Before I really get into this I want to show you what these times convert to for 3200m using the official milesplit conversion calculator.
1. Max Norris 8:28.93 -> 9:06.34 (PR)
2. Ethan Martin 8:33.63 -> 9:11.38 (PR)
3. Dan Savage 8:39.64 -> 9:17.83 (PR)
4. Conner Quinn 8:40.22 -> 9:18.46 (PR)
5. Brendan Shearn 8:40.53 -> 9:18.79
6. Jon Colwell 8:41.99 -> 9:20.36 (PR)
7. Colin Martin 8:42.61 -> 9:21.02 (PR)
8. Ross Wilson 8:42.63 -> 9:21.04 (PR)
That sounds like an absurdly fast outdoor final, and this was on an indoor track. What makes it more amazing to me is this was group of relative unknowns that grabbed these medal spots in crazy fast times. Only Shearn didn't run the equivalent of outdoor PR and he was coming off a serious injury that held him out of racing for just about all of the year. If you throw in Tony Russell's 8:38 from earlier in the year you have 6 guys who have run the equivalent of sub 9:20 this year indoors. That is crazy. Especially when considering you have 3 more guys knocking at the door.
What makes it perhaps even more surprising is that this above group does not even return the top 4 guys from AAA last season! Mac Emery, who ran 9:11 last year, Dan Jaskowak, who ran 9:14 and is the top returner outdoors, Jack Macauley who ran 9:15 and Connor Harriman who ran 9:18 in a tremendous kick to finish 4th last year outdoors.
Wow. Throw Rico Galassi and Sami Aziz (time trial at Henderson) into that group and we have an astounding 12 guys coming into the outdoor season with PRs already under 9:20! With plenty of guys knocking on the door behind them. This year outdoors has the potential to be the deepest it has ever been. I really hope that all these guys decide to hop in the same race at some point or another whether it is the Henderson meet in mid season or the end of season or somewhere else. States should include a lot of the best but it will split of guys like Galassi and Shearn from the top group (not to mention Sam Williams) and the independent league will take away Aziz and the Ritz brothers.
Amazingly, I still see a few guys beyond this group who can sneak into the sub 9:20 conversation. Austin Pondel immeaditely comes to mind after his break out season in XC. Brent Kenndy, too should be in the conversation. Consider the last few Footlocker Finalists from PA:
Paul Springer: 8:48 PR
Mark Dennin: 9:03
Chris Aldrich: 9:07
Vince McNally: 9:05
Ben Furcht: 9:00 3k conversion, 9:05
Brad Miles: 9:15
Rad Gunzenhauser: 9:07
Ryan Gil: 9:03
Chris Campell: 4:14 (never ran a serious 32)
Zach Hebda: 9:07
Dustin Wilson: not sure what he ran senior year but definitely under 9:20, 9:02 junior year
So moral of the story here is only Campbell never broke the mark out of the last 6 years worth of Foot Locker finalists. Shearn and Norris are already under this year, odds are Pondel and Kennedy will be joining them if healthy.
Kevin James is no slouch to overlook, he can definitely challenge 9:20 this year. So too can Reiny Barchet and Lyle Wistar who were close at the Henderson 2 mile meet this past fall. Luke Jones and Sam Williams from AA could mix it up and go after a sub 9:20 mark as well in the right race. Coyle could definitely do it if he wanted to, but not sure there will be a chance. Should be really sick.
But I'm getting ahead of myself ....
Now talking about the actual indoor 3k itself ....
Big race by Norris. Looked so smooth and comfortable at that fast of pace. Really unbelievable for him to pull away like that and close so fast. After watching that race I gotta believe a well rested Tony Russell can be down around that mark as well. He did all the work and just couldn't hang on after a long day. He will bounce back. Ross Wilson can run a lot faster as well in my mind. Rolling out to the front of the race in 30 was probably a bit of a tactical error in my mind. He is well coached and a good runner and he will fix up that first mile and be ready to mix it up outdoors. Having Emery rolling with him outdoors should help.
Major props to Brendan Shearn for bouncing back off that injury. Really impressive for him to mix it up and run 8:40, a time competitive with the leaders most years. He ran a smart race off the back of the pack and just rolled by people at the end. Very smart racing off that kind of fast early pace. Ethan Martin looked great as well. Outdoors he should continue to be a force. He is just a Junior and is looking up at guys like Kennedy and Russell and trying to prove he belongs. This was a nice step in the right direction. That time wins this race most years.
Jon Colwell had one heck of a breakout season as well. He proved that 8:45 was no fluke with a solid race at states. Major props also to Conner Quinn. He has bounced back really well after what had to be a tough XC season. The guy is adjusting to not having Sam Hibbs and taking a page out of Hibbs' book. Quinn may surprise with a sub 9:10 outdoors. Don't be surprised. He is running better than Hibbs did at this point indoors (arguably).
And of course Dan Savage is always up in the mix. He has made a lot of steps in the right direction this year, proving he isn't just a cross guy, he can do track as well. Sub 8:40 indoors sets him up very nicely for outdoors. He is a grinder who can hang with that tough pace and hold on for a fast time.
Overall this was likely the deepest 3k indoors in state history. Unbelievable.
800m Recap
Brad Rivera went wire to wire to win this race. In a field with some of the best kicks in the business Rivera toasted everyone on the last lap after leading through 600m. And Rivera's mark is no slouch of a time either. He became just the fourth person ever to run under 1:53 at the indoor state championships and his time, I believe, is PA #5 All Time behind former state record holders Paul Vandegrift, Tom Mallon, Wade Endress and current record holder Ned Willig. His time of 1:52.43 is also a roughly 1.5 second PR from his old PR, an open mark as a sophomore at districts. Clearly, Rivera proved his front running style can work. If he stays healthy, he can go the route of Vandegrift and Mallon and break 1:50, if not he will likely end up more like Endress and Willig who never quite eclipsed their indoor dominance.
Behind Rivera, Christian Sanders launched an unprecedented run to a second place finish. His time of 1:53.5 was a massive 5 second PR. He went from being a relative nobody who couldn't break 2 minutes to a 16 flat 5k runner with the potential to run under 50 seconds in the quarter. Clearly untapped talent out of Upper Merion. This drop is unlike anything I have ever personally seen. Hardy last year had a sizable PR to run his 1:53, but he had 1:55 credentials before that. When Mallon ran 1:51 indoors, his season best to that point was 1:57, however his overall PR was 1:52. There is no one that I can find in my research that made the jump from 2 flat to 1:53 in roughly 2 weeks when he has never broke 2 before in his life. At least indoors. Hong Cho during his Junior year was one of the closest. He ran 2:00 or so indoors and went outdoors and by seasons end was down to 1:53. Of course this was over a much longer period than 2 weeks. Same goes for Sam Ellison who dropped from 2 flat to 1:52 over the course of indoors and outdoors his senior year. To drop so much time in so little time is an amazing achievement. What a sleeper pick he turned out to be.
Now Sanders run was also impressive because he managed to outkick two of the best kickers in the field in Jeff Wiseman and Joe Logue (both of whom will be back next year to defend their title). Logue seemed to just run out of time to catch Rivera, Rivera was way too strong on the last lap for Logue to kick him down and I imagine after watching that unfold he was a little too morally defeated to really kick it home the last 50m where he was caught by Wiseman and Sanders. It is a great run for Wiseman here, that is a roughly 1 second overall PR for him and he drops 5 seconds or so from his mark a week ago. Logue has a 1:51 PR but his 1:53 mark is still a roughly 3 second indoor PR. He will come back outdoors hungry and may make a push for a PA #1 time at Nats. I'd love to see him and Rivera mix it up with the Nations best and try and push towards a 1:51 mark.
For Kunzweiler his 1:55 low mark is actually very promising. It's significantly faster than he was racing at this meet a year ago and sets him up nicely for outdoors. We know that he has 1:51 ability. We know that Logue has 1:51 ability. And after watching this state field I think we can add at least 3 more guys to the group with 1:51 ability. Throw in Coyle and Stone and maybe even Huemmler and the state is the deepest over 800m it has ever been.
Shawn Wolfe ran a really solid race in 1:55 as well. He was a sleeper pick of mine, but I thought he would likely get swallowed up in such a fast final. He held his own and it paid off. He will be one of the favorites for AA state champion going outdoors. This was his first really competitive 800m with guys of this caliber. With a few more races against this kind of competition we could see even more of a breakout from him.
Will Cather and Lucas Elek each won their slow heats and unfortunately had a little bit too little push to really fight for a top medal spot. I really like Elek, I think he is a tough, gutsy runner and I hope the best for him outdoors. He isn't in the PIAA so I don't know how many fast times we will see out of him. Hopefully he comes out to a couple Henderson meets or something and can run in a fast race. As for Cather he is the class of D6 now after that race (also coming off sickness, we saw how much that can affect a runner) dropping a 1:56 PR. His best event in my mind is still the mile, but things can come together for the state college 4x8 which should likely adjust his state schedule.
Now all that being said, let's look ahead to outdoors.
On the AA side we have guys like Shawn Wolfe and Dan Alexander at the top of the field. Both guys have solid PRs and good state experience. Smathers on the double from the 1600m has the potential to mix it up as well.
The AAA race should be stacked. Obviously you have guys like Logue, who will likely be fresh for the open 800m outdoors joined by Wiseman and Sanders who both bested him this year at states. All three of those guys I expect to have fresh legs and be ready to keep the pace quick. Then Rivera and Kunzweiler will have their hands full, both being in the double from what should be an exciting 4x8 race at the beginning of the day. Kunzweiler doubled very well last year so that is positive. I'm a little bit more nervous about Rivera, especially if he is going to lead this pace from the gun.
And looking to outdoors we can't count out Andrew Stone who has run a slew of excellent 800m over the years and just had a bit of an off day at states. Perhaps getting bumped around as much as he did at Lehigh the week before was draining to him. He and Coyle both seemed at least a tiny bit off, but outdoors I anticipate both being in killer shape if they stay healthy. Stone has a strong kick and could mix it up well with this field. Sub 1:50 at states outdoor for the winner of the race is a definite possibility.
And there are a bunch of guys who we can't overlook that may be ready to mix it up with this group. First is someone like Cather, although I think after the 4x8 he may not be ready to go down around the 1:53 mark that it will take to be competitive in this race. There is also AJ Chaborek who carried Henderson to a 2nd place finish on the 4x8 and boasts 1:53 relay splits in the past. He would be very dangerous on fresh legs against this field, although Henderson may consider throwing a 4x8 together for outdoors.
A few other relay legs could take that next step with fresh legs as well. Liam O'Connell from Pennsbury, Rob Simmons from CRN, Colin Meyers from Penncrest, Jim Belfatto from O'Hara and Kyle Francis from Bensalem all have breakout ability (Francis split a 1:54 at states by my watch). Likely, all these guys will opt for the 4x8 and that may limit them from being really competitive with the top of this field. Jack Magee may be a sleeper here too, although I think he is better off in the 16.
