Penn Relays!

Alright! Going to actually try and be somewhat on the ball about this. So let's get right to it shall we? Recently I gotta say it's not all that often that I feel like races have planned out relatively similar to the way I thought they would go, but this weekend in the COA races I'm not all that surprised. The DMR was a fantastic win for PA, I thought LaSalle would be the top PA team, but I honestly wasn't sure they could win the race. They pulled it out with valuable experience, good positioning by the first 3 legs and killer close by Tom Coyle. For Coyle this has to be a bit of a nice redemption for indoor states and a nice shot at his doubters as he comes back with the fastest mile split out of the PA boys. Definitely a major statement race for him and although I wasn't all that surprised by the time, I hope doubters took note. Stone ran a great leg out front as well running 3:04.7 and Magee had a very strong follow up race in 1:55 to prove that his leg was no fluke. Great running by him and great running by LaSalle.

O'Hara was the next best PA team and they were outfront the whole way as well thanks in part to a big lead off leg by Kevin James in 3:04.4. How about the work this guy has done? I think few can deny that Andrew Stone has much more raw speed than Kevin James. Heck there is roughly a 5 second 800m PR difference. But James hung strong to run 3:04.4 as just a sophomore lead off leg. This guy has been running phenomenally for some time now and it's exciting to see what he will do next. If he wanted to, he could join up with Belfatto, Boyle and Smart and the group could run a positively sick 4x8 right now. They could be a 7:40-45 relay team this year with the pieces they have and the roll that they have been on. But James also has serious 3200m credentials after his impressive 9:15 so he has some decisions to make. That 32 is incredibly, incredibly stacked though and we will get to that later.

Well allow me to stop kissing up to Kevin James and start complimenting some other guys in this race. Nice race by Belfatto at 800m. That 1:54.2 split was a long ways coming in my mind. The guy always goes out hard and puts himself in the race, he just needed it to all click at the right time. Big PR run and a great sign for this relay as we push on in outdoors. Savage ran a very solid race as well. It's tough being a 32-5k type and hanging in there with his big rival Tom Coyle but he kept his team in until the very end. He is a gamer and his teammates respect what he has given them. Great job to O'Hara to run 10:06, I think a lot of people, including myself underestimated this group of guys. They didn't get a lot of talk or a lot of hype and although I picked them to beat the group from Henderson, I still steered the discussion away from them a bit. O'Hara has had a killer season all around this year. Cross was unbelievable with a 5th place at nationals and a great states race, then indoors they had a couple all american relays and I believe some of the top PA marks ever at those events (#2 in 4xMile not sure about DMR). Now outdoors they finish 4th at the Penn Relays and have a lot of momentum going towards outdoor states and maybe outdoor nationals. That 4xMile squad is very good and I'm a fan of the 4x8 team they have as well as mentioned before. Should be exciting.

Now we move to Henderson. Some people may think that Henderson had a bad race, but I personally think they ran pretty solid. This was a group of guys who had little experience in a race like this in my opinion and they gained a lot and actually ran a slew of season bests. I think that's Barchet's PR in the 12? Or at least right around it. Moy ran his fastest 800m that I have ever heard of him running as well. And for Russell 4:14 matches his outdoor season best. The Penn Relays is just a hard place to run fast when your 12 guy isn't right up near the front. If you look at the results each year some top anchors have to run through people to get back towards the front and just get tired. It's not Barchet's fault, he ran a very solid 1200m time, unfortunately there are some really fast 1200 guys in this race who are specifically 1200 guys. Henderson seems to be a 4xMile team, a very talented 4xMile team. But they proved they can still run a very solid DMR, easily their best time of the season, running a 10:13.

And honestly, I don't think Henderson usually cares too much about Penn. Rarely do they peak their guys to run well here, they are always ready to go at states where it matters the most. They are excellent at peaking at the right time. In fact, I'd bet that the 10:13 Henderson just ran is one of the fastest DMRs they have ever ran at the Penn Relays, it's definitely the fastest they have run in the past like 5+ years that I can remember. So ultimately, I still would not bet against this team. Now that Russell and Barchet can focus on the 3200m, which is their strongest race, and Moy can even experiment with the 1600m (fresh off that sick 4:22) this team can start to round into top shape.

In the Mile we saw some nice performances from Jewett and Harriman and Logue, Jewett running tops with his 4:16 full mile mark. He has really been running strong as of late and hopefully can keep this momentum going. For Harriman this is his first race back since who knows when so that is a great time for him. And for Logue, yes his 1500m indicated faster, but a 1500m is very different than a mile. Very, very different. Ask anyone who runs both consistently. If you are a college athlete you know. Logue is like a Robby Andrews type. Andrews always struggles at the mile, but he has almost beaten Farah and Rupp at 1500. Also Logue is just a junior. With another year's strength his mile will continue to drop.

