Ok, so I am not quite ready for the stud dud post just yet, but it will come, I promise. As for today's post, I don't have too much time today because I have a bunch of HW that needs to get done and I don't have a whole lot of time to do it. So naturally, like any logical person, I won't give up my post streak, I'll just make a post that requires a bit less research and a bit less thinking.
Today I want to talk about college running and the weekend that was in NCAA indoor track. Not gonna sugar coat it, it was epic.
Props to Jermaine Lowery, Micah Murray, and Brandon Bennent-Green who are all top 25 in the nation right now for the 400m dash. Also congrats to Sam Ellison who is the only PA alumn in the top 25 for the 800m (1:49.35). PA alumn Dan Lowry sits at 24th for the 3k as well.
Now to some of the big action. Two guys from Minnesota each broke 1:47 this week indoors for 800m running 1:46.97 and 1:46.98. Cas Loxsom and Robby Creese, the freshman sensation from PSU, each ran 1:48 800ms as well. Joey Roberts also tacked on a 1:47.14 for Texas A and M.
Meanwhile Peter Callahan ran a very quick 1k over at the Armory for Princeton, running away from a quality field with a 2:20.78 clocking. It's the 2nd fastest time in the nation thus far this year behind only Robby Creese's record.
In the mile Lawi Lalang, reigning XC National Champion opened up his season with a blazing 3:55.09 Mile, just missing German's indoor record in a race where he beat German by over 10 seconds. 5 guys are now under 4 minutes in the mile including two guys at 3:55. Indiana has 3 guys at 4 flat or faster in the mile this season.
In the 3k, 150 mile weeks paid off for Cam Levins as he blasted a 7:48 national leading time. He beat out BYU stud Miles Batty who ran 7:49 just behind him. Over in Arkansas Elliot Heath, Chris Derrick and Steven Sambu ran 7:50, 7:50, and 7:51 respectively in a tight 3k of their own. Meanwhile Leonard Korir earned a victory with a 7:54 clocking in Boston over Erik Van Ingen's 7:56. 14 runners broke 8 minutes over the weekend.
Levins also had a great performance in the 5k where he sits behind only Estrada after a 13:42 win. Division III's Jordan Schillit from Haverford sits in the top 20 amongst all runners in the nation for 5k after his 14:12 5000m performance.
And of course PA's own Aaron Nadolsky, Wade Endress and Connor Manley teamed up with Robby Creese to run the #1 DMR in the nation at 9:35, just beating out performances by Oregon, Florida, and Texas A and M.
Alrighty
As you can tell my post names are getting much cleverer.
So I have to finish up talking about some weekend action and such in this post coming up today. Then tomorrow or the next day I am going to try and get up a post about that stud to dud and vice versa stuff that people have been talking about on the comments section. I'll have to do a little research first but I will see what I can do. Then finally, I want to try and finish getting up all the oscar categories so we can end all the voting and stuff in a timely manner.
A few more categories finished off:
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (AKA Best #2 Runner of PA High School)
Brian Hamilton, O’Hara 4x4
Macey Watson, Abington Team Title, Relays
Kyle Moran, Abington Team Title
Mike Billotta, O’Hara XC
Dillon Farrell, Wissahickon Relays
Dan Davis, North Penn Team Title
Chris Stephens, Cheltenham Relays
Best Actress in a Leading Role (AKA Female Runner of the Year PA HS)
Angel Piccirillo, Homer Center
Meghan McGovern, North Penn
Tori Gerlach, Pennridge
Sara Sargent, Pennsbury
Margo Malone, North Hills
Hannah Grossman, Strath Haven
Chloe Schmidt, State College
Emma Keenan, Gweyned Mercy
Leah Nugent, Abington
Best Adapted Screen Play (AKA Best Breakout Performance)
Conner Quinn, Hatboro Horsham- XC States
Brendan Shearn, North Schuylkill- Henderson 2 Mile
Dan Jaskowak, Grove City- Red White and Blue Invitational
Hong Cho, Wissahickon- District One Championships
Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland- PIAA State Championships
Ned Willig, Great Valley- Yale Invitational
Ann Herman, Pennsbury- XC States
CB West 4x800m- Indoor States
Meredith Speakman- Northeast Regionals
Tommy Gruschow, Trinity- District 3 Championships
Best Animated Feature (AKA Best Performance by an Underclassman)
Ryan Smathers, North East- Outdoor States
Brad Rivera, Bensalem- District One Championships
Sara Sargent, Pennsbury- Indoor States
Wellington Zaza, Upper Darby- Indoor States
Brent Kennedy, Kiski Area- XC States
Tony Russel, West Chester Henderson- District One XC
Courtney Smith, Unionville- XC States
Natalie Deacon, West Chester Henderson- Outdoor States
Best Documentary Feature (AKA Best New Penntrack Poster)
Etrain69
Runthrowjump
Oxygen Deprived
j119rinker
rnicklas
________________________________
Ok, so now on to somethings about this past weekend. First of all, have to apologize to Wilson because I didn't realize he was running at MSG. Yes, I know I probably should have known that, but I overlooked it and that makes a difference. Still not overly impressed, but a much better performance. He still needs to keep the pace fast if he is going to have any shot at beating Ned if you ask me.
Also the 800m info from Glenn Mills was helpful, explained a lot to me so thank you.
Also I will throw this out there, if anyone has Wiss 4x8 splits? Someone was asking for them, so if you could post them here if you have them that'd be amazing.
I hadn't seen the Susquehanna meet results when I wrote my last post so I figured I'd mention my opinions on them here.
First off, nice shot put by Kyle Long at 56-6. Aaron Willet 7.48 in the 55m HH also a nice time to see. That race has a lot of depth and he just adds to the list of guys from the Centeral League so it will be interesting to see how everything plays out at states. In a race like this you never know what may happen.
How about some nice 4x8s from somewhere out of D1. Chambersburg, who has one of my big sleeper picks for this year Ryun Holder on the roster, and Cumberland Valley, led by Alec Kunzweiler who I don't think can be called a sleeper anymore after XC, both raced their way to states with 8:17s. Very close finish, which I'd like to think was made possible by big anchor legs by the two guys mentioned above.
I see the DMR being the hot event at states so these teams both may have a shot at a top 5 finish at states depending on how fresh their legs are coming in.
TJ Elliot can move. 6.48 in the 55m dash, defending state champion, should be dangerous at the state meet again.
Coatesville a nice little upset of sorts in the 4x2, maybe a relay to watch as time goes on.
A nice win for Kunzweiler in the mile, nice runs by Burke and Rotz as well. Kunzweiler is already in for the 8, which I see as his event, but Burke and Rotz and have been nipping at the heels of the times needed to get to states for some time now. I think Burke can definitely get in and would have liked to have seen him take a shot at the 3k. Maybe he will get another shot at it and hopefully he can get in.
Holder modest win in the 800. I see big things in his future this season. Not going to say anything bold right now, but I think, especially in the spring, he is going to be dangerous.
I liked the Speakman Rome matchup in the girls 3k. It intrigued me. Just saying.
And of course you gotta mention Shearn's 3k and how he appearently was tripped up en route to his finishing kick which is a big shame for a guy who may not be taking another shot at going to states. I hope to see him on the entries for Carlisle or something like that, but no guarentees. Obviously a tremendous talent and tough miss at a tough time. Wilkinson and Jones also were misses. I hoped for faster from both, especially Wilkinson who is a returning state medalist, but honestly these guys are, and will be, outdoor guys. They don't come from a prominent indoor area, and it is tough for them to hop on a fast track every weekend and get in racing shape.
-train
So I have to finish up talking about some weekend action and such in this post coming up today. Then tomorrow or the next day I am going to try and get up a post about that stud to dud and vice versa stuff that people have been talking about on the comments section. I'll have to do a little research first but I will see what I can do. Then finally, I want to try and finish getting up all the oscar categories so we can end all the voting and stuff in a timely manner.
A few more categories finished off:
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (AKA Best #2 Runner of PA High School)
Brian Hamilton, O’Hara 4x4
Macey Watson, Abington Team Title, Relays
Kyle Moran, Abington Team Title
Mike Billotta, O’Hara XC
Dillon Farrell, Wissahickon Relays
Dan Davis, North Penn Team Title
Chris Stephens, Cheltenham Relays
Best Actress in a Leading Role (AKA Female Runner of the Year PA HS)
Angel Piccirillo, Homer Center
Meghan McGovern, North Penn
Tori Gerlach, Pennridge
Sara Sargent, Pennsbury
Margo Malone, North Hills
Hannah Grossman, Strath Haven
Chloe Schmidt, State College
Emma Keenan, Gweyned Mercy
Leah Nugent, Abington
Best Adapted Screen Play (AKA Best Breakout Performance)
Conner Quinn, Hatboro Horsham- XC States
Brendan Shearn, North Schuylkill- Henderson 2 Mile
Dan Jaskowak, Grove City- Red White and Blue Invitational
Hong Cho, Wissahickon- District One Championships
Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland- PIAA State Championships
Ned Willig, Great Valley- Yale Invitational
Ann Herman, Pennsbury- XC States
CB West 4x800m- Indoor States
Meredith Speakman- Northeast Regionals
Tommy Gruschow, Trinity- District 3 Championships
Best Animated Feature (AKA Best Performance by an Underclassman)
Ryan Smathers, North East- Outdoor States
Brad Rivera, Bensalem- District One Championships
Sara Sargent, Pennsbury- Indoor States
Wellington Zaza, Upper Darby- Indoor States
Brent Kennedy, Kiski Area- XC States
Tony Russel, West Chester Henderson- District One XC
Courtney Smith, Unionville- XC States
Natalie Deacon, West Chester Henderson- Outdoor States
Best Documentary Feature (AKA Best New Penntrack Poster)
Etrain69
Runthrowjump
Oxygen Deprived
j119rinker
rnicklas
________________________________
Ok, so now on to somethings about this past weekend. First of all, have to apologize to Wilson because I didn't realize he was running at MSG. Yes, I know I probably should have known that, but I overlooked it and that makes a difference. Still not overly impressed, but a much better performance. He still needs to keep the pace fast if he is going to have any shot at beating Ned if you ask me.
Also the 800m info from Glenn Mills was helpful, explained a lot to me so thank you.
Also I will throw this out there, if anyone has Wiss 4x8 splits? Someone was asking for them, so if you could post them here if you have them that'd be amazing.
I hadn't seen the Susquehanna meet results when I wrote my last post so I figured I'd mention my opinions on them here.
First off, nice shot put by Kyle Long at 56-6. Aaron Willet 7.48 in the 55m HH also a nice time to see. That race has a lot of depth and he just adds to the list of guys from the Centeral League so it will be interesting to see how everything plays out at states. In a race like this you never know what may happen.
How about some nice 4x8s from somewhere out of D1. Chambersburg, who has one of my big sleeper picks for this year Ryun Holder on the roster, and Cumberland Valley, led by Alec Kunzweiler who I don't think can be called a sleeper anymore after XC, both raced their way to states with 8:17s. Very close finish, which I'd like to think was made possible by big anchor legs by the two guys mentioned above.
I see the DMR being the hot event at states so these teams both may have a shot at a top 5 finish at states depending on how fresh their legs are coming in.
TJ Elliot can move. 6.48 in the 55m dash, defending state champion, should be dangerous at the state meet again.
Coatesville a nice little upset of sorts in the 4x2, maybe a relay to watch as time goes on.
A nice win for Kunzweiler in the mile, nice runs by Burke and Rotz as well. Kunzweiler is already in for the 8, which I see as his event, but Burke and Rotz and have been nipping at the heels of the times needed to get to states for some time now. I think Burke can definitely get in and would have liked to have seen him take a shot at the 3k. Maybe he will get another shot at it and hopefully he can get in.
Holder modest win in the 800. I see big things in his future this season. Not going to say anything bold right now, but I think, especially in the spring, he is going to be dangerous.
I liked the Speakman Rome matchup in the girls 3k. It intrigued me. Just saying.
And of course you gotta mention Shearn's 3k and how he appearently was tripped up en route to his finishing kick which is a big shame for a guy who may not be taking another shot at going to states. I hope to see him on the entries for Carlisle or something like that, but no guarentees. Obviously a tremendous talent and tough miss at a tough time. Wilkinson and Jones also were misses. I hoped for faster from both, especially Wilkinson who is a returning state medalist, but honestly these guys are, and will be, outdoor guys. They don't come from a prominent indoor area, and it is tough for them to hop on a fast track every weekend and get in racing shape.
-train
Weekend Action
It was a fairly busy day for me, and quite frankly there wasn't much action from this past weekend to get me super excited about going to work on this blog post. I realize that I have completely forgot to address anything from out west over the past few posts because there are plenty of those kinda guys who can make noise at states. BUT it doesn't look like the names that I thought would be out front are ready to take that next step.
Alex Moran came into this year in the same kind of realm as Willig and Magaha, I believed he could at least mix it up with those guys. But the fact of the matter is indoors is taken more seriously out here in the philly area and Moran is just not where he needs to be yet coming off this past XC season, which he probably was a little disappointed with in itself.
And this isn't all about Moran. Let's look at the mile field at TSTCAs this past weekend. We are talking about Moran, Bojarski, Smathers, Culley, and Lednak all guys with some big race experience and nice PRs and the guy who pulled out the W was Tyler Rigby? No offense, but I have never heard of this guy before.
But he should be on some people's radar now. Based off the seed time that was a pretty nice PR and he could be a factor for a state medal down the road if he continues to improve after what was probably his first race all winter.
As for the 3k, I was a little let down once again, but this is a great start for Kuchta. Maybe a little lower at XC states than he was hoping for/expecting but he ran a pretty solid opening 3k around 9:01 and winning comfortably. You have to remember he has the best 3200 PR out of anyone I can think of in PA without the last name Wilson. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that is accurate.
As for Steiner and Moran a little disappointing on both fronts, but these guys will come around. Caleb Wakeley looks pretty good, he ended last season right around this point that he is at now. I could definitely see him qualifying for states and mixing it up for a 3k state medal. He, Steiner, and Kuchta all are on my list of guys I expect to hit the standard. Moran could hit it I think if he goes for it at the right meet.
These guys are going to improve, but I was just kind of hoping to see at least somebody open up fast like Rad or Gil, but hey, there is time.
As for the association meets on this side of the state, I was once again underwhelmed. Billotta ran nice, Kelly did ok, Harriman had a nice under distance win over some big names with some slow times. That's about all I got off the top of my head. A nice set of 4x8s at the D2 meet also with Henderson and Wiss running well.
I guess Glenn Mills really just isn't a fast track and without Ned and Drew to headline things I was just a little depressed I guess.
Oh and I suppose I should mention Dustin had a nice mile. But once again kind of underwhelming in result. He ran 4:17 last year around a similar time and he has already opened up in the 3k this season with a sub 8:50 performance. A 4:22 is kind of a let down. Obviously, probably slow race conditions, Watkins was also a slow time, so I give Dustin a pass and assume he got on the wrong side of a kicker's race.
But if he wants to do this event at states and give Ned a run for his money he can't let the winning time be 4:19.
This is all speculation of course. It is probably more likely Dustin will hang fresh for the 3k and try and go after the record indoors of 8:22 held by Craig Miller. I just want him to go after the mile and the 3k to make things a little more interesting from where I am sitting.
As much as I like pushes for record setting performances, I like seeing close races a bit better and right now on the Distance side if Ned runs mile and 8 and Dustin just runs the 3k I see 3 blow out wins coming and 3 misses (probably close misses, but all the same misses) of state records in the process.
Alex Moran came into this year in the same kind of realm as Willig and Magaha, I believed he could at least mix it up with those guys. But the fact of the matter is indoors is taken more seriously out here in the philly area and Moran is just not where he needs to be yet coming off this past XC season, which he probably was a little disappointed with in itself.
And this isn't all about Moran. Let's look at the mile field at TSTCAs this past weekend. We are talking about Moran, Bojarski, Smathers, Culley, and Lednak all guys with some big race experience and nice PRs and the guy who pulled out the W was Tyler Rigby? No offense, but I have never heard of this guy before.
But he should be on some people's radar now. Based off the seed time that was a pretty nice PR and he could be a factor for a state medal down the road if he continues to improve after what was probably his first race all winter.
As for the 3k, I was a little let down once again, but this is a great start for Kuchta. Maybe a little lower at XC states than he was hoping for/expecting but he ran a pretty solid opening 3k around 9:01 and winning comfortably. You have to remember he has the best 3200 PR out of anyone I can think of in PA without the last name Wilson. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that is accurate.
As for Steiner and Moran a little disappointing on both fronts, but these guys will come around. Caleb Wakeley looks pretty good, he ended last season right around this point that he is at now. I could definitely see him qualifying for states and mixing it up for a 3k state medal. He, Steiner, and Kuchta all are on my list of guys I expect to hit the standard. Moran could hit it I think if he goes for it at the right meet.
These guys are going to improve, but I was just kind of hoping to see at least somebody open up fast like Rad or Gil, but hey, there is time.
As for the association meets on this side of the state, I was once again underwhelmed. Billotta ran nice, Kelly did ok, Harriman had a nice under distance win over some big names with some slow times. That's about all I got off the top of my head. A nice set of 4x8s at the D2 meet also with Henderson and Wiss running well.
I guess Glenn Mills really just isn't a fast track and without Ned and Drew to headline things I was just a little depressed I guess.
Oh and I suppose I should mention Dustin had a nice mile. But once again kind of underwhelming in result. He ran 4:17 last year around a similar time and he has already opened up in the 3k this season with a sub 8:50 performance. A 4:22 is kind of a let down. Obviously, probably slow race conditions, Watkins was also a slow time, so I give Dustin a pass and assume he got on the wrong side of a kicker's race.
But if he wants to do this event at states and give Ned a run for his money he can't let the winning time be 4:19.
This is all speculation of course. It is probably more likely Dustin will hang fresh for the 3k and try and go after the record indoors of 8:22 held by Craig Miller. I just want him to go after the mile and the 3k to make things a little more interesting from where I am sitting.
As much as I like pushes for record setting performances, I like seeing close races a bit better and right now on the Distance side if Ned runs mile and 8 and Dustin just runs the 3k I see 3 blow out wins coming and 3 misses (probably close misses, but all the same misses) of state records in the process.
Best Art Direction (AKA Best Cross Country Course of the Year)
Lehigh
Hershey
Belmont
Westtown
Sunken Meadow
Cooper’s Lake
Carlisle
Best Cinematography (AKA Best Track Meet of the Year)
Henderson Invititational
Penn Relays
Outdoor States
Indoor States
Baldwin Invitational
Kevin Dare Invitational
Best Costume Design (AKA Coolest Uniforms of the Year)
North Allegheny
Cheltenham
Matt Gilmore
West Chester Henderson
Cardinal O’Hara
Pennsbury
North Penn
Strath Haven
Lehigh
Hershey
Belmont
Westtown
Sunken Meadow
Cooper’s Lake
Carlisle
Best Cinematography (AKA Best Track Meet of the Year)
Henderson Invititational
Penn Relays
Outdoor States
Indoor States
Baldwin Invitational
Kevin Dare Invitational
Best Costume Design (AKA Coolest Uniforms of the Year)
North Allegheny
Cheltenham
Matt Gilmore
West Chester Henderson
Cardinal O’Hara
Pennsbury
North Penn
Strath Haven
Friday, Slow Day
It's slow rainy day here at the blog, and I never seem to be in my room anymore to check my list of nominees for all the races which is upsetting because I feel that is slowing the process. Just a reminder to prevent confusion, before I was accepting nominees for the Oscars, now is the actual voting for who will win the Oscars. Just clarifying.