Lastly, we can not leave out someone like Steve Yannacone, the reigning D1 champion over 800m. If he gets healthy by outdoors he will be ready to roll and kick with the leaders of this field. Also someone like Ken Leidal (who I apologize for leaving out of the 1600m talk) could surprise in this field. Obviously, more of a miler but he boasts a 1:56 PR from a year ago. Dave Garton and Avery Scripture both ran excellent marks a year ago outdoors and may surprise looking ahead. I like Billy Caldwell's potential as well, he looked very strong on the double at MoCs. Dylan Wihoite is also a guy who can compete. Will Bailey last year was just one in a long line of talented Penn Hills 800m runners. Bailey certainly proved to be one of the best with a state title, but what is to stop Wihoite from busting out a 1:53 by outdoors.
There is a ton of depth in this field, especially looking ahead to outdoors and I am very excited to see what kind of times it takes to get into the finals and on to the medal stand at states.
Behind Rivera, Christian Sanders launched an unprecedented run to a second place finish. His time of 1:53.5 was a massive 5 second PR. He went from being a relative nobody who couldn't break 2 minutes to a 16 flat 5k runner with the potential to run under 50 seconds in the quarter. Clearly untapped talent out of Upper Merion. This drop is unlike anything I have ever personally seen. Hardy last year had a sizable PR to run his 1:53, but he had 1:55 credentials before that. When Mallon ran 1:51 indoors, his season best to that point was 1:57, however his overall PR was 1:52. There is no one that I can find in my research that made the jump from 2 flat to 1:53 in roughly 2 weeks when he has never broke 2 before in his life. At least indoors. Hong Cho during his Junior year was one of the closest. He ran 2:00 or so indoors and went outdoors and by seasons end was down to 1:53. Of course this was over a much longer period than 2 weeks. Same goes for Sam Ellison who dropped from 2 flat to 1:52 over the course of indoors and outdoors his senior year. To drop so much time in so little time is an amazing achievement. What a sleeper pick he turned out to be.
Now Sanders run was also impressive because he managed to outkick two of the best kickers in the field in Jeff Wiseman and Joe Logue (both of whom will be back next year to defend their title). Logue seemed to just run out of time to catch Rivera, Rivera was way too strong on the last lap for Logue to kick him down and I imagine after watching that unfold he was a little too morally defeated to really kick it home the last 50m where he was caught by Wiseman and Sanders. It is a great run for Wiseman here, that is a roughly 1 second overall PR for him and he drops 5 seconds or so from his mark a week ago. Logue has a 1:51 PR but his 1:53 mark is still a roughly 3 second indoor PR. He will come back outdoors hungry and may make a push for a PA #1 time at Nats. I'd love to see him and Rivera mix it up with the Nations best and try and push towards a 1:51 mark.
For Kunzweiler his 1:55 low mark is actually very promising. It's significantly faster than he was racing at this meet a year ago and sets him up nicely for outdoors. We know that he has 1:51 ability. We know that Logue has 1:51 ability. And after watching this state field I think we can add at least 3 more guys to the group with 1:51 ability. Throw in Coyle and Stone and maybe even Huemmler and the state is the deepest over 800m it has ever been.
Shawn Wolfe ran a really solid race in 1:55 as well. He was a sleeper pick of mine, but I thought he would likely get swallowed up in such a fast final. He held his own and it paid off. He will be one of the favorites for AA state champion going outdoors. This was his first really competitive 800m with guys of this caliber. With a few more races against this kind of competition we could see even more of a breakout from him.
Will Cather and Lucas Elek each won their slow heats and unfortunately had a little bit too little push to really fight for a top medal spot. I really like Elek, I think he is a tough, gutsy runner and I hope the best for him outdoors. He isn't in the PIAA so I don't know how many fast times we will see out of him. Hopefully he comes out to a couple Henderson meets or something and can run in a fast race. As for Cather he is the class of D6 now after that race (also coming off sickness, we saw how much that can affect a runner) dropping a 1:56 PR. His best event in my mind is still the mile, but things can come together for the state college 4x8 which should likely adjust his state schedule.
Now all that being said, let's look ahead to outdoors.
On the AA side we have guys like Shawn Wolfe and Dan Alexander at the top of the field. Both guys have solid PRs and good state experience. Smathers on the double from the 1600m has the potential to mix it up as well.
The AAA race should be stacked. Obviously you have guys like Logue, who will likely be fresh for the open 800m outdoors joined by Wiseman and Sanders who both bested him this year at states. All three of those guys I expect to have fresh legs and be ready to keep the pace quick. Then Rivera and Kunzweiler will have their hands full, both being in the double from what should be an exciting 4x8 race at the beginning of the day. Kunzweiler doubled very well last year so that is positive. I'm a little bit more nervous about Rivera, especially if he is going to lead this pace from the gun.
And looking to outdoors we can't count out Andrew Stone who has run a slew of excellent 800m over the years and just had a bit of an off day at states. Perhaps getting bumped around as much as he did at Lehigh the week before was draining to him. He and Coyle both seemed at least a tiny bit off, but outdoors I anticipate both being in killer shape if they stay healthy. Stone has a strong kick and could mix it up well with this field. Sub 1:50 at states outdoor for the winner of the race is a definite possibility.
And there are a bunch of guys who we can't overlook that may be ready to mix it up with this group. First is someone like Cather, although I think after the 4x8 he may not be ready to go down around the 1:53 mark that it will take to be competitive in this race. There is also AJ Chaborek who carried Henderson to a 2nd place finish on the 4x8 and boasts 1:53 relay splits in the past. He would be very dangerous on fresh legs against this field, although Henderson may consider throwing a 4x8 together for outdoors.
A few other relay legs could take that next step with fresh legs as well. Liam O'Connell from Pennsbury, Rob Simmons from CRN, Colin Meyers from Penncrest, Jim Belfatto from O'Hara and Kyle Francis from Bensalem all have breakout ability (Francis split a 1:54 at states by my watch). Likely, all these guys will opt for the 4x8 and that may limit them from being really competitive with the top of this field. Jack Magee may be a sleeper here too, although I think he is better off in the 16.
Lastly, we can not leave out someone like Steve Yannacone, the reigning D1 champion over 800m. If he gets healthy by outdoors he will be ready to roll and kick with the leaders of this field. Also someone like Ken Leidal (who I apologize for leaving out of the 1600m talk) could surprise in this field. Obviously, more of a miler but he boasts a 1:56 PR from a year ago. Dave Garton and Avery Scripture both ran excellent marks a year ago outdoors and may surprise looking ahead. I like Billy Caldwell's potential as well, he looked very strong on the double at MoCs. Dylan Wihoite is also a guy who can compete. Will Bailey last year was just one in a long line of talented Penn Hills 800m runners. Bailey certainly proved to be one of the best with a state title, but what is to stop Wihoite from busting out a 1:53 by outdoors.
There is a ton of depth in this field, especially looking ahead to outdoors and I am very excited to see what kind of times it takes to get into the finals and on to the medal stand at states.
Mile at States
The mile was a very interesting race to watch unfold. In many ways it failed to live up to the hype but I think the main issue was just all the sickness going around. Clearly Harriman and Coyle were not at 100%, they were out of it for a lot of the race and Coyle somehow managed to kick his way back to finish third, pretty impressive. Huemmler too was not completely healthy, but he looked much better than Coyle performing that double. That slow pace played to his favor and he has been in enough big time races to be prepared to close fast.
As for Russell he made the right moves in the race and had to do a lot of the work, but I'm a little surprised he couldn't hang more with Huemmler at the end. That 3:02 1200m leg brings to mind a guy with a lot more speed than I was giving him credit for early in the season. I'm wondering if he was suffering from a little sickness or something as well. Not trying to make excuses for the guy, but seeing the finish of his races this past weekend makes me wonder. He is a class act and he won't make excuses for himself so we may never know. It still was a great race to take second and it sets up nicely for outdoors.
Honestly, the Henderson guys just seemed to avoid racing a lot of big time mile races and Russell hadn't run an open mile that was faster than that 4:25. That could have played a roll. The focus here is clearly on outdoors. Coyle too didn't get in the big time races that Huemmler did although he did have a few fast miles with his teammate Andrew Stone to help him out.
Clearly Huemmler has developed into a solid tactician. He kept the pace slow and then unleashed a killer kick. Outdoors he led most of the race, chasing the clock rather than the gold. It is good to see him use his racing intelligence to get a state gold.
Curt Jewett ran a pretty solid race in that mile. Having watched the video, he was on the way back of that pack through the early parts of the race and thus had to put in one of the biggest negative splits of the group. That definitely should be a confidence builder for him moving to outdoors. He and Smathers should have a nice showdown.
Smathers benefited from a fast pace but it was slightly sporadic as well. After Abert took them out incredibly fast things slowed a bit and then Smathers kicked to bring it home. This is Smathers first real indoor season so if he continues to drop time like this going into outdoors sub 4:10 is attainable. He just needs the right competition which may be hard to come by. Jaskowak and Rigby are the likely guys to give him the competition, both had solid races at states. For Jaskowak it was definitely his best race of the season and a positive heading into outdoors.
Just a few other comments thrown in here. I like Sam Webb. He is really a fighter, he sticks his nose in it and grinds it out. He is going to be a real tougher 2 miler for Pennsbury this outdoors if he gets his shot. He and Harriman are both at their best outdoors at this distance in my mind. That Pennsbury 4x8 is solid, but they are going to have to be split up in my mind.
In an honest pace James Zingarini is going to be tough to beat outdoors. He easily has the weakest 800m credentials in the field (I'm counting Russell's 3:02 as 800m credentials, perhaps unfairly) but he still hung on to that tough pace and got a hard fought 4th. In the right, grind it out, type race he can be down around 4:15 outdoors. I'd like to see him drop that 800m mark as well.
One last note, Kevin James has balls. You may have heard. I really like that t-shirt by the way whoever posted it, but I had to take it down, can't impersonate another guy and get away with it. But overall another solid season from Kevin James, showing a lot more speed than I expected out there.
And now I will make my final point: what does this mean for outdoors?
Obviously there will probably be a few guys who come out of the woodwork that weren't even on my radar at this point. There always are. But here are the guys that I expect to mix it up outdoors in the 1600m.
I gotta think the top 4 are all going to go 1600m again outdoors. This time Russell gets the 3200m first. Unless he has his eyes on a state meet record in the 3200m, I don't see much harm in trying the double again. I don't expect to see much 4x8 drama out of LaSalle, especially the way Magee is developing. He can compete well in the individual events (maybe a sleeper pick in the 1600m outdoors). As mentioned, I think Zingarini can run a fast time in the right race as well and of course Huemmler is the state champ, he is going to be the favorite again come outdoors.
