SMR Results

Heat 1:
400m Split
1. JP McCaskey (Dixon 21.4/Giueroa 21.8) 43.2
2. Conestoga (Bayless 21.2/Brooks 22.2) 43.4
3. CR North (Amo 22.2/Mindlin 21.5) 43.7
4. Spring Ford (Morton 21.7/Scanlon 22.1) 43.8
5. Trinity (Kearney 22.2/Silva 21.9) 44.1
6. Swenson (Hardy 22.8/Mathis 21.3) 44.1
7. Simon Gratz (Williams 22.4/Wells 22.1) 44.5
8. Bensalem (Vincent 21.8/Elijah 22.7) 44.5
800m Split (400 Leg)
1. Boham, SFord 48.2 (1:32.0)
2. Anderson, McCaskey 48.8 (1:32.0)
3. Whalman, CRN 48.5 (1:32.2)
4. Mayer, Conestoga 48.8 (1:32.2)
5. Smith, Trinity 48.7 (1:32.8)
6. Moon, Swenson 48.9 (1:33.0)
7. Pyrce, Bensalem 48.6 (1:33.1)
8. Wainwright, Gratz 48.8 (1:33.3)
1200m Split (Opening 400m of Anchor Leg)
1. Featherstone 53.8
2. Hardy 54.5
3. Witmer 55.8
4. Capecci 55.7
5. O'Such 56.5
6. Gruschow 56.0
7. Ferris 56.9
8. Rivera 56.0
1600m Finish
1. Capecci 1:53.1 (3:25.3) CR North
2. Hardy 1:52.4 (3:25.4) Swenson
3. Featherstone 1:52.2 (3:25.5) Gratz
4. Gruschow 1:52.9 (3:25.7) Trinity
5. Witmer 1:53.7 (3:25.7) McCaskey
6. Rivera 1:53.1 (3:26.2) Bensalem
7. Ferris 1:55.1 (3:27.3) Conestoga
8. O'Such 1:55.6 (3:27.6) Spring Ford

Heat 2:
400m Split
1. Cheltenham (Gilmore 21.1/Brandon 21.5) 42.6
2. Norristown (Smith 21.4/Carroll 21.8) 43.2
3. CB West (Ernst 21.6/Williams 21.7) 43.3
4. Penn Hills (Ifill 21.6/Murray 21.9) 43.5
5. Cumberland Valley (Frennette 21.9/Derrick 22.1) 44.0
6. Upper Moreland (Zigler 22.4/Whitmore 21.8) 44.2
7. Penncrest (Bundy 22.1/James 22.2) 44.3
8. Conrad Weiser (Norville 22.4/Sanchez 23.0) 45.4
800m Split (400m Leg)
1. Bing 46.2, Cheltenham (1:28.8)
2. Hardrick 47.3, Norristown (1:30.5)
3. Baily 47.3, Penn Hills (1:30.8)
4. Fowler 45.9, Conrad Weiser (1:31.3)
5. Batch 47.0, Penncrest (1:31.3)
6. Steward 47.5, Cumberland Valley (1:31.5)
7. May 49.6, CB West (1:32.9)
8. Parker-Washington 48.7, Upper Moreland (1:32.9)
1200m Split (First Lap Anchor Leg)
1. Bernard 56.6
2. Baily 54.8
3. Moore 54.4
4. Hargrove 55.3
5. Flynn 54.8
6. Manley 53.9
7. McClafferty 55.5
8. Magaha 54.1
1600m Finish
1. Magaha 1:50.0 (3:22.9) Upper Moreland
2. Moore 1:52.4 (3:23.2) Penncrest
3. Hargrove 1:52.8 (3:23.3) Norristown
4. McClafferty 1:52.0 (3:23.3) Conrad Weiser
5. Baily 1:53.2 (3:24.0) Penn Hills
6. Flynn 1:52.6 (3:24.1) Cumberland Valley
7. Bernard 1:55.3 (3:24.1) Cheltenham
8. Manley 1:51.3 (3:24.2) CB West

Heat 3:
400m Split
1. Altoona (Nadolsky 21.4/Alexander 21.5) 42.9
2. Abington (Morrales 21.3/Eaton 21.8) 43.1
3. E and S (Hyman 21.7/Ansley 21.5) 43.2
4. CB South (Hynes 21.6/Eismann 21.7) 43.3
5. Father Judge (Smalley 21.6/Lowery 21.8) 43.4
6. Wissahickon (Clayton 21.6/Ross 21.9) 43.5
7. O'Hara (Warner 21.7/Gallen 21.9) 43.6
8. Upper Dublin (Minor 22.1/Broady 22.2) 44.3
800m Split (400 Leg)
1. Gehret 46.1, Altoona (1:29.0)
2. Brown 45.8, O'Hara (1:29.4)
3. Lowery 47.1, Father Judge (1:30.5)
4. Perron 47.3, E and S (1:30.5)
5. Ross 47.5, Abington (1:30.6)
6. Wolfe 48.9, CB South (1:31.1)
7. Bray 48.3, Wissahickon (1:31.8)
8. Ellison 47.5, Upper Dublin (1:31.8)
1200m Split (Opening Lap Anchor Leg)
1. Endress 54.9
2. Buck 55.2
3. Jones 54.2
4. Kehl 54.7
5. Taylor 54.6
6. Mallon 54.1
7. Cho 54.1
8. Palmisano 54.8
1600m Finish
1. Endress 1:51.6, Altoona (3:20.6)
2. Mallon 1:48.9, CB South (3:20.7)
3. Kehl 1:50.2, Father Judge (3:20.7)
4. Jones 1:51.8, E and S (3:22.3)
5. Buck 1:52.9, O'Hara (3:22.3)
6. Cho 1:51.1, Wissahickon (3:22.9)
7. Palmisano 1:51.2, Upper Dublin (3:23.0)
8. Taylor 1:52.8, Abington (3:23.4)

Overall
1. Altoona 12
2. CB South 10
3. Father Judge 8
4. E and S 7
5. O'Hara 6
6. Wissahickon 5
7. Upper Moreland 4
8. Upper Dublin 3
9. Penncrest 2
10. Norristown 1

Total Team Scores:
Boyertown 63
Henderson 51
Altoona 44
North Penn 44
GFS 38

SMR and DMR Line Ups

SMR Finals Starting 10 AM
Heat 1:
1. CR North
2. Gratz
3. JP McCaskey
4. Sweson
5. SpringFord
6. Trinity
7. Conestoga
8. Bensalem
Heat 2:
1. Penncrest
2. Penn Hills
3. Upper Moreland
4. Conrad Weiser
5. Norristown
6. Cheltenham
7. Cumberland Valley
8. CB West
Heat 3:
1. Altoona
2. Upper Dublin
3. E and S
4. Father Judge
5. O'Hara
6. Wissahickon
7. Abington
8. CB South

DMR Heats Starting 8 PM
Heat 1:
1. Carlisle
2. CR North
3. Horsham
4. Great Valley
5. North Allegheny
6. Malvern Prep
7. Cedar Crest
8. Chambersburg
9. Friend's Central
10. CB West
11. North Penn
12. Coatesville
Heat 2:
1. Wissahickon
2. CB South
3. GFS
4. Upper Dublin
5. E and S
6. Baldwin
7. Hempfield
8. Unionville
9. Strath Haven
10. Central Dauphin
11. LaSalle
12. Henderson

3200m Final Laps

2000m
1. Gunzenhauser 5:37.6
2. Wilson 5:37.6
3. Dennin 5:37.7
4. McNally 5:37.8
5. Weller 5:37.9
6. Furcht 5:38.0
7. Gil 5:38.0
8. Tarsnane 5:38.1
9. Springer 5:38.2
10. Kaulbach 5:38.3
11. Izewski 5:38.3
12. Burkhardt 5:38.3
13. Beveridge 5:38.4
14. Fischer 5:38.4
15. Hebda 5:38.5
16. Ayers 5:38.6
17. Micikas 5:38.6
18. Kildoo 5:39.2
19. Monroe 5:39.4
20. Speare 5:39.4
21. Hahn 5:39.6
22. Trainer 5:39.6
23. Bodary 5:39.7
24. Robbins 5:40.0

2400m
1. Furcht 6:44.1
2. Dennin 6:44.3
3. Weller 6:44.3
4. Wilson 6:44.4
5. Springer 6:44.5
6. McNally 6:44.6
7. Kaulbach 6:44.6
8. Tarsnane 6:45.2
9. Gunzenhaser 6:45.4
10. Burkhardt 6:45.6
11. Gil 6:45.6
12. Micikas 6:45.8
13. Hebda 6:45.8
14. Fischer 6:45.9
15. Beveridge 6:46.1
16. Izewski 6:46.1
17. Monroe 6:47.2
18. Kildoo 6:47.5
19. Trainer 6:47.7
20. Bodary 6:47.8
21. Speare 6:48.0
22. Hahn 6:48.2
23. Ayers 6:48.5
24. Robbins 6:49.1

2800m
1. Weller 7:49.9
2. Dennin 7:50.4
3. Furcht 7:50.5
4. Wilson 7:51.1
5. Springer 7:51.2
6. Kaulbach 7:51.5
7. Gil 7:52.8
8. Tarsnane 7:53.4
9. McNally 7:53.6
10. Burkhardt 7:54.4
11. Micikas 7:54.9
12. Hebda 7:55.4
13. Fischer 7:56.4
14. Gunzenhauser 7:57.7
15. Beveridge 7:58.8
16. Bodary 7:59.6
17. Izewski 8:00.4
18. Kildoo 8:00.9
19. Trainer 8:02.6
20. Speare 8:02.9
21. Monroe 8:03.0
22. Hahn 8:03.8
23. Ayers 8:04.8
24. Robbins 8:06.7

3200m Finish
1. Springer 8:53.8 (12)
2. Kaulbach 8:55.2 (10)
3. Weller 8:55.8 (8)
4. Wilson 8:56.9 (7)
5. McNally 8:57.5 (6)
6. Dennin 8:57.8 (5)
7. Furcht 8:58.9 (4)
8. Tarsnane 8:59.0 (3)
9. Micikas 8:59.2 (2)
10. Gil 8:59.8 (1)
11. Fischer 9:00.9
12. Burkhardt 9:01.7
13. Hebda 9:02.3
14. Bodary 9:02.4
15. Beveridge 9:03.0
16. Gunzenhauser 9:03.5
17. Kildoo 9:04.9
18. Izewski 9:05.6
19. Speare 9:06.9
20. Monroe 9:06.9
21. Trainer 9:07.4
22. Hahn 9:08.8
23. Ayers 9:10.4
24. Robbins 9:13.9