I never thought it would happen, but the Ben Ritz train has cooled. Ritz was utterly on fire for a while and although he is probably disappointed by this performance, I think it was the perfect race for him. He got a chance to get pulled along and be running fast so the next time he gets out hard he will be more prepared for it. He still has sub 4:10 potential for 1600m this year in my mind and his season will go all the way til outdoor nats so he is just getting started.

And the last championship of the day was the 3k and PA took home the gold again! This time it was Max Norris who led the charge for PA with a great kick and win in 8:25. The race set up perfectly for Max to win and as usual he was ready to go when the bell rang. Norris's races thus far remind me a lot of Bobby Micikas from Crestwood back in 2009. He too won the indoor state title and Penn Relays title at 3k with a great kick. He didn't take down the outdoor title that year, however. That belonged to the XC state champion for the 3rd straight year as Jimmy Tarsnane took down the title. Ben Furcht was second in all three races. Norris hopes to take down three golds.

Behind Norris you have to give props to Brendan Shearn. He has been keeping things real low key and not too flashy and he is completely ready to pop a big time. I'm sure Brendan being Brendan he would have liked to have won, but this time is fantastic for him, especially in more of a kickers style race. Shearn's 8:27 should set him up nicely to take on Galassi who appearently just ran 9:10.

Then how about Ross Wilson? CRN should really peak by season's end and Wilson has training partner Mac Emery who has run 9:11. Wilson is just a junior and now is a sub 8:30 3k runner. I wouldn't be surprised at all is he was 9:05ish this year, but I don't know if he has the kind of closing speed to take down a state title as an individual.

Great races for a bunch of other guys in this race. I think Ethan Martin at least got an outdoor PR if not an overall PR and his brother snagged an overall PR as well I believe as they ran 8:34 and 8:37. Fantastic duo of Juniors. Conner Quinn ran the fastest 3k and converted 32 he has ever run with his 8:34. I think that is faster than Sam Hibbs at this time last year. Unfortunately, Quinn is going to struggle to be state champ even with a sick 8:34 mark. But still you have to think that Horsham knows how to coach them, and Quinn is one of the few guys in the state who already has a state championship to his name and a teammate with first hand experience on how to win the 3200m. Gotta like what Quinn has been doing this year.

And lastly, I'll give a quick talk about the 4x8s. The 4x8s went a little underappreciated in the drama leading up to Penn but we saw some really sick performances. Cheltenham ran great although they didn't quite make it out of the trials. That was a great race by John  Lewis and a smart race order for the Cheltenham guys. 7:56 puts them in the state medal conversation. DT East ran very solid as well running under 8 minutes in 7:58. But in the end only CV and Bensalem made it on to the championship of america. Bensalem ran a 7:49 in qualifying behind a blazing fast anchor leg from Kyle Francis: 1:52.9. Wow! That was a huge PR and the fastest split of the weekend for any PA guy. CV had to claw their way through the trials with a 7:54, but they got in thanks to Coburn and Kunzweiler on the back two legs. I was really nervous about CV's decision to run Coburn and Kunzweiler at 3rd and 4th rather than 2nd and 4th. They run a lot of risk with that decision because they have to play a lot of catch up during those last two legs. I'm not sure if I think that is the best way to go about doing things, even after their solid mark in the finals, looking ahead at states.

In the finals, CV got revenge on Bensalem: 7:48 to 7:49. Kunzweiler had the big day today running 1:53.1 to catch up and pass Francis, who ran a 1:56 with tired legs. The teams were 4th and 5th in the finals. Again CV decided to run Coburn and Kunzweiler on the back two legs and they had to play catch up, but it worked out pretty well with Coburn running a 1:55. The two lead legs improved from the first round as well, running 1:59 and 2:00. Clearly this team was ready to double back and run faster in the finals as everyone on their relay had a faster day 2 split. For Bensalem it was still a very solid day as they ran another 7:49, something like their 4th 7:49 in the last two years when you count districts and states in track last year outdoors. Rivera ran lead off, which I think is a smart move at Penn, but I hope they change it up for outdoor states. I'd like to see him running a leg where he can chase people. Francis is money right now after that 1:52, yeah he struggled on the second day but he went all out the day before, he won't be doing that at states and he will be ready to roll. Cox-Finn had a very solid day with 1:56 split in the finals. That is a great mark for him and a good sign looking ahead as Bensalem and CV will definitely be locked in a clash at states.

It was a great weekend to be a track and field fan.