In the AA race Jewett and Smathers should create an interesting match up. Maybe Rico Galassi will be on it as well unless he and Shearn are both going to focus up on the 32 again. Smathers is the favorite for sure, but Jewett has proven he has made a lot of strides in the right direction to compete with Smathers.
The sleeper picks are going to be guys like Brent Kennedy who we haven't heard much from yet. He certainly has a 4:15 in him. Maybe Max Norris will consider the double after his dominating 3k close. Harriman is certainly a threat, but I think his strength lies with the 3200m. Christian Kardish was 4:18 a year ago outdoors and might be a sleeper looking ahead.
Only time will tell.
As for Russell he made the right moves in the race and had to do a lot of the work, but I'm a little surprised he couldn't hang more with Huemmler at the end. That 3:02 1200m leg brings to mind a guy with a lot more speed than I was giving him credit for early in the season. I'm wondering if he was suffering from a little sickness or something as well. Not trying to make excuses for the guy, but seeing the finish of his races this past weekend makes me wonder. He is a class act and he won't make excuses for himself so we may never know. It still was a great race to take second and it sets up nicely for outdoors.
Honestly, the Henderson guys just seemed to avoid racing a lot of big time mile races and Russell hadn't run an open mile that was faster than that 4:25. That could have played a roll. The focus here is clearly on outdoors. Coyle too didn't get in the big time races that Huemmler did although he did have a few fast miles with his teammate Andrew Stone to help him out.
Clearly Huemmler has developed into a solid tactician. He kept the pace slow and then unleashed a killer kick. Outdoors he led most of the race, chasing the clock rather than the gold. It is good to see him use his racing intelligence to get a state gold.
Curt Jewett ran a pretty solid race in that mile. Having watched the video, he was on the way back of that pack through the early parts of the race and thus had to put in one of the biggest negative splits of the group. That definitely should be a confidence builder for him moving to outdoors. He and Smathers should have a nice showdown.
Smathers benefited from a fast pace but it was slightly sporadic as well. After Abert took them out incredibly fast things slowed a bit and then Smathers kicked to bring it home. This is Smathers first real indoor season so if he continues to drop time like this going into outdoors sub 4:10 is attainable. He just needs the right competition which may be hard to come by. Jaskowak and Rigby are the likely guys to give him the competition, both had solid races at states. For Jaskowak it was definitely his best race of the season and a positive heading into outdoors.
Just a few other comments thrown in here. I like Sam Webb. He is really a fighter, he sticks his nose in it and grinds it out. He is going to be a real tougher 2 miler for Pennsbury this outdoors if he gets his shot. He and Harriman are both at their best outdoors at this distance in my mind. That Pennsbury 4x8 is solid, but they are going to have to be split up in my mind.
In an honest pace James Zingarini is going to be tough to beat outdoors. He easily has the weakest 800m credentials in the field (I'm counting Russell's 3:02 as 800m credentials, perhaps unfairly) but he still hung on to that tough pace and got a hard fought 4th. In the right, grind it out, type race he can be down around 4:15 outdoors. I'd like to see him drop that 800m mark as well.
One last note, Kevin James has balls. You may have heard. I really like that t-shirt by the way whoever posted it, but I had to take it down, can't impersonate another guy and get away with it. But overall another solid season from Kevin James, showing a lot more speed than I expected out there.
And now I will make my final point: what does this mean for outdoors?
Obviously there will probably be a few guys who come out of the woodwork that weren't even on my radar at this point. There always are. But here are the guys that I expect to mix it up outdoors in the 1600m.
I gotta think the top 4 are all going to go 1600m again outdoors. This time Russell gets the 3200m first. Unless he has his eyes on a state meet record in the 3200m, I don't see much harm in trying the double again. I don't expect to see much 4x8 drama out of LaSalle, especially the way Magee is developing. He can compete well in the individual events (maybe a sleeper pick in the 1600m outdoors). As mentioned, I think Zingarini can run a fast time in the right race as well and of course Huemmler is the state champ, he is going to be the favorite again come outdoors.
In the AA race Jewett and Smathers should create an interesting match up. Maybe Rico Galassi will be on it as well unless he and Shearn are both going to focus up on the 32 again. Smathers is the favorite for sure, but Jewett has proven he has made a lot of strides in the right direction to compete with Smathers.
The sleeper picks are going to be guys like Brent Kennedy who we haven't heard much from yet. He certainly has a 4:15 in him. Maybe Max Norris will consider the double after his dominating 3k close. Harriman is certainly a threat, but I think his strength lies with the 3200m. Christian Kardish was 4:18 a year ago outdoors and might be a sleeper looking ahead.
Only time will tell.
etrain Shirts
So if you have been on facebook or twitter you may have heard that I have been working on the prototype for an official etrain t-shirt associated with the blog that may soon be going on sale at the meets that I or one of my coworkers is at. Right now I'm out to gauge interest in the whole t-shirt idea because obviously I don't want to make an investment in something that will put me in the red.
If you want to get an idea for what the tentative shirt looks like you can check the link on my twitter or my facebook (my real one, not the etrain page). The color shown is red and gray (which is Muhlenberg's colors and thus seemed appropriate) but I would like to have multiple color options depending on interest. Some of the other cool ideas were carolina blue with white, purple and gold like the lakers colors and lime green and black. Other ideas would be accepted just comment them here.
If you are interested in a shirt I don't need your name or any commitment to buying them, I just want to hear your opinion on the coloring and your opinion on what size you would want to wear. The cost would be around 10-12 dollars depending on how many I get and how many people are interested.
Please let me know your thoughts and stay classy.
Here is another link to the basic shirt design:
http://www.ooshirts.com/d/27528768
Feedback appreciated, but don't be too harsh, I'm no art major over here.
If you want to get an idea for what the tentative shirt looks like you can check the link on my twitter or my facebook (my real one, not the etrain page). The color shown is red and gray (which is Muhlenberg's colors and thus seemed appropriate) but I would like to have multiple color options depending on interest. Some of the other cool ideas were carolina blue with white, purple and gold like the lakers colors and lime green and black. Other ideas would be accepted just comment them here.
If you are interested in a shirt I don't need your name or any commitment to buying them, I just want to hear your opinion on the coloring and your opinion on what size you would want to wear. The cost would be around 10-12 dollars depending on how many I get and how many people are interested.
Please let me know your thoughts and stay classy.
Here is another link to the basic shirt design:
http://www.ooshirts.com/d/27528768
Feedback appreciated, but don't be too harsh, I'm no art major over here.
Indoor States - James Zingarini Interview
Thanks again to Zack Neiner for doing state coverage for the blog and getting interivews with Coyle and Zingarini. He does a lot of grea journalism for PSU as well so follow him @ZackNeiner on twitter.
He also put together a wonderful recap of the state meet with a collection of tweets that you can check out at http://storify.com/ZackNeiner/pa-indoor-states-recap-reactions
I found it quite interesting and I'd definently recommend looking into it.
Indoor States - Tom Coyle Interview
Thanks again to Zack Neiner for doing state coverage for the blog and getting interivews with Coyle and Zingarini. He does a lot of grea journalism for PSU as well so follow him @ZackNeiner on twitter.
He also put together a wonderful recap of the state meet with a collection of tweets that you can check out at http://storify.com/ZackNeiner/pa-indoor-states-recap-reactions
I found it quite interesting and I'd definently recommend looking into it.
State Wrap Up
Hopefully in the days to come we will have some more in depth details for you but for now, purely based on looking at results, having not seen any race footage, here are my thoughts on the races.
Also if you have splits for relays please comment them up on here ASAP. Thank you.
First off a big congrats to Bensalem who came up big with 41 points and the state championship. Garnet Valley put a pretty solid fight as did Pennridge but ultimately Bensalem put all the doubters in their wake and pulled out a couple of impressive wins. The 400 and 800 wins were great and big upsets in my mind. The 4x8 was the icing on the cake. I went back and forth on this squad pulling out the state title, but ultimately I should have stuck with them through to the end. A big win for this squad.
Let's start first at the mile. Jack Huemmler got his first state championship in impressive fashion against a stellar field. The race didn't play out as fast as many of us in the field were hoping and that may have played to Huemmler's advantage. Certainly clutch of him to double back from sickness and put up 2 impressive miles at the state championship. He came slightly over a second away from double gold. Really solid race by Zingarini who was just off Coyle when all was said and done. In a more honest pace race he could have really surprised people and outdoors he should. He was another guy with an impressive DMR double.
A couple of AA guys stepped up to grab some of the other medals in Jewett and Smathers. That was a great sign for Smathers going forth to outdoors. I'm assuming he won the slow heat going away which is pretty impressive. If his momentum carries him he will run very quick outdoors, has a shot at sub 4:10 in the right race. Jewett also should be able to challenge 4:12-4:14. This was his first ever indoors which makes his run more impressive.
Moving to the 800m, Brad Rivera pulled the upset with a blazing 1:52 mark. It really surprised me to see him drop this fast of a time. Unbelievable run by him and really proved me wrong with that kind of strength to beat out such a great field of 800m closers. Christian Sanders ran a HUGE PR. He has taken off roughly 8 seconds from his PR in a matter of 2 weeks. A 1:53.5 for second his more than I ever could have predicted when I deemed him a sleeper pick for states. Wiseman a very solid PR giving chase in 1:53.58. No slouch of a mark there. As for Logue, it was disappointing for sure, it is a good sign for him competition wise. He still only a Junior and will be hungry and motivated going forward to outdoors. With this group of guys the 1:50 barrier is certainly breakable. Kunzweiler and Stone both should be sharper come outdoors. The LaSalle guys had a bit of a tough time this weekend but both of those guys are way too talented to be stuck in a rut for long.
Shawn Wolfe had a big time break out 800m. He was another sleeper on our radar but I didn't think he could hang at such a fast pace as the state finals. He did and he grabbed a well deserved medal in 1:55. Nice mark by Cather as well to run 1:56 and I assume win his heat fairly comfortably while doing it. He, Logue, Wiseman and Lewis are all back next year. Keep that in mind.
Moving on to the 3k. Max Norris has done it again. I have been a big fan of Norris for a while and he was clutch at the end of XC, but after watching him at the meet of champs it looked like he lacked the killer instinct to take down a W at states.
I was very wrong. A big time win in a very quick mark of 8:28. There are very few guys who can boast sub 8:30 at the state meet and that implies to me that he can challenge 9 minutes outdoors. The outdoor 2 mile is going to be unreal. Especially if we get good competition at the Henderson Distance Festival. With Russell, Norris and other D1 and Independent League guys in the race we could see sub 9. The meet has done it before when Springer ran the state record of 8:48.
Ethan Martin ran like a boss as well. I thought he would have been able to win it with an 8:33 mark. A great run by him heading into outdoors. He and his brother are really rolling. Don't forget those guys are just Juniors. Colin ran a very solid 8:42 mark behind Ethan which shouldn't go overlooked. Dan Savage ran great, well deserved bronze medal race. Overall the field was straight stacked. Great run by Shearn in there coming back off injury to mix it up well. Conner Quinn also ran a great race. He was running close to the pace he ran in his mile at MOCs in that 3k. Awesome strength.