Updated Team Standings:
Boyertown 63
Henderson 51
North Penn 44
GFS 38
NA 37

3200m Results

400m
1. Wilson 67.2
2. McNally 67.2
3. Izewski 67.3
4. Beveridge 67.3
5. Gunz 67.4
6. Hahn 67.5
7. Ayers 67.5
8. Tarsnane 67.6
9. Kildoo 67.6
10. Bodary 67.7
11. Dennin 67.8
12. Gil 67.8
13. Micikas 67.9
14. Hebda 67.9
15. Weller 68.0
16. Speare 68.1
17. Springer 68.1
18. Robbins 68.2
19. Burkhardt 68.2
20. Kaulbach 68.3
21. Fischer 68.4
22. Monroe 68.4
23. Furcht 68.5
24. Trainer 68.6
800m
1. Wilson 2:15.8
2. Izewski 2:15.8
3. Beveridge 2:15.9
4. Gunz 2:16.0
5. McNally 2:16.0
6. Tarsnane 2:16.1
7. Kildoo 2:16.2
8. Ayers 2:16.2
9. Dennin 2:16.3
10. Hahn 2:16.3
11. Bodary 2:16.4
12. Weller 2:16.4
13. Gil 2:16.5
14. Hebda 2:16.5
15. Micikas 2:16.6
16. Springer 2:16.6
17. Robbins 2:16.7
18. Kaulbach 2:16.8
19. Speare 2:16.9
20. Burkharddt 2:17.0
21. Fischer 2:17.0
22. Furcht 2:17.1
23. Monroe 2:17.2
24. Trainer 2:17.3
1200m
1. Beveridge 3:22.9
2. Izewski 3:23.0
3. Gunz 3:23.0
4. Wilson 3:23.1
5. Ayers 3:23.2
6. McNally 3:23.3
7. Kildoo 3:23.4
8. Dennin 3:23.4
9. Hahn 3:23.5
10. Weller 3:23.5
11. Tarsnane 3:23.6
12. Gil 3:23.7
13. Hebda 3:23.8
14. Springer 3:23.9
15. Bodary 3:24.0
16. Kaulbach 3:24.1
17. Micikas 3:24.2
18. Ficher 3:24.2
19. Burkhardt 3:24.3
20. Furcht 3:24.4
21. Robbins 3:24.5
22. Speare 3:24.5
23. Monroe 3:24.6
24. Trainer 3:24.7
1600m
1. Gunz 4:29.6
2. Wilson 4:29.7
3. Beveridge 4:29.8
4. Izewski 4:29.9
5. Dennin 4:29.9
6. McNally 4:30.0
7. Weller 4:30.1
8. Tarsnane 4:30.2
9. Gil 4:30.3
10. Ayers 4:30.4
11. Springer 4:30.4
12. Hebda 4:30.5
13. Kaulbach 4:30.6
14. Hahn 4:30.8
15. Kildoo 4:31.0
16. Furcht 4:31.0
17. Micikas 4:31.1
18. Fischer 4:31.2
19. Burkhardt 4:31.2
20. Bodary 4:31.3
21. Speare 4:31.4
22. Monroe 4:31.6
23. Trainer 4:31.8
24. Robbins 4:32.0

The exciting conclusion will be tomorrow! I have to do work and don't feel like typing it all up at one time so yeah peace

800m Heats Results

Thought about building up the suspense longer, but ultimately decided against it. Here we go:
Heat 1:
The gun sounds and Hardy gets out well around the first turn, Negley also jumps out front around the first turn. As they round the turn and come down the backstretch, Muelners asserts himself as the leader in the race with Negley and Hardy in pursuit. Around the next turn, Krysal starts to move up and on the home stretch he and Muelners are in the top two spots. Scheetz moves into the pack, Hyjek is bringing up the rear as they approach 400m, it's still anybody's race.
400m split:
1. Muelners 54.2
2. Krysal 54.3
3. Negley 54.4
4. Hardy 54.4
5. Scheetz 54.6
6. Costello 54.7
7. Bekelja 54.8
8. Hyjek 55.2
As they round the next turn, Krysal moves into the lead, Muelners feeling his early surge to the front, Negley slips back a little bit around the turn as well. Down the backstretch, Krysal moves into the lead, Costello moves down into second, Hardy is in third, Hyjek and Mato moving up to pass Negley. As they approach 200m, Hardy surges to the lead by Krysal, Muelners is fighting hard to keep pace with the three out front. Meanwhile Hyjek is putting on a furious kick on the outside around the turn as Hardy breaks away from the leaders out front. Down the straightaway, Muelners and Costello begin to tie up as Hardy pulls away from the field and Hyjek makes his surge for second. Bekelja's kick lands him in third.
Finish:
1. Hardy 1:51.95
2. Hyjek 1:52.70
3. Bekelja 1:53.09
4. Krysal 1:53.28
5. Negley 1:53.32
6. Scheetz 1:53.40
7. Costello 1:53.42
8. Muelners 1:53.45

Heat 2:
As the gun sounds, Troxell gets out best and goes to the front, but Featherstone answers quickly and takes over the pace. Moran, Ross and Heckman file in behind to the quick opening 200. Lobb hangs off the back of the pack while Havko and Fulton hang even farther off. The gap starts to form a bit down the backstretch, but as they round the turn heading for the home stretch the gap narrows back down. Moran decides to take the lead with his teammate Ross helping him out on his shoulder. Featherstone is right in behind the two and Troxell hangs in tough as well.
400m split:
1. Moran 54.1
2. Ross 54.1
3. Featherstone 54.1
4. Troxell 54.2
5. Heckman 54.3
6. Lobb 54.7
7. Havko 55.2
8. Fulton 55.5
Troxell moves up on the outside around the turn to make his move for the front, Moran tries to hold him off down the backstretch, as Ross fades on the inside. Featherstone sneaks up on the inside staying on the leaders shoulders as Havko now begins to move as well, Fulton just a few steps off. As they approach the 200m mark Havko has now moved in to the lead, Moran tyring to hang on, Troxell and Featherstone sitting on the inside around the turn. As they round the turn for home Havko claws his way towards the finish as behind him Featherstone and Troxell unleash their kicks, while Fulton picks off Heckman and Ross with his eyes up at Moran. Lobb is on the far outside trying to get up into the lead. The 4 out front all battle for the top spot, but Havko's strength manages to prevail at the line, as Fulton sneaks up trying to nip the guys.
Finish:
1. Havko 1:51.72
2. Featherstone 1:51.86
3. Troxell 1:51.88
4. Lobb 1:51.91
5. Fulton 1:51.92
6. Moran 1:52.11
7. Ross 1:52.56
8. Heckman 1:52.68

Heat 3:
The big guns now know it will take a sub 1:52 effort at least to score well in this event so at the gun Rotz and Jones jump out to the lead and begin to push the pace. Mallon and Cho end up in the middle of the pack as the group makes their way out of the blocks unscathed. Willig is right on Rotz and Jones, making sure they keep an honest pace out front as the group moves through quickly down the back stretch and around the turn. Behind the 3 out front Endress sits in fourth flanked by Manley, Mallon, Lefebure and Cho. As the group approachs 400m, Cho moves outside ready to answer any surge, Endress takes a few quick steps to get onto Willig's shoulder and Manley gets slighlty boxed.
400m Split:
1. Rotz 53.7
2. Jones 53.8
3. Willig 53.9
4. Endress 54.1
5. Mallon 54.2
6. Manley 54.2
7. Lefebure 54.3
8. Cho 54.4
Around the turn, it's Willig who makes a surge for the lead as he tries to keep things fast and burn Mallon early. Down the back stretch Rotz and Willig dictate things out front as Endress, Mallon, Cho and Lefebure all move past Jones and Manley as the race begins to get going from 300m out. As they approach 200m, Willig has now opened up a gap on the field, with Rotz fading back and Mallon, Cho and Endress now in spots 2-4. Around the turn, Mallon is pushing strong with Cho on his shoulder as the two approach Willig on the final turn. Mallon's strength begins to take over as he pulls away from Cho and Willig down the straightaway. He looks back over his shoulder as he approaches the line to ensure the coast is clear before pulling up slightly to rest up for the rest of his events. Cho's final stretch move puts the distance on Willig who manages to hold off the hard closes of Endress, Manley and Lefebure who all come to the line neck and neck. Rotz is just off that pack and Jones struggles home after them.
Finish:
1. Mallon 1:50.02
2. Cho 1:50.39
3. Willig 1:50.67
4. Endress 1:50.75
5. Manley 1:50.81
6. Lefebure 1:50.84
7. Rotz 1:51.26
8. Jones 1:51.79

Therefore the final scoring and point total for the 800m run is as follows:
1. Mallon 1:50.02 (12)
2. Cho 1:50.39 (10)
3. Willig 1:50.67 (8)
4. Endress 1:50.75 (7)
5. Manley 1:50.81 (6)
6. Lefebure 1:50.84 (5)
7. Rotz 1:51.26 (4)
8. Havko 1:51.72 (3)
9. Jones 1:51.79 (2)
10. Featherstone 1:51.86 (1)

Team Scores After 2 Events (Top 5):
1. Henderson 51
2. Boyertown 50
3. North Penn 44
4. NA 36
5. Altoona 32

Hopefully I didn't miss anyone with a higher team score than these kids, but if I did I'll correct it after the 3200m

Endress was the only runner to score in both the 800m and the XC race.

PSA

Alright folks here's the deal, I'm planning out the finishing stages of the big races coming for the track meet. If you have any splits that you think I am not aware of for this meet I suggest you send them to me in some form asap so that I can set up the race and have as accurate results as possible. Once the results go live there will be no changing the results so keep that in mind. Thank you for your help on this matter.

Also the voting to see who goes to the final four is extremely tight in the early stages here. Everyone needs to keep sending in the votes if their favorite runners are going to move on to the big dance of the final four. After the final four I have decided to make the championship a battle between each of the 4 regional winners, so the 4 runners who win this round will all be in a championship against one another to decide the winner. You will be able to vote for only one of the four.

Now good friends I know that I have been living in the realm outside of reality as of late between brackets and dream races, but today I am going to redabble back in to the realm of the real. I took a look today at teh Track Classic Performance list and was excited to see what is on tap here in the early season.

The boys DMR kicks off the meet and (having run in this race 2 out of my 3 at the meet), I can say that it is usually fairly cold and windy at this point of the day. That being said there is potential here for fast times if people stack up their relays. HGPrep, GFS (just ran under 10:30), Great Valley, Hatboro Horsham, O'Hara, and Spring Ford all could be dangerous with the right squads on the track. However, I see this race will probably develop as just one or two of these schools going hot, and maybe a winning time in the low 10:30s or so.

Worth noting, in the 300mH Futch, Hairston, and Stiles are all entered. These guys are probably looking to run fast times and try to get into Penn for the 400mH so this could be a fun race to watch. Obviously Futch is already in sick shape so if conditions are nice, he may be able to dip into the mid to low 37s which is absurd for March.

In the 4x8 again we have to play guess and check with all those previously mentioned schools entered again and also now in the equation Wissahickon who has potential to maybe surprise if their A team is on the track. One or two of these teams may be looking to tune up their 4x8 guys to run a fast enough time to get into Penn like we did a couple years back so that's something to keep an eye on for teams like Wissahickon who didn't run any crazy fast distance relays indoors but have some solid pieces.

Admittedly, Brooks in the 16 doesn't really support that theory, but you never know.

Speaking of the 16, the field features a few interesting names such as Drew Magaha, who I believe still needs a very quick mile time if he is going to get into Penn. Also on that list of interesting names is the aforementioned Sam Brooks, Billy Wolffe, who just recently anchored his DMR to an indoor state championship, Jim Belfatto from O'Hara, Avery Scripture and Jesse Magolon. Magaha should win if he's healthy, but I wouldn't expect much under 4:20 unless somebody else is ready to gun it out in 2:10. Interested to see if Wolffe has got any mile chops or if he is more of a straight 800 guy like I pegged him at last year.

The 400 features rising star Corey Hackett of Hatboro, Shacor Hamilton of O'Hara, Niager Mathis, Christian Hunter, Demetrius McCary, Jordan May, Bryan Reice, Dave Stellatto and Daryl Worley who all have sub 50 potential for this upcoming race. With this kind of fire power I think low 49s will be what it takes to win and to place top 6 or so you probably will have to be right at 50 point.

The boys 800 features a bit of a surprise for me in the posistion of Sami Aziz jumping to a serious off distance of 800m. Interested to see what he can do in this slot. He's joined by teammate Lyle Wistar, a sub 4:25 indoor 1600m runner. Both guys may be on the double from the DMR or 4x8. Maurice Broadwater, the indoor state medalist, boasts a 1:56.91 fresh new PR from states and should be looking to continue his momentum swing in this race. Joe O'Such is the big sleeper pick here, relatively quiet close to his indoor season, but showed glimpses of big potential in teh winter, so hopefully he can start out this spring with a bang in this 800m field. Lucas Elek another name to keep in mind from the Haverford School.