I figured I'd start off by throwing a quick shout out at Evan Mao. He is an avid reader of the blog, despite being a thrower (and if I don't talk about sprinters, I really don't talk about throwers), and he has made great strides so far this indoor season, by coming a real factor to go to the state championships. Keep up the good work Evan.
Anyway moving on.
Perhaps the biggest news, that I literally just found out 2 seconds before I started typing this is Drew Magaha, the 2 time Oscar Nominee and winner of the Best Animated Feature award in 2011, has Mono. It's tough because Mono can kill a season. Some types of Mono can last only a bit, others can take you out for a while. We saw Sarah Sargent come back and run a very nice 3k indoors after Mono in XC (a race which arguably is the highlight of her career to date), but we also saw Katie Kinkead struggle to get back into shape after her bout with Mono. It effects everyone differently, and it is not fun.
My hope is Drew gets healthy and is ready for a big outdoor season, but the fact of the matter is this opens the door for a lot of other people. Ned is suddenly an overwhelming favorite in the mile and the 800m, and if Dustin Wilson runs only the 3k, Ned can win both races without much trouble at all. No offense to the field, its just the class this guy is in right now.
Also this means we probably won't see the indoor mile record go down this season, unless Ned can find a way to run 4:11 at what very well may be a tactical race at Millrose. No guarentees here of course, but I see the record being safe for at least another year (and honestly I don't see anyone breaking it any time soon out of the underclassmen, but you never know).
The epic race that I had been looking forward to all winter of Magaha vs. Willig is now just a dream. I can't see how Drew can make it back in time and be in good enough shape to compete with Ned who is at the top of his game right now.
This also means guys like Brett Kelly and Jack Huemmler and Joe O'Such may enter the mile rather than save up for the 3k or the DMR or the 800m. Willig is the heavy favorite but say he opts for another chase at the 800m state record or he runs too tactical and gets surprised by someone else. Look at Tom Kehl in the outdoor 16, he was a huge favorite and Will Kellar ended up surprising and outkicking him. Anything is possible in a race, especially a race that won't be dominated outfront by Drew and Ned out front.
This is all of course pure speculation, but we will see what goes down this winter. Spring is another story entirely. We can cross that bridge when we get to it.
I figured I'd start off by throwing a quick shout out at Evan Mao. He is an avid reader of the blog, despite being a thrower (and if I don't talk about sprinters, I really don't talk about throwers), and he has made great strides so far this indoor season, by coming a real factor to go to the state championships. Keep up the good work Evan.
Anyway moving on.
Perhaps the biggest news, that I literally just found out 2 seconds before I started typing this is Drew Magaha, the 2 time Oscar Nominee and winner of the Best Animated Feature award in 2011, has Mono. It's tough because Mono can kill a season. Some types of Mono can last only a bit, others can take you out for a while. We saw Sarah Sargent come back and run a very nice 3k indoors after Mono in XC (a race which arguably is the highlight of her career to date), but we also saw Katie Kinkead struggle to get back into shape after her bout with Mono. It effects everyone differently, and it is not fun.
My hope is Drew gets healthy and is ready for a big outdoor season, but the fact of the matter is this opens the door for a lot of other people. Ned is suddenly an overwhelming favorite in the mile and the 800m, and if Dustin Wilson runs only the 3k, Ned can win both races without much trouble at all. No offense to the field, its just the class this guy is in right now.
Also this means we probably won't see the indoor mile record go down this season, unless Ned can find a way to run 4:11 at what very well may be a tactical race at Millrose. No guarentees here of course, but I see the record being safe for at least another year (and honestly I don't see anyone breaking it any time soon out of the underclassmen, but you never know).
The epic race that I had been looking forward to all winter of Magaha vs. Willig is now just a dream. I can't see how Drew can make it back in time and be in good enough shape to compete with Ned who is at the top of his game right now.
This also means guys like Brett Kelly and Jack Huemmler and Joe O'Such may enter the mile rather than save up for the 3k or the DMR or the 800m. Willig is the heavy favorite but say he opts for another chase at the 800m state record or he runs too tactical and gets surprised by someone else. Look at Tom Kehl in the outdoor 16, he was a huge favorite and Will Kellar ended up surprising and outkicking him. Anything is possible in a race, especially a race that won't be dominated outfront by Drew and Ned out front.
This is all of course pure speculation, but we will see what goes down this winter. Spring is another story entirely. We can cross that bridge when we get to it.
Oscar Nominees- Best Actor
So right now I am in between classes and don't have the time to go back to my room and check my work document, but I did want to get at least one category worth of nominees up online and I need a post for the day so this seems like the perfect situation.
Therefore the nominees are (this is just off the top of my head so if I miss someone they may be added back on a little later):
Hong Cho, Wissahickon- Hong Cho began the Oscar season with a 4th place finish at the indoor state championships in the 800m in a very solid time of 1:54.94. He then ran the lead off leg of the state champion Wissahickon DMR. But Hong didn't settle after an impressive indoor season. He ran multiple 1:52 in opens and relays, took down Dustin Wilson in an early season mile race, and helped his 4x8 and 4x4 teams place well at the Penn Relays with impressive splits. At the end of the season, Hong was at full stride as he ran 1:50.92 to win the District Championship and break Tom Mallon's meet record. He then won the state championship in the individual 800, while also helping lead his 4x400m squad to a solid medal finish. He finished the season with a 1:50.41 800m PR from the Henderson meet in June.
Wade Endress, Altoona- Wade Endress began the Oscar season with a historic indoor states double that included a surprising state record on the double in the 800m, running away from great racers like Nate McClafferty and Kyle Moran with furious last laps. He ran 4:13.34 and then 1:51.73 at a meet record (and at the time a state record). Unfortunately, injury struck Wade in the outdoor season of his senior year. He managed to battle back and run hard to achieve another impressive double at states with a 4:13.77 and 1:53.76 time in each, earning him 4th and 3rd respectively. Without Wade's early pacing in the 1600m to ensure it wasn't tactical, the state record may not have gone down quite as decisively as it did.
Eric Futch, Pennwood- Futch began his own Best Actor campaign with a well earned second place finish in the 60m hurdles to rival Chris Williams from Strath Haven. His Pennwood relays narrowly missed medals in the 4x4 and 4x2. But come outdoors Futch was determined to not let the story be near misses. He ran a season best 14.24 110m Hurdles at Delcos, but his focus was the 300m Hurdles. Come states, he not only ran away from former champion Kowan Scott, he also blasted a 36.43 state record in the 300m hurdles. He can also boast a 21.32 200m PR and a sub 3:20 4x400m relay squad. Futch went on to continue his spring season into the summer where he added another state record with a 51.67 400m hurdle race. His listed PR in the open 400m at the time was 51.66. Futch has not let his foot off the gas this indoors, already powering through a 3:21 4x4, 1:29 4x2, 22.37 200m, 50.30 400m and #20 all time 300m in 33.56 (all state leading times if you convert from flat to banked track).
Ryan Gil, North Allegheny- Gil had a great indoor season helping his DMR qualify for the state finals and also winning the 3000m looking fairly comfortable over Tom Trainer. He went on to the Penn Relays and capped off his 3ks for the season with 8:30.91 clocking. The future looked bright for Gil when he unleashed a 4:13.70 mile at the Baldwin invite for the win, and then came back to the 32 over a stacked field in 9:13. Ultimately, sickness ended Gil's outdoor season early, but many thought, if healthy, he would have defeated Burkhardt for the state title.
Matt Gilmore, Cheltenham- Matt Gilmore played the role of super hero in the early parts of the Oscar season as he nearly carried Cheltenham to an indoor state title by himself. Running on what many thought to be a crippling leg injury, Gilmore won the 400m and 200m and the indoor state championship. But he wasn't done just yet. He also pulled off a come from behind victory in the 4x200m and nearly caught Abington in the 4x400m final that decided the state championship. Gilmore did help lead his tired squad to a second place finish in the 4x4 in an under 3:20 clocking. Abington's relay had set the 4x400m state record earlier that winter. Outdoors Gilmore, didn't race the clock, he raced his foes and he amassed some impressive wins (and also some impressive records) in route to a gold medal in the 400m at Outdoor States (and a runner up finish in the 200m on a questionable disqualification call).
Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland- Drew Magaha took the track world by storm, after what some might call a disappointing winter, Magaha torched the track in the Spring of 2011, earning him the nickname Megaha. Ok, maybe that was just a type-o. But Magaha did amass meet records wherever he went outdoors, including league, district, and state records in the 1600m over consecutive weeks. His 4:07.32 with a 58 second close, smashed the state meet record and left people wondering what he could do the next season. Magaha came off this track season with high expectations for his first serious cross season. His work paid off as he won the hotly contested District One Championships easily in 15:16 and came up just short at states, finishing 6th. This indoor season has had some highlights as well, including a supposed 1:52 relay split and a Lehigh track record 1:54.2 800m.
Connor Manley, CB West- Connor Manley was a little known entity in 2010, but in 2011 he took the track world by storm as he led CB West's squad to high relay success. In the 4x800m indoors Manley anchored his squad to a stunning upset win over then state record holders and future national champs Abington and in the process reset the state record in the 4x800m. He also ran on the 4x400m team that medaled indoors. But CB West did not settle, outdoors their Penn Relays squad ran under 7:40 and Manley clocked his first 1:51 split. At districts, after running easily to victory in the 4x800m, Manley ran hard and helped push Cho to the District record as Manley ran a 1:51.50 (also under the old district record). At the Outdoor State Championships, Manley ran a huge anchor leg of about 1:51 flat to catch Will Taylor on the final straightaway and seal another big win in the 4x8.
Conner Quinn, Hatboro Horsham- Conner Quinn was just known as Sam Hibbs training partner when the cross country season started this past fall, but Quinn began turning heads with a big win at the Suburban One League Championships, a 3rd place finish at the District Championships and a huge PR, and then a stunning upset win at the State Championships for Cross Country as just a Junior.
Will Taylor, Abington- Will Taylor started the year as a relative unknown on an Abington squad with big names like Kyle Moran, Tevin Smith and Macey Watson, but when all was said and done Taylor may have been the story of the year. He moved up to the 800m and helped Abington set a then indoor state record in the 4x800m. He followed it up with a key leg on the Abington 4x400m that set the indoor state record. Then Taylor ran 3 solid races at the state championships (including a second place finish in the 400m to Gilmore and an anchor leg holding off Gilmore in the 4x400m) to help Abington win the team title. Outdoors Taylor was the key leg in Abington's big Penn Relays sub 7:40 clocking dropping a stunning PR of 1:53. He helped anchor Abington's relays at the state championship to a pair of second place finishes, both nearly wins.
Ned Willig, Great Valley- Ned Willig had a fairly disappointing finish to his indoor season when his team finished just 7th in the DMR at the state championships. But he did not get discouraged as he put together a fantastic outdoor season that included a 1:51.10 and 4:11.99 in the 800m and 1600m respectively. He took home 3rd at the outdoor state championships as a Junior and helped his sprint medley team become All-Americans (with a 1:51 split). In cross country Ned helped lead his young Great Valley squad to a second place finish at Districts, behind his own second place finish, and ran to a top 10 finish at the XC State Championships. Willig began his indoor season fast with a runner up finish to Cheserek a 1:55 800m and then an armory win that earned him a trip to the Millrose games. Then, the number 1:51 proved to be significant one more time for Willig, who astounded with a 1:51.25 #8 AT 800m for the indoor state record. The third time the record has been broken in the past 4 years.
Dustin Wilson, Chesnut Hill Academy- Dustin Wilson started the year with a bold decision to forgo the mile and 3000m at the state championship indoors and opt for the DMR instead. Unfortunately, his sacrifice did not pay off right away as the team just missed a state medal. However, at nationals Wilson clocked an impressive 4:14 anchor split to bring the team the title from the slow section. Then, in another slow section win, he earned All-American honors in the 2 mile, running 9:12. Wilson had a relatively quiet outdoors before going on a tear at season's end that included a 9:02, 15:01 and 4:12ish clocking in the DMR that ran a very quick time under 10:20. His All-American status was fulfilled for a third straight season when he finished 13th at Footlocker Nationals in the fall and earned the Gatorade XC runner of the year for Pennsylvania.
Feel free to vote on this category now if you want, or you can wait til I have posted every category. Just comment on the post or message me on facebook or something to vote.
Have a great day everyone.
Therefore the nominees are (this is just off the top of my head so if I miss someone they may be added back on a little later):
Hong Cho, Wissahickon- Hong Cho began the Oscar season with a 4th place finish at the indoor state championships in the 800m in a very solid time of 1:54.94. He then ran the lead off leg of the state champion Wissahickon DMR. But Hong didn't settle after an impressive indoor season. He ran multiple 1:52 in opens and relays, took down Dustin Wilson in an early season mile race, and helped his 4x8 and 4x4 teams place well at the Penn Relays with impressive splits. At the end of the season, Hong was at full stride as he ran 1:50.92 to win the District Championship and break Tom Mallon's meet record. He then won the state championship in the individual 800, while also helping lead his 4x400m squad to a solid medal finish. He finished the season with a 1:50.41 800m PR from the Henderson meet in June.
Wade Endress, Altoona- Wade Endress began the Oscar season with a historic indoor states double that included a surprising state record on the double in the 800m, running away from great racers like Nate McClafferty and Kyle Moran with furious last laps. He ran 4:13.34 and then 1:51.73 at a meet record (and at the time a state record). Unfortunately, injury struck Wade in the outdoor season of his senior year. He managed to battle back and run hard to achieve another impressive double at states with a 4:13.77 and 1:53.76 time in each, earning him 4th and 3rd respectively. Without Wade's early pacing in the 1600m to ensure it wasn't tactical, the state record may not have gone down quite as decisively as it did.
Eric Futch, Pennwood- Futch began his own Best Actor campaign with a well earned second place finish in the 60m hurdles to rival Chris Williams from Strath Haven. His Pennwood relays narrowly missed medals in the 4x4 and 4x2. But come outdoors Futch was determined to not let the story be near misses. He ran a season best 14.24 110m Hurdles at Delcos, but his focus was the 300m Hurdles. Come states, he not only ran away from former champion Kowan Scott, he also blasted a 36.43 state record in the 300m hurdles. He can also boast a 21.32 200m PR and a sub 3:20 4x400m relay squad. Futch went on to continue his spring season into the summer where he added another state record with a 51.67 400m hurdle race. His listed PR in the open 400m at the time was 51.66. Futch has not let his foot off the gas this indoors, already powering through a 3:21 4x4, 1:29 4x2, 22.37 200m, 50.30 400m and #20 all time 300m in 33.56 (all state leading times if you convert from flat to banked track).
Ryan Gil, North Allegheny- Gil had a great indoor season helping his DMR qualify for the state finals and also winning the 3000m looking fairly comfortable over Tom Trainer. He went on to the Penn Relays and capped off his 3ks for the season with 8:30.91 clocking. The future looked bright for Gil when he unleashed a 4:13.70 mile at the Baldwin invite for the win, and then came back to the 32 over a stacked field in 9:13. Ultimately, sickness ended Gil's outdoor season early, but many thought, if healthy, he would have defeated Burkhardt for the state title.
Matt Gilmore, Cheltenham- Matt Gilmore played the role of super hero in the early parts of the Oscar season as he nearly carried Cheltenham to an indoor state title by himself. Running on what many thought to be a crippling leg injury, Gilmore won the 400m and 200m and the indoor state championship. But he wasn't done just yet. He also pulled off a come from behind victory in the 4x200m and nearly caught Abington in the 4x400m final that decided the state championship. Gilmore did help lead his tired squad to a second place finish in the 4x4 in an under 3:20 clocking. Abington's relay had set the 4x400m state record earlier that winter. Outdoors Gilmore, didn't race the clock, he raced his foes and he amassed some impressive wins (and also some impressive records) in route to a gold medal in the 400m at Outdoor States (and a runner up finish in the 200m on a questionable disqualification call).
Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland- Drew Magaha took the track world by storm, after what some might call a disappointing winter, Magaha torched the track in the Spring of 2011, earning him the nickname Megaha. Ok, maybe that was just a type-o. But Magaha did amass meet records wherever he went outdoors, including league, district, and state records in the 1600m over consecutive weeks. His 4:07.32 with a 58 second close, smashed the state meet record and left people wondering what he could do the next season. Magaha came off this track season with high expectations for his first serious cross season. His work paid off as he won the hotly contested District One Championships easily in 15:16 and came up just short at states, finishing 6th. This indoor season has had some highlights as well, including a supposed 1:52 relay split and a Lehigh track record 1:54.2 800m.
Connor Manley, CB West- Connor Manley was a little known entity in 2010, but in 2011 he took the track world by storm as he led CB West's squad to high relay success. In the 4x800m indoors Manley anchored his squad to a stunning upset win over then state record holders and future national champs Abington and in the process reset the state record in the 4x800m. He also ran on the 4x400m team that medaled indoors. But CB West did not settle, outdoors their Penn Relays squad ran under 7:40 and Manley clocked his first 1:51 split. At districts, after running easily to victory in the 4x800m, Manley ran hard and helped push Cho to the District record as Manley ran a 1:51.50 (also under the old district record). At the Outdoor State Championships, Manley ran a huge anchor leg of about 1:51 flat to catch Will Taylor on the final straightaway and seal another big win in the 4x8.
Conner Quinn, Hatboro Horsham- Conner Quinn was just known as Sam Hibbs training partner when the cross country season started this past fall, but Quinn began turning heads with a big win at the Suburban One League Championships, a 3rd place finish at the District Championships and a huge PR, and then a stunning upset win at the State Championships for Cross Country as just a Junior.
Will Taylor, Abington- Will Taylor started the year as a relative unknown on an Abington squad with big names like Kyle Moran, Tevin Smith and Macey Watson, but when all was said and done Taylor may have been the story of the year. He moved up to the 800m and helped Abington set a then indoor state record in the 4x800m. He followed it up with a key leg on the Abington 4x400m that set the indoor state record. Then Taylor ran 3 solid races at the state championships (including a second place finish in the 400m to Gilmore and an anchor leg holding off Gilmore in the 4x400m) to help Abington win the team title. Outdoors Taylor was the key leg in Abington's big Penn Relays sub 7:40 clocking dropping a stunning PR of 1:53. He helped anchor Abington's relays at the state championship to a pair of second place finishes, both nearly wins.
Ned Willig, Great Valley- Ned Willig had a fairly disappointing finish to his indoor season when his team finished just 7th in the DMR at the state championships. But he did not get discouraged as he put together a fantastic outdoor season that included a 1:51.10 and 4:11.99 in the 800m and 1600m respectively. He took home 3rd at the outdoor state championships as a Junior and helped his sprint medley team become All-Americans (with a 1:51 split). In cross country Ned helped lead his young Great Valley squad to a second place finish at Districts, behind his own second place finish, and ran to a top 10 finish at the XC State Championships. Willig began his indoor season fast with a runner up finish to Cheserek a 1:55 800m and then an armory win that earned him a trip to the Millrose games. Then, the number 1:51 proved to be significant one more time for Willig, who astounded with a 1:51.25 #8 AT 800m for the indoor state record. The third time the record has been broken in the past 4 years.
Dustin Wilson, Chesnut Hill Academy- Dustin Wilson started the year with a bold decision to forgo the mile and 3000m at the state championship indoors and opt for the DMR instead. Unfortunately, his sacrifice did not pay off right away as the team just missed a state medal. However, at nationals Wilson clocked an impressive 4:14 anchor split to bring the team the title from the slow section. Then, in another slow section win, he earned All-American honors in the 2 mile, running 9:12. Wilson had a relatively quiet outdoors before going on a tear at season's end that included a 9:02, 15:01 and 4:12ish clocking in the DMR that ran a very quick time under 10:20. His All-American status was fulfilled for a third straight season when he finished 13th at Footlocker Nationals in the fall and earned the Gatorade XC runner of the year for Pennsylvania.
