Footlocker Northeast

Yes, I was there. I was there to support my good friend Francis Ferruzzi who did a great job redeeming his disappointing, sickness influenced finish at states (and also my girlfriend lives 5 minutes from the course so that was kind of convenient). But I'm not hear to talk about my girlfriend (I know 2 references in the last 3 posts, you don't care) or my buddy Francis Ferruzzi (32nd at the meet, with just 35 minutes to warm up after a 2.5 car ride, props, that's all I'm gonna say).

First off congrats to the girls. I didn't see their race, but they did an awesome job representing PA. Angel is a women on a mission this season, and will try to dive into Neely Spence territory out in CA.

But on to what I know: the men. So some of our boys went out a little too hard. Guys like Brendan Shearn and a kid from Upper Dublin whose name I said I wouldn't mention, sat back in about last place for 400m and let the other guys burn themselves out and it paid off. Meanwhile, Hibbs, Quinn, and Jaskowak really got eaten up by the hills. Hibbs really died hard, it was a tough end to his season, but he may just be burnt out from all the training. It would explain a lot. Hopefully he rests up and is ready for track.

As for Quinn he was up in the mix, and as the PA state champ you can't blame him for trying, but it just wasn't his day. Even Pondel ended up coming back to eat him up for a medal at the end of the race (nice race by Austin, very nice stretch run to his season which he spent in Jaskowak's shadow).

Speaking of Jaskowak, he really went for it out front, but unfortunately you don't make the trip to nationals for being in the top 10 2k into the race, but he held on fairly nicely and finished 18th in the region. That's truly fantastic for this kid. He had a great season in a league the same as Jacob Kildoo who was a pretty darn good runner in his own right. Jaskowak really proved me wrong over the course of this season and I give him a lot of credit.

Solid race for Shearn. Not amazing, but he ran smart and it paid of in a top 20 finish the region. He will be one of the top returns next year along with big Dan, and this experience on the course should come in handy. Great season for Shearn, mixing it up with the top AAA guys at the region.

How about Brett Kelly? I was knocking on him kind of hard after his slow start (not as hard as some people but he definitely dropped like a rock), and by the time the big meets rolled around he was on a completely different level. The top PIAA finisher at the meet. Wow. Great job, great hill runner.

And lastly, gotta talk about my boy Dustin Wilson. He ran the race very smart, hanging back moving up the ranks and being in posistion at the right times. He was in 2nd place when I saw him with 800 to go, and although he did get dropped at the end in the sprint to the finish, he showed a lot of heart, grit and determination which will pay off at Nats. He can mix it up with anybody in the Northeast region based off this race .... besides Ed Cheserek of course.

Privelged to be able to have seen that kid run. The easiest 15:20 you might ever see on Sunken Meadow. Unless Bekele goes there often for long runs. Cheserek is very, very good, not that I needed to see him in person to know that, but it is much cooler to see it.

I'll say it now, he's winning Nationals and he's gonna scare the course record in the 14:30s. He's not afraid of anyone or any time. He just runs fast and runs to win.

-train