A truly historic weekend for the PA boys. 4 guys qualify for Footlocker from PA for the first time in state history. 2 teams qualify for NXN for the first time in state history! 2 PA boys take 1-2 at NXN, 2 squads were within reach of the #1 team in the nation and oh yeah news on the street now is that Sami Aziz will also be heading out to the NXN championships. Dang son PA don't play.
But I assume no one reads this blog to hear me talk ghetto about how awesome PA is so I refocus.
Let's start at Foot Locker.
A boat load of big time PA boys toed the line for this meet and a lot of people ran really impressive races. First and foremost, the big dog himself Brendan Shearn came out and ran like a pro. Honestly, his season up until this points had few moments that you could really point to and say, dang this kid is an All-American, but he changed things this weekend. At the beginning of the XC season I thought Brendan would for sure be going through to Foot Locker. After states I had him at about a 75% chance. I never at any point pictured him in the top 4 (the best finish since Brad Miles and Mark Dennin in PA history) which is awesome. He will be in the mix to become an All-American out in San Diego.
The biggest surprise (to me anyway) is Max Norris who stunned me with his 7th place finish. He kicked to a spot that I saw as a bit out of his league and put on a great performance to snag a spot to nats. He was determined and stayed hungry, overcoming piles of injuries along the way to get to this point. Seeing how far he has come makes this moment so much more impressive. The way he has improved over the last month makes me think .... dang picking him to win districts was a month too early ... but on a serious note, it makes me think the guy has All American potential out at Footlocker. Having met some of his family at states, I know that this couldn't have happened to a more deserving family so congrats.
Kennedy and Pondel just seemed to be tied at the hip. Stepping up big to take those two spots was impressive. That's big for Kennedy who will be back next year and hopefully be able to use his experience to his advantage. I don't know if PA has had a multi time qualifier since Miller (and I think only Coval has run their twice in the last decade+) so he will have a bit of pressure and history to overcome, but he is another guy who I thought would be happy with his states race and move on to shut it down for track. But the guy stepped it up. As for Pondel, I always thought he was built for a meet like this. He trains really hard and puts in the mileage and the hard work needed to excel in a meet like this. He put himself in position and hung on tough to his spot. A great break out year for a guy who was off most people's radars despite being a medalist last year in XC.
Also there were some other performances here that should not go overlooked just because it didn't end with nationals. Luke Jones ran gutsy and out of his comfort zone perhaps, going out hard and just missing a Footlocker Qualifying spot. There is no doubt the guy gave it everything he had and he just came up a bit short. Galassi and Jones did the A part of the state proud with a great stretch run to the season.
How about Conner Quinn in this race as well? Sure he didn't have the season he may have hoped for winning states again but he really kept his head going into this meet and performed very well, better than his state meet performance I'd say, and ended up being PA's 7th guy (I think either the same spot or a spot better in PA compared to last year in a much deeper year).
On to NXN.
Tony Russell is clearly a beast. He went Brad Miles this weekend and actually the paths they have taken thus far are eerily similar. An All time PA best at Manhattan, then a win at Districts over the top returner from AAA states followed by a victory at the state course in record time and then a regional victory. Literally, the same path as far as I can tell. Unfortunately, Miles underwhelmed at Nats, but I feel that Russell has the advantage of competing for his team this coming weekend. And seeing the results, Henderson has a shot at being a top 10 team at nationals.
Especially if Reiny Barchet runs like that again. Sick race for that guy proving that states was the fluke race, not districts. You have to remember that O'Hara almost put 3 guys in front of Barchet at states, they did put 2 guys ahead. None of the O'Hara guys were close to him on Saturday and that is huge for Henderson. Heck none of the US #1 CBA guys beat Barchet on Saturday!
But O'Hara still beat them. Narrowly edging them out. Unreal. I don't see how people can say that this race was better news for Henderson than O'Hara. Henderson not only had the ultimate front runner, they had the ultimate #2 runner. The best possible 1-2 punch you can have but O'Hara still won. What was big for O'Hara was Belfatto continuing to be on a roll. He beat Pastore and took a surprising 33rd in the race, beating out Bobby Rimkis, who was a state medalist. Pitone faded a bit after states, but it was probably a good wake up call for him and puts the pressure of being a front runner back onto Savage's shoulders who has more experience in that department. James also had a nice bounce back from states. O'Hara looked great and redeemed themselves well at Regionals.
For Henderson it was a big day from Alex Knapp that saved the day. I certainly didn't see that one coming. Huge race for their normal #7 guy to step up like that and be their 3. May have saved them from falling out of National contention. Rimkis had a bit of a down day. He was incredibly clutch at states and ran amazing, but that may have put too big of expectations on him for the future. He was right on Reiny that day at Hershey, but the gap widened in the past month at the 32 and also now at Regionals. Hopefully, this race lets him relax and find himself and run the race he wants to run without as much pressure. Collins also had a rough day after being a big hero at states, picking off a ton of guys in the hills. He has been clutch for this team all season and will bounce back. Losing Haugh hurt these guys. He was the difference at states, outleaning Pastore, and now his presence is missed as they miss out on 2nd.