And finally, after Seykora and Gerlach duel in the girl's race, the guys 3200m should be another great race. O'Hara's entire top 5 from their XC squad is entered to run, a group that includes 3 state finalists in the 3000m indoors, two of which were under 9 flat, and four top 50 finishers at the state meet. Pastore I think is the guy who could surprise with a fast time, Savage and Bilotta are the names everyone knows, but Pastore may be able to mix it up with them. Potential here for four guys under 9:45 in March, which would be quite impressive. But beyond the PCL, the reigning XC state champion Conner Quinn will make his outdoor debut after a quiet indoor season. I don't see anything jaw dropping coming from him, but if he ran in the 9:40s with his life time best only 9:38 it would be a solid day. Meanwhile, his teammate Sam Hibbs will be looking to prove that he is ready to step back out of Quinn's shadow. Hibbs was second at indoor states in the 3k and ran a solid 2 mile at nationals. His finish to his season indoors was one of the strongest of any runner in PA especially compared to his XC finish, which means big things should be on the horizon. I see Hibbs taking down this race, probably right around 9:30 if conditions are decent.

But wait there's more! Ned Willig and Matt Willig, the power duo that helped Great Valley take down an indoor DMR title and a 2nd place finish at Lehigh in XC is ready to make their outdoor debut in the 3200m. Matt Willig, who ran the 800 a lot of indoors, is finally going back to what I think will be his best event, the 3200m. But I have been wrong about what Willig's best event will be before. Which brings me to Ned. Now a year ago, if you told me Ned had run 4:11 in the 1600, I would assume he was under 9 minutes for 3200m, or going to be there soon. But now Ned has become a speed guy with something like 4 trips into the 1:51 range in less than a year. After Henderson last year, I'm just not sure if Ned's head is in the 3200, he may have moved on to the mile and 800 where he has clearly excelled. For that reason I give Hibbs the nod in this race. Matt has a potential for a solid run, anywhere under 9:50 at this point in the season would be great. It's still super early.

Oh and I guess Francis Ferruzzi is in the race too. 8:51 indoor 3k finish was very impressive and he has run solid at this race each of the past two years. Not sure if he is doubling off the DMR again like he has in year's past. All the same, Ferruzzi should be a factor in this race, but I would be surprised to see him anywhere below 9:45. He has had two races (indoor 3k and outdoor Trojan 32) that are serious outliers from the majority of his other races so if the race plays out to his advantage he may be able to swing a 9:30s high, but I don't see this being that kind of race.

As for the day's final event, perhaps a push at the 3:20 barrier is in the making as Pennwood and Wissahickon should toe the line in a rematch of the epic indoor states championship race. Swenson also is throwing their hat back in the ring, not to be left out of the conversation with Hardy (not entered in any individual events that I saw so may not be racing yet) and Mathis as the power legs.

Poll Results

I had to change over the poll to keep the bracket moving along and give people maximum voting time, but I didn't want people who didn't see the results originally to miss out so I am posting them here:

6 Cho 32 (31%)

2 Wilson 43 (42%)

1 Springer 45 (44%)

13 Coyle 48 (47%)


Votes so far: 102
Poll closed
3 Aldrich 20 (18%)

2 Weller 49 (45%)

1 Magaha 69 (64%)

4 Miles 30 (28%)


Votes so far: 107
Poll closed
14 Shearn 38 (38%)

2 Endress 54 (54%)

1 Mallon 63 (63%)

4 McNally 9 (9%)


Votes so far: 100
Poll closed
3 Willig 70 (76%)

7 Hebda 14 (15%)

1 Gil 55 (59%)

5 Lefebure 19 (20%)


Votes so far: 92
Poll closed

PS I'm listening to Call Me Maybe while I post this up, what a song.

Opening Day Track Meet Entries

So I've started work on the upcoming track meet and based off what I thought was best for each school these are the entries for the 800m and 3200m finals to be run Monday. In the 800m, there will be three sections. The fastest ten times will score. In the 3200m there will be one section and the first 10 places will score.

Here are the entries in no particular order:
800m Heat 1:
1. Sam Negley, PW
2. Omar Hyjek, QV
3. Dan Muelners, Souderton
4. Haneef Hardy, Swenson
5. Ben Scheetz, Manheim Township
6. Victor Costello, North Pocono
7. Brandon Krysal, West Allegheny
8. Mato Bekelja, Hershey
800m Heat 2:
1. Andrew Lobb, East
2. Khaliff Featherstone, Gratz
3. Brian Fulton, Malvern Prep
4. Charles Ross, Abington
5. Kyle Moran, Abington
6. Sam Havko, Fairview
7. Tom Troxell, Cedar Crest
8. Craig Heckman, Souderton
800m Heat 3:
1. Andrew Rotz, CDauphin
2. Wade Endress, Altoona
3. Tom Mallon, CB South
4. Hong Cho, Wissahickon
5. Luke Lefebure, Henderson
6. Ned Willig, Great Valley
7. Jamar Jones, E and S
8. Connor Manley, CB West

3200m Heat 1:
1. Jimmy Tarsnane, Perk Valley
2. Tom Trainer, LaSalle
3. Reece Ayers, Tunkhannock
4. Paul Springer, Unionville
5. Mark Dennin, Boyertown
6. Joe Beveridge, Bishop McDevitt
7. Dustin Wilson, CHA
8. Jason Weller, Boyertown
9. Matt Fischer, Unionville
10. Seth Robbins, Cumberland Valley
11. Rob Speare, Strath Haven
12. Chris Bodary, Bishop Shannahan
13. Zach Hebda, North Hills
14. Ben Furcht, Lower Merion
15. Bobby Micikas, Crestwood
16. Ryan Gil, North Allegheny
17. Glenn Burkhardt, Unionville
18. Rad Gunzenhauser, Mt Lebanon
19. Josh Izewski, CB East
20. Jacob Kildoo, Grove City
21. Ben Hahn, Smethport
22. Alex Monroe, Indian Valley
23. Rob Speare, Strath Haven
24. Vince McNally, Conestoga Valley

Team Totals

1. Henderson- 8 16 35 43 50 80 84 == 152 (24)
2. Coatesville- 13 24 31 38 53 54 74 == 159 (20)
3. North Allegheny- 5 19 32 44 66 71 73 105 == 166 (16)
4. North Penn- 1 21 25 58 63 91 92 == 168 (14)
5. GFS- 9 27 29 41 127 136 142 == 233 (12)
6. Horsham- 12 30 51 67 99 101 144 == 259 (10)
7. LaSalle- 15 33 47 79 86 104 122 == 260 (8)
8. Altoona- 6 39 57 65 111 175 187 == 278 (6)
9. O’Hara- 22 40 72 81 100 123 172 ==315 (4)
10. North Hills- 7 17 18 121 180 181 196 == 343 (2)
11. CR North- 11 45 85 109 116 134 164 == 366
12. Baldwin- 62 64 75 87 88 138 153 == 376
13. Mt. Lebo- 10 46 82 119 133 155 183 == 390
14. Boyertown- 2 3 20 195 197 == 417
15. Cumberland Valley- 55 90 95 96 98 148 154 == 434
16. North East- 48 52 93 106 158 193 == 457
17. Pitts CC- 23 59 78 139 162 166 184 == 461
18. Lower Merion- 14 28 132 145 147 == 466
19. Unionville- 4 61 76 167 176 188 == 484
20. Haven- 36 94 110 113 135 141 171 == 488
21. CB South- 49 83 117 124 143 == 516
22. Great Valley- 37 97 102 128 157 192 == 521
23. HGPrep- 56 70 89 152 159 169 == 526
24. Canon Mac- 26 103 107 149 174 178 ==559
25. Upper Dublin- 69 112 118 125 137 151 165 == 561
26. Carlisle- 42 60 140 163 177 189 190 == 582
27. Quaker Valley- 68 115 126 131 146 160 == 586
28. Conrad Weiser- 77 120 130 161 168 182 186 == 656
29. Kiski- 34 129 150 170 185 194 == 668
30. Chambersburg- 108 114 156 173 179 191 ==730

