PTFCA Classic Recap

Sorry for all these delays I've had a busy couple days and stuff.

There were lots of exciting events and fast times at this meet, especially considering it was still March! One thing is clear, with Penn just around the corner teams need fast times! And the kids went for it in the 4x8 as CV won going away, but Coburn needed a 1:56 to reclaim the lead. I'm really impressed with how Coburn runs relays, he may not run open races faster than 4:20 and 1:56 this year but I could see a 1:53 split out of him at states for that 4x8. Very clutch relay runner for this squad. Kunzweiler is a racer, when he gets the baton by himself it's tougher for him to go fast. Those two back legs are big time studs, as the others gain experience they can be dangerous. I'm very encouraged to see Abington and Cheltenham run nice relays as well. Both are more sprint oriented 4x8s so to see them run this fast this early is encouraging, could potential drop a lot in the coming weeks. Ultimately 8 teams ran under 8:20 which was pretty sick. St. Joe's Prep is a solid team, when it clicks for them I could see 8 flat as a possibility.

In the 800m we saw a nice win for Jeff Wiseman, not a particularly fast race but a solid convincing win over a real talent in Lewis. A bunch of solid marks filed in behind including a 2:00.23 for Nathan Willis and a 2 flat from Billy Wolffe. The 1600m was windy and tactical, coming through in about 2:20ish at the 800m and the last lap they really layed down the pace. A nice run by Scarpato for the win, probably closing close to 60 for the last 400. In a fast race he will be dangerous. Ferruzzi was on the double solid mark for him and always nice to see a sophomore set a PR off slow fractions to start out the outdoor season in Diestelow. All these guys can be 4:25ish in a couple weeks and I wouldn't be surprised at all if Scarpato was sub 4:20 before we knew it. Trey Crump's 4:32 was also appearently on the double which makes it a pretty solid mark. Nice break out race for Watson Hanson from Radnor. A faster pace would help Sam Ritz, but he is only a soph and 4:32 is a solid mark for March.

The glamour event of course was the 3200m and Kevin James did not disappoint unleashing a massive PR and running 9:15 to run away from the field. I imagine that most people didn't see him as a favorite for the state title in the 3200m outdoors, but now he has to be in the conversation without a doubt. He has great training partners and is only a sophomore still making massive improvements. He will have to compete against a stacked field, but if the state race has good conditions and a fast pace, the winner will almost definitely have to be under 9 minutes. James can run 9:05 this year in the right race. Hopefully there is a big show down at Henderson and James and his teammates come along. Ben Ritz, the second place finisher, should be back again. His 1600m ability is looking pretty strong this year. I'd love to see him in a fast race with Coyle, Huemmler and Russell but I don't know if we will get the chance because he is not in the PIAA. Ritz though really dropped a bomb at indoor nats in the mile and has sufficiently proven that was no fluke with this 9:19 PR. Couple that with a 1:54 and 4:12 streak last year outdoors and Ritz has proven to be one of the most complete track runners in the state.

These two sub 9:20 marks indicate that by season's end both guys could be under 9:10 with easy and challenging the 9 minute barrier in a competitive race with solid training progression. The depth of the 32 in the state this year is impressive especially considering it is likely that neither of these guys were on most people's 2 mile radar event a week ago.

Coming in behind this group was Jack MaCauley who had a very clutch 9:24 mark. I'm not positive but that may have been his second fastest 3200m ever besides his breakout district race last year. He peaks at the right time outdoors and is going to be very, very dangerous by season's end. Again 9:05ish type marks are not out of the question and a chase at sub 9 in perfect conditions could be a reasonable dream goal for Jack.

Savage a solid 9:26 for him. He is a big time post season racer and James's success will help push him to get faster. Behind Savage was Pitone in 9:27. That's a solid PR mark for Pitone I believe and a great sign that his speed is increasing. I believe that XC is clearly the guys strong suit, so watching the 4xMile at NBIN and now watching this 3200m run really bolds well for Pitone this season. If he can march under 9:20, that will give O'Hara 3 guys will sub 9:20 credentials already and that's not even counting Belfatto (he ran 9:31 to finish right behind Pitone) who has low 9:20s credentials of his own. I see Belfatto being more of a relay type guy this year and not really touching too many 32s.

For Conner Quinn, how often do you run 9:33 in March and get 7th! I have no doubts that Hatboro knows what they are doing with Quinn. I expect him to continue to steadily drop time like Hibbs a year ago. Without a truly fast mile PR I can't see him running much under 9:15, but Quinn will be in the mix in any race he runs in this year and in most other years would be a top 5 guy at states. Unfortunately with the depth of this year's race, he could run 9:15 and end up off the medal stand.