuylkill
Will Cather, State College Area
#30 Jeff Seelaus, Strath Haven
#50 Ben Robinson, Tunkhannock
#49 Jake Siegel, Tunkhannock
#18 Aaron Wilkinson, Valley View
Anybody from West Chester Henderson if they show up

Quite a long list of guys who are amongst the best that I've seen. For me the favorite is obviously Wilson who has proven that he is the elite of this year's PA stand outs, but looking down the list I see a lot of potential for breakout performances time wise. Now Quinn Devlin is a big question mark because I haven't seen him race, but if he is in this race and ready to go he's a front runner who won't let Wilson get away. It could pull him to a great time. In conference rival Ned Willig has to have new found confidence after his track season and I very impressive opening race performance at Briarwood. This course plays more to his speed advantage and if he can hang around with Dustin long enough, it is very realistic to think he can outkick him for the win. Willig ran under 16 minutes on this course as a freshman.

Not too far down the list a couple of guys to watch would be the Jrs Max Norris, Tom Coyle, and Brendan Shearn. Shearn is undefeated this season at two big invitationals and I am sure he has his eyes set on competing for the win again today. Hard to say for sure where his fitness is at because he really hasn't been challenged to date. This course doesn't seem to play to his strengths comapred to guys like Willig who have got a lot more speed, but he can definitely mix it up with the top group.

Meanwhile speed is Tom Coyle and Max Norris's middle name. Coyle split 1:54 at Penn Relays and Max Norris is sub 4:20 for 1600m. Coyle has taken the next step to become a very solid XC participant in addition to his track success after his 2nd place finish at Carlisle. Norris meanwhile has been fairly silent since just missing Sam Hibbs at the Viking Invite. Should be exciting to watch these too, especially over the last 1000m.

A few deep sleepers to leave you with. Haven't been all that impressed by Replogle or Wilkinson but these two guys are proven state medalists who have mixed it up in quality fields before. Replogle looked better at Carlisle than some of his previous races this season which is a good sign. Wilkinson got rocked by a clearly much improved Luke Jones earlier this fall, so he still may be better than last season. Only time will tell.

Finally, my big super sleeper to watch in the race is Jeff Seelaus of Strath Haven. He already has a big win to his name over Mac Emery and he comes from a Strath Haven program that has had a lot of talent guys go through their system. He may have a breakout performance to prove he has taken the next step to the elite level this friday.

-train