Offical XC Results Individual

1. Brad Miles, NorthPenn (30)
2. Dustin Wilson, CHA (28)
3. Mark Dennin,Boyertown (26)
4. Jason Weller,Boyertown (24)
5. Paul Springer,Unionville (22)
6. Ryan Gil, NorthAllegheny (20)
7. Wade Endress,Altoona (19)
8. Zach Hebda, NorthHills (18)
9. Chris Aldrich,Henderson (17)
10. Max Kaulbach, GFS (16)
11. Vince McNally, Conestoga Valley (15)
12. Joe Beveridge, Bishop McDevitt (14)
13. Rad Guznenhauser,Mt. Lebanon (13)
14. Jimmy Tarsnane, Perkiomen Valley (12)
15. Chris Cambpell, CRNorth (11)
16. Conner Quinn,Hatboro Horsham (10)
17. Kyle Dawson,Coatesville (9)
18. Ben Furcht, LowerMerion (8)
19. Dan Jaskowak, Grove City (7)
20. Dan Lowry, LaSalle (6)
21. Will Kellar,Henderson (5)
22. Jacob Kildoo, Grove City (4)
23. Matt McCullough, Malvern Prep (3)
24. Joe Kush, NorthHills (2)
25. Patrick DeSabato, Friend’s Central (1)
26. Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland
27. Juris Silenieks,North Hills
28. Lucas Zarzeczny, Avonworth
29. Chuck Lockwood, Dallastown
30. Josh Izewski, CB East
31. Tyler Jones, CB West
32. Logan Steiner,North Allegheny
33. Brett Kelly,Boyertown
34. Sam Bernitt, NorthPenn
35. Brendan Shearn, North Schuylkill
36. Reece Ayers, Tunkhannock
37. Dan Savage, O’Hara
38. Scott VanKooten,Pitts CC
39. Tom Pannulla,Coatesville
40. Nick Crits, Wissahickon
41. Zack Montijo,North Penn
42. Matt Gregory,Canon-Mac
43. Gus McKenzie, GFS
44. Neal Berman, LowerMerion
45. Bud Plaszenski, DuBois
46. Jake McKenzie, GFS
47. Sam Hibbs, HatboroHorsham
48. Owen Dawson,Coatesville
49. Matt Jacob, NorthAllegheny
50. Tom Coyle, LaSalle
51. LoganMohn, Governor Mifflin
52. Brent Kennedy, Kiski Area
53. Chris Ferry,Henderson
54. Rob Speare, StrathHaven
55. Ned Willig, GreatValley
56. AlfredoSantana, Nueva Charter
57. Sean Ward,Coatesville
58. Chris Fischer,Altoona
59. Mike Billotta, O’Hara
60. Isaac Dunkleberger, Tamaqua
61. Isaac Ortiz, GFS
62. Kyle Hurston, Carlisle
63. Tommy Gruschow, Trinity
64. Andrew Jervis,Henderson
65. Justin Taylor,North Allegheny
66. Jim Spisak, Bishop McCourt
67. Dan Wallace, CRNorth
68. Alex Moran, Mt.Lebanon
69. Chris O’Sullivan, St. Joe’s Prep
70. Tom Trainer,LaSalle
71. Alex Beardsley,North East
72. Austin Gregor, CBSouth
73. Bryan Andrews,Henderson
74. Dan Hibbs, HatboroHorsham
75. Ryan Smathers,North East
76. Andrew Mahoney,Coatesville
77. Jason Leonard,Coatesville
78. Alec Kunzweiler,Cumberland Valley
79. Zach Israel, HolyGhost Prep
80. Dylan Mountain,Altoona
81. Jack MacCauley,North Penn
82. Max Norris, Harriton
83. Bob Gasior,Pittsburg Central Catholic
84. John Pope,Carlisle
85. Glenn Burkhardt,Unionville
86. Bobby Bishop,Baldwin
87. Dillon Farrell, Wissahickon
88. Zach Hoagland,North Penn
89. Dave Adley,Baldwin
90. Korey Replogle,Altoona
91. Tim Appman, NorthAllegheny
92. Steve Topper,Hatboro Horsham
93. LJ Westwood,Quaker Valley
94. Mike Palmisano,Upper Dublin
95. Mike Pierce, HolyGhost Prep
96. Pat Morgan, NorthAllegheny
97. Chris Garrity, O’Hara
98. Chase Broussard,North Allegheny
99. Chris Rosato,Coatesville
100. Andrew Kuchta,Baldwin
101. Matt Fischer,Unionville
102. Zach Barker,Conrad Weiser
103. Mike Runco,Pittsburgh CC
104. Tom O’Kane,LaSalle
105. Tony Russell,Henderson
106. Joe Sachetti, O’Hara
107. Lawtin Tellin, Mt.Lebanon
108. Tom Mallon, CBSouth
109. Austin Stecklair,Henderson
110. Mike Mahoney, CRNorth
111. Shawn Quinn,LaSalle
112. Dennis Logan,Baldwin
113. Matt Cecala,Baldwin
114. Eric Arnold, HolyGhost Prep
115. Chris Contino,Cumberland Valley
116. Dan Davis, NorthPenn
117. Brian Quintrell,North Penn
118. Dylan Klein, NorthEast
119. Kyle Murray,Strath Haven
120. Mark Fuller, CumberlandValley
121. Ryan Hartzel,Cumberland Valley
122. Dan Addis, GreatValley
123. Andy Flynn,Cumberland Valley
124. Seth Hibbs,Hatboro Horsham
125. Ernie Pitone, O’Hara
126. David Kraiss,Hatboro Horsham
127. Kevin Borillo,Great Valley
128. Travis Arrigoni,Canon-Mac
129. Sean McCullough,LaSalle
130. Eric Balaban,North Allegheny
131. Garrett Gray,North East
132. Julian Rankin,Canon-Mac
133. Nick Rotz,Chambersburg
134. Ross Wilson, CRNorth
135. Ryan Fink, StrathHaven
136. Jordan Liberman,Altoona
137. Pat McLaughlin,Upper Dublin
138. Clarke Hunt,Strath Haven
139. Dan Patti,Chambersburg
140. Nat Fox, QuakerValley
141. James Zingarini,CR North
142. Mike Tarkoff, CBSouth
143. Francis Ferruzzi,Upper Dublin
144. Bart Eckel, MtLebanon
145. James Romano,Conrad Weiser
146. Mike Vlah, NorthHills
147. Nick Molloy,LaSalle
148. Chris Pastore, O’Hara
149. Bob Greer, CBSouth
150. Matt Lorenzo,Upper Dublin
151. John Yankello,Quaker Valley
152. Dave Waterman, GFS
153. Matt Willig, GreatValley
154. Richard Lednak,Kiski Area
155. Nate McClafferty,Conrad Weiser
156. Roy Hadfield,Quaker Valley
157. Michael McGowan,Lower Merion
158. Kevin Tramalgini,Mt. Lebanon
159. Mac Emery, CRNorth
160. Jack Huemmler,Strath Haven
161. Ross Wistar, GFS
162. Joe Dorris, UpperDublin
163. Paul DeGregorio,Baldwin
164. Chris Short, PittsCC
165. Dave Dennison,Carlisle
166. Dave Klein, StrathHaven
167. Sam Aziz, GFS
168. Joey Waddington,CB South
169. Kevin DiFlorio,Hatboro Horsham
170. Kyle Ingerman,Lower Merion
171. Omar Hyjek, QuakerValley
172. Dave Spandorfer,Lower Merion
173. Seth Robbins,Cumberland Valley
174. Kyle Gibson,Canon-Mac
175. Matt Msczyo, KiskiArea
176. Paul Reilly, UpperDublin
177. Matt Chylak, HGPrep
178. TJ Hobart, Baldwin
179. Alex Coburn,Cumberland Valley
180. Miles Becker, Mt.Lebanon
181. David Eubanks,Chambersburg
182. Billy Wolffe,Great Valley
183. Carter Denne,North East
184. Ryan Horgan, HGPrep
185. Matt Cooper,Quaker Valley
186. Clint Keller,Conrad Weiser
187. Brian Bollens,Pitts CC
188. Corbin Padgett,Carlisle
189. Matt Wilker, CRNorth
190. Pete Schartel,Upper Dublin
191. Andrew Haky, PittsCC
192. Mike Ledyard,Unionville
193. Nate Jones, ConradWeiser
194. Christian Kardish,HG Prep
195. Tyler Snider,Kiski Area
196. Richard Scott,Strath Haven
197. Mike Destefano,Cardinal O’Hara
198. Ryun Holder,Chambersburg
199. Nick Gibson,Canon-Mac
200. Tyler Lidwell,Altoona
201. Sean Steller,Unionville
202. Will Hoover,Carlisle
203. Austin Dunn,Canon-Mac
204. Adam Harringer,Chambersburg
205. Paulson Domasky,North Hills
206. Dan Carey, NorthHills
207. TJ Oswald, ConradWeiser
208. Sam Apke, MtLebanon
209. Connor Hassan,Pitts CC
210. Patrick Miller,Kiski Area
211. Dave Peterson,Conrad Weiser
212. Mike Harf, Altoona
213. Adam Cantini,Unionville
214. Josh Gerras,Carlisle
215. Joe Williams,Carlisle
216. Dan Klink,Chambersburg
217. Garrett Zatlin,Great Valley
218. Zach Mix, NorthEast
219. Pater Merkel,North East
220. Chuck Moyes, KiskiArea
221. Caleb Keiffer,Boyertown
222. Amon Martinez,North Hills
223. David Moyer,Boyertown

Some Info

So everyone the field is now officially set for the XC Race to kick of the dream team races that will be happening on the blog during this down time in between periods. I'm going to work on figuring out who is placing where right now in the race and will update you with results when they are finished. Now that being said, I ask you all to remember, this is my own personal opinion, I will do my best to be unbiased but obviously some names I will know better than others and as a result that may lead to an unintentional bias result. Also because the results are my own personal opinion, there is really no arguing with me. Obviously feel free to comment on the results when they are posted and tell me your opinion on the matter and feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to explain to you how and why things turned out how they did, but just remember that we will undoubtedly have variations of opinion because this is far from a game of straight facts we are about to play.

That being said, I'd like to remind you that the track events will be taking place after the XC ones. In our little made up dream meet, we will assume the XC race happened a month or so before the track meet is happening (the schedule for this track meet can be found on one of the lower blog posts) and in the track meet fatigue will be a factor for people racing a lot.

So if you would like to get involved in the action and "coach" your team in the meet and select where you want to put your guys to try and maximize your team points, let me know. If not I have no problem doing it for you considering I probably have the best idea of where points can be scored and where they can't be. Top 10 score in each event on the track for this meet. 12 10 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 is the scoring. To a coach a team you must either attend that school or have attended that school, only fair way to do it I hate to say.

Also not all relay teams entered will be accepted, nor will all individuals entered be accepted. You need a qualifying time which can come from a relay the team has ran, a time an individual has ran, or a combination of individual times added together to make a relay.

We will talk about this more in depth as we get closer to that point, but for now enjoy the bracket and get ready for some XC in the near future.

Individuals for the XC Race

So here is who will be competing as unattached individuals in the race. There will be only 25 individuals accepted that arent already listed on the teams above. The line ups for the extra teams just added to the race are listed below as well. THERE WILL BE NO ADDITIONAL TEAMS ADDED. So just saying, don't ask.
Chambersburg- Rotz, Holder, Harriger, Eubanks, Patti, Klink
Carlisle- Padgett, Hurston, Dennison, Pope, Hoover, Gerras, Williams
Kiski- Kennedy, Lednak, Kennedy, Mszcyo, Moyes, Miller, Snider
Boyertown- Kelly, Moyer, Dennin, Weller, Keiffer
Conrad Weiser- Barker, Romano, McClafferty, Peterson, Keller, Jones, Oswald

Here are the Top 20 Individuals Selected by me to get into the field.
The next 5 individuals commented for not already in the field will get in. But that will be it. No exceptions. Here are the 20 I have selected in no particular order:
1. Dustin Wilson
2. Vince McNally
3. Jimmy Tarsnane
4. Joe Beveridge
5. Jacob Kildoo
6. Dan Jaskowak
7. Matt McCullough
8. Patrick DeSabato
9. Chuck Lockwood
10. Lucas Zarzeczny
11. Drew Magaha
12. Josh Izewski
13. Tyler Jones
14. Nick Crits
15. Alfredo Santana
16. Reece Ayers
17. Brendan Shearn
18. Jim Spisak
19. Isaac Dunkleberger
20. Bud Plaszenski

Last 5 spots are yours gents, comment fast

XC Race

So hopefully I can help to clarify some of the confusion about how this race is going to be constructed. The jury is still out on the individuals, and I can explain more in depth why I think certain people should be in and out but I'm not going to worry about that just yet because I haven't quite compiled the research I would like to have on that subject.

Here are the teams selected and the 5-7 guys who will competing for them on the Hershey course. Chambersburg, Carlisle and Kiski will be added to the team race, but I haven't compiled who will be reprsenting their team just yet.

Coatesville: Dawson, Dawson, Panulla, Ward, Leonard, Rosato, Mahoney
North Penn: Miles, Bernitt, Montijo, Quintrell, Hoagland, MacCauley, Davis
North Allegheny: Gil, Steiner, Jacob, Taylor, Broussard, Morgan, Balaban, T. Appman
Mount Lebanon: Tellin, Moran, Gunzenhauser, Eckel, Tramalgini, Becker, Apke
Henderson: Kellar, Aldrich, Ferry, Jervis, Andrews, Russell, Stecklair
Unionville: Fischer, Burkhardt, Stellar, Springer, Ledyard, Cantini
LaSalle: Lowry, Coyle, O'Kane, McCullough, Quinn, Trainer, Molloy
O'Hara: Savage, Billota, Sachetti, Destefano, Garrity, Pastore, Pitone
GFS: McKenzie, McKenzie, Ortiz, Wistar, Kaulbach, Waterman, Aziz
Haven: Murray, Speare, Fink, Hunt, Huemmler, Klein, Scott
CR North: Wallace, Mahoney, Campbell, Wilson, Zingarini, Wilker, Emery
Hatboro: Quinn, Hibbs, Hibbs, Hibbs, Kraiss, Topper, DiFlorio
Lower Merion: Berman, Furcht, McGowan, Spandorfer, Ingerman, Baumohl
Great Valley: Addis, Willig, Willig, Zatlin, Borillo, Wolffe, Chaing
Upper Dublin: Ferruzzi, Palmisano, Lorenzo, Reilly, Schartel, Dorris, McLaughlin
North East: Beardsley, Klein, Gray, Smathers, Mix, Denne, Merkel
Baldwin: Hobart, Adley, Bishop, Cain, Kuchta, Cecala, Logan
Cumberland Valley: Flynn, Fuller, Contino, Hartzel, Kunzweiler, Coburn, Robbins
Pitts CC: Gasior, Runco, Short, VanKooten, Hassan, Bollens, Haky
Canon-Mac: Gibson, Gibson, Gregory, Rankin, Arrigoni, Dunn
Quaker Valley: Westwood, Fox, Hadfield, Hyjek, Yankello, Cooper, Hotchkiss
CB South: Gregor, Mallon, Tarkoff, Waddington, Greer, Chappell
Altoona: Endress, Replogle, Mountain, Fischer, Liberman, Harf, Lidwell
North Hills: Kush, Silenieks, Hebda, Vlah, Domasky, Carey, Martinez
HGPrep: Chylak, Pierce, Arnold, Israel, Horgan, Kardish, Viscusi




PS Also worth noting there will be a track and field week long meet after the XC race is done. The schedule will be as follows:
Monday- 800m Individual Finals AM, 3200m Individual Finals PM
Tuesday- SMR Finals AM, DMR Finals PM
Wednesday- 1600m Individual Finals PM
Thursday- OFF
Friday- 4x3200m PM Finals
Saturday- 4x800m PM Finals
Sunday- 4x1600m AM Finals, 4x400m PM Finals

The total results from these track races and the XC race will combine to award overall team places

The All-Time PA Races

So right now, as promised I am preparing research on the all time 50 states races for after things finish up with the bracket. The races I have been looking at potentially are an XC race, a 4x16, a DMR, an SMR, a 4x4, a 4x8 and an outside chance at a 4x32. The relay legs for each team can include anyone from the past six years. The tricky thing will be projecting guys times outdoors from indoors. I was thinking also having all time individual races, but haven't decided yet. This would make the opportunity more intriguing to set up a team scoring system and award a team champion as well.