Feel free to vote on this category now if you want, or you can wait til I have posted every category. Just comment on the post or message me on facebook or something to vote.
Have a great day everyone.
The Show Goes On
So for some reason, blogger doesn't seem to have any backgrounds that actually make the poll visible in terms of the names listed and the results with percentages so thats just dandy. If you highlight the box and go over the names with your mouse it makes it easier to see, so hopefully that helps. I'll continue to experiment with backgrounds and such.
Also I got the slideshow up on the side bar and you can click on that to see the full album up close. There are still a few glitches with that left to work out as well, but we are making progress here.
I don't know how accurate the total page views or the popular post links are, but they are up and hopefully they add to your blogging experience here. I'm trying to find some other things to update with that our cool so we shall see how that goes.
Also I just wanted to say the title of this post should in no way indicate any opinions about the poll, I was just referring to the fact that the blog is still ticking along nicely and my post streak is still very much alive.
Exciting stuff.
Also, the nominees for the real oscars came out just the other day which made me think .... I should put up the nominees for my oscars. You see the oscars, like the NFL, is a copy cat league, just ask the golden globes, so I will be putting up my oscar nominees some time in the near future. Hopefully tomorrow.
It may take a couple posts because I am planning on giving at least a little snippet of why they are up for the award to hopefully help the voting, and make it easier and what not.
Should be a fun time if all goes right.
So anyway stay active and if you have any comments or concerns or anything just let me know.
Stay classy.
Also I got the slideshow up on the side bar and you can click on that to see the full album up close. There are still a few glitches with that left to work out as well, but we are making progress here.
I don't know how accurate the total page views or the popular post links are, but they are up and hopefully they add to your blogging experience here. I'm trying to find some other things to update with that our cool so we shall see how that goes.
Also I just wanted to say the title of this post should in no way indicate any opinions about the poll, I was just referring to the fact that the blog is still ticking along nicely and my post streak is still very much alive.
Exciting stuff.
Also, the nominees for the real oscars came out just the other day which made me think .... I should put up the nominees for my oscars. You see the oscars, like the NFL, is a copy cat league, just ask the golden globes, so I will be putting up my oscar nominees some time in the near future. Hopefully tomorrow.
It may take a couple posts because I am planning on giving at least a little snippet of why they are up for the award to hopefully help the voting, and make it easier and what not.
Should be a fun time if all goes right.
So anyway stay active and if you have any comments or concerns or anything just let me know.
Stay classy.
Kevin Dare Photos
So here are some photos from a memeber of the trainstation from the kevin dare invite. I'm trying to figure out a way to add these to the blog as a slideshow, but I figure you guys shouldn't have to wait for me to get technologically savy before you can see yourselves in action.
Here's the link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104394970536802274493/KevinDare2012
Big thanks to trainstation's Jack Huemmler for his work, this is a great addition to the blog.
Here's the link:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104394970536802274493/KevinDare2012
Big thanks to trainstation's Jack Huemmler for his work, this is a great addition to the blog.
Millrose Games
Honestly, this isn't going to be PA based conversation really so if you aren't prepared for that feel free to ignore this post. However, I must warn you that the context of this post should get you really excited for the Millrose games. I know I just read something that made me want to hop in the car right now and buy tickets.
First off I'll just throw a couple of things out there that are noteworthy. Strath Haven and Notre Dame were both invited for the girls 4x800m race, while Penncrest and Strath Haven were invited on the men's side. Great Valley is a 4x800m alternate right now, not quite sure if they will get in.
Strath Haven and Penncrest both have serious shots at sub 8 minute 4x8s at this meet with ideal competition. CBA is entered and they just had two guys in the open go 1:55 and 1:56 I believe. They are also defending national champions in cross country. 4 other teams come in with sub 8 minute seed times.
I have to think Strath Haven is the PA team to watch in this one with guys like Huemmler and Seelaus running great of late, but Penncrest is a team of relative unknowns with a lot of potential to surprise.
In the women's professional mile, reigning world champion Jenny Simpson is entered. It should be exciting to see her world class kick in action against the field.
The men's 5k field is what really gets me charged up. Check out the names: Andy Baddley, Sam Chelenga, Ed Cheserek, Chris Derrick, Elliot Heath, Leonard Korir, Bernard Lagat, Lawi Lalang, and Steven Sambu. A field of All-Americans and record holders of all sorts. The meet record, american record, collegiate record and high school record are all on the line. Chris Derrick is one of my personal favorite runners, Chelenga is making a pro debut as far as I know (he is not an american citizen yet, so he is running for Kenya), Cheserek has been a boss of late and there is a lot of potential for a sub 14, Baddley just one a mile at the armory in world leading time, Heath and Korir are defending indoor national champions, Lalang is the reigning dominant XC national champion and Sambu does alright for himself as well.
I think Lagat really wants the American record back from Rupp and therefore this race should set up with the potential for someone (probably Lagat) to run 13:10ish. I don't know who out of the collegiates will hang on to this kind of pace, but we know Lalang has a lot of strength and if Korir is there he has a big kick.
Not sure how Cheserek will fair in this race. He will probably go out super hard (he has a knack for doing that, as anyone who was at the penn relays knows) and in this kind of field that could mean 4:20s for the opening mile, in which case I'm not sure Cheserek can hang on for 2 miles+ after that kind of opening effort.
Maybe he will just run his own race, kind of Lukas when he went after the national indoor 2 mile record at the Armory (and missed, Cheserek will probably break it this year, but that's besides the point), but I can't see Cheserek running like that. He mixes it up with anybody and he is not afraid of anyone. He has 4:02 and 8:43 kinda times under his belt this season. Huge all time top 5 kind of times. The potential is there to see history.
As for some other events that don't excite me as much, Sanya Richards is in the 400m, Sam Nadel leads a very good girl's high school field that includes PA's own Tori Gerlach and Maria Seykora, and Zavon Watkins heads a boys field that includes PA's new state record holder over 800m Ned Willig who can bring PA it's first win since Jason Weller.
As for the Men's Wanamaker mile, the winner will not be Bernard Lagat! Not sure how often that can be said over the past decade or so, but it doesn't mean the race won't be exciting. Collegiates like Miles Batty, Kyler Merber (who has a Millrose win under his belt from high school), Erik Van Ingen and Chris O'Hare are all sub 4 kinda names. Plus (my personal exciting part), Matt Centrowitz is making his Pro debut after earning a bronze medal at Worlds a few months back. Really excited to see what the guy can do.
February 11th. Get your popcorn ready.
First off I'll just throw a couple of things out there that are noteworthy. Strath Haven and Notre Dame were both invited for the girls 4x800m race, while Penncrest and Strath Haven were invited on the men's side. Great Valley is a 4x800m alternate right now, not quite sure if they will get in.
Strath Haven and Penncrest both have serious shots at sub 8 minute 4x8s at this meet with ideal competition. CBA is entered and they just had two guys in the open go 1:55 and 1:56 I believe. They are also defending national champions in cross country. 4 other teams come in with sub 8 minute seed times.
I have to think Strath Haven is the PA team to watch in this one with guys like Huemmler and Seelaus running great of late, but Penncrest is a team of relative unknowns with a lot of potential to surprise.
In the women's professional mile, reigning world champion Jenny Simpson is entered. It should be exciting to see her world class kick in action against the field.
The men's 5k field is what really gets me charged up. Check out the names: Andy Baddley, Sam Chelenga, Ed Cheserek, Chris Derrick, Elliot Heath, Leonard Korir, Bernard Lagat, Lawi Lalang, and Steven Sambu. A field of All-Americans and record holders of all sorts. The meet record, american record, collegiate record and high school record are all on the line. Chris Derrick is one of my personal favorite runners, Chelenga is making a pro debut as far as I know (he is not an american citizen yet, so he is running for Kenya), Cheserek has been a boss of late and there is a lot of potential for a sub 14, Baddley just one a mile at the armory in world leading time, Heath and Korir are defending indoor national champions, Lalang is the reigning dominant XC national champion and Sambu does alright for himself as well.
I think Lagat really wants the American record back from Rupp and therefore this race should set up with the potential for someone (probably Lagat) to run 13:10ish. I don't know who out of the collegiates will hang on to this kind of pace, but we know Lalang has a lot of strength and if Korir is there he has a big kick.
Not sure how Cheserek will fair in this race. He will probably go out super hard (he has a knack for doing that, as anyone who was at the penn relays knows) and in this kind of field that could mean 4:20s for the opening mile, in which case I'm not sure Cheserek can hang on for 2 miles+ after that kind of opening effort.
Maybe he will just run his own race, kind of Lukas when he went after the national indoor 2 mile record at the Armory (and missed, Cheserek will probably break it this year, but that's besides the point), but I can't see Cheserek running like that. He mixes it up with anybody and he is not afraid of anyone. He has 4:02 and 8:43 kinda times under his belt this season. Huge all time top 5 kind of times. The potential is there to see history.
As for some other events that don't excite me as much, Sanya Richards is in the 400m, Sam Nadel leads a very good girl's high school field that includes PA's own Tori Gerlach and Maria Seykora, and Zavon Watkins heads a boys field that includes PA's new state record holder over 800m Ned Willig who can bring PA it's first win since Jason Weller.
As for the Men's Wanamaker mile, the winner will not be Bernard Lagat! Not sure how often that can be said over the past decade or so, but it doesn't mean the race won't be exciting. Collegiates like Miles Batty, Kyler Merber (who has a Millrose win under his belt from high school), Erik Van Ingen and Chris O'Hare are all sub 4 kinda names. Plus (my personal exciting part), Matt Centrowitz is making his Pro debut after earning a bronze medal at Worlds a few months back. Really excited to see what the guy can do.
February 11th. Get your popcorn ready.
More Analysis
So I suppose now I am an official renegade or something because my account has been eliminated from penntrack, so please if you are planning on messaging myself, don't because I will not see it or be able to respond. But yeah, I guess considering I didn't even make a post in the past 3 months or so and my account still got deleted I must be undesirable #1 in penntrackville. And that's pretty cool to me. I'm like a regular old Harry Potter.
But this isn't about me folks, this is about the weekend that was in PA track and field. Obviously Kevin Dare was awesome, but there was much, much more to talk about, including Ned Willig and his 1:51.25 state record performance that is (depending on where you look) #8 or #10 all time. Dyestat gave it 8th, penntrack gave it 10th.
So naturally I will call it 8th.
Now we look at what Ned did in a race where he blew away the competition and a lot of things jump to mind. First of all, I still am not convinced that Ned's best event is the 800 (I used to be convinced it was the 2 mile but obviously that was wrong), I think he is a miler, which means he has a shot at the state record if it's a fast pace at Millrose. I think the record is somewhere in the low 4:11 range off the top of my head I can't remember.
And there are plenty of other speculations that come with this performance. Does Ned skip the mile at states and a dual with Magaha in favor of running the 800 fresh at states and pursuing not just a PR and new state record, but a top 5 all time mark for indoor high school half milers?
He can also try both races, I think he could definitely win both (a feat which has not been done for a while at the indoor state championships), but a tiring dual with Magaha (or Dustin Wilson even if Magaha is still sick and what not, because honestly sometimes I just don't know what the kid is going to do) and then a doubling effort that may require him to take the pace for all 800m to avoid things getting tactical will certainly hurt his chances of playing hero for a team with high hopes in the DMR (we will get to that soon).
Lastly, does Willig have a shot at the national record? There is only one national meet and if Willig chooses to give fresh legs to the meet, he would almost certainly have a shot at becoming only the second high schooler under 1:50 in indoor track history. If Strymar Livingston throws his hat in the ring fresh of his unbelievable 500m USR (61 seconds, it's just as fast as any collegiate has run this year so far) and Zavon Watkins the defending champ who boasts a PR of 1:47.99 on a relay split from Outdoor Nats as a sophomore and recent winner of the New Balance games mile Ned will have ideal competition to shoot for a top time. It could be a scary fast race if everything plays out according to plan.
But enough about Ned Willig's 800, let's talk about Ned Willig's DMR. PA #1 10:27 with ideal competition but still a very fast time for this weekend. There is no doubt with 4 fresh legs this relay could not lose to anyone else in the state. I just don't see the talent to beat these guys and I feel Ned can chase down just about any relay. When it comes to the DMR I am in love with teams with fast anchors. Maybe its because guys like Ferry, Crits, Kaulbach, Palmisano, Lee, Kellar, and Endress have serious hardware for anchoring their teams over the years.
10:27 is pretty quick and Ned I'd imagine split fairly fast (making the 1:51.25 the next day more impressive) and right now it's 6 seconds faster than any other relay in the state. If LaSalle goes all in for the DMR instead of the 4x8 and open events I can see them having a shot at GV. Strath Haven looks good, but again they have to go all in for this race. Great Valley, however, also has to keep at least a relatively fresh squad. A tripling Ned Willig complicates things.
I picked Great Valley last year, it didn't work out. This year I am strong on the bandwagon once again. We shall see what happens.
BUT there was more action than just the stuff over at Yale.
For starters how about Pennwood with a sick 1:29 4x2. Haneef Hardy and Swenson have some quick sprint relays as well.
This was from a couple weekends back at PCLs but I just recently saw results, pretty sick work by O'Hara and LaSalle. Stone running really fast in the 1:57s flat rack. O'Hara stacking the mile and running train on everyone in that race. Then O'Hara ran two 4x8s that qualfied for states! 8:12 and 8:15! Wow that's pretty sick depth for O'Hara. I wonder if they spread the talent evenly or if they stacked one and not the other and the other just was clutch and ran out of their minds. It's more likely the first one I suppose, which means there is a lot of potential for O'Hara in both the 4x8 and the DMR.
Dan Jaskowak opened up with a 4:28 mile, I haven't seen results from this meet yet, but that's a pretty nice opening time for a guy who never had really fast track times (or XC times quite frankly til this year).
Vinny Todaro had a solid weekend for himself as well, qualifying for states on 1600m conversion from 4:30 and running a decent 2 mile on the double against Brendan Shearn who ran a pretty sweet 9:47 flat track 3200m. Converting to around 9:09ish for 3k in a solo effort to open his season. I'd like to see the guy step on the track at Lehigh at the Carnival and push with a top field to see if he can hit the states standard. It's definitely the toughest standard to hit of the standards.
Lastly Wissahickon ran a nice 4x4 this weekend at the Armory not to be overlooked as a team that can compete for the title this winter. And of course CR North doesn't fail to get their name back in the championship conversation with a 10:44 blow out win at Lavino, with potential to even run faster in the coming weeks. After seeing the splits you can see a few places where they have seconds to spare.
It will be an interesting next couple of weeks leading up to the state championships.
But this isn't about me folks, this is about the weekend that was in PA track and field. Obviously Kevin Dare was awesome, but there was much, much more to talk about, including Ned Willig and his 1:51.25 state record performance that is (depending on where you look) #8 or #10 all time. Dyestat gave it 8th, penntrack gave it 10th.
So naturally I will call it 8th.
Now we look at what Ned did in a race where he blew away the competition and a lot of things jump to mind. First of all, I still am not convinced that Ned's best event is the 800 (I used to be convinced it was the 2 mile but obviously that was wrong), I think he is a miler, which means he has a shot at the state record if it's a fast pace at Millrose. I think the record is somewhere in the low 4:11 range off the top of my head I can't remember.
And there are plenty of other speculations that come with this performance. Does Ned skip the mile at states and a dual with Magaha in favor of running the 800 fresh at states and pursuing not just a PR and new state record, but a top 5 all time mark for indoor high school half milers?
He can also try both races, I think he could definitely win both (a feat which has not been done for a while at the indoor state championships), but a tiring dual with Magaha (or Dustin Wilson even if Magaha is still sick and what not, because honestly sometimes I just don't know what the kid is going to do) and then a doubling effort that may require him to take the pace for all 800m to avoid things getting tactical will certainly hurt his chances of playing hero for a team with high hopes in the DMR (we will get to that soon).
Lastly, does Willig have a shot at the national record? There is only one national meet and if Willig chooses to give fresh legs to the meet, he would almost certainly have a shot at becoming only the second high schooler under 1:50 in indoor track history. If Strymar Livingston throws his hat in the ring fresh of his unbelievable 500m USR (61 seconds, it's just as fast as any collegiate has run this year so far) and Zavon Watkins the defending champ who boasts a PR of 1:47.99 on a relay split from Outdoor Nats as a sophomore and recent winner of the New Balance games mile Ned will have ideal competition to shoot for a top time. It could be a scary fast race if everything plays out according to plan.
But enough about Ned Willig's 800, let's talk about Ned Willig's DMR. PA #1 10:27 with ideal competition but still a very fast time for this weekend. There is no doubt with 4 fresh legs this relay could not lose to anyone else in the state. I just don't see the talent to beat these guys and I feel Ned can chase down just about any relay. When it comes to the DMR I am in love with teams with fast anchors. Maybe its because guys like Ferry, Crits, Kaulbach, Palmisano, Lee, Kellar, and Endress have serious hardware for anchoring their teams over the years.
10:27 is pretty quick and Ned I'd imagine split fairly fast (making the 1:51.25 the next day more impressive) and right now it's 6 seconds faster than any other relay in the state. If LaSalle goes all in for the DMR instead of the 4x8 and open events I can see them having a shot at GV. Strath Haven looks good, but again they have to go all in for this race. Great Valley, however, also has to keep at least a relatively fresh squad. A tripling Ned Willig complicates things.
I picked Great Valley last year, it didn't work out. This year I am strong on the bandwagon once again. We shall see what happens.
BUT there was more action than just the stuff over at Yale.
For starters how about Pennwood with a sick 1:29 4x2. Haneef Hardy and Swenson have some quick sprint relays as well.
This was from a couple weekends back at PCLs but I just recently saw results, pretty sick work by O'Hara and LaSalle. Stone running really fast in the 1:57s flat rack. O'Hara stacking the mile and running train on everyone in that race. Then O'Hara ran two 4x8s that qualfied for states! 8:12 and 8:15! Wow that's pretty sick depth for O'Hara. I wonder if they spread the talent evenly or if they stacked one and not the other and the other just was clutch and ran out of their minds. It's more likely the first one I suppose, which means there is a lot of potential for O'Hara in both the 4x8 and the DMR.
Dan Jaskowak opened up with a 4:28 mile, I haven't seen results from this meet yet, but that's a pretty nice opening time for a guy who never had really fast track times (or XC times quite frankly til this year).
Vinny Todaro had a solid weekend for himself as well, qualifying for states on 1600m conversion from 4:30 and running a decent 2 mile on the double against Brendan Shearn who ran a pretty sweet 9:47 flat track 3200m. Converting to around 9:09ish for 3k in a solo effort to open his season. I'd like to see the guy step on the track at Lehigh at the Carnival and push with a top field to see if he can hit the states standard. It's definitely the toughest standard to hit of the standards.
Lastly Wissahickon ran a nice 4x4 this weekend at the Armory not to be overlooked as a team that can compete for the title this winter. And of course CR North doesn't fail to get their name back in the championship conversation with a 10:44 blow out win at Lavino, with potential to even run faster in the coming weeks. After seeing the splits you can see a few places where they have seconds to spare.
It will be an interesting next couple of weeks leading up to the state championships.
