There Were Other Meets This Weekend?

Yes indeed, there were not just the Penn Relays this weekend so let's talk track around the rest of the state.

 Masterman ran an 8:13 this past weekend in the 4x8 to throw their name into the state medalist talks in AA.

Chris Culley had a double win for Moon Area in 4:34 and 2 flat. He was a 1:56 guy and XC state medalist a year ago so the talent is there. District 7 is fairly wide open in the middle distances so he may sneak into states and surprise with a solid amount of dropped time.

Another name kind of like Culley to keep an eye on as a deep sleeper would be Aziz Yousif of Bradford. He ran a 4:30ish 16 and 1:58 800m to take double gold but his PRs are closer to 4:24 and 1:57 give or take. He is out in District 9 and won't get much pub, but he is another one who could drop a lot of time with right competition at season's end. In fact he did it within the weekend as he came back at McDowell to run 1:57 and 4:24 and take a few more golds.

Without CV out there to dominate the headlines at Millersville, Central Dauphin had a nice 4x8 win in 8:12 to win handily over Jacob Fetterman's Hazelton squad that ran 8:28. Nice to see Fetterman's name in some results. In the 1600m, Harrison Schettler had his big break out race of the season cutting down to 4:18 to win by over 7 seconds over Jordan Crawford's 4:25 and Ethan Gatchell's 4:26. Schettler ran 4:18 last year and was a state finalist in the 1600m race. This year he is starting to catch fire, clearly. His Penn Manor team also has some nice pieces for a sleeper 4x8. Schettler's teammate's ran 1:58.48 and 1:58.92 in a very deep 800m. The race was won by Caleb Gatchell of Red Lion in a sizeable open PR of 1:56.35. For Red Lion, the 4x8 possibility is there as well. The Gatchell brothers posted nice marks of 1:56 and 4:26 while Nathaniel Pardoe added an open 1:58 of his own. Throw in another brother, Josh Pardoe who ran 4:28, and that is easily a sub 8 minute relay team using just two families. Nice races also for Matt Sankey and Liam Corcoran. Sankey was a 4:22ish 1600 guy a year ago and added an early season 1:56 mark to his resume getting second to Gatchell. Liam Corcoran added a 1:58 to his own resume. He is, I believe, at 3200 guy at best so it is nice to see this speed. He ran around 4:21 a year ago, however, so clearly he has got wheels. It should be very exciting to see how all the District 3 guys chose to race come championship season. There are a lot of quickly developing guys to be on the look out for. One of those guys may also be James Martin who ran a 9:33 3200m to win over Jacob Fetterman, the state XC medalist, who ran 9:37 and also Penn Manor's Jonathan Bitner who edged out Fetterman for 2nd, also running 9:37.

In other D3 news, Littlestown dropped an 8:09 relay with Xaiver Savageau on the relay. They are a AA team I believe, sub 8:10 makes them contenders in the 4x8 looking ahead. The 3200m was the marquee event in Dallastown, however, thanks to a big win for the sophomore Aaron Gebhart. Obviously this warms my heart a little bit because I gave him some nice talk in some previous posts, so it's nice to see him take down the W in 9:32 over Patrick Reilly and Ryan Hertzog who are two of D3's best XC guys. They ran 9:35 and 9:51 respectively. The District 3 3200m will be very interesting to watch. Todaro has to be the favorite (maybe Groh), but outside of those top 2 (if they both choose to run it) the race is wide open with a slew of guys that have the potential to run between 9:25 and 9:35. The District 1 race will be competitive and will feature some fast times that don't make states, but the D3 race should be exciting because it will be even more unpredictable than the D1 race. I can't wait to watch.

Right here in Allentown, PA, Parkland high school put their 4x8 on the map winning with a convincing 8:03 over Whitehall's 8:08. The District 11 teams shouldn't be completely overlooked as we move ahead.

With Penn Relays stealing the Martin bros, Dan Jaskowak had a chance to shine and took down the 1600m in 4:23. Behind him, however, were some big PRs by Nate Sloan in 4:24 and his teammate Brian Shields who ran 4:25. Shields was a great XC guy this past year, definitely could have been a state medalist if he had his day at the right time. But Sloan made a lot of progress bridging the gap between the two of them as Hampton almost made it to states as a team nearly upsetting Mt. Lebo. Both these guys could be solid 3200m guys, even though the depth of the 32 may make it tricky for them to make states in anything but the 16. Shields added a 3200m win in 9:36 over Derek Zynn's 9:39. Jaskowak made his gold double when he won the 800m in 1:57 over Dylan Wilhoite's 1:58. D7 will be interesting to watch play out in the 800m and 4x8. Usually I feel there is more clear cut depth at this position in this district, but this year the fields are very wide open and filling 4 spots will be a task. Jaskowak is D10 so he won't help the cause any.