Obviously all the races and the times are open to interpretation by yours truly and are just rough estimates of what would happen in these "Dream Races". Plus depending on how I decide to spread things out, we may have to take into account the idea of "doubling" and "freshness" and things like that. It is a bit of a tricky equation and I'm still working things out so if you have a specific vision about how this should go, it may not be the same as mine so I suggest you get in contact with me sooner rather than later.

I will still have to make up a tentative race "schedule" for the meet with the events listed above and work out a scoring system. I'll let you know for sure when I know those things. But first thing is first, I will let you know which teams I expect to get into the XC race. If you think your team belongs in this group, let me know ASAP why your team should be included and I will see if they make the cut.

Here are the teams in no particular order:
1. Coatesville
2. North Penn
3. North Allegheny
4. Mt. Lebanon
5. West Chester Henderson
6. Unionville
7. LaSalle
8. O'Hara
9. Germantown Friends
10. Strath Haven
11. CR North
12. Hatboro Horsham
13. Lower Merion
14. Great Valley
15. Upper Dublin
16. North East
17. Baldwin
18. Cumberland Valley
19. Pittsburgh Central Catholic
20. Canon-MacMillan
21. Quaker Valley
22. CB South
23. Altoona
24. North Hills
25. Holy Ghost Prep

Still not sure what course this race will be held on. We may have a poll, but comments in the short term would be more effective.

Also have to make a decision about if individuals can run in the XC race as well to score points for the "team title race". I would most likely take the next 20-25 individuals not included on any of these teams to fill the field. Top 20 individuals would score varying amounts of points for their team and the Top 10 teams would score.

Right now some of the people would be included as individuals in no particular order:
1. Mark Dennin
2. Jason Weller
3. Dustin Wilson
4. Vince McNally
5. Jimmy Tarsnane
6. Joe Beveridge
7. Jacob Kildoo
8. Matt McCullough
9. Dan Jaskowak
10. Patrick DeSabato
11. Chuck Lockwood
12. Lucas Zarzeczny
13. Brett Kelly
14. Drew Magaha
15. Josh Izewski
16. Tyler Jones
17. Alfredo Santana
18. Reece Ayers
19. Brendan Shearn
20. Isaac Dunkleberger
21. Jim Spisak
22. Nick Crits
23. Kyle Hurston
24. Bud Plazenski
25. Dan Krystek
26. Bobby Micikas

Again if you don't see your guy on this list drop me a comment or something to make a case. I will most likely start writing out the results of this race sometime soon and post up the final entries and starting blocks by Thursday or Friday. No guarntees, but that is what I expect/hope for so if your boys want in, let me know ASAP

Races

Now look people, I'm not trying to be racist but there are some events that I just like better than others. Get it. Racist.

Yeah forget it.

But I've been trying to broaden my scope a little bit. Obviously I'm a huge 800m guy. It's my main event and I love to run it and love to watch it be run by guys like Andrews, Greer, Wheating, Loxsom, etc.

I have, however, been introduced to some other events over the years, I'd like to think that I am a little more open minded than in my younger days. Just yesterday I hopped on the track and raced a 200m (I ran 24.8 hand time in case anyone was wondering). It was a fun race and it's over before you know it, but I definitely tied up at the end and kind of just had to let my momentum pull me through to the finish. I give those sprinters some credit, you have to be in good shape to run fast, it's not just pure talent.

And how about the 3k? I raced it a bunch over the summer and really started to like it. When I was in solid XC shape, it was a blast. Well, most of the time. The first 3k I did it was in the dead heat of the mid afternoon, I went out way to fast, and suffered through a painful last mile in the wrong distance spikes with burning feed and cotton mouth. The second time around my good friend Mike Fuery helped me pace things beautifully and once I was in a rhythm it was a great feeling. The last time I pulled a Francis Ferruzzi and ran negative splits under the lights to a big PR of 9:17. The 3k can really be a fun race, and after watching my boy Chris Derrick and roommate Charlie Kline in the 5k, that continues to look better and better.

My senior year of high school I finally was able to hop on the 4x4 squad and ran some legs on there. It was pretty fun. Nothing closes out a meet like a 4x4, and being in one to boot is awesome. I still have fond memories of the Cheltenham guys catching me every single 4x4 (besides Penn when I had to lead off against Gilmore which didn't go so hot). I can make an argument the 4x4 is the most exciting event in track and field. And I'm a distance guy, so you can see how my impressions have changed.

So this outdoor season, maybe go watch the pole vault or the long jump or the hurdles or the 3200 or something new for you. You might like what you see.

But probably make sure you watch one of those races with someone you know in the race like a teammate or something.

Otherwise, I'm not gonna lie to you, it will probably be boring.

Don't be a race-ist.

Gets me every time.

Voting for 2nd Round is Up

Voting for the second round is up! Vote now on the side bar, should be interesting to see if the uspets continue like Norfolk State esque Tom Trainer, Brendan Shearn and Tom Coyle, all with come from behind victories over the final days of the poll. Less time for this round, only til March 21st, so if you want to vote for your favorites do it soon. Matchups are the 2 names next to each other so vote for one in each matchup please, thanks homies.

Sorry but that's all I can really say right now, I'm running on not as much sleep as I would have liked and I have like 8 pages left in my econ paper so I'm sorry about the lack of posts this weekend.

Hopefully everyone is enjoying both the real tourney and this one. Peace.

etrain's Bracket Picks

How do I think this bracket will play out over the coming weeks? Well, obviously I have the advantage of seeing how the voting has gone so far in the first round, but here are my picks nonetheless (I'm not sure if this spacing will work well when I publish this draft so we shall see):

1. Springer
9. McClafferty 1. Springer 1. Springer 2. Wilson

13. Coyle 13. Coyle
5. Tarsnane

6. Cho 6. Cho 2. Wilson
3. Havko

7. Dawson 2. Wilson
2. Wilson

1. Magaha 1. Magaha 1. Magaha 1. Magaha
8. Fischer

4. Miles 4. Miles
5. Beveridge

6. Montijo 3. Aldrich 10. Gruschow
3. Aldrich

10. Gruschow 10. Gruschow
2. Weller

1. Mallon 1. Mallon 1. Mallon 1. Mallon
9. Burkhardt

4. McNally 5. Kehl
5. Kehl

6. Furcht 14. Shearn 2. Endress
14. Shearn

7. Palmisano 2. Endress
2. Endress

1. Gil
8. Gunzenhauser 1. Gil

4. Kellar 4. Kellar 1. Gil 3. Willig
5. Lefebure

6. Lowry
3. Willig 3. Willig 3. Willig

7. Hebda 7. Hebda
15. Trainer

Final 4 is Wilson, Magaha, Mallon and Willig
Mallon v. Magaha for the title

Mallon takes it down.

Just my predictions, we shall see what comes true.

Tourney Watch

Ironically, once I write a blogpost about Nick Crits it all goes down hill for him in the bracket. Tom Coyle has made a late push after being out of it for most of the week and is looking to be one of the biggest and only upsets of the first round. The other upsets to look out for are Tom Trainer, just 5 votes back from Max Dennin, and 14 seed Brendan Shearn who has been gaining serious momentum to move up to a 5 vote lead. With already 80 or so votes in on each of these polls its tough to imagine much more movement from what we have now. As we approach the 4 o'clock Saturday deadline, it is all going to come down to a few key votes in the Crits-Coyle match up. If you feel strongly about this first round game or any of the others, now is not the time to go watch Vandy beat Harvard. Now is the time to go find a random guy on the street with internet access on his phone and tell him to go online and look up my blog and vote for whoever it is you support. I will probably end up wearing my Chris Spooner throw back jersey to practice tomorrow to help get in the spirit. Just kidding, I don't have a Chris Spooner throw back jersey, I'm a loser. I have a Kyle Dawson Downingtown West jersey from 2004. Gosh.

etrain Poster Moments II

I tried this out once before and shockingly somehow, despite zero comments on the post, etrain Poster Moments has the most page views of any single post on the blog all time, racking up almost 1500 views to the next closest competitor which is down closer to 500 or so. So naturally the only logical thing to do would be to try and bring back the success of etrain Poster Moments, with a second etrain Poster Moment. I'll even give it to you in the same style as I did way back in the day in 2010 when I announced the race as both etrain and Jarrett Felix my two alter egos.

The moment this time around will be a little blast from the past:
The 2008 PIAA AAA Outdoor State Championships 1600m

The race was sure to be one for the history books before it had even started. Vince McNally, the defending state champion, toed the line with ambition to prove his doubters wrong after an up and down Senior year. His District 3 rival Greg Kareis moved down from 3200m the previous Spring to drop some quick 1600s and earn the title of favorite for the race. TJ Hobart, the stud Junior from Baldwin, also had a lot of support for the title, especially after his team failed to qualify for the 4x800m finals. Lastly, there was the District One Champion, Nick Crits from Wissahickon who had kicked his way to victories in the 800 and 1600 the previous week, but missed qualifying for the finals in the 800 leaving the 16 as his only final and last chance to get a state gold after his silver indoors.

etrain's stance: "Ultimately I'm really afraid to pick McNally 4th, but I can't imagine things not coming down to a kick, and in that kind of race it's Crits, Kareis, Hobart, then McNally in my opinion."