Weekend Action (There's A Lot)
Alright so it's very hard to figure out which meets to start with because a lot of crazy stuff happened this weekend and as expected Kevin Dare was very quick. So here is what I am going to do. I am going to just talk about Kevin Dare today and focus my thoughts on this one meet and then as the week goes on talk about the other madness and Ned Willig's record setting performance (as well as CR North's DMR at Lavino, a debut by the AA state champion, and Ed Cheserek and Strymar Livingston and so much more).
But let's start at PSU and of course it wouldn't be a week on the blog if we didn't talk about Drew Magaha. While Ned takes a step to the next level, Magaha gets very sick and pukes before and after his race. Not a great sign that Drew's best mile time this season is around 4:26 considering he is a guy who should be chasing state records this winter. Honestly, historically Drew has probably never taken indoors as seriously as he has this year (same with cross country), the results themselves compared to outdoors prove these facts.
Does this mean he is breaking down early? I certainly hope not, it's not like he was dropping huge mileage over the summer or anything that would burn him out. He has had problems with sickness before (he probably could have won states as a soph if he hadn't gotten sick, no guarentees but that's a debate for another time), so I hope he won't have problems by states time. Drew is usually good for about 1 or 2 of these kind of head scratching weekends a season. Keep your fingers crossed this is the last time we see anything about even 4:2x from Drew Magaha on a bank track like Penn State's.
But enough about Drew, he's sick, he'll get healthy, but we gotta talk about the guys making moves in etrain's books.
First of all I don't talk about this kind of stuff much, but holy crap Chris Williams you are a boss. Beautiful 60m HH time over his teammate who is pretty good Zaza. 7.87. Blazing. He and Eric should be pretty fun to watch this season.
How about the kids from Upper Moreland not named Drew Magaha? Tyler Whitmore a freshman who ran 7.08 and 22.35? They have a nice 4x4 shaping up with a 3:29.46 (without Whitmore who maybe can move up? and a sick Drew?)
Strath Haven continues a hot start, and Huemmler is leading the charge. Another big win in the mile with a 4:22.26 PR to beat Horgan who ran a respectable 4:23.73 for second. The question no becomes with Huemmler being a legit top 5 miler in the state, maybe even top 3 depending on how things shape up with guys like Wilson and Willig etc, will Strath Haven opt to keep a fresh group for the relays? And without a fresh group are they a legit title contender in the 4x8 or the DMR? Dan Lincoln is the first guy all year under 50 appearently so he's a 400m favorite too and Seelaus is no joke either.
Jack MacCauley ran a nice 4:26, proving he is still a top young gun in the mile. And of course the same question can be asked about North Penn's relays. Only thing is rumors have told me North Penn is looking to keep all their guys fresh indoors in pursuit of a DMR state title. Things can change and North Penn has always gone 4x8 at states so take that information with a grain of salt.
DTWest would be a very interesting relay squad of Devlin were still in the picture. Maybe outdoors we will see something. Leidel and Jenkins both had solid days. I don't see either of them as state medalists open, so maybe they can team up and snag a 4x800m medal indoors. Should be fun to watch.
I'm just gonna throw this out there now, when the heck did Penncrest get all this middle distance talent. No offense but I didn't see them being this solid this year. Ali in the 4 runs a solid 51, Miller in the mile (already sub 2 flat track) runs solid mid 4:30s, and then Nate Emmanuel 1:57.5? Who? Kid beat Chris Trimble soundly and Trimble has gotten much more pub than Nate. And oh yeah they also dropped in one more solid 2 flat guy in the race and two sub 9:20 3k guys to boot. 3:25 4x4 capped of the day nicely for the squad.
The other team with Penn starting their name, Pennridge, is also pretty dangerous. They got some talented runners over there and they will have a very solid 4x800m relay if they keep their legs fresh.
Lastly I'll mention the 3k, Sam Hibbs ran great, its nice to see this kind of bounce back race. No Conner Quinn? Interesting, not sure of the reason, but its a shame considering he is the reigning state champ. Hibbs is going to be a factor this indoor season and they may have a solid DMR as well, they had a 4 and 8 guy run pretty solid so they can be a factor for a top spot at states. Hibbs can be a factor for top 3 in the 3k at states no doubt.
Good job by Nissley, also missing his partner in crime Jeff Groh, qualifying for states in the 3k is a big deal. This year if you hit the standard you are guarenteed a decent shot at a state medal. If you have a good day you are practically guarenteed one, especially when you qualify this early and can run miles and train for speed over the coming month or so.
But let's start at PSU and of course it wouldn't be a week on the blog if we didn't talk about Drew Magaha. While Ned takes a step to the next level, Magaha gets very sick and pukes before and after his race. Not a great sign that Drew's best mile time this season is around 4:26 considering he is a guy who should be chasing state records this winter. Honestly, historically Drew has probably never taken indoors as seriously as he has this year (same with cross country), the results themselves compared to outdoors prove these facts.
Does this mean he is breaking down early? I certainly hope not, it's not like he was dropping huge mileage over the summer or anything that would burn him out. He has had problems with sickness before (he probably could have won states as a soph if he hadn't gotten sick, no guarentees but that's a debate for another time), so I hope he won't have problems by states time. Drew is usually good for about 1 or 2 of these kind of head scratching weekends a season. Keep your fingers crossed this is the last time we see anything about even 4:2x from Drew Magaha on a bank track like Penn State's.
But enough about Drew, he's sick, he'll get healthy, but we gotta talk about the guys making moves in etrain's books.
First of all I don't talk about this kind of stuff much, but holy crap Chris Williams you are a boss. Beautiful 60m HH time over his teammate who is pretty good Zaza. 7.87. Blazing. He and Eric should be pretty fun to watch this season.
How about the kids from Upper Moreland not named Drew Magaha? Tyler Whitmore a freshman who ran 7.08 and 22.35? They have a nice 4x4 shaping up with a 3:29.46 (without Whitmore who maybe can move up? and a sick Drew?)
Strath Haven continues a hot start, and Huemmler is leading the charge. Another big win in the mile with a 4:22.26 PR to beat Horgan who ran a respectable 4:23.73 for second. The question no becomes with Huemmler being a legit top 5 miler in the state, maybe even top 3 depending on how things shape up with guys like Wilson and Willig etc, will Strath Haven opt to keep a fresh group for the relays? And without a fresh group are they a legit title contender in the 4x8 or the DMR? Dan Lincoln is the first guy all year under 50 appearently so he's a 400m favorite too and Seelaus is no joke either.
Jack MacCauley ran a nice 4:26, proving he is still a top young gun in the mile. And of course the same question can be asked about North Penn's relays. Only thing is rumors have told me North Penn is looking to keep all their guys fresh indoors in pursuit of a DMR state title. Things can change and North Penn has always gone 4x8 at states so take that information with a grain of salt.
DTWest would be a very interesting relay squad of Devlin were still in the picture. Maybe outdoors we will see something. Leidel and Jenkins both had solid days. I don't see either of them as state medalists open, so maybe they can team up and snag a 4x800m medal indoors. Should be fun to watch.
I'm just gonna throw this out there now, when the heck did Penncrest get all this middle distance talent. No offense but I didn't see them being this solid this year. Ali in the 4 runs a solid 51, Miller in the mile (already sub 2 flat track) runs solid mid 4:30s, and then Nate Emmanuel 1:57.5? Who? Kid beat Chris Trimble soundly and Trimble has gotten much more pub than Nate. And oh yeah they also dropped in one more solid 2 flat guy in the race and two sub 9:20 3k guys to boot. 3:25 4x4 capped of the day nicely for the squad.
The other team with Penn starting their name, Pennridge, is also pretty dangerous. They got some talented runners over there and they will have a very solid 4x800m relay if they keep their legs fresh.
Lastly I'll mention the 3k, Sam Hibbs ran great, its nice to see this kind of bounce back race. No Conner Quinn? Interesting, not sure of the reason, but its a shame considering he is the reigning state champ. Hibbs is going to be a factor this indoor season and they may have a solid DMR as well, they had a 4 and 8 guy run pretty solid so they can be a factor for a top spot at states. Hibbs can be a factor for top 3 in the 3k at states no doubt.
Good job by Nissley, also missing his partner in crime Jeff Groh, qualifying for states in the 3k is a big deal. This year if you hit the standard you are guarenteed a decent shot at a state medal. If you have a good day you are practically guarenteed one, especially when you qualify this early and can run miles and train for speed over the coming month or so.
Post Streak
So folks I'm not gonna lie to you I had a fairly busy day, and I am not going to be able to look over all of this weekend's action until tomorrow and then I can give you guys my full report. Congrats to Ned on the record, not surprised to see this based on his early pace, but now you have to keep in mind this is beyond PA record, it's national record territory. Only one man has ever broken 1:50 indoors as a high schooler (my man crush Robby Andrews), and Ned is already in 1:51 shape in January. Who knows how this could translate into early March when he has ideal competition on the fastest tracks in the country at Nationals and you can make the argument states (although I still am not sure he will opt for the 8 over the mile, which now seems kind of silly, but yeah I'll get into it tomorrow, I'm kind of rambling in this set of parentheses but yeah I'm sorry).
But anyway that's all I know as of now and unfortunately that is all I have to say right now :( I had a good first race back and now I am looking forward to a relaxing night inside where there is not slippery icy ground waiting to once again put me on the IR and I can just relax with a movie and my favorite person in the world. Yeah so I'll talk to everyone tomorrow.
Not gonna lie, the only reason I made this post is to save my post streak ... So I'm kind of cheating, but it still counts. So yeah, I'm counting it.
Don't hate.
-train
But anyway that's all I know as of now and unfortunately that is all I have to say right now :( I had a good first race back and now I am looking forward to a relaxing night inside where there is not slippery icy ground waiting to once again put me on the IR and I can just relax with a movie and my favorite person in the world. Yeah so I'll talk to everyone tomorrow.
Not gonna lie, the only reason I made this post is to save my post streak ... So I'm kind of cheating, but it still counts. So yeah, I'm counting it.
Don't hate.
-train
My Penntrack Account
Alright so I have some interesting news. First of all I want to point out that penntrack eliminated the forum that etrain69 started about the oscars on penntrack? Interesting, I don't really remember anything that was that bad being said on there. I mean he did say penntrack was going downhill and I suppose they didn't appreciate that. But really? Deleting that forum? And not deleting the who's hot forum until very late in the game? That is quite something.
So needless to say I went on penntrack today to check around, make sure that I wasn't imagining that this had been eliminated, and indeed upon further inspection the forum was still not there.
Since I was already on penntrack, I figured I'd just get on my account and check for any messages from any of you guys out there who read the blog. BUT today I was unable to log onto my penntrack account. Maybe it is just a coincidence, just a problem with the site or something, but I am positive my password is correct and has been unchanged for a while now, yet I can not log on.
Needless to say this concerns me. Is it at all possible that penntrack has decided that I must also take the fall for this most recent forum post and they have deactivated my account? It seems unlikley, I can only assume the computer I am on right now has bad access to penntrack or something like that.
But to be safe, I figured I would shoot a text to my friend etrain69 and ask him if he had recieved any sort of message about why his forum got removed. Well unfortunately etrain69 was also unable to log onto his account today. He reset his password but that did not solve the problem.
Overall, we are not exactly sure if our accounts have been deleted or suspended or anything like that, but I will be sure to update you guys as to the status of my penntrack account so that, if you so choose, you can message me there.
Other then that I'm not sure what to say. If they did indeed delete my account or something like that, I think that's pretty cool. It would mean they are scared of my blog, scared that is competition or something like that. Hopefully. Either that or they just don't like me using penntrack's name in association with my rinky dink oscars campaign.
But really trainstation all I can say is if my account is gone it will not slow my progress on the blog, it will only inspire me to work more and improve more. I feel like I would die a hero if my account has been deleted. A symbol of what else is out there in terms of PA track knowledge. It isn't just all about Penntrack articles and previews, we over here on the blog know a thing or two about the track scene and can produce solid articles and previews and conversations as well.
-train
So needless to say I went on penntrack today to check around, make sure that I wasn't imagining that this had been eliminated, and indeed upon further inspection the forum was still not there.
Since I was already on penntrack, I figured I'd just get on my account and check for any messages from any of you guys out there who read the blog. BUT today I was unable to log onto my penntrack account. Maybe it is just a coincidence, just a problem with the site or something, but I am positive my password is correct and has been unchanged for a while now, yet I can not log on.
Needless to say this concerns me. Is it at all possible that penntrack has decided that I must also take the fall for this most recent forum post and they have deactivated my account? It seems unlikley, I can only assume the computer I am on right now has bad access to penntrack or something like that.
But to be safe, I figured I would shoot a text to my friend etrain69 and ask him if he had recieved any sort of message about why his forum got removed. Well unfortunately etrain69 was also unable to log onto his account today. He reset his password but that did not solve the problem.
Overall, we are not exactly sure if our accounts have been deleted or suspended or anything like that, but I will be sure to update you guys as to the status of my penntrack account so that, if you so choose, you can message me there.
Other then that I'm not sure what to say. If they did indeed delete my account or something like that, I think that's pretty cool. It would mean they are scared of my blog, scared that is competition or something like that. Hopefully. Either that or they just don't like me using penntrack's name in association with my rinky dink oscars campaign.
But really trainstation all I can say is if my account is gone it will not slow my progress on the blog, it will only inspire me to work more and improve more. I feel like I would die a hero if my account has been deleted. A symbol of what else is out there in terms of PA track knowledge. It isn't just all about Penntrack articles and previews, we over here on the blog know a thing or two about the track scene and can produce solid articles and previews and conversations as well.
-train
Ideas
Now I know last year was kind of a let down in terms of the Oscars. I didn't really put together any type of results video and I didn't get any acceptance videos back or anything like that so ultimately things didn't work out. But I am hoping this year will be better.
But then again, how am I supposed to prevent myself from falling into the same traps as before? I know I am going to have work this semester and running practices and there are lots of people I am going to want to hang out with (I'm getting my toes painted Saturday night) so it will be tough to bust out anything super professional for the awards video.
That being said, I think I can make things better. Maybe releasing multiple videos for each category? Maybe shrinking the number of categories talked about in the video? Maybe not having a video if people don't think it'd be cool?
I'm down for whatever. I can make a rap again, I can try and make another video like I did last time with the interviews, I can open up the voting for a longer period of time, open up the ways you get in contact with me. Anything you guys are thinking, please don't hesitate to let me know.
I want this to be a much better event than last time so any help is much appreciated. Just leave your suggestions here and your nominations here or in the other post, I have a pretty updated list that just needs a bit more tidying up before it is ready to be voted on.
And yeah this weekend I'll get back to talking about the current racers and the indoor season and stuff like that, just wanted to get this Oscars thing underway before it was too late.
Sweet, hope to hear from you guys soon. Peace.
-train
But then again, how am I supposed to prevent myself from falling into the same traps as before? I know I am going to have work this semester and running practices and there are lots of people I am going to want to hang out with (I'm getting my toes painted Saturday night) so it will be tough to bust out anything super professional for the awards video.
That being said, I think I can make things better. Maybe releasing multiple videos for each category? Maybe shrinking the number of categories talked about in the video? Maybe not having a video if people don't think it'd be cool?
I'm down for whatever. I can make a rap again, I can try and make another video like I did last time with the interviews, I can open up the voting for a longer period of time, open up the ways you get in contact with me. Anything you guys are thinking, please don't hesitate to let me know.
I want this to be a much better event than last time so any help is much appreciated. Just leave your suggestions here and your nominations here or in the other post, I have a pretty updated list that just needs a bit more tidying up before it is ready to be voted on.
And yeah this weekend I'll get back to talking about the current racers and the indoor season and stuff like that, just wanted to get this Oscars thing underway before it was too late.
Sweet, hope to hear from you guys soon. Peace.
-train
Some Clarification
I just wanted to put some things down in writing in a post so everyone knew what I was looking for in these nominations. I'm sorry for my lack proper wording in the last post, but hopefully this clears things up.
For the Supporting Actor and Actress Awards I don't mean #2 Runner in all of PA, I mean best #2 runner on a team in PA. For example, say we have the CB West 4x800m relay team. Connor Manley was the #1 guy and the fastest relay split man, but Matt McGarvey or Matt Bee or one of those other guys would be a good fit for a nominee for a best supporting actor award. Also someone like Chris Trimble, Dan Davis or Mike Billotta for helping their XC team without being their #1 guy at states. People like that. Hopefully that clears things up.
For Best Animated Feature, when I say Underclassmen I mean like Freshman and Sophomore so sorry for any confusion. Juniors don't count for this award.
Also the voting time period starts from around Indoor States last year in 2011 (Endress, Gilmore, Abington the big winners) until right now and up until February 1st, so just keep that in mind when you are nominating and such.
Also you can nominate as many people as you want for each category and as long as I feel it fits the category properly your nomination will appear on the official ballets which will be produced sooner rather than later. I still need a lot of help in a lot of categories, especially female nominations, so keep the nominations coming!
One last thing, to give you an idea of which kind of runners would be good to nominate for each category, I will list off last years winners for you. You can also check my old posts from last February to see a full list of nominees for each category.
2011 Oscar Winners
Best Art Direction (Winner: Lehigh)
Best Documentary Feature (Winner: Runthrowjump)
Best Film Editing (Winner: Lindsey Rheiner)
Best Supporting Actress (Winner: Jenny Guidera)
Best Animated Feature (Winner: Drew Magaha)
Best Visual Effects (Winner: Brady Gehret)
Best Make-Up (Winner: North Hills)
Best Costume Design (Winner: Henderson)
Best Original Song (Winner: “Not Afraid”)
Best Sound Editing (Winner: Wade Endress)
Best Supporting Actor (Winner: Juris Silenieks)
Best Foreign Film (Winner: Verzbicas)
Best Cinematography (Winner: Penn Relays)
Best Adapted Screen Play (Winner: Sam Ellison)
Best Original Screen Play (Winner: North Hills Trio)
Best Director (Winner: Henderson)
Best Actress (Winner: Angel Piccirillo)
Best Actor (Winner: Tom Mallon)
Best Picture (Winner: Outdoor Girls 3200m)
For the Supporting Actor and Actress Awards I don't mean #2 Runner in all of PA, I mean best #2 runner on a team in PA. For example, say we have the CB West 4x800m relay team. Connor Manley was the #1 guy and the fastest relay split man, but Matt McGarvey or Matt Bee or one of those other guys would be a good fit for a nominee for a best supporting actor award. Also someone like Chris Trimble, Dan Davis or Mike Billotta for helping their XC team without being their #1 guy at states. People like that. Hopefully that clears things up.
For Best Animated Feature, when I say Underclassmen I mean like Freshman and Sophomore so sorry for any confusion. Juniors don't count for this award.
Also the voting time period starts from around Indoor States last year in 2011 (Endress, Gilmore, Abington the big winners) until right now and up until February 1st, so just keep that in mind when you are nominating and such.
Also you can nominate as many people as you want for each category and as long as I feel it fits the category properly your nomination will appear on the official ballets which will be produced sooner rather than later. I still need a lot of help in a lot of categories, especially female nominations, so keep the nominations coming!
One last thing, to give you an idea of which kind of runners would be good to nominate for each category, I will list off last years winners for you. You can also check my old posts from last February to see a full list of nominees for each category.
