Weekend Action

There were some interesting results to note state wise this weekend. One of the first things that turned my head was seeing that Vinny Todaro has jumped out to a fast start with a 4:26 opening 1600m, winning the race by roughly 17 seconds. The reigning XC state champion ran 4:16 last spring and was 9th indoors in the mile with a time in the low 4:20s. To run this fast in small meet in December makes me think this guy could beat his outdoor PR indoors this year. I'd love to see him in a Millrose qualifier.

Kyle Francis and Brad Rivera take nice wins for Bensalem. Those are two nice pieces for their relays going forward. Rivera showed nice strength moving up to the mile and beating a very solid runner in Connor Harriman. It was a nice first race back for Harriman, however, and I still believe Harriman's best event will be the 3k. Based on Webb's race in the 3k, I imagine these two guys haven't done a lot of intense training since finishing regionals, meaning we can expect some nice improvements from these guys in the coming months. I like Bodine's mile from Haverford, that time this early indicates he will be down around the SQS at some point this season. A nice start for Alec Brand from CB East. If he can keep up running like this, he adds his name to a long list of 3k state qualifiers. Pennridge and North Penn throw their names into the list for potential 4x8 squads in what is currently a pretty weak field.

In Division II there were some other nice performances dropped. Dan Alexander had a second straight solid individual performance and won the 800 in an SQS. He is a defending state medalist in the 800m. A nice race behind him by Avery Scripture, a sleeper pick in this year's 800m field with a 1:55 800m PR. A solid race for Huemmler, obviously not mind blowing, but his second win of the season and he does it with ease it seems. Pitone, to me, never seemed like a miler, he is better long, but 4:33 is still a great time for him, unfortunately not fast enough to get him to states.

Finally, in the 3k we saw another excellent opening performance. After Macauley and Berry pushed each other to 9 flat performances, we saw Savage and Norris push each other to US #1 and #2 marks in 8:47 and 8:48. That is really impressive for Savage who I would not think would have been able to outlast Norris in a test of speed. I didn't see the race play out, but based on watching Norris at Nats I have to imagine he took it out hard and the beginning, but Savage must have out strengthed him. This is a great sign for Savage, who is now a contender for the state title. Unfortunately, it will probably be a while before we see fast times from either of these guys again. Meanwhile, keep an eye on Ben Szuhaj. He had a killer Footlocker Regionals race and is quickly emerging as an elite PA runner. He just missed the SQS but it's December and he will most likely hit the mark soon. The 3k is stacked. Nice to see GV win the DMR without Willig and Zatlin.