Race Commentary from etrain11 and Jarrett Felix

Jarrett: "Well friends it's time now for the much anticipated 1600m championship! Crits, McNally, Kareis and Hobart will all toe the line for the race healthy and on their first race of the day!"
etrain: "It should be interesting to see how the strategies play out here, Crits is definitely a kicker and if indoor states is any indication, McNally is going to have to do the work out front again."
Jarrett: "Unless, of course, one of the relative unknowns is ready to burst out onto the stage and try and steal this thing. And the gun is up, and the race is off! Kareis and Adley getting out to the front early here on the inside, McNally, Crits and Hobart from the up stagger are back a ways."
etrain: "Well they are quickly packing up here on this back straightaway, out of traffic for the first 100m, no falls, and now Kareis decides he doesn't want to make this thing fast."
Jarrett: "Everyone is packed back together now as Moyer and Bodary get tangled a little bit, but fortunately no fall. Very tight knit back as they approach 400m here."
etrain: "Well for these guys, this is walking. McNally has run 2 miles at the pace they are at right now just about. He can't afford to keep it this slow and wait to make a move on the last lap."
Jarrett: "It's Kareis out front followed closely by McNally and Hobart here and that's about a 65-66 second 400m. No where near the pace of McNally's 4:07 PR and the state meet record of 4:09 by Craig Miller. And now Kareis will make a small move to string out the group ever so slightly as Dave Adley from Baldwin is in second followed by McNally and Hobart."
etrain: "But it's not really a significant move here, nobody is getting dropped on this back stretch and it's still a 12 man race for the win and perhaps more important the 8 medal spots."
Jarrett: "And as they round the 700m mark, McNally looks to be itching to take over the lead spot from Kareis."
etrain: "Well McNally closed in something like a 2:01 800m last year I believe, really breaking the field over that third lap, this might be his strategy yet again this year. The pace is certainly just as slow."
Jarrett: "Well here he goes into the lead as they hit 800m, and you can see from the jockying in the back of this pack that everyone is sensing a pace shift here and a real change in the race strategy."
etrain: "Yeah and at 2:12 or so at the 800m mark, they should feel that way. Something has gotta start to happen here or they are all going to run in the high 4 teens with furious last 200m's."
Jarrett: "D1 favorite Nick Crits is back in 5th right now, as McNally, Kareis, Hobart, Bodary and Adley are all sitting in front of him. He doesn't look too strong in the back. Crits is from my conference and he has a nasty kick, but from this far away he isn't going to be able to do much."
etrain: "Well here comes Adley now making a move down the back stretch, Crits seems to have sparked him. It should be a great race for him and Bodary if they hold on for this last 600m or so."
Jarrett: "And the Baldwin boys take over 1-2, Hobart and Adley moving ahead of McNally and things are really starting to get going now."
etrain: "They have been pulling back the sling shot for so long now, that the fingers are getting tired and they are just going to have to let it go."
Jarrett: "The pack really stringing out now, just 6 men hanging tough out front with a chase pack not too far behind. As we come to the bell lap, 3:14 or so is on the clock and all these guys are starting to put in the kicks. Crits is getting left in the dust as McNally, Karies, Hobart and the surprise of the day Dave Adley start to gap the rest of the field."
etrain: "Well with 3:14 on the clock you can basically throw a lot of times out the window. I'd be stunned to see anyone break 4:12, these guys would have to close in around 57 seconds."
Jarrett: "Well Hobart is certainly making a charge for it, Kareis in hot pursuit as Adley begins to fade. McNally moves up into third, and Crits still back in fifth. Hobart's long stride and quick turn over make him look very sharp out front as the Junior makes the move around the turn. But here comes Kareis! A big surge at 300m to go and now he has charged into the lead. He has put a bit of a gap on Hobart and McNally now as the he looks to steal this race and the state championship."
etrain: "Crits is still very far back on this back stretch and he looks bankrupt, its going to come down to the three guys out front, and will really be a question of if Kareis made his move too early."
Jarrett: "They round with 200m to go, it's Kareis out front, Hobart and McNally giving chase, Crits now up into fourth but still very far off the pace out front. About 150m to go now and Hobart's head is tilted back, his hair flowing in the wind, as he makes one final push for first. Kareis trying to hold him off as both men start to tie up on their way to the final straightaway."
etrain: "McNally's catching back up a little bit too, but wait! Here comes Crits off the back of the group, he's caught back up and he has a lot of momentum going into the final straightaway!"
Jarrett: "The crowd is roaring as Hobart and Kareis are battling each other front for the lead, a two man race out front for first, but Crits continues to come hard! He's right on top of them now, closing hard, about 50m or so from the finish line!"
etrain: "Kareis and Hobart have no idea that Crits is right on them and they won't have time for a response."
Jarrett: "And it's Crits who breaks into the front just as Hobart edges away from Kareis and it's Crits who stuns for the gold! Unbelievable finish by the three out front! McNally comes home for a very hard fought fourth, and Adley and impressive fifth."
etrain: "For Crits he ran his last 400m in about 56 seconds, and I'm betting somewhere in the 12 second range for the final 100m. A sensational kick. 4:11.69 the official time. Hobart and Kareis had to have 57 second closes or so, but Crits came from no where to make those efforts seem obsolete."
Jarrett: "This is why we love track and field!"

Here's a link to the race video. If you have never seen it, I suggest you do. It will change your life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iihSczlwZfY

Potential Second Round Match Ups

Looking down at the list of who looks like they will or will not be moving on, we can see some interesting match ups on the way in the second round.

For instance in the top part of the bracket a couple guys who have impressive leads right now, Hong Cho and Sam Havko, are set to meet in the second round for a shot at the Sweet 16. Havko is currently up 42-4 and Cho maintains a 53-7 lead. Cho boasts an 800m PR of 1:50.4, the best short of Mallon. Havko, however, soloed his 4:10, 1:52.7 PRs at the state championship with impressive negative splits. Both guys reall blossomed on the track outdoors their senior year.

Will Kellar and Luke Lefebure may be facing each other in the second round of the bracket assuming each holds on to their commanding lead right now. Lefebure boasts a nasty 1:51.0 800m open PR and an individual indoor 800m championship, while Kellar holds the outdoor 1600m title from his senior season after his 4:12.00 finish. Kellar and Lefebure teamed up for a DMR gold indoors and Kellar took down an XC team state title that year as well.

If Mark Dennin holds on against Tom Trainer, his serious vulnerability in that early round could give potential for Zach Hebda (currently beating Bobby Micikas) to spring the upset in the 2-7 match up. Could definitely potentially be a bracket buster.

Gruschow and Shearn remain the only upset leaders as we head into the 3 days left mark in the voting period. It should be interesting to see how both hold up in the final stretch and see if these potential upset winners can continue their luck in the second round. Gruschow would most likley draw 4:12/9:02 3 time state champion Jason Weller, while Shearn would probably end up against Ben Furcht, although Moran has, at times, shown potential for the upset.

As for a little side note, I was probably going to cover the past 6 years in my All-Train races that I am preparing for once the bracket is done. If anyone wants to narrow it to the past 3 years or something like that let me know ASAP so I can make adjustments. I am already preparing a few lists and races. Most likely readers can expect:

An All-Train 4x8 (2-3 Heats)
An All-Train DMR (2-3 Heats)
An All-Train 4x16 (1-2 Heats)
An All-Train XC Race (10-18 Teams)

I'll keep you updated friends.

Upset Watch

I was taking a look at the polls today and saw that although there are a lot of blow outs as the favorites take control in the early rounds, there a few potential upsets that might be worth monitoring over the coming days, including some surprisingly high seeds.

In the 8-9 matchup, the closest battle is set to be between Connor Manley and Rad Gunzenhauser, currently divided by just 18% of the vote. Manley boasts a 1:51.50 open 800m and splits in the 1:51 on multiple occassions. His indoor 4x8 still holds the state record and his relay leg against Will Taylor outdoors was one for the history books. Gunzenhauser is a footlocker finalist and placed reasonable well at the championship meet after an outstanding XC season that included some key wins early in the season and near victory at the state championships as he was the silver medalist to Brad Miles. Indoors Gunzenhauser won the 3k state championship in impressive fashion and outdoors Rad dropped an impressive 9:07 3200m at WPIALs to beat Ryan Gil and other future sub 9:20 32 boys like the North Hills trio.

In the 7-10 matchup, Rotz and Gruschow are locked in a tight fight. Gruschow had a big lead early, but of late Rotz has narrowed the gap to drive and hold off the upset. The voting currently stands at just a 6% difference. Gruschow of course won over a lot of votes for his impressive state and district track campaigns, while Rotz is best known for his two 1:51s at outdoor states his senior season.

In the 6-11s Ben Furcht and Kyle Moran are locked in a tight one, seperated by just 4 of the 40+ votes. Moran had tied up Furcht late last night, but Furcht has resurged ahead in the recent hours. Furcht has plenty of fast times and achievments, but unfortunatley has no state golds to show for it. He also was a close second at the Penn Relays where he was outkicked by Micikas. Meanwhile, despite injuries, Moran has a state gold for the 4x8 indoors as a Junior and National gold as anchor of his 4x800m as a Senior. They beat future national record holders Long Beach Poly that year at nationals. However, Furcht does have a 3k that converts to 9:00 for 3200m, a 15:08 5k PR at Lehigh, a runner up finish at nationals in the 2 mile to Soloman Halie, and a 4:15 1600m to his credit.

In the 5-12s, Vince Perozze is hoping to pull of the big upset over AA star Joe Beveridge. Beveridge dominated the AA scene amassing two golds in XC and two golds in the 3200m. His senior year victory earned him PA XC runner of the year honors from the PTFCA. Meanwhile Perozze ran the equivalent of a 4:12 1600m and ran to a runner up finish in a tight 1600m at states as a Junior. Perrozze has racked up 5 individual state medals over his time in high school.

In the 4-13s, Crits got a scare early from LaSalle's Junior Tom Coyle, but has pulled away as of late. Crits' career was highlighted by his epic kick at the 2008 state championships, while Coyle's is really just beginning after a break out XC season that feature a District Championship, and a 4:16 full mile at indoor states. He has also had key splits on LaSalle 4x8s both indoors and outdoors as both a sophomore and a junior.

The 3-14 matchups have produced major upset potential, as the popular AA junior studmufflin Brendan Shearn is within just two points of GFS alumn Max Kaulbach. Kaulbach in his time took down the indoor state record in the 2 mile when he won nationals at the Armory and run sub 9 outdoors for 3200m, placing him in the top 5 or so in state history. Kaulbach also ran the equivalent of 4:11 for 1600m converting his 1500m time and won the indoor state championship in the mile. His big moment came on the anchor leg of his Penn Relays champion DMR team in 2008. As for Shearn, after an impressive victory as a Junior over one of the deepest AA fields at XC states in recent memory, he followed up with a swimming filled winter season that still included a 4th place finish at indoor states in the 3k, a 9:27 2 mile, and a very impressive 15:06 5k, good for 8th at the meet as just a junior. Outdoors as a Sophomore last spring Shearn was 2nd at AA states and under 9:30 for 3200m at the Henderson Distance Festival.

In the 2-15 matchups, Tom Trainer was in posistion to stun Boyertown alumn Mark Dennin when he took the lead late last night, but recently a Dennin surge has thrown him back into the lead by 12% of the vote. Dennin has a Penn Relays watch of his own for his Senior season's 3k, and was an All American at Footlocker Nationals as a senior. Tom Trainer ran a number of gusty performances for LaSalle, including the anchor leg on a little known DMR outdoors that would have qualified for Penn and mixed it up for the win after they beat the indoor champions Wissahickon at Coatesville. Trainer ran a gutsy 3k against Ryan Gil which equated to a 9:13 3200m.

Unfortunately, the 1-16 matchups are going to be blow outs in a lot of cases. Props to Juris Silenieks who is hanging tough with 6 votes against PA state record holder Tom Mallon.

Two Things

First off, the brackets are up for all of the first round games. If you don't know who someone is and penntrack just isn't cutting it for you, come to me. I can make up an indepth bio for you on both runners and I'll do my best to be unbias and not lean in one direction, but no guarentees. The criteria for who wins is up to you, it can be anything from who is faster in XC to who has the best hair, it's your decision, that's the fun of the bracket. I ask, however, that you vote just for a winner in each pair of matchups and not vote for both people in the same match up. Otherwise you are just wasting your vote anyway. Make sure you go all the way up and down on the poll. I believe there are 8 polls and every one needs your votes so look all the way up and down.

As for the Oscars, this is going to sound bad but I completely forgot about them, school has been a little busy and some stuff back home also kind of got in the way. Plus, I hate to say it, but I continue to develop more and more of a social life. I know, its horrible.

I don't want to take up the time to start up a whole poll or anything so first idea to get 3 comments wins. I can either update my nominees to include this year's indoor states in 2012 rather than the 2011 indoor states or I can leave it the same. Your choice. But either way I will do my best to get the Oscar stuff prepared and put up the nominees for voting as soon as the bracket is over.

Expect more bracket madness to continue hear on the blog, including the upset watch with cinderella stories, my own projected winners and such, a chance to submit your own bracket and win a special autographed picture of Matt Centrowitz (unfortunately it's my autograph on the picture not his), and much, much more!

Welcome to March, who says it has to be a boring track month!

Bracket Talk

Just yesterday after the brackets were revealed, I filled out a bracket for the NCAA tournament that I expect to fail with flying colors unfortunately as I feel like the 8/9 seeds are really good and the field is so even anybody could make a run at it. I picked my boys of UNC to pull out the win on principle, but ended up with 3 one seeds in my final four and felt pretty wimpy about that.

But all this is kind of irrelevant in the grand scheme of things because I don't blog about college basketball. If I did I don't think I'd have much of a shot of hitting the 70,000 view mark. Thanks for your support guys, I appreciate it.

So naturally to feed the needs of my reads (or readers I guess but that didn't rhyme), I took a look over at the poll that I created and saw to my horror that we had a near tie in the poll which left me in quite the difficult spot. Team's won out of course by a narrow margin, but in the sense of what teams? Relay teams? XC teams? The combined XC teams that had been previously thrown around?

And of course there was also a clear interest in individuals, as individuals also recieved over 50% of the votes.

The next step was to look back at the comments with more specific ideas. I looked those over and there were some good points made in all of them.