2011 Oscar Winners
Best Art Direction (Winner: Lehigh)
Best Documentary Feature (Winner: Runthrowjump)
Best Film Editing (Winner: Lindsey Rheiner)
Best Supporting Actress (Winner: Jenny Guidera)
Best Animated Feature (Winner: Drew Magaha)
Best Visual Effects (Winner: Brady Gehret)
Best Make-Up (Winner: North Hills)
Best Costume Design (Winner: Henderson)
Best Original Song (Winner: “Not Afraid”)
Best Sound Editing (Winner: Wade Endress)
Best Supporting Actor (Winner: Juris Silenieks)
Best Foreign Film (Winner: Verzbicas)
Best Cinematography (Winner: Penn Relays)
Best Adapted Screen Play (Winner: Sam Ellison)
Best Original Screen Play (Winner: North Hills Trio)
Best Director (Winner: Henderson)
Best Actress (Winner: Angel Piccirillo)
Best Actor (Winner: Tom Mallon)
Best Picture (Winner: Outdoor Girls 3200m)
2012 Penntrack Oscars
Appearently yesterday I made my 200th ever post on the blog? Wow, um, not exactly sure how I missed an opportunity to make a big deal out of a little thing (it's kind of my speciality) but I did.
I got to thinking, geez I made a lot of posts over the past few months and I have had a lot of varied success, but the two points where I think the blog was most successful and most talked about were this past cross country season and the time when I tried to implement the penntrack oscars.
So the Oscars, overall, didn't turn out to be too much of a success, I made a couple videos to promote it, an interview video and a rap video about the state of Pennsylvania and such which was fun and I think hopefully we got a few laughs out of them, but in the end the oscars didn't really work out. I didn't put together quite the show I was hoping for, but hey, you win some, you lose some.
This year I have hopes again, for at least an improvement from last year. If requested, I can make another rap song updated to be a bit more relevant to the newer fans of the blog and newer followers of state events, and of course we have to have voting and determine this years Oscar winners! Yay!
Yeah, so maybe I am the only one enthusiastic about this, but I don't really mind. Here's the deal, I need some nominations for the categories for this upcoming Oscars. Remember Oscar season goes from Indoor States last year, to approximately Febuary 1st of this year 2012. That gives you a lot of seasons to choose from for nominees. In fact, most of the nominees will probably be guys who graduated already from high school. But don't let me influence you too much. Here are the categories:
Best Actor in a Leading Role (AKA Male Runner of the Year PA High School)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (AKA Best #2 Runner of PA High School)
Best Actress in a Leading Role (AKA Female Runner of the Year PA HS)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (AKA Best #2 Runner of PA High School)
Best Adapted Screen Play (AKA Best Breakout Performance)
Best Animated Feature (AKA Best Performance by an Underclassman)
Best Art Direction (AKA Best Cross Country Course of the Year)
Best Cinematography (AKA Best Track Meet of the Year)
Best Costume Design (AKA Coolest Uniforms of the Year)
Best Director (AKA Coach of the Year)
Best Documentary Feature (AKA Best New Penntrack Poster)
Best Film Editing (AKA Best Upset of the Year)
Best Foreign Language Film (AKA Best High School Race Outside of PA)
Best Make-Up (AKA Best Team of the Year)
Best Original Screenplay (AKA Best Storyline of the Year)
Best Original Song (AKA Best Song to Run to of the Year)
Best Picture (AKA Best Race of the Year)
Best Visual Effects (AKA Most Exciting Runner of the Year)
Best Sound Editing (AKA Best Interview of the Year)
I got to thinking, geez I made a lot of posts over the past few months and I have had a lot of varied success, but the two points where I think the blog was most successful and most talked about were this past cross country season and the time when I tried to implement the penntrack oscars.
So the Oscars, overall, didn't turn out to be too much of a success, I made a couple videos to promote it, an interview video and a rap video about the state of Pennsylvania and such which was fun and I think hopefully we got a few laughs out of them, but in the end the oscars didn't really work out. I didn't put together quite the show I was hoping for, but hey, you win some, you lose some.
This year I have hopes again, for at least an improvement from last year. If requested, I can make another rap song updated to be a bit more relevant to the newer fans of the blog and newer followers of state events, and of course we have to have voting and determine this years Oscar winners! Yay!
Yeah, so maybe I am the only one enthusiastic about this, but I don't really mind. Here's the deal, I need some nominations for the categories for this upcoming Oscars. Remember Oscar season goes from Indoor States last year, to approximately Febuary 1st of this year 2012. That gives you a lot of seasons to choose from for nominees. In fact, most of the nominees will probably be guys who graduated already from high school. But don't let me influence you too much. Here are the categories:
Best Actor in a Leading Role (AKA Male Runner of the Year PA High School)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (AKA Best #2 Runner of PA High School)
Best Actress in a Leading Role (AKA Female Runner of the Year PA HS)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (AKA Best #2 Runner of PA High School)
Best Adapted Screen Play (AKA Best Breakout Performance)
Best Animated Feature (AKA Best Performance by an Underclassman)
Best Art Direction (AKA Best Cross Country Course of the Year)
Best Cinematography (AKA Best Track Meet of the Year)
Best Costume Design (AKA Coolest Uniforms of the Year)
Best Director (AKA Coach of the Year)
Best Documentary Feature (AKA Best New Penntrack Poster)
Best Film Editing (AKA Best Upset of the Year)
Best Foreign Language Film (AKA Best High School Race Outside of PA)
Best Make-Up (AKA Best Team of the Year)
Best Original Screenplay (AKA Best Storyline of the Year)
Best Original Song (AKA Best Song to Run to of the Year)
Best Picture (AKA Best Race of the Year)
Best Visual Effects (AKA Most Exciting Runner of the Year)
Best Sound Editing (AKA Best Interview of the Year)
Workouts
So today was my first real workout back! Yay! Naturally of course I forgot that I can't eat the lunch of a prized farm pig and had 5 bowls of cereal, a bagel with half peanut butter, half cream cheese, and then a nice ice cream cone 2 hours out from my workout. Please, hold your applause. So obviously I was heading down a bad road. I puked after the workout, but not like a lot, just a tiny bit. Which sucks. If I had puked my brains out at least I would get it out of my system and feel better, but no, I had to run 15 minutes with the constant feeling of sickness.
And I loved every second of it.
I live for workouts. I occasionally enjoy the nice 12 mile long run but most of the time, I get bored, feel tired and crappy, and I have limited motivation. I like just getting on the track and doing something fast. Or sort of fast at the very least.
So, since I am once again desperate for any sort of post ideas I can get while I try and continue my posting streak, I figured I'd drop a little info on you about some of my favorite workouts I've done.
Now I will only reveal my favorite high school workouts because you never know with my college coach if he would appreciate me revealing all my training secrets (which isn't much I'll tell you that, but jut to be safe ....)
My favorite workouts are ones where you can just run fast. I like 200s in like 30s and then maybe dip down on the last couple. I'm not going to have sick workout times so don't judge the times, the fastest I have ever got down to in a 200 workout was a 25 and I was all out.
I like doing just straight 300s, like a bunch of them at a fairly controlled pace, 100m walk rest and then just do it again. I don't know why but 300s just don't seem too bad and I think they are kinda fun.
Another cool workout we did was 500s with a lift the last 100m straight away. It was an interesting workout, and any time I have an excuse to finish hard the last straightaway I jump on it. I always try to finish right with the guys in my group if we are all working together and hitting pace, because honestly I dislike pace pushers a lot, but if we are all going hard the final straightaway it's much more fun.
Now it's time for the last 2 workouts I want to talk about. The first one is what our coach called a mile simulation workout. Here's what it is (might be a little off on the rest):
800m, 2 minute rest
400m, 1 minute rest
200m, 30 seconds rest
200m
10 minutes
Do it all over again
You add up what you run for each part which will total 1600m of running. After each set you will have a total time for 1600m. You average the 2 sets together and get a 1600m time which will approximately equal the time you could run for 1600m in an ideal race condition with ideal competition.
It's a tough workout but satisfying afterwards.
The other workout is a 2x12x400m. You makes teams of two that you expect to be possibly even. Each runner runs 12 400s. The rest for each runner in between their 400s is his/her teammate's 400m. So basically the two of you alternate for 24 laps, and race each other team. It was a fun experience and we got dressed up and everything.
So yeah, workouts rock.
-train
And I loved every second of it.
I live for workouts. I occasionally enjoy the nice 12 mile long run but most of the time, I get bored, feel tired and crappy, and I have limited motivation. I like just getting on the track and doing something fast. Or sort of fast at the very least.
So, since I am once again desperate for any sort of post ideas I can get while I try and continue my posting streak, I figured I'd drop a little info on you about some of my favorite workouts I've done.
Now I will only reveal my favorite high school workouts because you never know with my college coach if he would appreciate me revealing all my training secrets (which isn't much I'll tell you that, but jut to be safe ....)
My favorite workouts are ones where you can just run fast. I like 200s in like 30s and then maybe dip down on the last couple. I'm not going to have sick workout times so don't judge the times, the fastest I have ever got down to in a 200 workout was a 25 and I was all out.
I like doing just straight 300s, like a bunch of them at a fairly controlled pace, 100m walk rest and then just do it again. I don't know why but 300s just don't seem too bad and I think they are kinda fun.
Another cool workout we did was 500s with a lift the last 100m straight away. It was an interesting workout, and any time I have an excuse to finish hard the last straightaway I jump on it. I always try to finish right with the guys in my group if we are all working together and hitting pace, because honestly I dislike pace pushers a lot, but if we are all going hard the final straightaway it's much more fun.
Now it's time for the last 2 workouts I want to talk about. The first one is what our coach called a mile simulation workout. Here's what it is (might be a little off on the rest):
800m, 2 minute rest
400m, 1 minute rest
200m, 30 seconds rest
200m
10 minutes
Do it all over again
You add up what you run for each part which will total 1600m of running. After each set you will have a total time for 1600m. You average the 2 sets together and get a 1600m time which will approximately equal the time you could run for 1600m in an ideal race condition with ideal competition.
It's a tough workout but satisfying afterwards.
The other workout is a 2x12x400m. You makes teams of two that you expect to be possibly even. Each runner runs 12 400s. The rest for each runner in between their 400s is his/her teammate's 400m. So basically the two of you alternate for 24 laps, and race each other team. It was a fun experience and we got dressed up and everything.
So yeah, workouts rock.
-train
Weekend Action
Well there was a lot that went down, a #2 AT 200m out in Arkansas 20.99 and Ed Cheserek running 8:43.17 in the 2 Mile all by himself out front in an all high school race. But these two guys don't run for PA! So let's highlight some weekend action.
Let's start in Division 1. Nice 800 for Joe Logue, the sophomore who got some nice hype a year ago as part of that 7:51ish relay a year ago, and he has helped Pennridge to a very nice relay time this year indoors, around 8:15. Solid run for Kyle Franics, maybe some potential for a 4x8 in Bensalem? We will see what Rivera gets up to in the coming weeks.
Nice to see Sam Hibbs look like his is coming back, very nice mile race with a state qualifying time. He could probably run a pretty solid 3k right now. Maybe around state qualifying time, which not many people can say.
Ferruzzi in the 3k ran pretty solid, 9:09, winning by 21 seconds over the rest of the field. There are a lot of guys who in the upcoming weeks will give a solid chase to the state standard.
How about CB West in the DMR? They ran a 10:57 (not very far away from those Great Valley kids who I talk about all the time) without Chris Berry who was their best guy in XC and a solid 3k/miler and while simultaneously running an 8:35 4x8. Maybe some potential for another good relay for CB West with somebody like Nico Metzler helping lead the relay.
On to Division 2.
Strath Haven's Jack Huemmler continues to roll, solid win in the 800, nothing really fast, but solid for a flat track and spikes. Based on that mile at the Armory and the 4x8 Strath Haven ran this kinda race is no surprise.
Magaha a nice win, but nothing really impressive about that kind of time, especially considering he probably had competition. Very nice race from Unionville's Yannocane who is heading to states for the second straight track season. Magaha may have played with his food before he ate it, but I just think Magaha has a tough tim edropping too fast of a solo mile effort. Like most runners he needs competition to reach his full potential and I think Ned has seen that competition and Drew has not quite yet.
I just want to throw this out there, I didn't really see any results that showed me how Penncrest ran an 8:02 at this meet, so I am excited to see what develops in the upcoming weeks, because that 8:02 is very fast and the potential is great.
As for the anticipated DMR, Holy Ghost Prep pulled out the big 3 second win over one of the preseason favorites for the DMR title Great Valley. Not sure exactly what happened, but neither team ran very fast at all. HG Prep has a 10:33 to their name and Great Valley has some solid legs from a great XC team and a 4:15 miler on the anchor. Neither team was even under 10:50? Surprising. I would be interested to know splits and how this race played out, but overall a pretty disappointing sign for these two relays, and a great sign for teams like LaSalle, North Penn and Strath Haven assuming they are all thinking DMR at states.
-train
Let's start in Division 1. Nice 800 for Joe Logue, the sophomore who got some nice hype a year ago as part of that 7:51ish relay a year ago, and he has helped Pennridge to a very nice relay time this year indoors, around 8:15. Solid run for Kyle Franics, maybe some potential for a 4x8 in Bensalem? We will see what Rivera gets up to in the coming weeks.
Nice to see Sam Hibbs look like his is coming back, very nice mile race with a state qualifying time. He could probably run a pretty solid 3k right now. Maybe around state qualifying time, which not many people can say.
Ferruzzi in the 3k ran pretty solid, 9:09, winning by 21 seconds over the rest of the field. There are a lot of guys who in the upcoming weeks will give a solid chase to the state standard.
How about CB West in the DMR? They ran a 10:57 (not very far away from those Great Valley kids who I talk about all the time) without Chris Berry who was their best guy in XC and a solid 3k/miler and while simultaneously running an 8:35 4x8. Maybe some potential for another good relay for CB West with somebody like Nico Metzler helping lead the relay.
On to Division 2.
Strath Haven's Jack Huemmler continues to roll, solid win in the 800, nothing really fast, but solid for a flat track and spikes. Based on that mile at the Armory and the 4x8 Strath Haven ran this kinda race is no surprise.
Magaha a nice win, but nothing really impressive about that kind of time, especially considering he probably had competition. Very nice race from Unionville's Yannocane who is heading to states for the second straight track season. Magaha may have played with his food before he ate it, but I just think Magaha has a tough tim edropping too fast of a solo mile effort. Like most runners he needs competition to reach his full potential and I think Ned has seen that competition and Drew has not quite yet.
I just want to throw this out there, I didn't really see any results that showed me how Penncrest ran an 8:02 at this meet, so I am excited to see what develops in the upcoming weeks, because that 8:02 is very fast and the potential is great.
As for the anticipated DMR, Holy Ghost Prep pulled out the big 3 second win over one of the preseason favorites for the DMR title Great Valley. Not sure exactly what happened, but neither team ran very fast at all. HG Prep has a 10:33 to their name and Great Valley has some solid legs from a great XC team and a 4:15 miler on the anchor. Neither team was even under 10:50? Surprising. I would be interested to know splits and how this race played out, but overall a pretty disappointing sign for these two relays, and a great sign for teams like LaSalle, North Penn and Strath Haven assuming they are all thinking DMR at states.
-train
TFRRS
So if you are a fan of college track and field and scrambling for results from some of your favorite PA alumni, one of the best places to go for information is www.tfrrs.org. It's got a huge results network that you can look through to see who is doing what, and it usually lists the names of each runner on every relay that has been run so that is pretty sweet as well. I went on there today looking for an idea for a blog post and I decided, since I don't have any ideas for a blog post, I'll just list off some names of guys you hopefully recognize as PA alumni and tell you what they have been up to. Sweet.
200m:
Aaron Nadolsky, Penn St (Altoona) D1 #11 21.59
Matt Gilmore, Penn St (Cheltenham) D1 #16 21.68
Jermaine Lowery, Pittsburgh (Father Judge) D1 #38 21.93
Christian Lupica, Bucknell (Holy Ghost Prep I think) D1 #48 22.07
400m:
Brandon Baily, Kent State (Penn Hills) D1 #9 47.79
Stever Warner, Rutgers (O'Hara) D1 #13 48.11
Tom Hopkins, Princeton (The Haverford School for Boys) D1 #25 48.58
Chidi Okezie, Hampton (New Media) D1 #26 48.66
Hansel Akers, Georgetown (Hempfield) D1 #27 48.92
Tyler Gallen, St. Joe's (O'Hara) D1 #42 49.27
800m:
Alex Zubey, Air Force (Tamaqua) 1:53.64 D1 #21
Sam Negley, Pittsburgh (Plymouth Whitemarsh) D1 #25 1:53.88
Dorian Rumble, Robert Morris (Penn Hills) D1# 30 1:54.31
Matt McGarvey, St. Joe's (CB West) D1 #38 1:54.61
1 Mile:
Alex Zubey, Air Force (Tamaqua) 4:11.80 D1 #19
Paul Reilly, LaSalle (Upper Dublin) 4:13.18 D1 #31
Logan Mohn, St. Joe's (Governor Mifflin) 4:14.30 D1 #41
3000m:
Brad Hough, Akron (West Allegheny) 8:28.75 D1 #35
5000m:
Jacob Kildoo, William and Mary (Grove City) D1 #13 14:38.02
DJ Krystek, Bucknell (Gateway) D1 #33 15:04.38
200m:
Aaron Nadolsky, Penn St (Altoona) D1 #11 21.59
Matt Gilmore, Penn St (Cheltenham) D1 #16 21.68
Jermaine Lowery, Pittsburgh (Father Judge) D1 #38 21.93
Christian Lupica, Bucknell (Holy Ghost Prep I think) D1 #48 22.07
400m:
Brandon Baily, Kent State (Penn Hills) D1 #9 47.79
Stever Warner, Rutgers (O'Hara) D1 #13 48.11
Tom Hopkins, Princeton (The Haverford School for Boys) D1 #25 48.58
Chidi Okezie, Hampton (New Media) D1 #26 48.66
Hansel Akers, Georgetown (Hempfield) D1 #27 48.92
Tyler Gallen, St. Joe's (O'Hara) D1 #42 49.27
800m:
Alex Zubey, Air Force (Tamaqua) 1:53.64 D1 #21
Sam Negley, Pittsburgh (Plymouth Whitemarsh) D1 #25 1:53.88
Dorian Rumble, Robert Morris (Penn Hills) D1# 30 1:54.31
Matt McGarvey, St. Joe's (CB West) D1 #38 1:54.61
1 Mile:
Alex Zubey, Air Force (Tamaqua) 4:11.80 D1 #19
Paul Reilly, LaSalle (Upper Dublin) 4:13.18 D1 #31
Logan Mohn, St. Joe's (Governor Mifflin) 4:14.30 D1 #41
3000m:
Brad Hough, Akron (West Allegheny) 8:28.75 D1 #35
5000m:
Jacob Kildoo, William and Mary (Grove City) D1 #13 14:38.02
DJ Krystek, Bucknell (Gateway) D1 #33 15:04.38
Friday the 13th
Well it's Friday the 13th and I'm already feeling a tad unlucky. First of all I'm not racing today at my team's first meet because of my recent sickness so I'm a little down about that. Second my sleep cycle is kind of thrown off because I stayed up a little later than intended to last night (4:15ish). And probably the worst thing is that I have no idea what to make a blog post about today.
I'll try my best here to make a halfway interesting post. Continuing with the theme of "Friday the 13th", let's look back at some guys who have been quite unlucky. BUT because I don't think it's fun to be negative, let's find guys whose unlucky fate was quickly changed into a great fate.
We look at guys like Quinn Devlin, Sam Hibbs, maybe more, guys who have been banged up or struggling to hit the big expectations that have been set on their shoulders, and show everyone that there is always still hope for a glorious return.
How about Matt Fischer? Huge injury at the end of spring for the 4:20ish miler. Looks like he is going to miss XC and ruin his chances at a big spring to follow up his break out season of a year before. But Matt got to states in XC just barely by the skin of his teeth, and followed it up with an impressive run to 24th place. Then Fischer went into spring track without the same XC base as many of the other 2 milers, even teammate Glenn Burkhardt, who bested him at the District Championships. But at states Fischer pulled off the big upset over lots of Footlocker Qualifiers and big names to win the state championship in the 2 mile in 9:03.