As for the 4x8 we already discussed Bensalem's impressive mark and big win. Henderson ran a very solid race behind them as well, edging out a Pennsbury team that really stepped up, possibly without Harriman on the squad, and ran a big season best. I didn't think Pennsbury had that much fire power ready to go for states and it seemed like they were slipping a bit, but they really pulled together at the right time. I'd be interested to see what Henderson and Pennsbury opt to do outdoors and what the splits on these relays were. Penncrest proved they are always ready to grab a 4x8 medal. Same with North Penn. They always find 4 guys that can run around 2 minutes year in and year out. Glad to see DTEast snag a medal after a great season.
The DMR was very interesting as LaSalle did when as expected but Haven and CRN gave them a good run for their money. All teams were within 1.5 seconds of one another. Huemmler ran a 4:17 double and caught his guys back up but Zingarini unleashed a solid kick to pass back at the end. Coyle and Stone hung tough and got the title, with likely a nice leg in their by Magee. CValley had a solid year indoors, much better than last year, they will be dangerous outdoors. I would be curious to see how Kunzweiler doubled. It was a tough double for sure and he may have opted for the 12 instead of the mile. Bonner really had a step up day. I assume McDermott ran doubling from the 3k which would be very impressive, but online they have a relay listed without him. Either way it is a very impressive performance that proved me quite wrong. HGPrep also stepped up big time. They were running solid all year but no where near this well. Things worked out pretty well for them in the end and I'm assuming Kardish played a big role there.
Good run by DTWest not at full force still competing hard. They had a great squad of guys this year and they proved it in cross. It is unfortunate to see them off the medal stand, but outdoors I know these guys will show up big. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery for Leidal.
And folks that's all I have to say about that. Hopefully I'll have more info for you going forward. We have interviews and things to come still plus much more analysis. Get in those splits and let me hear your opinions!
Also if you have splits for relays please comment them up on here ASAP. Thank you.
First off a big congrats to Bensalem who came up big with 41 points and the state championship. Garnet Valley put a pretty solid fight as did Pennridge but ultimately Bensalem put all the doubters in their wake and pulled out a couple of impressive wins. The 400 and 800 wins were great and big upsets in my mind. The 4x8 was the icing on the cake. I went back and forth on this squad pulling out the state title, but ultimately I should have stuck with them through to the end. A big win for this squad.
Let's start first at the mile. Jack Huemmler got his first state championship in impressive fashion against a stellar field. The race didn't play out as fast as many of us in the field were hoping and that may have played to Huemmler's advantage. Certainly clutch of him to double back from sickness and put up 2 impressive miles at the state championship. He came slightly over a second away from double gold. Really solid race by Zingarini who was just off Coyle when all was said and done. In a more honest pace race he could have really surprised people and outdoors he should. He was another guy with an impressive DMR double.
A couple of AA guys stepped up to grab some of the other medals in Jewett and Smathers. That was a great sign for Smathers going forth to outdoors. I'm assuming he won the slow heat going away which is pretty impressive. If his momentum carries him he will run very quick outdoors, has a shot at sub 4:10 in the right race. Jewett also should be able to challenge 4:12-4:14. This was his first ever indoors which makes his run more impressive.
Moving to the 800m, Brad Rivera pulled the upset with a blazing 1:52 mark. It really surprised me to see him drop this fast of a time. Unbelievable run by him and really proved me wrong with that kind of strength to beat out such a great field of 800m closers. Christian Sanders ran a HUGE PR. He has taken off roughly 8 seconds from his PR in a matter of 2 weeks. A 1:53.5 for second his more than I ever could have predicted when I deemed him a sleeper pick for states. Wiseman a very solid PR giving chase in 1:53.58. No slouch of a mark there. As for Logue, it was disappointing for sure, it is a good sign for him competition wise. He still only a Junior and will be hungry and motivated going forward to outdoors. With this group of guys the 1:50 barrier is certainly breakable. Kunzweiler and Stone both should be sharper come outdoors. The LaSalle guys had a bit of a tough time this weekend but both of those guys are way too talented to be stuck in a rut for long.
Shawn Wolfe had a big time break out 800m. He was another sleeper on our radar but I didn't think he could hang at such a fast pace as the state finals. He did and he grabbed a well deserved medal in 1:55. Nice mark by Cather as well to run 1:56 and I assume win his heat fairly comfortably while doing it. He, Logue, Wiseman and Lewis are all back next year. Keep that in mind.
Moving on to the 3k. Max Norris has done it again. I have been a big fan of Norris for a while and he was clutch at the end of XC, but after watching him at the meet of champs it looked like he lacked the killer instinct to take down a W at states.
I was very wrong. A big time win in a very quick mark of 8:28. There are very few guys who can boast sub 8:30 at the state meet and that implies to me that he can challenge 9 minutes outdoors. The outdoor 2 mile is going to be unreal. Especially if we get good competition at the Henderson Distance Festival. With Russell, Norris and other D1 and Independent League guys in the race we could see sub 9. The meet has done it before when Springer ran the state record of 8:48.
Ethan Martin ran like a boss as well. I thought he would have been able to win it with an 8:33 mark. A great run by him heading into outdoors. He and his brother are really rolling. Don't forget those guys are just Juniors. Colin ran a very solid 8:42 mark behind Ethan which shouldn't go overlooked. Dan Savage ran great, well deserved bronze medal race. Overall the field was straight stacked. Great run by Shearn in there coming back off injury to mix it up well. Conner Quinn also ran a great race. He was running close to the pace he ran in his mile at MOCs in that 3k. Awesome strength.
As for the 4x8 we already discussed Bensalem's impressive mark and big win. Henderson ran a very solid race behind them as well, edging out a Pennsbury team that really stepped up, possibly without Harriman on the squad, and ran a big season best. I didn't think Pennsbury had that much fire power ready to go for states and it seemed like they were slipping a bit, but they really pulled together at the right time. I'd be interested to see what Henderson and Pennsbury opt to do outdoors and what the splits on these relays were. Penncrest proved they are always ready to grab a 4x8 medal. Same with North Penn. They always find 4 guys that can run around 2 minutes year in and year out. Glad to see DTEast snag a medal after a great season.
The DMR was very interesting as LaSalle did when as expected but Haven and CRN gave them a good run for their money. All teams were within 1.5 seconds of one another. Huemmler ran a 4:17 double and caught his guys back up but Zingarini unleashed a solid kick to pass back at the end. Coyle and Stone hung tough and got the title, with likely a nice leg in their by Magee. CValley had a solid year indoors, much better than last year, they will be dangerous outdoors. I would be curious to see how Kunzweiler doubled. It was a tough double for sure and he may have opted for the 12 instead of the mile. Bonner really had a step up day. I assume McDermott ran doubling from the 3k which would be very impressive, but online they have a relay listed without him. Either way it is a very impressive performance that proved me quite wrong. HGPrep also stepped up big time. They were running solid all year but no where near this well. Things worked out pretty well for them in the end and I'm assuming Kardish played a big role there.
Good run by DTWest not at full force still competing hard. They had a great squad of guys this year and they proved it in cross. It is unfortunate to see them off the medal stand, but outdoors I know these guys will show up big. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery for Leidal.
And folks that's all I have to say about that. Hopefully I'll have more info for you going forward. We have interviews and things to come still plus much more analysis. Get in those splits and let me hear your opinions!
Finding Zack
At the meet our reporter Zack will be dressed as follows:
Instead I'll just be down where all the runners are. I'll be wearing a neon orange dog jog shirt that says volunteer on the back with a north face back pack and downingtown east sweats that has east on then. Hopefully that will make be easy to find.
Instead I'll just be down where all the runners are. I'll be wearing a neon orange dog jog shirt that says volunteer on the back with a north face back pack and downingtown east sweats that has east on then. Hopefully that will make be easy to find.
Video Coverage For States
So here is the deal folks. We have got some things lined up for states that I hope you will enjoy and some things lined up for states that we are not really sure how you will feel about it, but there isn't much we can do.
First off, we can not video the races and post them up for free on the blog for copyright reasons. We have, however, likely negotiated the rights to view the race videos after the fact so that we can analyze them in depth, get splits, etc. But they will not go up on the blog, nor can we share them with anyone else. That's the bad news part.
Part of the good news is that you can buy a full video selection of the state meet events from: www.boblongsports.com.
Bob Long Sports will be providing exclusive free, live video coverage of the Pennsylvania High School Indoor State Track and Field Championship from Penn State University on February 23rd, 2013. Tune in to live coverage HERE and be sure to check out our LIVE SCORING page, instantaneously updated to reflect the most recently run events.
A DVD of the meet with all the track events will be available for sale after the meet, please contact bob@boblongsports.com for more information.
for HERE: Link http://boblongsports.com/ to it,
and for LIVE SCORING: link http://boblongsports.com/2013/02/22/pa-state-meet-live-
So that's all that not-etrain related news. Here is where we come in.
As you may or may not remember, I will not be able to attend the meet because of my Conference Championship meet that weekend. However, I have found a more than viable replacement who will be in attendance: Zack Neiner, currently attending Penn State University.
Zack ran cross country and track for Downingtown East, class of 2011, running solid marks in the upper distances like the mile and 2 mile posting PRs of 16:40, 10 flat, and 4:40 while in HS. He also had enough range to be an alternate for his state 4x800m team. He has not lost his passion for running as he just completed his first marathon this past May.
Zack's off the track credentials are impressive. He is a double major at Penn State in both Broadcast Journalism and Economics. Currently a sophomore, Zack writes for the student newspaper, the Daily Collegian while also writing and completing podcasts for his blog, 4th and hollywood, that covers sports and entertainment and has a full staff of over 10 writers. You can find out more about Zack from his blog and follow him on twitter @ZackNeiner (easy enough to remember).
Zack has graciously offered to do a variety of things for us at the meet. Although we had hopes of livestreaming the meet and getting race videos, unfortunately those plans will not work out under the copyright restrictions, but we do appreciate Zack's effort to make those things happen. What we will be doing is announcing the races without video, giving updates on Twitter when possible if you follow @ZackNeiner (Zack has a lot on his plate already), and we will be looking to interview a variety of the top runners in the state including all the distance state champions (boy or girl is fine! we are trying to expand our audience!)
If you are a state champion, we please ask that you try and find our coverage team out there and interview with us (I will be posting up more info as I know about it so you can more easily find Zack). Honestly, there is only so much we can do with our limited budget and lack of t-shirts and signs to get everyone to come interview with us so we need people to be proactive and don't be shy! If you are going to interview with penntrack, feel free to interview with us too! We would like to give our readers the inside scoop and ask the questions by the runners, for the runners. We understand the sport and we know what our readers want to hear and we feel we can do this better than any other site on the web so I encourage you to come out and interview with us.