These teams are both absurdly close to one another. It is amazing to watch these teams run because they are two of the best teams I have ever seen in the state of PA and they somehow managed to come into their own just in time to run two amazing races when it counted. Hopefully they can hold it together for Nats.
It's tough to pick a winner (especially because whoever I pick seems to lose), but I'll go Henderson in 8th and O'Hara in 9th seperated by just 2 points at Nationals (sorry Henderson probably just jinxed you guys). I see guys that can run better on both sides so it basically comes down to who is lucky enough to have all their guys click when it matters.
Yes, Henderson is going to be sick next year, but injuries happen and a lot of things can change. I hope they don't put off their goals until next year and they make a statement at this national meet to give them confidence going forward. Tony Russell is a man on a mission right now and I would love to see him break into that top 10 at Nats.
Honestly, I can't wait. I was incredibly excited sitting by my computer updating my twitter all this past weekend.
Go represent boys. PA don't play.
-train
Is it just me or did penntrack write an article a lot like this one the day after you wrote it etrain ... you should just write for them
ReplyDeleteSome parts of our comments get recycled too, which is cool since it makes us feel we're contributing to help promote the sport we love.
DeletePennTrack does that a lot haha. I was interested in the stats they had in the article about team scores half way though. I logged on to do it, when I found out they already had. Henderson with 73 O'Hara with 79 and CBA with 103! I don't expect CBA to have such a wide spread again at nationals, but it's surprising they did so poorly. Nationals is all about spreads, and if O'Hara and Henderson keep the spreads they did from last week then I believe they're set for top 10 finishes, maybe even top 7.
ReplyDelete--ForrestCRN
Just another note, Coval only went to Nationals his senior year. PIAA used to be more strict than they are now (surprising, I know). Athletes who participated in none state regulated meets would be disqualified from running. So Coval was not allowed to race at regionals his junior year. He most definently would have made nationals if had the opportunity.
ReplyDelete--ForrestCRN
Some interesting stats from the NXN Regionals. If I added correctly, the CBA, OH, WCH, scores in a three team race would have been C-35, H -41, O-44. In duals, C-27, H-28; C-23,O-32; O-27, H-28. While that means nothing to Regional results it might show that Henderson and O’Hara aren’t too far behind CBA.
ReplyDeleteI have no clue what the other top 10 teams have so predicting nationals is impossible. But if CBA is the benchmark with their #1 ranking, top five finishes from WCH and OH are certainly a possibility the way they stack up. Who knows, with a big day, maybe……. Anyway, it doesn’t look like CBA could be called a lock.
O’hara surprised me this year, I really didn’t think they’d be deep enough. But they’ve been solid and incredibly consistent all year, they really haven’t had a bad race. I predicted Henderson could take States from them, but I didn’t think both teams would run so well. 69 points and no State Championship for O’Hara is still unbelievable. If OH runs their usual race, I think they’ll finish 5th or 6th.
I’ve been a believer in Henderson from the get go so I’m predicting top 5 for them, ahead of O'hara. If Russell/Barchet can run like they did at Regionals, top 5 is almost guaranteed. Now if 3 of the 3-7 come up big, who knows, maybe they’re in the mix for top 3 or better. Rimkis and Collins should bounce back. Knapp had a great breakthrough at Regionals, Stratman has been solid 5-6. G Barchet is already good, but he’ll have a big drop at some point, maybe it will be Saturday.
Wherever they finish, both teams have had incredible years and should be very proud of the result of all the hard work.
- RJJL
I understand using CBA as a benchmark, but they ran terribly at regionals. They were predicted to have 30 points by PennTrack and 37 by myself. They doubled that. They've had a sub 15 second spread all season and they had a 48 second spread at NXNE. Do not expect this to happen again, but if it does they'll be around 5th place.
DeleteThis is a workout by the 4th ranked team in the country http://www.flotrack.org/coverage/249724-Flotrack-High-School-Elite-50-2012-XC-Season/video/664159-Hill-Repeats-with-4-American-Fork-Boys-XC These kids are beasts. If O'Hara or Henderson were to place anywhere near them You'd need to see huge 4-5 step ups from both teams, along with top 30 finishes from O'Hara's top 3 along with top 15 finishes from Hendersons 1-2 (top 10 for Tony).
--ForrestCRN
The O'Hara runners have been amazingly consistent this year and should definitely be in the mix for all-American status. The problem for the is after there 5th they aren't backed up very well. Henderson has been a little less consistent up front but, as Knapp showed, can be dangerous at 6 and 7 too.
DeleteOverall, i would think Henderson can place higher than O'Hara's ceiling, but O'Hara has a better chance to finish in front of Henderson.(hopefully that mad sense)
Way to go to all PA teams at NXN...you make us proud!
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