Upsets

So since yesterday I talked about how there could be a lot of favorite dominated events by indoor states I decided I'd talk about some of the great upsets that have happened at indoor states in past years.

Let's start in 2007. In the 60m Dash state favorite Brandon Bing (who went on to win the 200m later in the meet and the 200 and the 400 outdoors) was DQd for a false start in the finals after qualifying first in the semis. As a results Kashif Smith ran to a surprising win in 6.96. In the 400m dash the hot heat featured big names like Khaliff Featherstone, Chad Sargent and Josh Potts, but a tangle up in the final heat led to Featherstone fall and 75 second 400m, while the rest of the group all stayed above 50 seconds when the dust cleared. Therefore, Austin Perron of Engineering and Science's surprised with a state gold from the 3rd of 4 heats. Although he didn't win the race, Corey Grove pulled out a great upset of sorts in the 800m when his time of 1:54.91 ended up being fast enough to beat out Chris Ferry and defending outdoor state champion Andrew Lobb on the podium.

In 2008, the meet was started off with a bang as Max Kaulbach surprised Vince McNally and Nick Crits with a furious kick to stun Crits and take gold at the state championships in his off event, the Mile. In 3000m with names like Dennin, Kaulbach, Lee and Aldrich in the race, it was Josh Izewski and Chris Bodary who turned heads taking 1-2 at the meet with very fast times of 8:30 and 8:32. Chris Bodary's 2nd place finish was even more impressive because he was one of two members of the top 9 finishers in the race who never received a gold medal at states. In the 4x4 final, a tired group of kids from Engineering and Science's fresh of a DMR upset, ran to the win on the legs of a hobbled Austin Perron who managed to hold off some big charges by guys like Justin Bookheimer and Khaliff Featherstone's Simon Gratz squad. The favorite before the race, Harrisburg ran to a disappointing 3:32. In the DMR E and S was the heavy favorite but a fresh LaSalle team and a close to fresh Penncrest team hopped in and upended the party taking one-two with great legs from guys like Pat Meyers and Dan Lowry. An upset of sorts also came from the GFS squad. The team ran without their 3 best runners and still found themselves on the medal stand, placing 7th.

In 2009 it was an upset of sorts when Alex Kenney found himself in 5th place in the 60m dash finals, a disappointing finish for a state title contender since his freshman year. It was an upset on the record book in the men's 800. In a race that some chose Palmisano and some chose Mallon, Mallon not only surprised with a dominating sprint to the finish, but also shocked the state with a 6 second seasonal best to smash Paul Vandegrift's indoor state record as just a Junior, and put himself in the top 15 (at the time) on the national all time list. The mile was essentially a who's who of upsets. The top 4 spots were taken by guys with little experience this close to the podium. A slow time in the fast heat paved the way as Ivo Milic upset both Ben Furcht and TJ Hobart in order to take the victory in the mile. In the slow section Matt McCullough, Matt Chylak and Dustin Horning ran to 2-4 finishes with great efforts. Furcht was a disappoint 5th, Tarsnane, the defending XC state champion, was 8th, Wade Endress was 15th and TJ Hobart DNFed. In the 3k there was a bit of a surprise as well when Bobby Micikas outkicked Ben Furcht and the two ran very quick times of 8:35 and 8:36.

In 2010, the biggest story after the meet was over was the big upset run by Luke Lefebure. A tired Tom Mallon let the pace slow too much in his final heat and as a result Luke Lefebure, Dorian Rumble and Tres Moore all ran their way onto the podium's top 3 posistions. Lefebure wasn't even regarded on the top runner on his team and broke through relative unknown status to cross the line with a gold. In the DMR Wade Endress came within 3 one hundreths of a second of pulling off a big upset win. Endress just missed nipping Will Kellar at the line for the victory as an Altoona team, known for its sprinting powerhouse, nearly walked away with gold in the distance medley relay.

In 2011, the 60m Dash presented us with another great upset run as defending state champion in the 100m Tyler Smith was surprised by TJ Elliot by 2 hundreths of a second to take the gold. Smith had run faster than anyone else in the semis by over a tenth of a second. In the 800m, defending state champion Luke Lefebure and a fresh group that included stud Kyle Moran and up and comer Hong Cho were all dropped by Wade Endress and a record setting performance on the double from a PR in the mile. Endress closed hard after an early fast pace by Moran and ran his way just under the state record that Mallon had set just two years before. In the 4x8 the upset came in a big way as CB West, who had yet to break 8 flat on the season, stunned the new state record holders of Abington by breaking Abington's record with a 7:45.06 wire to wire victory. Boyertown clocked a bit of an upset of their own when they surprised the DMR field taking second over highly praised West Chester Henderson, CR North and others.