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.