Small schools beware, AA is deep. And no this isn't the part of the post where I talk about Rico Galassi (it's coming) but Barrett Kemp threw down a nice performance this weekend. He dropped a 4:22 1600m to take down the W and also ran 9:44 to win the 3200m. That is a great performance for him. He is a sleeper pick, he returned to top form this past XC season after a bit of a down year and is looking great. Other AA guys were running fast as well including the Wellsboro boys. They have a real nice 4x8 on paper. Bobby Hill was second behind Kemp in the 1600m running a 4:22 and his teammate Jordan Jackson won the 800m with a 1:59. They had a 2:04 guy in there as well.

But of course the big news of the weekend for AA fans was Rico Galassi continuing to drop time. Without the big hype of the Penn Relays and the great competition of the Penn Relays, Galassi dropped a sick 4:19 and 9:10 double win. The 9:10 is a fantastic time for this early in the season and really makes this Shearn v. Galassi battle interesting. Shearn was no slouch this weekend himself, running a faster converted time than Galassi with better competition. My pick for Galassi to win may have been a year premature, but Shearn has been a gamer all his career so nothing will come easy. The 4:19 is a nice mark as well. He has hit that kind of time a few weeks in a row now. With a fresh effort he can dip down towards 4:16 I have to imagine. Galassi probably won't see perfect conditions to race an all out 3200m unless he really travels, but I hope he does. Either that or a 5k on the track. Sub 15 and sub 9:05 are both easily in the cards. Maybe, just maybe, even a sub 9 would be possible with the right kind of conditions. Behind Galassi were some really solid performances as well. Aaron Valoroso ran 9:26 which shouldn't go overlooked. That is a blazing time and in a lot of years would make him an easy favorite for AA state gold. Mike Brier dropped a 9:32 and Kieran Sutton a 9:42. These guys are some of the depth that AA has added this year which should make every state medal spot exciting in the 3200m. Tunkhannock's Alex Nole ran a blazing 1:56 to win going away in the 800m. Would be nice to see him do what Ayers and Damiani have done in the past and travel to Henderson to get good competition and see if he can hit 1:54.

At Unionville a couple injured guys are looking very healthy. Ken Leidal dropped a sick 9:25 in the 3200m. That's a big PR and reminds you of one of his first break out races at Henderson as a sophomore where he ran 9:36. He has underrated long distance ability to go along with the surprising speed he showed last year running an open 1:56. Not sure where he will use his talents, the 16 is certainly his best shot to make states, but if he is after a fast time, he can be sub 9:20 in the 3200m in that District race assuming conditions aren't bad. Nice win also for Steve Yannacone who ran a 1:56 to take down the 800m. I was hoping this would be the year we saw him move up and make some serious noise at 1600m, but the injury has kind of prolonged those plans. He still has a ton of raw speed and is the defending D1 800m champion over a field that included guys like Magaha, Chaborek, Rivera and more. If he returns to anywhere near top form he is dangerous. I still think, when healthy, his sweet spot is the 1600m.

Williamsport, my 4x8 sleeper team, is taking steps in the right direction. Herb Stelly won the 800m in an uncontested 1:57.57. I think that is his open PR as well. Jon Colwell, fresh off a Penn Relays 3k, came back and said, screw it, I'm not tired, to the tune of a 4:22 victory in the 1600m. Props for that double. Griffin Molino, one of the most underrated stories of this past XC season, was second in 4:24. He is a sophomore on the rise, looking ahead he could drop a lot of time at AA states. Molino also ran 9:46 to win the 3200m.

Ryan Smathers very quietly ran 4:18 and 1:58 to win the 1600 by almost 30 seconds and the 8 by just under 6.

A couple D7 guys threw their hats into the 800m ring this weekend as Bill Dougherty of Mt.Lebanon outdueled James Smith of Upper Saint Clair 1:57.46-1:57.47. Both guys have to be liking their shots at going to states out of D7, the 800m depth has yet to really take off and these are solid marks. Ean DiSilvio won the 16 and 32 in 4:28 and 9:56.

Kiski is taking steps to return to a top team as Brent Kennedy and company took a bunch of golds this weekend. Their 4x8 hammered out an 8:02 win followed by Tyler Snider's 4:29 victory by 9 seconds. Patrick Miller took the 800m in 1:59 and Brent Kennedy stole the show in the 3200m with a 9:27 dominating performance. It sets him up nicely to continue to duel with Ethan Martin, his in class rival. However, Kennedy will have to make a decision between 4x8 and 3200m, doing the 32 sacrfices his shot at running a really solid 4x8 leg. Seems like he is leaning towards the 32.

Lastly, Adam Bodine added his name to the list of top notch 3200m guys in the state and in the district, as the Haverford harrier dipped down to 9:26 in the 3200m for the win. Christian Kardish, doing some overdistance training ran 9:45. Dave Fowler of Haverford made it a team victory with a 4:31 1600m win. In the 800m Nick Scarpato doubled back from Penn to run a 1:58 to win the 800m. Scarpato is still a guy to consider for sleeper picks in the 1600m looking ahead.