How about Glenn Burkhardt? The very next year the Unionville stud missed almost all of XC and all of indoors. Despite missing all this training, Burkhardt still stepped onto the track in the spring and pulled out big wins at districts and then states, again upsetting a footlocker finalist and plenty of big names with nice indoor and outdoor resumes.
How about Ryan Gil? Gil broke his toe in XC and missed time as North Allegheny's #1 man (a team that was a state title contender with him in the line up). When he finally came back he struggled at the District Championships, getting beat by the North Hills monster. But when Gil got to states he turned up the clutch meter and surprised 2 future Footlocker Finalists and one NXN finalist with a great run to the title.
How about Ben Furcht? After being a dominating force all XC season, a boxing start at the state championships caused Furcht to fade hard over the last mile and he fell to 11th. But Furcht had the last laughh when he ran hard to a 10th place footlocker finish and a trip to Nationals.
How about Dustin Wilson? Dustin Wilson, one of the top seeds in both the 3k and the mile last indoor season, passes on both to try and help his DMR get a state medal, unfortunately they did not quite get there. Ultimately though Wilson had the last laugh, winning his heat of the 2 mile at New Balance Indoor Nationals and anchoring his DMR to a huge time and a win in their heat with a super final leg. Also the DMR went on to run very fast at outdoor nationals.
Happy Friday the 13th
-train
I'll try my best here to make a halfway interesting post. Continuing with the theme of "Friday the 13th", let's look back at some guys who have been quite unlucky. BUT because I don't think it's fun to be negative, let's find guys whose unlucky fate was quickly changed into a great fate.
We look at guys like Quinn Devlin, Sam Hibbs, maybe more, guys who have been banged up or struggling to hit the big expectations that have been set on their shoulders, and show everyone that there is always still hope for a glorious return.
How about Matt Fischer? Huge injury at the end of spring for the 4:20ish miler. Looks like he is going to miss XC and ruin his chances at a big spring to follow up his break out season of a year before. But Matt got to states in XC just barely by the skin of his teeth, and followed it up with an impressive run to 24th place. Then Fischer went into spring track without the same XC base as many of the other 2 milers, even teammate Glenn Burkhardt, who bested him at the District Championships. But at states Fischer pulled off the big upset over lots of Footlocker Qualifiers and big names to win the state championship in the 2 mile in 9:03.
How about Glenn Burkhardt? The very next year the Unionville stud missed almost all of XC and all of indoors. Despite missing all this training, Burkhardt still stepped onto the track in the spring and pulled out big wins at districts and then states, again upsetting a footlocker finalist and plenty of big names with nice indoor and outdoor resumes.
How about Ryan Gil? Gil broke his toe in XC and missed time as North Allegheny's #1 man (a team that was a state title contender with him in the line up). When he finally came back he struggled at the District Championships, getting beat by the North Hills monster. But when Gil got to states he turned up the clutch meter and surprised 2 future Footlocker Finalists and one NXN finalist with a great run to the title.
How about Ben Furcht? After being a dominating force all XC season, a boxing start at the state championships caused Furcht to fade hard over the last mile and he fell to 11th. But Furcht had the last laughh when he ran hard to a 10th place footlocker finish and a trip to Nationals.
How about Dustin Wilson? Dustin Wilson, one of the top seeds in both the 3k and the mile last indoor season, passes on both to try and help his DMR get a state medal, unfortunately they did not quite get there. Ultimately though Wilson had the last laugh, winning his heat of the 2 mile at New Balance Indoor Nationals and anchoring his DMR to a huge time and a win in their heat with a super final leg. Also the DMR went on to run very fast at outdoor nationals.
Happy Friday the 13th
-train
Tebow Time
I'm rooting for Tim this weekend. I have been rooting for him ever since he became the starter in Denver. Yes, I am a huge bandwagon fan, but hey I don't really care. He's a unique story and he has his very own hour dedicated to him on sportscenter right now. That just screams superstar.
Now naturally, as I watch this sportscenter and see the Tebowmania I thought, hmmm, are there any runners who are like Tim Tebow? Anybody who came out and surprised everyone with last second heroics? Anyone who was a huge underdog who pulled out the victory? Anyone who doesn't have much talent at all but pulls out wins anyway?
Well the first guy I could think of was Matt Withrow, a huge upset against Galen Rupp and Shadrack Kiptoo highlighted an unreal run to the Footlocker National Title. He didn't have the talent or the genes or the great footspeed, but he had the guts and the balls to burst forth at the end of the race and take the victory. Now he's got a poster named after him: "Ballerness". If you haven't seen it, you should see it, it has laptop background written all over it.
But it is tough to think of a Tim Tebow esque player, because it is very hard to come from nowhere to win at states. Jason Weller was clutch and pulled off two big upsets over a guy with all the numbers on his side, Paul Springer, sub 4:10 PR, state record in the 2 mile. But Weller managed to outkick the guy at Outdoor States his senior year and pulled out a clutch win.
Weller, however, was a 3 time XC state medalist, 14:54 5k PR for him, and he was the reigning cross country state champion. So not quite Tebow in my opinion.
How about Conner Quinn? Kind of Tebow like. Came into XC states a relative unknown, young gun. No extraordinary PRs, one state medal, finishing just 20th. His 2 mile was only a shade under 9:40 and plenty of other guys had better times, splits, and achievements that season. However, Quinn pulled out the victory without a big kick or fancy surges or race tactics. He just ran hard, believed in himself, and pulled out the victory against a lot of odds.
The truth is, its rare, very rare, to see a guy win with limited skill sets and just heart. How often is someone with just guts going to hang and outkick Magaha or Willig? How often is a distance runner going to come from nowhere to outlast Dustin Wilson in the 3k?
This has been a year of a lot of breakout performances, especially in XC: Conner Quinn, Dan Jaskowak, Dan Savage, Tom Coyle, Brendan Shearn, the list goes on ... But this track season will we see any Tim Tebow esque performances? Will we see an unpraised, under the radar LaSalle team take down a state meet record? Will we see an underappreciated Archbishop Ryan team shock the Nationals scene with a National title from the slow heat? Will a young man named Luke Lefebure come from nowhere to upset Tom Mallon in the 800?
One can only hope that this state meet, it will be Tebow time.
Now naturally, as I watch this sportscenter and see the Tebowmania I thought, hmmm, are there any runners who are like Tim Tebow? Anybody who came out and surprised everyone with last second heroics? Anyone who was a huge underdog who pulled out the victory? Anyone who doesn't have much talent at all but pulls out wins anyway?
Well the first guy I could think of was Matt Withrow, a huge upset against Galen Rupp and Shadrack Kiptoo highlighted an unreal run to the Footlocker National Title. He didn't have the talent or the genes or the great footspeed, but he had the guts and the balls to burst forth at the end of the race and take the victory. Now he's got a poster named after him: "Ballerness". If you haven't seen it, you should see it, it has laptop background written all over it.
But it is tough to think of a Tim Tebow esque player, because it is very hard to come from nowhere to win at states. Jason Weller was clutch and pulled off two big upsets over a guy with all the numbers on his side, Paul Springer, sub 4:10 PR, state record in the 2 mile. But Weller managed to outkick the guy at Outdoor States his senior year and pulled out a clutch win.
Weller, however, was a 3 time XC state medalist, 14:54 5k PR for him, and he was the reigning cross country state champion. So not quite Tebow in my opinion.
How about Conner Quinn? Kind of Tebow like. Came into XC states a relative unknown, young gun. No extraordinary PRs, one state medal, finishing just 20th. His 2 mile was only a shade under 9:40 and plenty of other guys had better times, splits, and achievements that season. However, Quinn pulled out the victory without a big kick or fancy surges or race tactics. He just ran hard, believed in himself, and pulled out the victory against a lot of odds.
The truth is, its rare, very rare, to see a guy win with limited skill sets and just heart. How often is someone with just guts going to hang and outkick Magaha or Willig? How often is a distance runner going to come from nowhere to outlast Dustin Wilson in the 3k?
This has been a year of a lot of breakout performances, especially in XC: Conner Quinn, Dan Jaskowak, Dan Savage, Tom Coyle, Brendan Shearn, the list goes on ... But this track season will we see any Tim Tebow esque performances? Will we see an unpraised, under the radar LaSalle team take down a state meet record? Will we see an underappreciated Archbishop Ryan team shock the Nationals scene with a National title from the slow heat? Will a young man named Luke Lefebure come from nowhere to upset Tom Mallon in the 800?
One can only hope that this state meet, it will be Tebow time.
Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better
First off I'd like to comment that this new background is to try and make the poll more visible, I've tried a variety of different backgrounds and believe it or not this and the original one were the best I could find. I do like pink I'm not afraid to admit it, but I don't like it enough to put it as the background of my one and only blog.
But this post is not about my new totally awesome background, it is to talk about an old Gatorade commercial. Well .... sort of. So you know that old commerical with Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan? Well basically they went back and forth and anything one did the other matched and it just got crazier and crazier as it went.
Now the logical question is what the heck does this have to do with anything? Well folks, this commercial reminds me a lot of a certain pair of runners in PA right now: Drew Magaha and Ned Willig.
For starters Ned opened the season with an unprecedentedly fast 1:55 800m. It had yours truly raving about it. And then of course Drew followed it up with a 1:54 fieldhouse record. No big deal.
Then Magaha went to the armory and had a fairly underwhelming performance in the 800, not quite living up to the high (possibly unfair) expectations that some people (like me) put on his shoulders. All the same it was a let down. Ned said, hey anything you can do, I can do, and went to Burdette to run the 3k and got hammered by an 8:48 by Dustin Wilson and ran a fairly underwhelming race of his own in 8:58. I think some thought he would be closer to Wilson and maybe would drop a faster time.
But the duo was sick of running slow. Ned dropped a 4:15 open mile to propel himself into the Millrose games. Well Drew wasn't having this, he followed up Ned's performance with a huge 1:52 high - 1:53 low split in the 4x800m to anchor is relay to gold. Very fast.
But Ned wasn't satisfied playing second fiddle, he pulled out his own big 4x800m leg, alledgedly splitting in the mid to low 1:52s as part of a sub 8:10 4x8 on a flat track. Pretty fast.
This kind of rivalry makes state action fun to watch. And honestly, it makes me really want to see these two race. Head to head in the 800 would be nice if they get a chance, but we won't see that match up at states, I'd bet a boat load.
At states in the mile with the right pace, the 2 could push each other to a state record and possibly under 4:10, one of the top times nationally. That is assuming they don't mess around and leave to much to a kick at the end. It's not even completely clear who would win in a kicker's race. Magaha can win in a short kick, but Ned may be able to pull one out if he goes earlier and leaves too much room.
Or we may get our wish a little sooner than states. Ned is going to the Millrose games and Drew may be in the autobid conversation (and if not I'm sure he can qualify, not easily, but it wouldn't be a huge problem if he goes for it and doesn't get kicked or whatever the heck happened in the 800).
Either way, this match up should prove to be one of the greatest in state history when all is said and done.
But this post is not about my new totally awesome background, it is to talk about an old Gatorade commercial. Well .... sort of. So you know that old commerical with Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan? Well basically they went back and forth and anything one did the other matched and it just got crazier and crazier as it went.
Now the logical question is what the heck does this have to do with anything? Well folks, this commercial reminds me a lot of a certain pair of runners in PA right now: Drew Magaha and Ned Willig.
For starters Ned opened the season with an unprecedentedly fast 1:55 800m. It had yours truly raving about it. And then of course Drew followed it up with a 1:54 fieldhouse record. No big deal.
Then Magaha went to the armory and had a fairly underwhelming performance in the 800, not quite living up to the high (possibly unfair) expectations that some people (like me) put on his shoulders. All the same it was a let down. Ned said, hey anything you can do, I can do, and went to Burdette to run the 3k and got hammered by an 8:48 by Dustin Wilson and ran a fairly underwhelming race of his own in 8:58. I think some thought he would be closer to Wilson and maybe would drop a faster time.
But the duo was sick of running slow. Ned dropped a 4:15 open mile to propel himself into the Millrose games. Well Drew wasn't having this, he followed up Ned's performance with a huge 1:52 high - 1:53 low split in the 4x800m to anchor is relay to gold. Very fast.
But Ned wasn't satisfied playing second fiddle, he pulled out his own big 4x800m leg, alledgedly splitting in the mid to low 1:52s as part of a sub 8:10 4x8 on a flat track. Pretty fast.
This kind of rivalry makes state action fun to watch. And honestly, it makes me really want to see these two race. Head to head in the 800 would be nice if they get a chance, but we won't see that match up at states, I'd bet a boat load.
At states in the mile with the right pace, the 2 could push each other to a state record and possibly under 4:10, one of the top times nationally. That is assuming they don't mess around and leave to much to a kick at the end. It's not even completely clear who would win in a kicker's race. Magaha can win in a short kick, but Ned may be able to pull one out if he goes earlier and leaves too much room.
Or we may get our wish a little sooner than states. Ned is going to the Millrose games and Drew may be in the autobid conversation (and if not I'm sure he can qualify, not easily, but it wouldn't be a huge problem if he goes for it and doesn't get kicked or whatever the heck happened in the 800).
Either way, this match up should prove to be one of the greatest in state history when all is said and done.
I Have A Problem
They say the first step to recovery is to admit that you have a problem. Well folks, I do. I'm going to be honest, I have a drug problem, and my drug is running. And I'm not talking about my serious obsession with stats and dates and times and all that stuff. No, no, no. That stuff doesn't give me a high. I enjoy it, but its a hobby, like collecting stamps or surfing. No, I'm talking about the actual, physical act of runningg. It is my drug. How do I know this? Well recently of course I was sick and I missed an outrageous 6 days of training. Yes, I know, how did I survive? I am lucky to be one of those few to survive the difficult withdrawl stage. I was irratable, hard to talk to, depressed, sometimes awkwardly trudging off on my own to sit in a corner and cry, and of course spending long hours playing mindsweeper on the computer until finally the urge to sleep overcame me, far later than it normal does. It was a horrible feeling.
But I was able to return to running and I got my fix again. The first day back wasn't very enjoyable, but I needed it, and I got through it. My body hurt from the transistion, it fought me as I tried to regain my former prowess on the drug. I didn't even get a high the first time back. But then the next two runs came. Boy did they feel great. I was back to my normal self. Happy, easy going, not an incredibly hormonal 16 year old girl. Yes, I was back and I am confident that I have a stash that can get me my fix until at least March.
Plus now, I get to check back into school with all my fellow users. I have races coming up in the forseeable future. It is amazing. It's hard to believe I ever dared to try and go on without it, but I overcame the dark past and now I am ready to return.
Have a good indoor season in 2012 everyone.
-train
But I was able to return to running and I got my fix again. The first day back wasn't very enjoyable, but I needed it, and I got through it. My body hurt from the transistion, it fought me as I tried to regain my former prowess on the drug. I didn't even get a high the first time back. But then the next two runs came. Boy did they feel great. I was back to my normal self. Happy, easy going, not an incredibly hormonal 16 year old girl. Yes, I was back and I am confident that I have a stash that can get me my fix until at least March.
Plus now, I get to check back into school with all my fellow users. I have races coming up in the forseeable future. It is amazing. It's hard to believe I ever dared to try and go on without it, but I overcame the dark past and now I am ready to return.
Have a good indoor season in 2012 everyone.
-train
XC State Champs: Relay Edition
So I was looking over the poll. I was a bit surprised to see LaSalle dominate the polls, obviously I like them, they have two 4:20 milers already this season and a nice 10:37 in flats. Now of course they may not even opt for the DMR, but let's assume things get interesting and everyone on the list does. This makes them a heavy favorite. Of course we have to watch for other. Other has more votes than Strath Haven and North Penn combined? The same amount of votes as Strath Haven, North Penn and PA #1 Holy Ghost Prep combined? I am not sure who this other is that everyone is voting for but please fill me in.
The biggest thing that surprises me is that North Penn has once again not gotten much preseason support. In cross country everyone was down on North Penn and heck I'll say it I gave up on them after Districts, but they are state champions. They know a little something about peaking and performing at the right time. O'Hara was the best cross country team in the state this year, no offense North Penn, and heck there were a few other teams just as good as North Penn BUT North Penn has the gold and everybody O'Hara and North Penn left with no team medals whatsoever.
So I had to start thinking, does the title of XC State Champs mean much when it comes to track? They are two very different animals, so does XC team success translate to relay success on the track?
Well here is what history tells us:
2007- Coatesville
Indoor DMR State Medalists (No Dawsons)
Penn Relays Champion DMR
All State, Sub 7:50 4x800m
2008- North Penn
Indoor State Meet Record, State Champions 4x800m
Indoor National Champions, Indoor State Record 4x800m
Runner Ups in Championship of America 4x800m
Outdoor State Champions 4x800m, Sub 7:40
2009- North Penn
Indoor State Meet Runner Up 4x800m
Penn Relays Championship of America Qualifiers 4x800m
Outdoor 4x800m 4th Place, Under 7:45
2010- Henderson
Indoor State Champion DMR
Championship of America Qualifiers 4x800m
Surprise DQ in 4x800m Trials at Districts (Returned 4 legs from a 7:42, Lefebure went on to run 1:51.0x and Kellar won the 1600m at States)
2011- North Allegheny
Indoor States DMR Finalists
2012- North Penn
???
The biggest thing that surprises me is that North Penn has once again not gotten much preseason support. In cross country everyone was down on North Penn and heck I'll say it I gave up on them after Districts, but they are state champions. They know a little something about peaking and performing at the right time. O'Hara was the best cross country team in the state this year, no offense North Penn, and heck there were a few other teams just as good as North Penn BUT North Penn has the gold and everybody O'Hara and North Penn left with no team medals whatsoever.
So I had to start thinking, does the title of XC State Champs mean much when it comes to track? They are two very different animals, so does XC team success translate to relay success on the track?
Well here is what history tells us:
2007- Coatesville
Indoor DMR State Medalists (No Dawsons)
Penn Relays Champion DMR
All State, Sub 7:50 4x800m
2008- North Penn
Indoor State Meet Record, State Champions 4x800m
Indoor National Champions, Indoor State Record 4x800m
Runner Ups in Championship of America 4x800m
Outdoor State Champions 4x800m, Sub 7:40
2009- North Penn
Indoor State Meet Runner Up 4x800m
Penn Relays Championship of America Qualifiers 4x800m
Outdoor 4x800m 4th Place, Under 7:45
2010- Henderson
Indoor State Champion DMR
Championship of America Qualifiers 4x800m
Surprise DQ in 4x800m Trials at Districts (Returned 4 legs from a 7:42, Lefebure went on to run 1:51.0x and Kellar won the 1600m at States)
2011- North Allegheny
Indoor States DMR Finalists
2012- North Penn
???
Weekend Action
Dang son, some kids got going this weekend. I'll just get down to it today, I'm not in the mood for fancy anecdotes or metaphors between me and Kanye West so here we go.
The 800
Well there it is. Great job by Haneef Hardy this weekend, he dropped a nice 1:55 in the 800 which we knew he was capable of. Horgan was solid with his 1:56 high, normally this time of year thats a top 3 800 time no doubt BUT Magha and Willig have altered things for sure and Hardy is no joke. Brad Rivera getting back into shape. A nice little 2 flat. He has a 1:53 PR so watch out he could take off in the coming weeks. Solid race for Billy Wolffe, good sign for the Great Valley DMR. Quitely on a flat track Jack Felt ran a solid win over Brett Kelly, nice race for him, hopefully some more pieces emerge in CRNorthville for a relay. Oh yeah did I mention he beat Brett Kelly by almost 3 seconds? No small accomplishment. Nice win for Kunzweiler, hopefully the times will follow.