So I was left with a tough task of varying ideas. I thought, perhaps I could put up another poll, but that was really just another big time waster and a serious cop out move on my part.

So here's how I figured it and please don't be too angry with me.

I am working on two new projects now for you guys.

The first will be this bracket which will be of individuals over the past 6 years.

The second will be some mock races. A mock XC race, a mock 4x8 and a mock DMR. If you look back you can see I did these before way back in the day in the archive. They usually turn out pretty cool. I can update them with guys from the more recent years and faster times and stuff like that. So keep that in the back of your mind.

Then it was time for the bracket and to work out a list of names that belonged on the bracket. I decided to limit it to just distance runners. Get more of the names you know on the list and make it easier for a distance specialist like me to seed these guys and such. Soon there will be polls up for the first round of action, I just have to set them up.

First thing was to decide which 64 guys made the list. I'm hoping I didn't leave any top guys out. These guys qualified because of their overall ability in both track and field and cross country. Consider them as a package deal for all of their achievements form all of their grade levels in your voting.

1. Paul Springer, Unionville '07
16. Haneef Hary, Swenson '12

8. Jamar Jones, E and S '07
9. Nate McClafferty, Conrad Weiser '11

4. Nick Crits, Wissahickon '08
13. Tom Coyle, LaSalle '13

5. Jimmy Tarsnane, Perk Valley '09
12. Kevin Hull, Hempfield '09

6. Hong Cho, Wissahickon '11
11. Ivo Milic, Friend's Central '09

3. Sam Havko, Fairview '09
14. Terrence Lee, E and S '08

7. Kyle Dawson, Coatesville '07
10. Elliot Rhodes, E and S '08

2. Dustin Wilson, CHA '12
15. Neal Berman, Lower Merion '09

1. Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland '12
16. Ryan Fink, Strath Haven '07

8. Matt Fischer, Unionville '10
9. TJ Hobart, Baldwin '09

4. Brad Miles, North Penn '10
13. Dan Jaskowak, Grove City '13

5. Joe Beveridge, Bishop McDevitt '09
12. Vince Perozze, Perk Valley '10

6. Zack Montijo, North Penn '08
11. Omar Hyjek, Quaker Valley '11

3. Chris Aldrich, West Chester Henderson '08
14. Jack Huemmler, Strath Haven '13

7. Andrew Rotz, Central Dauphin '07
10. Tom Gruschow, Trinity '11

2. Jason Weller, Boyertown '07
15. Sam Hibbs, Hatboro Horsham '12

1. Tom Mallon, CB South '10
16. Juris Silenieks, North Hills '11

8. Glenn Burkhardt, Unionville '11
9. Greg Kareis, Red Lion '08

4. Vince McNally, Conestoga Valley '08
13. Jacob Kildoo, Grove City '10

5. Tom Kehl, Father Judge '10
12. Ben Hahn, Smethport '07

6. Ben Furcht, Lower Merion '09
11. Kyle Moran, Abington '11

3. Max Kaulbach, GFS '08
14. Brendan Shearn, North Schukill '13

7. Mike Palmisano, Upper Dublin '09
10. Chris Campbell, CR North '11

2. Wade Endress, Altoona '11
15. Alex Beardsley, North East '10

1. Ryan Gil, North Allegheny '11
16. Chuck Lockwood, Dallastown '10

8. Rad Gunzenhauser, Mt. Lebanon '10
9. Connor Manley, CB West '11

4. Will Kellar, Henderson '10
13. Lucas Zarzeczny, Avonworth '07

5. Luke Lefebure, Henderson '11
12. Conner Quinn, Horsham '13

6. Dan Lowry, LaSalle '08
11. Josh Izewski, CB East '08

3. Ned Willig, Great Valley '12
14. Sean Mallon, Ryan '08

7. Zach Hebda, North Hills '11
10. Bobby Micikas, Crestwood '09

2. Mark Dennin, Boyertown '08
15. Tom Trainer, LaSalle '11

NBNI 2

On to the second day of results. First off gotta say, why is there no love for Pennridge? 7:45 4x800m! PA #3 All Time! Faster than CB South and North Penn have ever run indoors! Is it because they don't have the flashy big names? Admittedly their anchor is just a sophomore, but he has had a couple of clutch races. I still can't list all four names in this blog post right now I just know Logue and Kohler and the other kid from Archbishop Wood or wherever. They are all very even splits I'm assuming based off indoor states where they were all very close in terms of time. At this meet running 7:45high that puts them at an average of roughly 1:56.5 a guy. On average. So somebody has to be 1:55 shape or they are all very even which is quite impressive in itself to have 4 guys indoors at 1:56. But no talk anywhere, no serious penntrack love in forums or articles and still nobody has given me official splits on this squad. Gotta show these guys some love, great race, and the possibility of big things outdoors with the right competition.

O'Hara, my PA #1 XC team did what great XC teams do, they ran some solid relays. 4xMile under 18 minutes and 10:33ish DMR on back to back days. Other 4xmiles were solid, GFS, Haven, Henderson, but nothing shocking. A little let down on the HGPrep bandwagon, but I imagine Horgan was on pretty tired legs. It would be interesting to see some splits on this relay in order to get more of a full picture and see if anyone surprising was in the low 4:20s.

Not too much else to say about Saturday. NCAAs was pretty sweet, nice work by some PA kids on PSU's squad that got second at NCAAs! Brady Gehret in the 45s split indoor and Brandon Bennent Green in the 46s.

My boy Chris Derrick. I feel for you. Two amazing races. Hopefully it at least pays off in the long run and he makes the olympic trials. That'd be sweet.

NBNI Results

So last night I watched Tim Schoch from Haverford qualify for the finals in the 800, Ben Scheetz shockingly miss both, Chris Derrick, my boy, run hard and ultimately get blasted at the finish, and Jeremy Rae take down a competitive DMR with Bayer and Batty trying to chase.

But of course the focus of this blog is not on whether or not Donn Cabral made All-American status, it is on the PA high schoolers.

First of major props to a 10 second smashing of the state record in the DMR as Maria Seykora anchors in 4:51. Very impressive work by Notre Dame. Strath Haven not too bad of a time as well (they were also under the old state record).

But to the boys.

First off major props to the AA state champion Brendan Shearn. I think that his state performance might have been a little underwhelming, only an 8:50 and 4th place finish, which was obviously a great effort, but most were hoping for more. Well Shearn delivered much more this time around starting off the day with a great 2 mile with Hibbs, running 9:27.81 which converts to 8:45 for 3k, which is more of a time I thought he was capable of, but not particularly surprising.

But wait there's more!

On the double that night Shearn hopped in a very competitve 5k with tired legs and little expectations and hung tough to a fast close by the leaders. When the dust cleared Shearn 15:06 indoor 5k. Very impressive time indoors on the double, in the league of what Dustin Wilson ran last year OUTDOORs and FRESH. This kid's future looks strong in XC. Hopefully over the course of a track season his speed will start to catch up to his strength.

How about the resurgence of Alex Moran? The big win at TSTCA's, minor set back at states with a bit of a mistimed move perhaps, and now a 4:17 meet record at the emerging elite mile at nationals. Converts to in the 4:15ish range for 1600m and he won by over a second. Coming into outdoors with momentum, Moran has to be a name kept in mind with the likes of Willig and Magaha. He was only a step or so behind Willig last year, just didn't have his best day at states (Baldwin Invite was his highlight). Big win for Moran.

And I suppose you have to mention Dustin Wilson under the 15 minute mark and locking up an all american spot. Pretty sick race, got dropped when they started to kick, but impressive performance nonetheless. Just because we (and Wilson most likely) expected him to be at the this fitness level, doesn't make it any less impressive. It's still one of the best 5ks indoors or outdoors that a PA runner can boast on the track. And Wilson has probably been doing much more mileage than speed so outdoors should be interesting. The kid is a tank and he always runs hard and runs smart.

Also worth noting, solid 1:56 high performance from Logue, thought maybe he could have gone faster, but still a nice PR and some confidence for the young anchor of Pa's best 4x8 (right now). And real nice relay leg by Ryan Horgan on that SMR. He ran down a bunch of teams and almost took the win before tying up at the end from a very fast first 400 or so. I don't know the exact split but it was a great leg for his team.

And shoot almost forgot, nice 5k for Aaron Wilkinson in 15:24! Hope this can translate into a 9:20ish 3200 outdoors, which may mix it up for a top 5 finish at states.

PA starting off the weekend very nicely! Keep it up kids.

Bracket Ideas

So I practically feel like I have to make another poll the way the ideas have been coming in for a bracket, there have been a lot of really cool theories. What I have seen so far:

Best Individual Meet Performance
This would include the likes of Gruschow, Gilmore, Weller, Featherstone and more (depending on how many years we are covering here). I really like this idea but it is probably the toughest to find people in the bracket for. I'm confident I could do it, but it will take the most time and may feature some performances you young guys don't remember/aren't familiar with.

Best Individual Cross Country Runner
This would include guys like Wilson, Beveridge, Kaulbach, Furcht, Miles etc. (again depending on how many years we are covering). Another cool idea, but kind of has been done a lot through my lists and things like that. Very easy to set up, could probably set it up by 2 o'clock today if I started in an hour.

Best Cross Country Team Cummulatively
This would include dream teams from Henderson, North Penn, North Hills etc. (again depeding on blah blah blah years covering blah, just assume this applies to everything I say). I have done this before to a degree as well and I have done this with relay teams a lot (which I suppose would be something to think about). But I think this isn't really a situation that calls for a bracket but rather a mock race or something like that. Which I can do at some point given the time and the teams and the course.

Other ideas would be:
Best Relay Teams like the CB South 4x8, the Coatesville 4x16 and DMR, etc.
Best College Schools would include Oregon, Stanford, Ok State, etc.
Best College Individuals- Estrada, Chelenga, Batty, Rupp, Centro etc.
Best High School Indviduals in General- Gruschow, Gilmore, Gehret, Mallon, Endress etc.

Anything else I'm still entertaining ideas, and I want to know all your guys opinions. So continue to vote on the poll and comment on here so I know what the fans want. Either way I will be to cover a lot of these ideas in one way or another. So get your popcorn ready I guess.

Get your popcorn ready I guess? Wow that was a lame send off.

The Bracket

This idea was given to me on a comment yesterday and I think it's a great idea. We set up an NCAA tournament style bracket and using the poll on the side we vote on who should win. I think it is definitely a cool idea and I tried it before a while ago, but, eh, I wasn't quite dedicated enough to the idea, but I'm hoping this time will be different.

But the question in who is to be included in the bracket? Just PA guys? Just High School guys? College Guys? Any guys world wide? College Schools?

Obviously what I know best is PA high school guys, but even PA high school guys comes with question marks, like which group of PA high schoolers are we including? PA high schoolers ever? Or just the last couple years?

These are all questions that kind of hinge on the fans, which are you guys. You guys are the ones voting, so your opinion matters most. I'm going to put up a poll with a couple options, and it will expire on the 11th of March and then I'll set up a bracket.

If you have nominees for who you think should be included in the bracket, feel free to comment on the post here.

Also 64 teams? Or less? That's something else to consider if deciding to leave your comment here.

Thanks buds, enjoy that March Madness spirit.

More NBIN

First of just want to say that heat sheets are up now on dyestat. PA's own Willig and Hardy made the fast of heat of a very competitive 800m and Emma Keenan is in the hot heat for the women. Huemmler is in the first section of two in the mile, as is Seykora on the women's side. Piccirillo made the hot heat for the girl's mile. Dustin Wilson snuck his way into the hot heat for the 2 mile, while only Amy Darlington made the hot heat of the girl's 2 mile leaving Sargent and Bungo in the first section. Shearn and Wilson are in the hot heat of the 5k. Gerlach and Sargent are in the same boat on the girls side.

Now on to some relay talk.

In the 4x4, Swenson is in the second fastest heat and has a chance to sneak onto the medal stand with a good performance. Pennwood is going for the state record in the 4x4 and will have the Boys and Girls club to compete with as that squad goes for the national indoor high school record. Newburgh is always a sprint power house and CBA is loaded this year and should also mix it up.