Even if you are not the state champion if you are a state medalist or even a state participant we want you to come by. We feel each runner can offer a lot of insight, especially in these deep fields where fast times will be coming throughout the day.
Thanks for your help. If you have any questions feel free to contact me on facebook or on penntrack (I set up an account @etrain99) or on twitter or by email or by phone. Also feel free to contact Zack Neiner if you have any questions specific to him. Also Bob Long sports is available through their website if you have questions for them.
Let's make this a great state meet!
First off, we can not video the races and post them up for free on the blog for copyright reasons. We have, however, likely negotiated the rights to view the race videos after the fact so that we can analyze them in depth, get splits, etc. But they will not go up on the blog, nor can we share them with anyone else. That's the bad news part.
Part of the good news is that you can buy a full video selection of the state meet events from: www.boblongsports.com.
Bob Long Sports will be providing exclusive free, live video coverage of the Pennsylvania High School Indoor State Track and Field Championship from Penn State University on February 23rd, 2013. Tune in to live coverage HERE and be sure to check out our LIVE SCORING page, instantaneously updated to reflect the most recently run events.
A DVD of the meet with all the track events will be available for sale after the meet, please contact bob@boblongsports.com for more information.
for HERE: Link http://boblongsports.com/ to it,
and for LIVE SCORING: link http://boblongsports.com/2013/02/22/pa-state-meet-live-
So that's all that not-etrain related news. Here is where we come in.
As you may or may not remember, I will not be able to attend the meet because of my Conference Championship meet that weekend. However, I have found a more than viable replacement who will be in attendance: Zack Neiner, currently attending Penn State University.
Zack ran cross country and track for Downingtown East, class of 2011, running solid marks in the upper distances like the mile and 2 mile posting PRs of 16:40, 10 flat, and 4:40 while in HS. He also had enough range to be an alternate for his state 4x800m team. He has not lost his passion for running as he just completed his first marathon this past May.
Zack's off the track credentials are impressive. He is a double major at Penn State in both Broadcast Journalism and Economics. Currently a sophomore, Zack writes for the student newspaper, the Daily Collegian while also writing and completing podcasts for his blog, 4th and hollywood, that covers sports and entertainment and has a full staff of over 10 writers. You can find out more about Zack from his blog and follow him on twitter @ZackNeiner (easy enough to remember).
Zack has graciously offered to do a variety of things for us at the meet. Although we had hopes of livestreaming the meet and getting race videos, unfortunately those plans will not work out under the copyright restrictions, but we do appreciate Zack's effort to make those things happen. What we will be doing is announcing the races without video, giving updates on Twitter when possible if you follow @ZackNeiner (Zack has a lot on his plate already), and we will be looking to interview a variety of the top runners in the state including all the distance state champions (boy or girl is fine! we are trying to expand our audience!)
If you are a state champion, we please ask that you try and find our coverage team out there and interview with us (I will be posting up more info as I know about it so you can more easily find Zack). Honestly, there is only so much we can do with our limited budget and lack of t-shirts and signs to get everyone to come interview with us so we need people to be proactive and don't be shy! If you are going to interview with penntrack, feel free to interview with us too! We would like to give our readers the inside scoop and ask the questions by the runners, for the runners. We understand the sport and we know what our readers want to hear and we feel we can do this better than any other site on the web so I encourage you to come out and interview with us.
Even if you are not the state champion if you are a state medalist or even a state participant we want you to come by. We feel each runner can offer a lot of insight, especially in these deep fields where fast times will be coming throughout the day.
Thanks for your help. If you have any questions feel free to contact me on facebook or on penntrack (I set up an account @etrain99) or on twitter or by email or by phone. Also feel free to contact Zack Neiner if you have any questions specific to him. Also Bob Long sports is available through their website if you have questions for them.
Let's make this a great state meet!
Think You Know Better Than Train and CRN?
You watched the videos (hopefully) now it is time to prove us wrong! On facebook right now we have an official State Championship prediction contest going on that I think you guys should all get involved in! Just message me, Jarrett Felix, on facebook and I'll add you into the group. It is a great place to prove us wrong and a great place to get the inside scoop on the state meet from people around the state and hear a variety of interesting opinions. It's one of my favorite parts of doing what I do. So come on out and join the fun!
Also some things worth noting.
Apparently Shearn is healthy and ready to roll at states. That could make things very interesting as we kind of waved off his entry in our video.
Also Tom Coyle's sickness was apparently more serious than previously suspected. He is allegedly not running the DMR this weekend at states according to multiple sources. This makes his open mile more interesting as well as the LaSalle team title choices. And of course the DMR becomes much more wide open. A variety of teams have shown the potential to run the mid to low 10:20 mark that would take gold.
***RETRACTION: TOM COYLE HAS PERSONALLY CONFIRMED HE IS HEALTHY AND PLANS ON RUNNING BOTH THE MILE AND DMR AT STATES*****
***RETRACTION: TOM COYLE HAS PERSONALLY CONFIRMED HE IS HEALTHY AND PLANS ON RUNNING BOTH THE MILE AND DMR AT STATES*****
Lastly, the team title race is absurdly close. Pennridge, Garnet Valley, Bensalem and LaSalle are the front runners in my mind but Henderson and O'Hara as well as North Penn are teams that could sneak up on people if everything clicks right for their squad. This is one of the most exciting team title races in state history.
Lastly (for real this time), although neither Forrest or I will be at the state meet we are working hard to get video coverage. DT East's own Zack Neiner has offered to cover the meet for us and is more than qualified to do so. He currently attends Penn State and is a journalism expert. He has his own sports and entertainment blog, 4thanhollywood.com, and has a lot of big ideas that can help us get excellent statement coverage. Right now we are just trying to make sure we don't break any media coverage laws with the PTFCA that will get Zack into trouble. As we finalize plans I will let you all know them.
We want to get interviews with all the state champions so if you are a state champion be on the lookout for our man Zack. We will give you more information on how to find him once we have finalized coverage arrangements.
DMR State Preview
4x800 State Preview
3000m State Preview
800m State Preview
Mile State Preview
Shetrain State Preview by RTJ
Hey folks, it’s been a while. I go to the University of Delaware and we just got back to school two weeks ago, so I’ve been busy with new classes, student council, frats, and just bonding with my hall again. So that’s why I’ve been MIA on Sundays (if you even cared haha). So, let’s talk track.
There were a TON of great performances over the last few weeks, way too much to cover in one post, so I’m just going to cover MoC and do States predictions
Emma Keenan won the meet pretty easily in a 57.13. It seems as though she is stressing speed this season rather than strength. She usually the mile at least once indoors, I guess she’s confident in her strength this year coming off a good XC season.
The 800 impressed me the most with Seline Tan-Torres battling it out with frosh Olivia Sargent. Tan-Torres has been looking good all season and will carry her MoC win into States. Sargent on the other hand is doing exactly what she did during XC season. She starts okay, but comes on strong late in the season. She’s only run it twice I believe, so that’s a solid mark. Rachel Flynn not too far behind. She just won PCL’s and was about a second behind the winner at MoC. She’s ready to go. Her 2:18 is the best she’s ever run indoors, so put her on a banked track, I’d say she’ll be close to her 2:13 outdoor PR. She turns it on at States.
Veronica Eder has been on all season. Her mile win shows that she’s ready to go at States. She’ll be doing the 3k no doubt. Solid win by her. Soph Jamie Costarino .gave her a race. She’s been dropping time all season and is one big race away from a medal. If she continues her streak of dropping 3-8 seconds per race, she could land herself a medal.
Stephanie Aldrich runs one last 3k of the season to see what she can do before States. With their early season DMR, she’ll be most likely running the mile/DMR combo. Nothing really hot in this race, but that’s to be expected. Most people don’t run the 3k at MoC and States unless they’re trying to qualify at MoC.
On to States performances! These are the top 8 that I think will get in each event.
800
1. Emma Keenan- 2:08.5
2. Gina Alm- 2:11.5
3. Allie Wilson- 2:14.1
4. Seline Tan-TOrres- 2:14.6
5. Olivia Sargent- 2:15.6
6. Emma Cousins- 2:15.8
7. Devon Towell- 2:15.9
8. Rachel Flynn- 2:16.5
Mile
1. Sara Sargent-4:54.10
2. Marissa Sheva-4:54.11
3. Stephanie Aldrich-4:57.8
4. Brianna Schwartz- 4:58.5
5. Mary Malone- 5:00.2
6. Lindsley Greta- 5:02.9
7. Eliza Lukens-Day- 5:05.2
8. Rachel Flynn-5:06.2
3k
1. Courtney Smith- 9:44.1
2. Tessa Barrett- 9:48.3
3. Regan Rome- 9:58.8
4. Veronica Eder- 10:00.1
5. Tessa Ortiz- 10:05.2
6. Paige Stoner- 10:05.5
7. Brianna Schwartz- 10:08.2
8. Mady Clahane- 10:10.9
4x800
1. Great Valley- 9:18.6
2. Pennsbury- 9:19.8
3. Garnet Valley- 9:20.0
4. North Penn- 9:24.5
5. Strath Haven- 9:27.3
6. State College- 9:29.1
7 Villa Maria- 9:30.2
8. West Chester East- 9:32.8
DMR
1. Cardinal O’Hara- 12:00.1
2. West Chester Henderson: 12:08.2
3. Pennridge: 12:15.2
4. Council Rock North: 12:22.1
5. Saint Basil Academy: 12:23.7
6. Germantown Friends: 12:28.4
7. Central: 12:35.6
8. Mount Lebanon: 12:42.5
Those are my predictions. It was really hard to try to place teams, especially with ones that have athletes doubling/nice pieces, but not a total squad. I originally had Pennsbury winning the 4x800, but I am unsure of their two legs with the last name other than Sargent. I assumed they would have a 400 runner move up, but I couldn’t place them first because of my uncertainty. Since they chose the 4x800 over the DMR, I assume they are pretty sure they could win it (their chances in the DMR would have been pretty high). Great Valley had a similar issue. The 800 is pretty close to the 4x800, so Hajnik being in the open 800 made me wonder if they are doubling her, or putting another runner in her place. It’s pretty uncharacteristic of Great Valley to stack a hot relay and have one runner doubling, unless they know that runner has a chance to win States. Seeing as Hipwell is their #1 on paper, I wonder what their gameplan is. Maybe a runner on their “B” 4x800 at MoC ran fast enough so one runner could go open. Who knows. I could see Garnet Valley running away with this one just as easily as the other two teams and all four legs on Garnet Valley are fresh. The 4x800 will be a nice race to watch.
The 3k was just as hard to place. Easily the most stacked field at States. The top two were pretty easy to rank, but everything after that was tough. I literally had 6 names left for 8th place. I had to go with Clahane because of how strong she was during XC (4th place) and her dropping her 800 time down this past week. That will be another exciting race to spectate.