On to the Mile
So for starters Ned, great job, you got the big win, going to the Millrose Games and hopefully will mix it up for the win there which is very exciting. BUT remember when Tom Kehl won his Millrose qualifier over Tom Mallon and Rosa and company in 4:13 but then come states the guy with the monsterous kick won out? Well, yeah I'm hoping Ned isn't in the same boat, but Drew looks good (we will get to him). I'm hoping their race (whenever it happens) sets the duo up for a push for the state record. In other news nice miles by Chris Pastore and Connor Harriman for the W at the association meet. Nice win for Replogle. Tough luck for the reigning XC state champ Conner Quinn. He never was a really top track guy but he has plenty of time to get back. Avery Scripture, props to him, looking like a deep sleeper pick come states time. And of course I can't avoid the magic down in Strath Haven. Huemmler drops the 4:25 and Seelaus a nice 4:32 (he has an indoor PR around 4:26 or so) so they have two very nice legs for their DMR. Huemmler may end up swapping with Seelaus if he keeps up races like this one.
The 3k
Nice race for Savage, Pitone ran faster, but Savage won by much more. He should be good this year, I'm not sure how fast he will run but he is a big name now after states and eyes will be on him. Looks like the 3k a little out of Brooks' range. Kuchta 9:43 for 3200, solid first race, not quite states time but a top 10 in the state kinda time for 3k and Israel runs 9:42 for a full two miles which puts him right around states time. He will just miss it too but a very solid race for Israel who continues to be a name to watch this seson. Cole Nissley and Mountain get some solid wins, hopefully faster times will come.
The Relays
Upper Moreland ran somewhere in the 8:20s. Eh. Well Magaha appearently split in the high 1:52s. Wow. That's fast stuff for Drew, hopefully a good sign of things to come. Is he going to have any shot at an auto bid to Millrose? I hope so, I'd like to see him race Ned head to head for once. 8:02's in the 4x8 this weekend, very nice. Strath Haven 8:02 and Penncrest? Wow. Penncrest running 8:02? Where did that come from. Great run by those guys and a bit of a shocker against Strath Haven. Both times are nice and quick. How about LaSalle? 10:37? Very quick DMR, I think Coyle was in the 4:20s. Dustin Wilson doing some chasing for CHA he must have also been in the 4:20s at least for that squad. Henderson runs 10:50 for the DMR as well at Glenn Mills. Not a fast track, but a fast time for sure. Nice carry by them. Pennridge in the 8:15 range. Very solid relay that would have been tops in the state if not for the madness at the Armory.
And of course Pennwood 3:21 in the 4x4. Dang. The state record is 3:16 now because of those kids from Abington. It's a tough goal but it can be done the way Pennwood has been running this season. A lot of guys ran other races before the 4x4 so far from a fresh group running 3:21. Who knows.
The 800
Well there it is. Great job by Haneef Hardy this weekend, he dropped a nice 1:55 in the 800 which we knew he was capable of. Horgan was solid with his 1:56 high, normally this time of year thats a top 3 800 time no doubt BUT Magha and Willig have altered things for sure and Hardy is no joke. Brad Rivera getting back into shape. A nice little 2 flat. He has a 1:53 PR so watch out he could take off in the coming weeks. Solid race for Billy Wolffe, good sign for the Great Valley DMR. Quitely on a flat track Jack Felt ran a solid win over Brett Kelly, nice race for him, hopefully some more pieces emerge in CRNorthville for a relay. Oh yeah did I mention he beat Brett Kelly by almost 3 seconds? No small accomplishment. Nice win for Kunzweiler, hopefully the times will follow.
On to the Mile
So for starters Ned, great job, you got the big win, going to the Millrose Games and hopefully will mix it up for the win there which is very exciting. BUT remember when Tom Kehl won his Millrose qualifier over Tom Mallon and Rosa and company in 4:13 but then come states the guy with the monsterous kick won out? Well, yeah I'm hoping Ned isn't in the same boat, but Drew looks good (we will get to him). I'm hoping their race (whenever it happens) sets the duo up for a push for the state record. In other news nice miles by Chris Pastore and Connor Harriman for the W at the association meet. Nice win for Replogle. Tough luck for the reigning XC state champ Conner Quinn. He never was a really top track guy but he has plenty of time to get back. Avery Scripture, props to him, looking like a deep sleeper pick come states time. And of course I can't avoid the magic down in Strath Haven. Huemmler drops the 4:25 and Seelaus a nice 4:32 (he has an indoor PR around 4:26 or so) so they have two very nice legs for their DMR. Huemmler may end up swapping with Seelaus if he keeps up races like this one.
The 3k
Nice race for Savage, Pitone ran faster, but Savage won by much more. He should be good this year, I'm not sure how fast he will run but he is a big name now after states and eyes will be on him. Looks like the 3k a little out of Brooks' range. Kuchta 9:43 for 3200, solid first race, not quite states time but a top 10 in the state kinda time for 3k and Israel runs 9:42 for a full two miles which puts him right around states time. He will just miss it too but a very solid race for Israel who continues to be a name to watch this seson. Cole Nissley and Mountain get some solid wins, hopefully faster times will come.
The Relays
Upper Moreland ran somewhere in the 8:20s. Eh. Well Magaha appearently split in the high 1:52s. Wow. That's fast stuff for Drew, hopefully a good sign of things to come. Is he going to have any shot at an auto bid to Millrose? I hope so, I'd like to see him race Ned head to head for once. 8:02's in the 4x8 this weekend, very nice. Strath Haven 8:02 and Penncrest? Wow. Penncrest running 8:02? Where did that come from. Great run by those guys and a bit of a shocker against Strath Haven. Both times are nice and quick. How about LaSalle? 10:37? Very quick DMR, I think Coyle was in the 4:20s. Dustin Wilson doing some chasing for CHA he must have also been in the 4:20s at least for that squad. Henderson runs 10:50 for the DMR as well at Glenn Mills. Not a fast track, but a fast time for sure. Nice carry by them. Pennridge in the 8:15 range. Very solid relay that would have been tops in the state if not for the madness at the Armory.
And of course Pennwood 3:21 in the 4x4. Dang. The state record is 3:16 now because of those kids from Abington. It's a tough goal but it can be done the way Pennwood has been running this season. A lot of guys ran other races before the 4x4 so far from a fresh group running 3:21. Who knows.
State Memories
2005- Freshman Khaliff Featherstone wins 400m state title 48.98, also finishes 3rd in the 200, 1st in the 4x2 and first in the 4x4
2005- The lap to go bell goes off a lap early, Sean Doyle avoids stopping early and takes gold
2005- Jake Walker breaks Dan Coval’s 3k Indoor Record running 8:36.83 vs. 8:37.61
2006- Aaron Kauffman wins the 800 from the slow heat
2006- Craig Miller (and Jake Walker) crush Jake Walker’s 8:36.83 state record (8:22.65, 8:30.35)
2007- The DMR debuts with Chris Ferry (4:19) holding off Crits (4:16) and Kaulbach (4:19)
2007- A fall in the fast heat of the 400 opens the door for Austin Perron in 49.60
2007- Paul Springer beats rival Jason Weller and sets a state meet record 4:12.61 (final 1200 in 3:06)
2007- Weller on the double makes a close push for the 3k record, 8:26.21
2007- Steward splits 47.9 to carry Cumberland Valley to the 4x4 state title
2008- Kaulbach moves down and stuns Nick Crits 4:15-4:17
2008- North Penn has 3 individuals take 2-5-6 all under 1:56, then run state meet record 7:48.99
2008- Austin Perron on bad leg outkicks North Penn for 4x4 state gold
2008- Dan Lowry takes off and runs 4:12 anchor leg to seal state meet record 10:15.89 DMR
2009- Tom Mallon stuns Palmisano with a state record 1:51.79 (then #11 AT and #2 for Juniors), then huge anchor leg for near meet record 4x8 7:49.01
2009- Bobby Micikas outkicks Ben Furcht who did the work out front
2010- Tom Mallon outkicks Tom Kehl in a miler thriller
2010- Brady Gehret runs to near records in the 4 and 2 in front of the home crowd
2010- Endress on the double from the Mile comes within .03 on nipping Kellar for the DMR title
2010- Mallon is stunned by the slow heat winner Luke Lefebure who steals the state title
2011- Wade Endress pulls off a crazy mile-800 double with two big kicks and a state record in the 8
2011- Matt Gilmore, hobbled by injuries wins the 2-4-4x2 and nearly the 4x4
2011- Abington, who had the state record in the 4x4 and 8x8 is stunned as CB West wins gold in a new state record time in the 4x8
2011- Abington avenges their 4x8 loss holding off Cheltenham in a crucial 4x4 win that sealed the team title
2005- The lap to go bell goes off a lap early, Sean Doyle avoids stopping early and takes gold
2005- Jake Walker breaks Dan Coval’s 3k Indoor Record running 8:36.83 vs. 8:37.61
2006- Aaron Kauffman wins the 800 from the slow heat
2006- Craig Miller (and Jake Walker) crush Jake Walker’s 8:36.83 state record (8:22.65, 8:30.35)
2007- The DMR debuts with Chris Ferry (4:19) holding off Crits (4:16) and Kaulbach (4:19)
2007- A fall in the fast heat of the 400 opens the door for Austin Perron in 49.60
2007- Paul Springer beats rival Jason Weller and sets a state meet record 4:12.61 (final 1200 in 3:06)
2007- Weller on the double makes a close push for the 3k record, 8:26.21
2007- Steward splits 47.9 to carry Cumberland Valley to the 4x4 state title
2008- Kaulbach moves down and stuns Nick Crits 4:15-4:17
2008- North Penn has 3 individuals take 2-5-6 all under 1:56, then run state meet record 7:48.99
2008- Austin Perron on bad leg outkicks North Penn for 4x4 state gold
2008- Dan Lowry takes off and runs 4:12 anchor leg to seal state meet record 10:15.89 DMR
2009- Tom Mallon stuns Palmisano with a state record 1:51.79 (then #11 AT and #2 for Juniors), then huge anchor leg for near meet record 4x8 7:49.01
2009- Bobby Micikas outkicks Ben Furcht who did the work out front
2010- Tom Mallon outkicks Tom Kehl in a miler thriller
2010- Brady Gehret runs to near records in the 4 and 2 in front of the home crowd
2010- Endress on the double from the Mile comes within .03 on nipping Kellar for the DMR title
2010- Mallon is stunned by the slow heat winner Luke Lefebure who steals the state title
2011- Wade Endress pulls off a crazy mile-800 double with two big kicks and a state record in the 8
2011- Matt Gilmore, hobbled by injuries wins the 2-4-4x2 and nearly the 4x4
2011- Abington, who had the state record in the 4x4 and 8x8 is stunned as CB West wins gold in a new state record time in the 4x8
2011- Abington avenges their 4x8 loss holding off Cheltenham in a crucial 4x4 win that sealed the team title
The DMR
By far one of the coolest things about Indoor States is the fact that it features the DMR. You almost never see it outdoors besides Penn Relays (and honestly that's kind of early to have your squad peak for) and outdoor nationals (and honestly that's kind of late to have your squad peak for). Indoor's the DMR is raced all the time, the splits for a 1200 start to actually make relative sense in your head, and heck it is a really fun race to watch if you are a distance fan.
And this year the field looks stacked, the 4x8 looks .... not.
But believe it or not the DMR hasn't always been around at the PTFCA State Championships. In fact it was fairly recently brought back to the promise land in 2007. Now this abbreviated history makes it very easy for a man like me who loves stats almost as much as a creamcheese and cheese sandwhich to lay down a nice little bit of analysis for all of you DMR enthusiasts out there.
In 2007 West Chester Henderson came in as a favorite to take the win, but Wissahickon and GFS as well as Jason Weller led Boyertown all had high hopes of playing upset for the state title. Chris Aldrich was dealing with some slight sickness after running the mile earlier in the meet so he dropped from the 16 to the 12 and lead off nicely for his squad. Shea and Jervis opened up a lead to give it to Chris Ferry, normally the 1200 leg, now moving up to the 16 after a tough 800 title bout not long beforehand. Ferry's lead dwindled as the chase pack of Nick Crits and Max Kaulbach (a couple juniors who went on to battle for a state title in the mile in '08) and hanging tough Joe Dorris was with the other two for about 1200. Kaulbach passed Ferry for the lead on the backstretch but Ferry stayed calm and put on a kick to beat GFS and hold off the charging Crits who managed to skate by Kaulbach at the end to give Wissahickon a hard earned 2nd. 10:21.56.
In 2008, potential state champions GFS decided to run a completely fresh relay so stars Ortiz, McKenzie and Kaulbach could run individual events, leaving the door open for pre race favorites Engineering and Science's. Elliot Rhodes ran a great lead off leg to start things off as hoped for E and S, while Penncrest's Patt Meyers hung tough with a great lead off leg as well. The battle in the middle legs out front consisted mostly of Penncrest and E and S with nice legs by Anthony Batch and Austin Perron. Meanwhile, as we got to the anchor, Junior Nick Bonaventure found himself under a lot of pressure running with Terrence Lee, who was tired from a well run 3k earlier in the meet. Ultimately, however, Dan Lowry emerged and burst open the race, hammering the pace even after catching and passing the leaders and cruising home in a solo 4:12 anchor split that led LaSalle to the meet record 10:15.89. Penncrest held on for 2nd and Lee held on for 3rd although a big kick from UD's Palmisano left UD within less than a second of both 3rd and 5th.
In 2009 the team that placed 4th each of the previous 2 seasons, Upper Dublin, came in as the favorite, although there was talk about Henderson's potential for a surprise as well as St. Joe's Prep, who was right next to Upper Dublin a year early. Ultimately, Upper Dublin had a little too much firepower as a solid lead off leg by Matt Lorenzo followed by two very solid middle legs by Melton and Reilly opened up a lead that even the tired Palmisano was not prepared to surrender and Upper Dublin held off a fine race by St. Joe's Prep and Cardinal O'Hara to take state gold.
The 2010 DMR was one of the best races I have ever seen. Henderson and Baldwin came in as favorites for the big duel with some speculation about Mallon's CB South squad and Penn Hills, who had battled Baldwin all season. Altoona was an interesting story because of super stars Gehret and Endress, but not many thought they could legitimately win the race. Solid lead off legs all around left all the teams still in the race, as Gehret ran a huge 400 leg to get Altoona into the mix out front, with Baldwin still having the edge. Dennis Logan held off charges from his persuers for most of his leg, as Luke Lefebure, newly crowned state champion, got Henderson back into the mix. The front pack ended up being 4 teams when the anchor legs began: Baldwin, Henderson, GFS and Altoona. As sophomore Bobby Bishop battled to hold off his chasers from the other big time schools, it looked like the fresh legs of McKenzie and Kellar would prevail as they both moved past Bishop nearing the end of the race. Kellar finally broke away and was heading down the home stretch when the home town crowd erupted for the streaking Wade Endress. Kellar raised his arms in percieved victory and Endress nearly nipped him at the line. Bishop fell to fourth after a hard fought anchor leg for Baldwin. 10:21.48 to 10:21.51.
Most recently, in 2011 the field was fairly wide open, with Wissahickon coming in as the favorites. Henderson, the defending champions and up start Great Valley were in the mix as well. A slew of teams that didn't actually hit the qualifying standard were let into the meet to the dismay of a certain blog poster, but all the same. A wide open, tight knit field, led to an interesting race. The 1200 legs were tight together as Lefebure and Cho highlighted the list of names, but Waddington and Waterman surprised those names with very nice 1200 legs as well. As the race continued on past the 400 legs, 800 leg Ben Ravetz helped Wissahickon break the race open with a solid 3rd leg that left his team with Henderson and GFS as well as CB South. Wissahickon's anchor Dillon Farrell shot out of the gates and held a lead, going by Henderson's Bryan Andrews. The fierce anchor legs of Brett Kelly and Chris Campbell were not enough to catch Farrell as Wissahickon held on and a tight race for the medals began behind them. Three teams finished between 10:30.08 and 10:30.72.
So what do we know? Well certain teams have historically been DMR powerhouses, others have opted for the 4x8. North Penn has never run a DMR at states, nor has Strath Haven or Holy Ghost Prep. Ironically, they are the top 3 teams on my big board.
LaSalle, besides their title run in 2008, has stayed away from the DMR as well.
Meanwhile Henderson has run and run well in every year but one of the DMR existence. Upper Dublin was an all state machine for a while, but has since trailed off, GFS has been all about the DMR and has done it with a lot of different names. The guys out west haven't done too much with the DMR and E and S is the only serious AA team that has been in the conversation for DMR superiority.
And this year the field looks stacked, the 4x8 looks .... not.
But believe it or not the DMR hasn't always been around at the PTFCA State Championships. In fact it was fairly recently brought back to the promise land in 2007. Now this abbreviated history makes it very easy for a man like me who loves stats almost as much as a creamcheese and cheese sandwhich to lay down a nice little bit of analysis for all of you DMR enthusiasts out there.
In 2007 West Chester Henderson came in as a favorite to take the win, but Wissahickon and GFS as well as Jason Weller led Boyertown all had high hopes of playing upset for the state title. Chris Aldrich was dealing with some slight sickness after running the mile earlier in the meet so he dropped from the 16 to the 12 and lead off nicely for his squad. Shea and Jervis opened up a lead to give it to Chris Ferry, normally the 1200 leg, now moving up to the 16 after a tough 800 title bout not long beforehand. Ferry's lead dwindled as the chase pack of Nick Crits and Max Kaulbach (a couple juniors who went on to battle for a state title in the mile in '08) and hanging tough Joe Dorris was with the other two for about 1200. Kaulbach passed Ferry for the lead on the backstretch but Ferry stayed calm and put on a kick to beat GFS and hold off the charging Crits who managed to skate by Kaulbach at the end to give Wissahickon a hard earned 2nd. 10:21.56.
In 2008, potential state champions GFS decided to run a completely fresh relay so stars Ortiz, McKenzie and Kaulbach could run individual events, leaving the door open for pre race favorites Engineering and Science's. Elliot Rhodes ran a great lead off leg to start things off as hoped for E and S, while Penncrest's Patt Meyers hung tough with a great lead off leg as well. The battle in the middle legs out front consisted mostly of Penncrest and E and S with nice legs by Anthony Batch and Austin Perron. Meanwhile, as we got to the anchor, Junior Nick Bonaventure found himself under a lot of pressure running with Terrence Lee, who was tired from a well run 3k earlier in the meet. Ultimately, however, Dan Lowry emerged and burst open the race, hammering the pace even after catching and passing the leaders and cruising home in a solo 4:12 anchor split that led LaSalle to the meet record 10:15.89. Penncrest held on for 2nd and Lee held on for 3rd although a big kick from UD's Palmisano left UD within less than a second of both 3rd and 5th.
In 2009 the team that placed 4th each of the previous 2 seasons, Upper Dublin, came in as the favorite, although there was talk about Henderson's potential for a surprise as well as St. Joe's Prep, who was right next to Upper Dublin a year early. Ultimately, Upper Dublin had a little too much firepower as a solid lead off leg by Matt Lorenzo followed by two very solid middle legs by Melton and Reilly opened up a lead that even the tired Palmisano was not prepared to surrender and Upper Dublin held off a fine race by St. Joe's Prep and Cardinal O'Hara to take state gold.