In the 4x8, the studs from CBA will be looking to capture their 3rd relay gold of the meet. They will come in as heavy favorites with a 7:41 seed time that is not only an armory high school record, but also #2 all time behind only Abermarle's 7:36.99, truly a legendary performance the day after the DMR. But this will not be a one team race. Warwick Valley, Pope John, Pearl River, Boys and Girls and Pennridge will all toe the line with times under 7:52 looking to make a name for themselves. Pennridge has arguably the most potential as they led almost the whole way at states and are just now realizing their true potential. Their back two legs definitely have the potential to drop 2+ seconds. I predict the boys from Pennridge will dip under 7:50, a very impressive achievement for indoors.

In the 4xMile CBA will take aim at a couple of impressive NJ team performances. Haddonfield's Armory track record of 17:22 and West Windsor's national record of 17:21. Shaker and Chariho will look to surprise after some solid 4x8 times indicate potential in the longer relays. The boys from Cardinal O'Hara will represent PA in the hot heat with their top 4 from XC. Potential here for a relay just under 18 minutes. In each of the other sections PA will be represented. Strath Haven is in section 2 with Henderson and Holy Ghost Prep and GFS will be in section 1 as well as Penncrest. Penncrest has entered a group of young runners, looking for experience and improvement in the 4xMile but the other teams from PA have entered in their A squads. Both Haven and GFS have great potential with two fast legs (Seelaus and Huemmler v. Aziz and Wistar) but it will come down to how well the other legs run if they are going to achieve success. Henderson was the XC power house and may be running Reiny Barchet in his most important race since his freshman year state meet. Russell and Chaborek will look to redeem slightly disappointing state performances. As for Holy Ghost, Horgan, Israel and Kardish all have PRs in the 4:20s and have potential to really make noise in the 4xMile. Horgan had a break out state meet and is looking to follow it up here. In a 4xMile one bad leg can really cost you and one great leg can really save you.

If I had to pick an order for PA teams I'd go: HGPrep, Henderson, O'Hara, Haven, GFS, Penncrest. But we shall see.

Just throwin this out there, Malone, Watkins, Wynn, Mason and Cheserek are all anchoring their SMRs in the hot heat. Could be very fun to watch.

In the DMR O'Hara will represent PA in the first section with guys from their 4xMile. This is their first real attempt to run fast in the DMR. In the hot heat CBA and St. Benedict's will look to continue their impressive seasons as Cheserek will be hungry to try and run down his opponents in his DMR anchor carry. Tim Ball will anchor his DMR squad and look to run fast as well.

NBIN

Boys 800m: Sunday 9:50 AM

This should be one of the best races of the weekend. PA's own Ned Willig and rival Zavon Watkins will toe the line at the armory together for a chance to push each other near a record once again. I said this earlier in the year and I stand by it, Ned has a chance to become just the second runner in high school history to break 1:50 in the 800 indoors. These two guys are fantastic runners with great kicks and were an early break away from all time marks in the 1k. But don't forget about off distance specialist Strymar Livingston who boasts the 500 and 600 national records from this season. He moves up to the 800 with the potential to drop a very nice 8 in this kind of field. If he doesn't have the strength to hang on (which is unlikely since he has run 1:51.90), he should at least keept this thing fast and on record pace. Ben Malone is also a factor in this race, as he dropped a legal very fast 1k in that race at the armory. He set the Junior class record when he crossed the line. PA's own Haneef Hardy is US #8 with his state championship time. He has run a couple very nice races at the armory this season and has a chance to drop a nice PR and mix it up for an all american spot. Alan Eke and Jared Mason are also under 1:54 on the season.

I'll be a homer and pick Willig to outkick Watkins in a revenge match for Millrose. Both are in the 1:50 low range. Strymar for 3rd in about 1:51 flat.

Worth noting on the girls side: Ajee Wilson, Mary Cain, Emma Keenan

Boys 1 Mile: Sunday 11:00 AM

Ed Cheserek will look to win what will be is 4th race of the weekend after the 2 mile, DMR, and SMR. He will be making a serious push for the 2 mile national record so it is tough to expect too much out of the youngster (he has less than 2 hours between races). Lukas did take down the victory, but is Cheserek, a year younger (kind of) expereinced and a good enough racer to beat Lukas's achievements. To challenge Cheserek is a field that includes US #3 Jacob Burcham who boasts a 4:07 season best and Brandon Kidder a 4:09 miler this year. Brad Nye from Utah is a fast 800m runner moving up to the mile for nationals, he has to be a sleeper pick this season. Ben Malone, who recently ran 4:11 for 1600m, is also entered in this race, although he may opt for the 800m instead. With his kick, if the race is tactical he should be in the mix. Plenty of other names will mix it up with PRs in the 4:14-4:17 range including PA's own Jack Huemmler who should benefit from a more evenly paced race at Nats. We will see how the 4xMile goes beforehand, but Huemmler defintiely has potential for a PR at this meet.

Ultimately I have Cheserek being outkicked at the finish, Burcham is my guy right now, but if Malone runs fresh I think he will surprise for the win. Brad Nye rounds out my top 3, Kidder with potential to be in there as well. Burcham in about 4:08, Chserek 4:09 and Nye 4:09 as well.

Girls Mile Entries Worth Noting: Angel Piccirillo, Maria Seykora, Brianna Nerud, the Meier's, Kelsey Margee

Boys 2 Mile: Sunday 9:15 AM

The Ed Cheserek show will be in its climax as he tries to chase down the national record. To be honest, he will have a tough time, most likely doing a lot of work outfront. He is obviously super fit after his Mile and 5k which were both faster than Lukas ever ran, but will the tired legs of Cheserek be able to maintain 65s and go after Lindgren's record? I think he will just miss like Lukas a year ago. Sabastian Hanson from New York can boast a 9:06 3200m PR and will be one of the favorites for second in this race. Kris Moran, a new york rival, has a 9:08 3200m PR which helped him at the NY state meet. Another New Yorker Eric Holt has a 9:11 3200m PR. Thomas Awad also boasts a sub 9:15 3200m PR this season. PA's own Dustin Wilson may not have the SB that these other runners do, but he has been known to run fast as this meet before, including a sub 9:20 performance for an all american spot in a dominate slow heat performance a year ago.

Girl's Side: PA's own Bungo, Sargent, and Darlington

NCAA Championships

This coming weekend I, as etrain, must drop the PA knowledge front and try and give my best interpretation of the national scene. NBIN and the three NCAA championships are coming up!

I always love the NCAA championships, especially now that I am a college guy. A few Haverford guys that I have seen race in person a bunch are heading to Iowa to race the 5k and the 800m. Ben Scheetz, PA alumn and DIII record holder in the 800m, is the #1 seed in both the mile and the 800 at the national championships.

In the DII Championships the Shippensburg squad features a boat load of PA alumn including Brain Beegle in the open mile and the Shippensburg DMR is in the national title talks.

But of course the most exciting event will be the Division 1 NCAA indoor championships. Entries aren't up just yet but we can speculate that this meet will be extraordinary after a record setting season. Lalang, Sambu, Batty and even Hill have chased down NCAA top all time marks, some getting them, some just missing. And of course the great thing about indoor nationals is the fact that distance is represented in the relays. The DMR will once again be a battle with Andy Bayer and Miles Batty, last years heroes, back again to run after the title.

In the 800m Cas Loxsom looks to return to the cream of the crop in the 800m after some struggles this season. He missed the finals last year and I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about it just yet. Aaron Evans is another fierce competitor for the title out of Georgia. Joey Roberts of Texas A&M is amongst the leaders in the event as well as two sub 1:47 Minnesota 800m runners. Three Minnesota 800m runners are in the top 12 nationally, 4 in the top 24.

In the Mile a whopping 10 runners have hit the auto time including Diego Estrada's altitude adjusted 3:55 from a 4:04. But that group features a large amount of 5k guys with high hopes in that race. Batty is the defending champ and will almost surely look to take down a second straight title. He just set the indoor college record in the mile. Assuming Diego, Lalang, and Levins pull out, the other favorites will be guys like McEntee, Bayer, McCarthy and Van Ingen. Cory Leslie and Chris O'Hara also have experience at the top level and potential to mix it up and surprise for the title. If Peter Callahan gets in, he has one of the best kicks in all of the NCAA and may really surprise some people in a tactical race. Freshman superstar Robby Creese who currently holds the NCAA 1k indoor record, may also sneak his way into the championship and be fun to watch mix it up.

In the 3k 15 runners have hit the auto time. Hill, Lalang, Levins, Sambu, Derrick, Heath, Bayer, Dunbar, Korir, Estrada and Batty are among the group of guys with the qualifying time. There is a shocking 41 guys under 8 minutes already this winter and of course not all will get in. There is a lot of talent in this field, most guys will be doubling in some way or another from the DMR or the 5k or something along those lines. Batty and Bayer will have a decision to make as to which event that want to pick the mile or the 3k (Batty definitely is a mile guy). Lalang has to be the favorite, even if he runs a blistering 5k the day before.

10 guys dropped the auto time in the 5k. Including Parker Stintson and Trevor Dunbar from Oregon, Jake Reily and Chris Derrick from Stanford, Lalang and Sambu from Arizona and Korir, Mead, Estrada and Levins. I'm a big Levins fan and so is my buddy Josh Elkan so we will be pulling for him but Lalang, Sambu and Korir are definitely the favorites after their Millrose run. It will be interesting to see how tough everyone else hangs. Cabral should also end up in this field and he is a steeple chase champ you can't forget about.

And of course the DMR, one of the best relays ever invented should feature defending champions BYU, Indiana, Texas A and M, Notre Dame, Oklahoma and Wisconsin who have hit the auto time already. Arkansas, Stanford, Nova, and Washington have the next fastest times and about 10 teams are expected to get in so this may be the full field. Notre Dame has Jeremey Rae on the anchor, Wisconsin will have Hatz most likely, Stanford's relay that qualified had Derrick and Lefebure on the squad, but Derrick will almost certainly opt for the 5k that night instead. Ellison was the 800 leg on Nova's fastest time and they have a sub 4 anchor leg of their own. This race should be wide open and will be fun to watch.

National Entries

Indoor Nationals Key Entries
TJ Elliot 60m Dash

Niager Mathis 200m Dash
Tyler Ross 200m Dash
Daryl Worley 200m Dash

Lincoln Daniel 400m Dash
Corey Hackett 400m Dash
Tyler Ross 400m Dash
Daryl Worley 400m Dash

Haneef Hardy 800m
Ned Willig 800m
Strymar Livingston 800m*
Zavon Watkins 800m*
Ben Malone 800m*

Jack Huemmler Mile
Ed Cheserek Mile*
Jacob Burcham Mile*
Brandon Kidder Mile*
Ben Malone Mile*

Dustin Wilson 2 Mile
Ed Cheserek 2 Mile*

Aaron Wilkinson 5000m
Dustin Wilson 5000m
Brendan Shearn 5000m

Max Hairston 60mH
Aaron Willet 60mH
Chris Williams 60mH
Wellington Zaza 60mH

O'Hara 4xMile
GFS 4xMile
HGPrep 4xMile
Penncrest 4xMile
Strath Haven 4xMile
Henderson 4xMile
CBA 4xMile*

Pennwood 4x200m
Seneca Valley 4x200m
Strath Haven 4x200m

Swenson 4x400m
Penn Wood 4x400m
Girls and Boys 4x400m*

Pennridge 4x800m
CBA 4x800m*
Warwick Valley 4x800m*

Liverpool SMR*
St. Benedict's SMR*
Boys and Girls SMR*

O'Hara DMR
CBA DMR*
St. Benedict's DMR*

Kevin James Frosh Mile

Joey Logue EE 800m
Zach Moon EE 800m

Alex Moran EE Mile

Sam Hibbs EE 2 Mile
Brendan Shearn EE 2 Mile

GFS EE 4x800m

HGP EE SMR