-RT”It’s good to be back”J
There were a TON of great performances over the last few weeks, way too much to cover in one post, so I’m just going to cover MoC and do States predictions
Emma Keenan won the meet pretty easily in a 57.13. It seems as though she is stressing speed this season rather than strength. She usually the mile at least once indoors, I guess she’s confident in her strength this year coming off a good XC season.
The 800 impressed me the most with Seline Tan-Torres battling it out with frosh Olivia Sargent. Tan-Torres has been looking good all season and will carry her MoC win into States. Sargent on the other hand is doing exactly what she did during XC season. She starts okay, but comes on strong late in the season. She’s only run it twice I believe, so that’s a solid mark. Rachel Flynn not too far behind. She just won PCL’s and was about a second behind the winner at MoC. She’s ready to go. Her 2:18 is the best she’s ever run indoors, so put her on a banked track, I’d say she’ll be close to her 2:13 outdoor PR. She turns it on at States.
Veronica Eder has been on all season. Her mile win shows that she’s ready to go at States. She’ll be doing the 3k no doubt. Solid win by her. Soph Jamie Costarino .gave her a race. She’s been dropping time all season and is one big race away from a medal. If she continues her streak of dropping 3-8 seconds per race, she could land herself a medal.
Stephanie Aldrich runs one last 3k of the season to see what she can do before States. With their early season DMR, she’ll be most likely running the mile/DMR combo. Nothing really hot in this race, but that’s to be expected. Most people don’t run the 3k at MoC and States unless they’re trying to qualify at MoC.
On to States performances! These are the top 8 that I think will get in each event.
800
1. Emma Keenan- 2:08.5
2. Gina Alm- 2:11.5
3. Allie Wilson- 2:14.1
4. Seline Tan-TOrres- 2:14.6
5. Olivia Sargent- 2:15.6
6. Emma Cousins- 2:15.8
7. Devon Towell- 2:15.9
8. Rachel Flynn- 2:16.5
Mile
1. Sara Sargent-4:54.10
2. Marissa Sheva-4:54.11
3. Stephanie Aldrich-4:57.8
4. Brianna Schwartz- 4:58.5
5. Mary Malone- 5:00.2
6. Lindsley Greta- 5:02.9
7. Eliza Lukens-Day- 5:05.2
8. Rachel Flynn-5:06.2
3k
1. Courtney Smith- 9:44.1
2. Tessa Barrett- 9:48.3
3. Regan Rome- 9:58.8
4. Veronica Eder- 10:00.1
5. Tessa Ortiz- 10:05.2
6. Paige Stoner- 10:05.5
7. Brianna Schwartz- 10:08.2
8. Mady Clahane- 10:10.9
4x800
1. Great Valley- 9:18.6
2. Pennsbury- 9:19.8
3. Garnet Valley- 9:20.0
4. North Penn- 9:24.5
5. Strath Haven- 9:27.3
6. State College- 9:29.1
7 Villa Maria- 9:30.2
8. West Chester East- 9:32.8
DMR
1. Cardinal O’Hara- 12:00.1
2. West Chester Henderson: 12:08.2
3. Pennridge: 12:15.2
4. Council Rock North: 12:22.1
5. Saint Basil Academy: 12:23.7
6. Germantown Friends: 12:28.4
7. Central: 12:35.6
8. Mount Lebanon: 12:42.5
Those are my predictions. It was really hard to try to place teams, especially with ones that have athletes doubling/nice pieces, but not a total squad. I originally had Pennsbury winning the 4x800, but I am unsure of their two legs with the last name other than Sargent. I assumed they would have a 400 runner move up, but I couldn’t place them first because of my uncertainty. Since they chose the 4x800 over the DMR, I assume they are pretty sure they could win it (their chances in the DMR would have been pretty high). Great Valley had a similar issue. The 800 is pretty close to the 4x800, so Hajnik being in the open 800 made me wonder if they are doubling her, or putting another runner in her place. It’s pretty uncharacteristic of Great Valley to stack a hot relay and have one runner doubling, unless they know that runner has a chance to win States. Seeing as Hipwell is their #1 on paper, I wonder what their gameplan is. Maybe a runner on their “B” 4x800 at MoC ran fast enough so one runner could go open. Who knows. I could see Garnet Valley running away with this one just as easily as the other two teams and all four legs on Garnet Valley are fresh. The 4x800 will be a nice race to watch.
The 3k was just as hard to place. Easily the most stacked field at States. The top two were pretty easy to rank, but everything after that was tough. I literally had 6 names left for 8th place. I had to go with Clahane because of how strong she was during XC (4th place) and her dropping her 800 time down this past week. That will be another exciting race to spectate.
-RT”It’s good to be back”J
Projected Heats for States
This what I am guesstimating for heats based on adjusted seeding. *ed teams and individuals got in without hitting the SQS mark. State meet previews coming in the future.
800m
1. Rivera
2. Logue
3. Lewis
4. Wiseman
5. Sanders
6. Kunzweiler
7. Stone
8. Wolfe
9.
Elek
10.
Groh
11.
Harriman
12.
Garton
13.
Lee
14.
Wilhoite
15.
Smathers
16.
Ferraraolo
17.
Wolffe
18.
Cather
19.
Alexander
20.
Koryak*
21.
Yannacone*
22.
Foust*
23.
Musetti*
24.
Scripture*
Mile
1. Huemmler
2. Harriman
3. Coyle
4. James
5. Russell
6. Leidal
7. Zingarini
8. Groh
9. Aziz
10. Jewett
11. Rigby
12. Francis
13. Wistar
14. Abert
15. Smathers
16. Archer
(Alex)
17. Webb
18. Kardish
19. Hopkins
20. Reno
21. Edenfield
22. Jaskowak
23. Watro*
24. Louis*
3k
1. Russell
2. Colwell
3. Martin (Ethan)
4. Savage
5. Norris
6. Wilson
7. Quinn
8. Barchet
9. Berry
10. Martin (Colin)
11.
McDermott
12.
James
13.
Archer (Ryan)
14.
Pitone
15.
Johnston
16.
Shearn
17.
Williams
18.
Collins
19.
Macauley
4x8
1.
Pennsbury
2.
Henderson
3.
O’Hara
4.
Upper
Darby
5.
Bensalem
6.
DT East
7.
Penncrest
8.
Pennridge
9.
CR South
10.
North
Penn
11.
Central Dauphin
12.
State College
13.
CB South
14.
Father Judge
15.
Springfield Delco
16.
Haverford School
17.
Upper Merion
18.
St. Joe’s Prep
19.
Malvern Prep
20.
Altoona
DMR
1.
Cumberland Valley
2.
LaSalle
3.
DT West
4.
CR North
5.
Haven
6.
GFS
7.
Bonner
8.
CB East
9.
Upper Dublin
10.
Great Valley
11.
West Chester East
12.
CB West
13.
Holy Ghost Prep
4x400s
We shot the anchor legs of the 4x400's from Heat 3, 4, and 5 along with the entire final heat.
Interviews will be done soon along with some state preview videos throughout the week.
Interviews will be done soon along with some state preview videos throughout the week.
Taking a Moment
In the coming weeks I am going to be talking a lot about the guys who really stepped it up in the past few weeks to make states and are now medal contenders and stuff like that. All the buzz is going to be around those state qualifying teams and things like that and it is going to be exciting for the blog to discuss all these things fairly in depth.
However, for right now I just want to mention some of the key performances this year that, unfortunately, were not quite good enough to get a team to states.
I want to start with West Chester East's squad. I'm hoping that this isn't the end of the line for them and they can squeak into the DMR picture, but it was a long indoor season of fighting tough and near misses. Diestelow had a hard double at MOCs and Henderson and put it all on the line to try and get his team to states, even if it meant sacrifices individual goals. Cummings ran a slew of great 3ks this year and although he came up short he still proved himself as a track stud to go along with his XC credentials. Then you can't overlook Trey Crump who lowered his indoor mile PR all the way down to 4:33.43 this past weekend. Solid mark for him and a great PR run even if it was a heartbreakingly close miss for states.
Still talking about that mile, great runs by Adam Bodine and Jacob Pearlman. Bodine was just .02 off states and Pearlman was just .04 off the mark. Agonizingly close for those two and my heart breaks for them. However, both times are massive season bests for these two individuals. Pearlman really surprised me coming out to MOCs and setting this kind of mark. He is only a sophomore and that makes him scary for outdoors and XC moving forward. Remember the name.
Great running this year by Matt Greco. Coming off a collapsed lung he really went for it at MOCs. Tough to miss out on states, but a great run for a guy who is just getting healthy.
In the middle of the state great running by Jordan Crawford and Cole Nissley this year. Unfortunately, it didn't all perfectly click to get these guys the state mark but they both had solid seasons and improved a lot. They should be looking forward to outdoors.
Out west, it was a great season for the North Allegheny boys. Its surprising to know that none of them qualified for states given the talent they have, but it wasn't for a lack of trying. Restricted TSTCA meets made things tough on them. Cordon Luoco had a few very close calls in the mile, including a .2 second miss this past weekend. Zemet and McGoey ran a slew of solid 3ks, but couldn't quite hit the qualifier.
Great work by everyone this indoor season. A lot of PRs and a lot of fast times. Looking forward to getting a performance list and predicting states.
800m Heats
There were two heats of the 800m. Forrest curses twice and is very sorry about doing so. Everything was really rough for the runners and a lot of shoving occured, along with a big fall in the fast heat with Simmons and Alexander who were rolling in 3rd and 4th, probably would have been around the SQS time for both.
Cardinal O'Hara DMR Interview
There will be a skype interview up tomorrow with the CRN winners James Zingarini and Ross Wilson. Just something to look forward too.
--Train and CRN
Meet of Champs
We were on site today! We watched all the distance events and filmed everything after the DMR plus we got an interview with the O'Hara DMR. Hopefully we will have lots of videos up and the sound quality hopefully will work out. We did some announcing but nothing intense, we just had fun with it.
O'Hara obviously highlighted the meet with their nice DMR (3:11-53-1:58-4:23 unofficially) run but there some nice 4x8s run as well with Upper Darby winning out of the slow heat I believe around 8:08-8:10. Their lead off leg was out, he was rolling. Lucas Elek had a monster relay leg as well. Watch out for him in the open 8 at states. Sanders looked good as well in the 4x8 and open 8 and Wiseman got a big win. He is an expert at leaning. Sanders is finally developing into a top guy after all the sleeper talk.
Big day for the CRN boys as Zingarini won the mile out of the slow heat with a 4:24 high solo effort. Rivera and Francis outkicked Norris as they all ran around 4:25 in an exciting race. States will be very interesting for Bensalem and others. Ross Wilson dominated from the gun winning in 8:50 pretty effortlessly. Watch out for him at states. Emery ran a solid 8:54 and Pitone will round out the field with Savage and James after his
The open 8s had way too many people in them. There were a lot of falls and bad luck. At states we won't see that. I'm sure there are a ton of other performances that were awesome and I'm forgetting now off the top of my head but as we get closer to states there will be lots of in depth previews, videos, predictions and analysis. Now is a great time to start getting into the blog.