The 2010 DMR was one of the best races I have ever seen. Henderson and Baldwin came in as favorites for the big duel with some speculation about Mallon's CB South squad and Penn Hills, who had battled Baldwin all season. Altoona was an interesting story because of super stars Gehret and Endress, but not many thought they could legitimately win the race. Solid lead off legs all around left all the teams still in the race, as Gehret ran a huge 400 leg to get Altoona into the mix out front, with Baldwin still having the edge. Dennis Logan held off charges from his persuers for most of his leg, as Luke Lefebure, newly crowned state champion, got Henderson back into the mix. The front pack ended up being 4 teams when the anchor legs began: Baldwin, Henderson, GFS and Altoona. As sophomore Bobby Bishop battled to hold off his chasers from the other big time schools, it looked like the fresh legs of McKenzie and Kellar would prevail as they both moved past Bishop nearing the end of the race. Kellar finally broke away and was heading down the home stretch when the home town crowd erupted for the streaking Wade Endress. Kellar raised his arms in percieved victory and Endress nearly nipped him at the line. Bishop fell to fourth after a hard fought anchor leg for Baldwin. 10:21.48 to 10:21.51.
Most recently, in 2011 the field was fairly wide open, with Wissahickon coming in as the favorites. Henderson, the defending champions and up start Great Valley were in the mix as well. A slew of teams that didn't actually hit the qualifying standard were let into the meet to the dismay of a certain blog poster, but all the same. A wide open, tight knit field, led to an interesting race. The 1200 legs were tight together as Lefebure and Cho highlighted the list of names, but Waddington and Waterman surprised those names with very nice 1200 legs as well. As the race continued on past the 400 legs, 800 leg Ben Ravetz helped Wissahickon break the race open with a solid 3rd leg that left his team with Henderson and GFS as well as CB South. Wissahickon's anchor Dillon Farrell shot out of the gates and held a lead, going by Henderson's Bryan Andrews. The fierce anchor legs of Brett Kelly and Chris Campbell were not enough to catch Farrell as Wissahickon held on and a tight race for the medals began behind them. Three teams finished between 10:30.08 and 10:30.72.
So what do we know? Well certain teams have historically been DMR powerhouses, others have opted for the 4x8. North Penn has never run a DMR at states, nor has Strath Haven or Holy Ghost Prep. Ironically, they are the top 3 teams on my big board.
LaSalle, besides their title run in 2008, has stayed away from the DMR as well.
Meanwhile Henderson has run and run well in every year but one of the DMR existence. Upper Dublin was an all state machine for a while, but has since trailed off, GFS has been all about the DMR and has done it with a lot of different names. The guys out west haven't done too much with the DMR and E and S is the only serious AA team that has been in the conversation for DMR superiority.
Power Rankings
It's tough to get rankings going in track because the elements are very different than cross country. In cross country, everyone runs the same distance, 5000m, and each course is different. Each race is different. A track at Baldwin is the same distance and basically the same surface as a track at Grove City or a track at West Chester Henderson. A 9:16 in the 32 is basically universal, but a 15:59 on a 5k course is very different. All the same, I will do my best to give some rankings for each of the distance events this year. You will have to bear with me because I haven't seen quite enough results to make these rankings very deep, but I will do my best. I will assume every individual can run any event that they have raced in the past (magaha would easily be on the 3k rankings, but he has never run anything over a mile seriously on the track so he gets left off). If you haven't raced yet, there is a very high probability you will not end up on these rankings. Any other questions about why, how, who, what, where or when feel free to comment.
800m
1. Drew Magaha, Sr Upper Moreland
2. Ned Willig, Sr Great Valley
3. Ryan Horgan, Sr Holy Ghost Prep
4. Chris Trimble, Sr North Penn
5. Sam Brooks, Sr Wissahickon
6. Haneef Hardy, Sr Swenson
7. Nico Metzler, Sr CB West
8. Andrew Stone, Jr LaSalle
9. Tom Coyle, Jr LaSalle
10. Lucas Elek, Jr The Haverford School
Mile
1. Drew Magaha, Sr Upper Moreland
2. Ned Willig, Sr Great Valley
3. Dustin Wilson, Sr Chestnut Hill Academy
4. Brett Kelly, Sr Boyertown
5. Ryan Horgan, Sr Holy Ghost Prep
6. Jack MacCauley, Jr North Penn
7. Nico Metzler, Sr CB West
8. Tom Coyle, Jr LaSalle
9. Joesph O'Such, Sr Springford
10. Jeff Seelaus, Sr Strath Haven
3000m
1. Dustin Wilson, Sr Chestnut Hill Academy
2. Ned Willig, Sr Great Valley
3. Brett Kelly, Sr Boyertown
4. Zach Israel, Sr Holy Ghost Prep
5. Conner Quinn, Jr Hatboro Horsham
6. Jack MaCauley, Jr North Penn
7. Sam Hibbs, Sr Hatboro Horsham
8. Connor Harriman, Jr Pennsbury
9. Ernie Pitone, Jr Cardinal O'Hara
10. Owen Glatts, Sr St. Joe's Prep
DMR
1. Great Valley
2. Strath Haven
3. North Penn
4. Holy Ghost Prep
5. LaSalle
6. Hatboro Horsham
7. Penncrest
8. Cardinal O'Hara
9. Springford
10. CR North
4x800m
1. LaSalle
2. Holy Ghost Prep
3. Great Valley
4. North Penn
5. Strath Haven
6. Springford
7. Penncrest
8. Bensalem
9. Abington
10. CR North
800m
1. Drew Magaha, Sr Upper Moreland
2. Ned Willig, Sr Great Valley
3. Ryan Horgan, Sr Holy Ghost Prep
4. Chris Trimble, Sr North Penn
5. Sam Brooks, Sr Wissahickon
6. Haneef Hardy, Sr Swenson
7. Nico Metzler, Sr CB West
8. Andrew Stone, Jr LaSalle
9. Tom Coyle, Jr LaSalle
10. Lucas Elek, Jr The Haverford School
Mile
1. Drew Magaha, Sr Upper Moreland
2. Ned Willig, Sr Great Valley
3. Dustin Wilson, Sr Chestnut Hill Academy
4. Brett Kelly, Sr Boyertown
5. Ryan Horgan, Sr Holy Ghost Prep
6. Jack MacCauley, Jr North Penn
7. Nico Metzler, Sr CB West
8. Tom Coyle, Jr LaSalle
9. Joesph O'Such, Sr Springford
10. Jeff Seelaus, Sr Strath Haven
3000m
1. Dustin Wilson, Sr Chestnut Hill Academy
2. Ned Willig, Sr Great Valley
3. Brett Kelly, Sr Boyertown
4. Zach Israel, Sr Holy Ghost Prep
5. Conner Quinn, Jr Hatboro Horsham
6. Jack MaCauley, Jr North Penn
7. Sam Hibbs, Sr Hatboro Horsham
8. Connor Harriman, Jr Pennsbury
9. Ernie Pitone, Jr Cardinal O'Hara
10. Owen Glatts, Sr St. Joe's Prep
DMR
1. Great Valley
2. Strath Haven
3. North Penn
4. Holy Ghost Prep
5. LaSalle
6. Hatboro Horsham
7. Penncrest
8. Cardinal O'Hara
9. Springford
10. CR North
4x800m
1. LaSalle
2. Holy Ghost Prep
3. Great Valley
4. North Penn
5. Strath Haven
6. Springford
7. Penncrest
8. Bensalem
9. Abington
10. CR North
Through the Wire
Anyone know that song Kanye West wrapped when he got in that accident and his jaw wired shut or whatever? Well it's a good song, my friend Tom Lorenzi played it for me early on in my break. Why is this relevant to me? Well folks I have been on and off sick for a while now, since the 22nd I have had very few days where I have felt healthy. My Christmas gift was an 102 degree fever and my New Year's gift was a severe throat infection that made it tough to function either drinking, or sleeping, or eating, or any swallowing in general. But I am putting aside my sickness (mostly because I am in the recovering stage and can see the finish line) and I want to try and start living up to my duties as an entertainer. In the same way Kanye West did in that afore mentioned song. Boom. And the circle comes full round.
So let's talk people. Where to start? There were so many places that I was wrong its hard to know exactly where to begin.
Let's start at 800m and just work our way up?
So Horgan continues to prove he is a force this season that can't be overlooked for the 800 state title. A near meet record in the open 8 running 1:58.3, and folks I'm pretty familiar with the meet record. Palm went on to run 1:55 indoors that year, 4th at states and 1:52 outdoors at nats. And Palm ran that 1:58.2 using Montijo as a rabbit and he didn't run the 12 leg of a 10:33 DMR a couple days before hand. BUT Mike was a Jr and he was just starting to reach his potential. I also have to point out (and please Prep don't take this the wrong way, because this year you guys seem to have kicked this habit but ...) HGPrep does have a bit of a history of running much better indoors than outdoors in terms of relatively to the rest of the state. A 10:33 this early might be a sign this team is peaking a bit early. That being said, a doubling, tired Drew Magaha who as we can see from his most recent armory race is a tad unpredictable is the main rival I see early on for Horgan's shot at a state title. (Unless Haneef Hardy stops messing around in the 200 and steps up to the plate in the 8)
But hey there were other guys in this race. Major props to Sam Brooks, he didn't get the W but he ran quick 1:59.48 which is nice this early. Hong Cho was only running about a second faster this time last year and that guy went on to be pretty darn good. I don't think Brooks will be running 1:51 any time soon, but he clearly has taken the next step from obscurity to a top runner. He was best known last season for being inconsistent at best, highlighted by a 1:57 in the 800. This year he seems to have kicked that habit (still early to say for sure) but he has to have high confidence and I wouldn't be surprised to see him at 1:56 high ish out of him by the end of the season. Maybe even a tad faster. He should be in the state medalist mix come March.
Alright the mile. Not gonna lie, I don't have much to say about this. Metzler won, he ran a bit faster than I thought, he's a solid runner and normally this meet is won by guys like Palmisano, Mallon, Brett Kelly so he is in good company. His buddy Nick Scarpello I believe was second to Mallon a few years back. So I like Metzler this year as a guy who can mix it up for a state medal in either the 8 or the mile, whichever he chooses to persue.
Another Prep guy ran well. Kardish, no surprise here, those guys were ready to go. They have a nice looking DMR, hopefully their guys are fresh enough to win and run fast in the process because they have some nice pieces.
Strath Haven has a 4:38 miler not on their 10:41 DMR. Nice sign. Nicer DMR of course. But we will get to that.
Let's go 3k now. Gosh I was wrong. I did not think Wilson would be back. Well he kicked my butt worse than he kicked everyone else's in the field. Guy will win the 3k at states. No offense to anyone else but I don't think there is any way he can lose. I'd like to see him take a shot mixing it up in the mile, run a fast time, and then take the 3k in a slow time but leave with a gold. He has nationals to blast something fast anyway. Kaulbach has the state record indoors and I thinks it's around 9:02. Miller has that 8:22 3k indoor record. Neither look extremely safe the way Wilson is working.
I was kinda right someone would go out hard and die and get caught by a more conservative approach. Just got the wrong guy. Ned ran a nice race, Brett died a bit, a little too ambitious but that's not surprising really. 8:58 is plenty fast this early, faster than last year for Ned. 9:05 is solid. We were still in 2011 when this stuff went down. Israel is no joke 9:07 is very solid. Those are 4 top guys. They all should get under 9 at some point or another if they pursue this race.
Penncrest nice 4x8, fairly fast, race wasn't though. Eh. Not much else to say about that.
To the DMR. Very nice race. I wasn't there, I was sick, I missed it, but heck those kids went hard. I'm not surprised by the order, but those times are fast. Now I don't know if Strath Haven had a perfectly fresh relay in there (they won the SMR earlier, had a 4:38 miler and ran a fast 4x2 and 4x4, I'm not sure the exact meet order but I think the last two sprint relays wouldn't effect things).
10:41 this early is no joke. I thought Holy Ghost had it on lock when I heard they ran 10:33, but in the Power Rankings I gotta like these two teams more. They both seem really dedicated to this relay and Strath Haven has been running it hot for weeks and weeks on end.
Now yes North Penn won, but Strath Haven is the story here. Name me the guys on Haven's relay. Who won the XC state championship? Where was Haven's squad in November? Most of the team was sitting at home. But thus far they have their team clicking and they gave the big school power house a run for their money (and left Hatboro Horsham chilling out in 3rd place). I obviously have been a huge North Penn fan for as long as I can remember this year, I've been all over their bandwagon blah blah blah, yeah I know. And heck, they are going to keep their legs fresh for the DMR at states and they are probably going to be my pick to win come the Championships, BUT Strath Haven congrats great race. They should be under 10:30 at the very least by states at this rate. The DMR could be very fast at states this year if the teams keep their legs fresh. Great Valley, North Penn, Strath Haven, Holy Ghost Prep, Hatboro Horsham, probably more still to develop. We are talking under 10:20 for the winner, and a group of teams under 10:30.
Horsham should only get faster. All Conner Quinn had been doing for a while was showing up to meets and running 10 fast warm up laps around the track and then chilling out and watching. I'm not sure who their middle legs are but the other two legs are big names. But that 3k may end up being a bigger deal than the DMR for this team. We will see how things end up.
A couple nice relay records for Penn Wood, they should be fast by the end of the season. Looks like they have taken over for Cheltenham as a sprint relay powerhouse for the year.
Wissahickon shouldn't be overlooked, pretty quick 4x4. And Strath Haven has some nice pieces.
One more thing to think about. Now it's 2012. We should see something new now, there is still a lot of time til the end of the season. One thing has been missing so far from this season. Anyone know? Abington. Yeah they lost a lot of pieces. Yeah they won't be in the 7:40s this year. But hey the 4x8 looks pretty wide open (LaSalle will probably win, shouldn't be a fast year as things are) and I can't imagine a 4x8 without Abington competing for the top spot. Watch out for them in 2012.
So let's talk people. Where to start? There were so many places that I was wrong its hard to know exactly where to begin.
Let's start at 800m and just work our way up?
So Horgan continues to prove he is a force this season that can't be overlooked for the 800 state title. A near meet record in the open 8 running 1:58.3, and folks I'm pretty familiar with the meet record. Palm went on to run 1:55 indoors that year, 4th at states and 1:52 outdoors at nats. And Palm ran that 1:58.2 using Montijo as a rabbit and he didn't run the 12 leg of a 10:33 DMR a couple days before hand. BUT Mike was a Jr and he was just starting to reach his potential. I also have to point out (and please Prep don't take this the wrong way, because this year you guys seem to have kicked this habit but ...) HGPrep does have a bit of a history of running much better indoors than outdoors in terms of relatively to the rest of the state. A 10:33 this early might be a sign this team is peaking a bit early. That being said, a doubling, tired Drew Magaha who as we can see from his most recent armory race is a tad unpredictable is the main rival I see early on for Horgan's shot at a state title. (Unless Haneef Hardy stops messing around in the 200 and steps up to the plate in the 8)
But hey there were other guys in this race. Major props to Sam Brooks, he didn't get the W but he ran quick 1:59.48 which is nice this early. Hong Cho was only running about a second faster this time last year and that guy went on to be pretty darn good. I don't think Brooks will be running 1:51 any time soon, but he clearly has taken the next step from obscurity to a top runner. He was best known last season for being inconsistent at best, highlighted by a 1:57 in the 800. This year he seems to have kicked that habit (still early to say for sure) but he has to have high confidence and I wouldn't be surprised to see him at 1:56 high ish out of him by the end of the season. Maybe even a tad faster. He should be in the state medalist mix come March.
Alright the mile. Not gonna lie, I don't have much to say about this. Metzler won, he ran a bit faster than I thought, he's a solid runner and normally this meet is won by guys like Palmisano, Mallon, Brett Kelly so he is in good company. His buddy Nick Scarpello I believe was second to Mallon a few years back. So I like Metzler this year as a guy who can mix it up for a state medal in either the 8 or the mile, whichever he chooses to persue.
Another Prep guy ran well. Kardish, no surprise here, those guys were ready to go. They have a nice looking DMR, hopefully their guys are fresh enough to win and run fast in the process because they have some nice pieces.
Strath Haven has a 4:38 miler not on their 10:41 DMR. Nice sign. Nicer DMR of course. But we will get to that.
Let's go 3k now. Gosh I was wrong. I did not think Wilson would be back. Well he kicked my butt worse than he kicked everyone else's in the field. Guy will win the 3k at states. No offense to anyone else but I don't think there is any way he can lose. I'd like to see him take a shot mixing it up in the mile, run a fast time, and then take the 3k in a slow time but leave with a gold. He has nationals to blast something fast anyway. Kaulbach has the state record indoors and I thinks it's around 9:02. Miller has that 8:22 3k indoor record. Neither look extremely safe the way Wilson is working.
I was kinda right someone would go out hard and die and get caught by a more conservative approach. Just got the wrong guy. Ned ran a nice race, Brett died a bit, a little too ambitious but that's not surprising really. 8:58 is plenty fast this early, faster than last year for Ned. 9:05 is solid. We were still in 2011 when this stuff went down. Israel is no joke 9:07 is very solid. Those are 4 top guys. They all should get under 9 at some point or another if they pursue this race.
Penncrest nice 4x8, fairly fast, race wasn't though. Eh. Not much else to say about that.
To the DMR. Very nice race. I wasn't there, I was sick, I missed it, but heck those kids went hard. I'm not surprised by the order, but those times are fast. Now I don't know if Strath Haven had a perfectly fresh relay in there (they won the SMR earlier, had a 4:38 miler and ran a fast 4x2 and 4x4, I'm not sure the exact meet order but I think the last two sprint relays wouldn't effect things).
10:41 this early is no joke. I thought Holy Ghost had it on lock when I heard they ran 10:33, but in the Power Rankings I gotta like these two teams more. They both seem really dedicated to this relay and Strath Haven has been running it hot for weeks and weeks on end.
Now yes North Penn won, but Strath Haven is the story here. Name me the guys on Haven's relay. Who won the XC state championship? Where was Haven's squad in November? Most of the team was sitting at home. But thus far they have their team clicking and they gave the big school power house a run for their money (and left Hatboro Horsham chilling out in 3rd place). I obviously have been a huge North Penn fan for as long as I can remember this year, I've been all over their bandwagon blah blah blah, yeah I know. And heck, they are going to keep their legs fresh for the DMR at states and they are probably going to be my pick to win come the Championships, BUT Strath Haven congrats great race. They should be under 10:30 at the very least by states at this rate. The DMR could be very fast at states this year if the teams keep their legs fresh. Great Valley, North Penn, Strath Haven, Holy Ghost Prep, Hatboro Horsham, probably more still to develop. We are talking under 10:20 for the winner, and a group of teams under 10:30.
Horsham should only get faster. All Conner Quinn had been doing for a while was showing up to meets and running 10 fast warm up laps around the track and then chilling out and watching. I'm not sure who their middle legs are but the other two legs are big names. But that 3k may end up being a bigger deal than the DMR for this team. We will see how things end up.
A couple nice relay records for Penn Wood, they should be fast by the end of the season. Looks like they have taken over for Cheltenham as a sprint relay powerhouse for the year.
Wissahickon shouldn't be overlooked, pretty quick 4x4. And Strath Haven has some nice pieces.
One more thing to think about. Now it's 2012. We should see something new now, there is still a lot of time til the end of the season. One thing has been missing so far from this season. Anyone know? Abington. Yeah they lost a lot of pieces. Yeah they won't be in the 7:40s this year. But hey the 4x8 looks pretty wide open (LaSalle will probably win, shouldn't be a fast year as things are) and I can't imagine a 4x8 without Abington competing for the top spot. Watch out for them in 2012.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)