Catch you boys on the flip.
O'Hara obviously highlighted the meet with their nice DMR (3:11-53-1:58-4:23 unofficially) run but there some nice 4x8s run as well with Upper Darby winning out of the slow heat I believe around 8:08-8:10. Their lead off leg was out, he was rolling. Lucas Elek had a monster relay leg as well. Watch out for him in the open 8 at states. Sanders looked good as well in the 4x8 and open 8 and Wiseman got a big win. He is an expert at leaning. Sanders is finally developing into a top guy after all the sleeper talk.
Big day for the CRN boys as Zingarini won the mile out of the slow heat with a 4:24 high solo effort. Rivera and Francis outkicked Norris as they all ran around 4:25 in an exciting race. States will be very interesting for Bensalem and others. Ross Wilson dominated from the gun winning in 8:50 pretty effortlessly. Watch out for him at states. Emery ran a solid 8:54 and Pitone will round out the field with Savage and James after his
The open 8s had way too many people in them. There were a lot of falls and bad luck. At states we won't see that. I'm sure there are a ton of other performances that were awesome and I'm forgetting now off the top of my head but as we get closer to states there will be lots of in depth previews, videos, predictions and analysis. Now is a great time to start getting into the blog.
Catch you boys on the flip.
State College Brief Recap
No Will Cather anywhere to be found in the results. I'm not sure if he is hurt or not, but hopefully he is just saving up for states. Cumberland Valley dropped an uncontested 10:29.9h DMR time and I feel it is likely we will see them now in the DMR over the 4x8 at states based on things I have heard from sources around the team. That makes things very interesting going forward if they decide to keep a fresh team. Only Kunzweiler has qualified as an individual to this point. Sounds like the order on their DMR was Coburn, Miller, St. Peter, Kunzweiler. That makes things even more complicated for Kunzweiler if he is thinking double.
Real nice run for Central Dauphin. They were a bit of a sleeper for me when it came to outdoor track, I didn't expect much out of them indoors. But a relatively uncontested 8:13 should be very competitive come states, especially considering they will probably have a fresh relay at states.
Jordan Crawford and Cole Nissley each had nice runs in the mile hitting 4:31 and 4:32 respectively. Neither were quite good enough to get them to states, but both are steps in the right direction thinking ahead to outdoors. Nissley will be dangerous over 3200m if all goes right.
In the 800m, State College proved they definitely could have had a sick DMR. Adams ran sub 2 for 800m in 1:59.7h. Chris Golemski ran 2:02.0h. They are still going to have a pretty solid 4x8 at states assuming Cather is healthy at least. Great race for Jeff Groh at some serious underdistance at 1:58.9h. At this point he is a serious mile medal contender. He will probably run the double in the 800 at states of the heck of it. Why not at this point.
Lower Dauphin should have a solid XC squad next year behind Groh Nissley and some youngsters who have run solid. They had a kid win the 3k in 9:19 as well. Josh Santeusanio.
Hopefully we can get some splits on the relays and some news on Cather. Good work everyone who competed.
Real nice run for Central Dauphin. They were a bit of a sleeper for me when it came to outdoor track, I didn't expect much out of them indoors. But a relatively uncontested 8:13 should be very competitive come states, especially considering they will probably have a fresh relay at states.
Jordan Crawford and Cole Nissley each had nice runs in the mile hitting 4:31 and 4:32 respectively. Neither were quite good enough to get them to states, but both are steps in the right direction thinking ahead to outdoors. Nissley will be dangerous over 3200m if all goes right.
In the 800m, State College proved they definitely could have had a sick DMR. Adams ran sub 2 for 800m in 1:59.7h. Chris Golemski ran 2:02.0h. They are still going to have a pretty solid 4x8 at states assuming Cather is healthy at least. Great race for Jeff Groh at some serious underdistance at 1:58.9h. At this point he is a serious mile medal contender. He will probably run the double in the 800 at states of the heck of it. Why not at this point.
Lower Dauphin should have a solid XC squad next year behind Groh Nissley and some youngsters who have run solid. They had a kid win the 3k in 9:19 as well. Josh Santeusanio.
Hopefully we can get some splits on the relays and some news on Cather. Good work everyone who competed.
MOC Preview
It's Valentine's Day! So to show my love for all of you guys out there I have decided to make a Meet of Champions preview! Hope you enjoy! Also if all goes right, I will be there covering the meet so keep an eye out.
I'm making a few educated guesses here so feel free to correct me if one of my assumptions is wrong.
The first event of the day on the distance side is appropriately the Distance Medley Relay. Now the mile and the DMR are fairly close together at this meet which makes me think teams with top milers in the mile won't be running their A squad in the DMR. Some of those teams with top guys in the mile are CB East, Upper Dublin, Bensalem, North Penn, Bonner, Pennsbury, Great Valley, CRNorth and West Chester East. Throw in Strath Haven to this list because Huemmler is racing Millrose.
Great Valley and East still may opt for the DMR and then have their guys double back, but I think both teams feel confident that although their marks are not under the SQS, they will qualify for the state championship meet. I guess that depends a lot on how fast the DMR is. Also LaSalle is at Millrose going after the state record so they probably won't run any fast relays.
So who does this leave with the potential to run fast in the DMR? O'Hara, DT East, GFS, HGPrep, Penn Charter, Penncrest and Pennridge. I think O'Hara and GFS will both field very fast relays for this race. Their big guns aren't listed in any of the open races and that makes them very dangerous to drop big times at this race. Possibly a performance in the low 10:30s. Penncrest would be a sleeper pick here if they decide to stack their relay. I'm not sure they will, but that 8:11 still sticks in my mind as proving this team can take the next step. HGPrep has been going after the SQS for weeks now and coming up short, this is their lost shot at it and I wish them the best. I'm hoping to see some teams come out of nowhere and run sick DMRs in this meet, but I honestly can't guess who they would be. Maybe Penn Charter if all goes well and Szuhaj is ready to roll.
The 1 mile should be an exciting race. The big names are guys like Chris Berry, Alec Brand, Jake Brophy, Eric Diestelow, Francis Ferruzzi, Kyle Francis, Jack Macauley, Will McDermott, Max Norris, Conner Quinn, Brad Rivera, Sam Webb and James Zingarini. This group should make things pretty interesting in a tight race. I'm actually not even sure all these guys will be in the fast heat because of the depth of the field. I like Norris to take down this race, I feel like he is really running well right now. Zingarini would be my pick for 2nd in this race. He is a very solid miler and is likely just starting to come into his peak. This will be a good test to see what kind of shape early season studs Macauley, Berry and McDermott are in. Macauley I believe has been struggling with some injuries so it will be interesting to see how he finishes. My big sleeper pick for a top finish is Kyle Francis who I think has a 4:22-4:24 kind of time in his legs. I think he could really surprise this field. Brad Rivera has run a lot of 4:28-2:29 type miles. Maybe this is his race to break out. Sam Webb and Conner Quinn are more 3k guys, but both have proven they have solid speed. This should be a nice tune up for Quinn before states.
I expect this race to get an extra 10 or so guys on to the state qualifying list in the mile to add to an already lengthy list. Some of the sleeper picks to hit the SQS include Brendan Billotta from LaSalle as well as his freshman teammate Patrick Grant. Both guys ran great DMR splits last weekend and Grant is really rolling now as just a freshman. He still has the potential to drop a lot of time. The only way these guys run at states is if they hit the SQS this race. Billotta is iffy to know if he even will run at meet of champs because LaSalle wants to go for the state record in the 4x8 later that night at Millrose. Curtis Watro, Matt Willig, Adam Bodine and Trey Crump are all sleeper picks for a time around 4:32-4:35 that would put them close to the state mark.
The guy who should be most interested in this mile is Tony Russell. He has to hope there aren't too many guys who break his 4:24 mark from early in the season and knock him out of the fast heat at states. I think from a spectators stand point I am hoping for the same thing.
The 800m field should provide for an interesting race. It is a sleeper pick paradise with guys like Chandler Mattis, Dylan Butera, Armond Cox-Finn, Billy Caldwell, Graham Allen, Dave Garton, Christian Sanders and Nick Scarpato in the field. The 800m field at states is fairly wide open after the top couple spots, especially with John Lewis absent from most 800m results. He is running the 400m this weekend and that should help him choose what he wants to do at states. Christian Sanders is entered in both the 4 and the 8 so it will be interesting to see what kind of marks he can hit with that kind of schedule. Nick Scarpato is a real sleeper here, he is definitely a name to remember in this field. Then of course there are the big dogs of this field, guys like Dan Alexander, 1:56 state medalist last year, Jeffery Wiseman, Brad Rivera, and Andrew Stone. This is a bit of a state championship preview if all these guys race, although we are not sure exactly what the plan is for Stone with Millrose that night. I think if Stone is in the race he is the favorite to take it down, but Wiseman is my pick in this field on a big kick to win it. Kyle Francis would be dangerous if he wasn't doubling I have to imagine, but doubling will be tough. It should be good practice for the Bensalem boys to see what kind of doubling ability they will have by states. Rob Simmins, Avery Scripture and Conner Quinn are other names to watch in this field. It will be interesting to see what Quinn's speed is like and Simmons could play a key role in CRN's DMR. Scripture ran around 1:55-1:56 last year and may be a sleeper pick to hit the SQS and place well in this field. If you are looking for deep sleepers the two boys from CB South Pettit and Chappell would be good calls. Their 4x8 just missed the SQS earlier this year and I guess they are not going to try and hit it at this meet which leaves the door open for the individuals to break out.
Lastly we come to the 3k, which should provide its usual excitement as a bunch of guys will chase the SQS. The big name out front is Ross Wilson who has been on a roll this year and is the right race away from running 8:50. He will be flanked by teammate Mac Emery who ran 9:11 outdoors for a full 3200m so he can definitely hit the 9:00 SQS in this 3k at Lehigh. To help keep things quick the field has a crew of solid runners including Will McDermott and Jack Macauley who I expect will both be on the double from the mile, if this is a no scratch meet. Both could run sub 9 marks even on the double if all goes well. Chris Kazanjian has been struggling with injuries as of late, but if he is healthy he could give chase to the state mark as well. Then of course, you know the O'Hara boys will be chasing the mark. Pitone and Pastore will give it a fresh run this time and both can certainly hit the mark. I like Pitone in this race and I'm hoping he can dip under 9. They both had a tough double last week so it will be interesting to see what they have got in the tank. Chris Cummings had an agonizingly close finish at Henderson on Tuesday and now has to come back and try for it again at Lehigh. It is going to be tough to run two 3ks within a span of 5 days. If he can pull this off it will be a true testament to his guts. Matt Willig on the double, Matt Greco and Alex Balla will be the sleepers in this race. Great comeback story for Greco after that collapsed lung. Ben Szuhaj is the biggest boom bust sleeper of the group. He has been off the radar as of late, but early in the season he dropped a 9 flat 3k mark that just missed the SQS. If he is on his game he could win the whole race.
Lastly we have the 4x8 which should provide us with a few teams that hope to add their names to a less than stellar 4x8 field at states. Abington headlines the list of sleepers with possibly CB South and CR South depending on doubling. CB South and Abington need the SQS still and CR South is one of the best 4x8 squads no one is talking about with Wiseman on the anchor and an 8:12 to their name already. Other teams of note include O'Hara, CB East, Great Valley, North Penn, Upper Merion, Upper Dublin, West Chester East, Haverford, Springfield Delco, Strath Haven, Malvern Prep, DTWest, DTEast, Harriton, Penncrest, Pennridge and Upper Darby.
So yeah basically the whole field.
Malvern Prep has a fresh group running it seems and one of their legs just ran sub 2 on Tuesday night. DTWest has a fresh group as well and boasts a killer DMR mark already this year. They are a very dangerous relay squad, but Ken Leidal's injury really hurts their squad, especially in the DMR. All the more reason to load up a 4x8 this weekend. Upper Merion has a couple solid legs in Cooper and Sanders, but I'm not sure what they have beyond them. CB East and Upper Dublin both have the ability to hit the SQS mark just for fun in this race. It's hard to imagine them bailing from the DMR. You never know what's going to happen with Great Valley and WC East. They have to qualify in something, just too talented to come up short. Harriton is interesting almost purely because of Norris, but they do have a few solid legs in there as well. Upper Darby made a big effort to get to the SQS at Henderson. They didn't quite get there, but they were close enough to warrant going for it one more time.
Then you have teams like North Penn, Penncrest, DT East and Pennridge who all may push for a really fast mark at the meet. Pennridge is almost a certainity to go for a really fast time. I think that gives them the edge in this field. Penncrest is talented for sure and may put fresh legs on the track and chase down an 8:05ish mark. DTEast we also know as a state contender this year and North Penn loves the 4x8 so I'm never surprised by the times they run. O'Hara and LaSalle both could potentially put something together here, but I think they have other goals for this weekend. Same goes for Bensalem.
Hope to see this all go down in person! Should be a great meet.
I'm making a few educated guesses here so feel free to correct me if one of my assumptions is wrong.
The first event of the day on the distance side is appropriately the Distance Medley Relay. Now the mile and the DMR are fairly close together at this meet which makes me think teams with top milers in the mile won't be running their A squad in the DMR. Some of those teams with top guys in the mile are CB East, Upper Dublin, Bensalem, North Penn, Bonner, Pennsbury, Great Valley, CRNorth and West Chester East. Throw in Strath Haven to this list because Huemmler is racing Millrose.
Great Valley and East still may opt for the DMR and then have their guys double back, but I think both teams feel confident that although their marks are not under the SQS, they will qualify for the state championship meet. I guess that depends a lot on how fast the DMR is. Also LaSalle is at Millrose going after the state record so they probably won't run any fast relays.
So who does this leave with the potential to run fast in the DMR? O'Hara, DT East, GFS, HGPrep, Penn Charter, Penncrest and Pennridge. I think O'Hara and GFS will both field very fast relays for this race. Their big guns aren't listed in any of the open races and that makes them very dangerous to drop big times at this race. Possibly a performance in the low 10:30s. Penncrest would be a sleeper pick here if they decide to stack their relay. I'm not sure they will, but that 8:11 still sticks in my mind as proving this team can take the next step. HGPrep has been going after the SQS for weeks now and coming up short, this is their lost shot at it and I wish them the best. I'm hoping to see some teams come out of nowhere and run sick DMRs in this meet, but I honestly can't guess who they would be. Maybe Penn Charter if all goes well and Szuhaj is ready to roll.
The 1 mile should be an exciting race. The big names are guys like Chris Berry, Alec Brand, Jake Brophy, Eric Diestelow, Francis Ferruzzi, Kyle Francis, Jack Macauley, Will McDermott, Max Norris, Conner Quinn, Brad Rivera, Sam Webb and James Zingarini. This group should make things pretty interesting in a tight race. I'm actually not even sure all these guys will be in the fast heat because of the depth of the field. I like Norris to take down this race, I feel like he is really running well right now. Zingarini would be my pick for 2nd in this race. He is a very solid miler and is likely just starting to come into his peak. This will be a good test to see what kind of shape early season studs Macauley, Berry and McDermott are in. Macauley I believe has been struggling with some injuries so it will be interesting to see how he finishes. My big sleeper pick for a top finish is Kyle Francis who I think has a 4:22-4:24 kind of time in his legs. I think he could really surprise this field. Brad Rivera has run a lot of 4:28-2:29 type miles. Maybe this is his race to break out. Sam Webb and Conner Quinn are more 3k guys, but both have proven they have solid speed. This should be a nice tune up for Quinn before states.
I expect this race to get an extra 10 or so guys on to the state qualifying list in the mile to add to an already lengthy list. Some of the sleeper picks to hit the SQS include Brendan Billotta from LaSalle as well as his freshman teammate Patrick Grant. Both guys ran great DMR splits last weekend and Grant is really rolling now as just a freshman. He still has the potential to drop a lot of time. The only way these guys run at states is if they hit the SQS this race. Billotta is iffy to know if he even will run at meet of champs because LaSalle wants to go for the state record in the 4x8 later that night at Millrose. Curtis Watro, Matt Willig, Adam Bodine and Trey Crump are all sleeper picks for a time around 4:32-4:35 that would put them close to the state mark.
The guy who should be most interested in this mile is Tony Russell. He has to hope there aren't too many guys who break his 4:24 mark from early in the season and knock him out of the fast heat at states. I think from a spectators stand point I am hoping for the same thing.
The 800m field should provide for an interesting race. It is a sleeper pick paradise with guys like Chandler Mattis, Dylan Butera, Armond Cox-Finn, Billy Caldwell, Graham Allen, Dave Garton, Christian Sanders and Nick Scarpato in the field. The 800m field at states is fairly wide open after the top couple spots, especially with John Lewis absent from most 800m results. He is running the 400m this weekend and that should help him choose what he wants to do at states. Christian Sanders is entered in both the 4 and the 8 so it will be interesting to see what kind of marks he can hit with that kind of schedule. Nick Scarpato is a real sleeper here, he is definitely a name to remember in this field. Then of course there are the big dogs of this field, guys like Dan Alexander, 1:56 state medalist last year, Jeffery Wiseman, Brad Rivera, and Andrew Stone. This is a bit of a state championship preview if all these guys race, although we are not sure exactly what the plan is for Stone with Millrose that night. I think if Stone is in the race he is the favorite to take it down, but Wiseman is my pick in this field on a big kick to win it. Kyle Francis would be dangerous if he wasn't doubling I have to imagine, but doubling will be tough. It should be good practice for the Bensalem boys to see what kind of doubling ability they will have by states. Rob Simmins, Avery Scripture and Conner Quinn are other names to watch in this field. It will be interesting to see what Quinn's speed is like and Simmons could play a key role in CRN's DMR. Scripture ran around 1:55-1:56 last year and may be a sleeper pick to hit the SQS and place well in this field. If you are looking for deep sleepers the two boys from CB South Pettit and Chappell would be good calls. Their 4x8 just missed the SQS earlier this year and I guess they are not going to try and hit it at this meet which leaves the door open for the individuals to break out.
Lastly we come to the 3k, which should provide its usual excitement as a bunch of guys will chase the SQS. The big name out front is Ross Wilson who has been on a roll this year and is the right race away from running 8:50. He will be flanked by teammate Mac Emery who ran 9:11 outdoors for a full 3200m so he can definitely hit the 9:00 SQS in this 3k at Lehigh. To help keep things quick the field has a crew of solid runners including Will McDermott and Jack Macauley who I expect will both be on the double from the mile, if this is a no scratch meet. Both could run sub 9 marks even on the double if all goes well. Chris Kazanjian has been struggling with injuries as of late, but if he is healthy he could give chase to the state mark as well. Then of course, you know the O'Hara boys will be chasing the mark. Pitone and Pastore will give it a fresh run this time and both can certainly hit the mark. I like Pitone in this race and I'm hoping he can dip under 9. They both had a tough double last week so it will be interesting to see what they have got in the tank. Chris Cummings had an agonizingly close finish at Henderson on Tuesday and now has to come back and try for it again at Lehigh. It is going to be tough to run two 3ks within a span of 5 days. If he can pull this off it will be a true testament to his guts. Matt Willig on the double, Matt Greco and Alex Balla will be the sleepers in this race. Great comeback story for Greco after that collapsed lung. Ben Szuhaj is the biggest boom bust sleeper of the group. He has been off the radar as of late, but early in the season he dropped a 9 flat 3k mark that just missed the SQS. If he is on his game he could win the whole race.
Lastly we have the 4x8 which should provide us with a few teams that hope to add their names to a less than stellar 4x8 field at states. Abington headlines the list of sleepers with possibly CB South and CR South depending on doubling. CB South and Abington need the SQS still and CR South is one of the best 4x8 squads no one is talking about with Wiseman on the anchor and an 8:12 to their name already. Other teams of note include O'Hara, CB East, Great Valley, North Penn, Upper Merion, Upper Dublin, West Chester East, Haverford, Springfield Delco, Strath Haven, Malvern Prep, DTWest, DTEast, Harriton, Penncrest, Pennridge and Upper Darby.
So yeah basically the whole field.
Malvern Prep has a fresh group running it seems and one of their legs just ran sub 2 on Tuesday night. DTWest has a fresh group as well and boasts a killer DMR mark already this year. They are a very dangerous relay squad, but Ken Leidal's injury really hurts their squad, especially in the DMR. All the more reason to load up a 4x8 this weekend. Upper Merion has a couple solid legs in Cooper and Sanders, but I'm not sure what they have beyond them. CB East and Upper Dublin both have the ability to hit the SQS mark just for fun in this race. It's hard to imagine them bailing from the DMR. You never know what's going to happen with Great Valley and WC East. They have to qualify in something, just too talented to come up short. Harriton is interesting almost purely because of Norris, but they do have a few solid legs in there as well. Upper Darby made a big effort to get to the SQS at Henderson. They didn't quite get there, but they were close enough to warrant going for it one more time.
Then you have teams like North Penn, Penncrest, DT East and Pennridge who all may push for a really fast mark at the meet. Pennridge is almost a certainity to go for a really fast time. I think that gives them the edge in this field. Penncrest is talented for sure and may put fresh legs on the track and chase down an 8:05ish mark. DTEast we also know as a state contender this year and North Penn loves the 4x8 so I'm never surprised by the times they run. O'Hara and LaSalle both could potentially put something together here, but I think they have other goals for this weekend. Same goes for Bensalem.
Hope to see this all go down in person! Should be a great meet.
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