Looking back, last year it was clear Dustin Wilson was the #1 runner in the state of PA for XC (no offense to the other boys like Quinn, Magaha and Shearn) he was an All-American and dominated the races he decided to run. But this year there is no Dustin Wilson anymore, just a bunch of names that we have to try to piece together with the AAA, AA and now A boys. Among that group of potential independent league stars is Ben Ritz, Sami Aziz, Lyle Wistar, and Sam Ritz.
In XC in 2011 at the Independent League Championships Dustin Wilson demolished the field running 16:34 to 2nd place's 17:23 (Ben Ritz). At the regional meet, Dustin Wilson was the top PA runner and the only individual national qualifier. Sami Aziz was the next best independent runner in his first race after a fall out of the country. Aziz was 59th in the race running 17:19. Sam Ritz, as a freshman, was 78th and Ben Ritz was 118th. Austin Pondel was 24th in 16:37 as a point of reference.
The highlight for the independent league boys in XC was on the fast Lehigh course at the Paul Short meet. Sam Ritz ran 16:11 to finish 9th, beating 3 future XC medalists in the process. In 19th was Sam's older brother Ben who finished in 16:30. Lyle Wistar took 25th in 16:33.
But the real prowess of the independent league boys was on the track. Of course Dustin Wilson highlighted the Independent league results (and Quinn Davis, another graduating Senior had a solid and oft overlooked year himself) but it was the returners who really made noise and established themselves as more than just the guy who was second to Wilson.
At the Henderson Invitational the 3200m was littered with Independent league up and comers. Sami Aziz and Ben Ritz took 2-3 behind Wilson in 9:21 and 9:22 respectively. They beat the likes of Sam Williams and Connor Harriman in the process. Lyle Wistar from GFS also hung tough in the 3200m with a 7th place finish in 9:29 beating guys like Tony Russell, Zach Trama, Kenny Leidal, Brett Kelly, Ross Wilson, Sam Webb, AJ Chaborek, Matt Willig and Steve Yannacone. A slew of guys dispersed among my top 50 this year.
The icing on the cake for Ritz had to be a big 1600m to end the season where he launched himself into the PA elite with a massive PR (roughly 8 seconds by my math) and ran 4:12.76 to beat out Wilson and Hibbs, two of the best 3200m runners of 2012. Wistar added a 4:18 PR and freshman Sam Ritz came through with a 4:22 PR.
Ben Ritz finished the season with a 9:22/4:12/1:54 track resume, begging the question, can this guy become a break out XC star? Aziz who has 9:21/4:18c credentials and an indoor 3k medal has proven himself in XC more so than Ritz and is coming off his own mini break out season. The freshman Sam Ritz, who was perhaps the best XC runner of the bunch in 2011, finished the year with a 1:57/4:22 resume.
Track times don't always translate into XC performances, but I like the potential this group has. Don't sleep on this bunch in 2012.
To see exactly where I ranked these guys feel free to go to the "Abridged Version" link on the side of the page under popular posts.
Dinner with Gags
Event: Join us for a great evening of dinner and drinks with one of the great middle distance coaches in American
History. Dinner and drinks will be at the Market Street Grille in downtown West Chester, PA. This is a once in a lifetime
opportunity to get pointers from Coach Gags. We will limit this to 50 people so don’t wait to sign up.
Times: 6:00PM-Arrival and cocktails.
6:45PM-Dinner
7:30PM-Coach Gags speaks with Q & A.
Cost: $50.00 by August 5.
$60.00 at the door if there is room.
Dinner: Dinner choices are Baked Chicken, Broiled Salmon or Pasta Primavera. Dinner includes a salad and vegetables. There will also be a dessert table set up. A variety of quality beers will be included.
Registration: The bottom of this form can be mailed with a check to Dinner with Gags, 24 South High Street, West Chester, PA 19382. Checks should be made payable to CCRS.
Bio: Coach Gags' has coached every level of track and field, from high school athletes to Olympic qualifiers. He began coaching at Roselle Catholic in NJ, later became director of Track and Field at Rutgers University, moved onto become head coach and eventually Director of Track and Field at Georgetown University, founder of the Washington DC based Reebok Enclave elite professional track and field team, founder of the Nike Farm Team in Palo Alto, CA and later became the 1st coach in the resurgence of the Oregon Track Club, the most dominant middle distance club in USA Track and Field. At Georgetown Coach Gagliano produced 140 All-America performers, five Olympians, seven individual national champions, and 23 BIG EAST championship teams. Since coaching professionals exclusively, Coach Gags' has trained countless numbers of athletes to USATF Nationals Finals, World Championship teams, World Championship finals, Olympic Teams and Olympic Finals. Coach Gagliano has brought his wealth of talent and knowledge back home to the NY/NJ area where he will undoubtedly continue his tradition of excellence with his newest venture, the NJ*NY Track Club. Most recently, he coached Julie Culley to a win in the 5000 meters at the Olympic Trials.
If you have more questions about the event I'd encourage you to get in touch with West Chester Henderson's Coach Kevin Kelly. He was the one who sent the information to me and knows much more about things than I do. Hope this sparks some interest, by the way you gotta be at least 21 to get involved.
Here's a link with most of the information above and then some other details.
XC Times
I'm a huge proponent of the fact that the actual times people run on courses for cross country mean almost nothing. In my rankings, the info is based mostly off who you beat and by how much you beat them. But I can not deny that seeing someone run a 15 low 5k time has an effect on me. So here are some of the fastest returning marks from the 2011 XC season:
1. Dan Jaskowak 15:24 Red, White and Blue
2. Luke Jones 15:31 Lackawanna
3. Max Norris 15:31 Viking Invitational
4. Dan Savage 15:32 Great American
5. Mac Emery 15:33 Viking Invitational
6. Conner Quinn 15:33 Viking Invitational
7. Tony Russell 15:43 District One
8. Francis Ferruzzi 15:45 District One
9. Chris Pastore 15:48 Great American
10. Curt Jewett 15:48 NTL Coaches
11. Brent Kennedy 15:51 Red, White and Blue
12. Connor Harriman 15:52 District One
13. Ean DiSilvio 15:56 Red, White and Blue
14. Tom Coyle 15:56 PCL Championships
15. Sam Williams 15:57 NTL Coahes
16. Kevin James 15:58 Coaches
17. Brendan Shearn 15:58 Northeast
18. Sam Haugh 15:58 District One
19. Austin Pondel 15:58 Big Red
And those are all the guys milesplit has listed under 16 minutes for 5k. What stands out is most of these times came in September. Meaning those courses are either fast as frick or short. Viking and Red, White and Blue stand out. Lehigh has clearly also produced some very fast times. It is a very fast course and the weather at districts co operated this year. Tom Coyle clearly has the most impressive mark on this list, his 15:56 PR came at the PCL Championships at Belmont. On this list, Emery, Russell, Norris, Ferruzzi, Pastore, James and Haugh all didn't snag medals at the state meet in 2011 despite having such fast PRs. Shearn sits with a 15:58 XC PR but a sub 15 5k PR on the track.
Missing from this list of XC fast times are guys like:
Ryan Smathers, Rico Galassi, Sam Aziz, Jack Macauley, Alec Kunzweiler, Vinny Todaro, Jack Huemmler, and Jeff Groh who are all top ranked guys coming in to the 2012 season.
Sam Haugh didn't even make it onto my rankings for this upcoming season. The same can be said for Kevin James. In Haugh's case it remains slightly uncertain whether Haugh will even be a top 3-5 guy for Henderson by season's end as they just have so much depth and he has to very healthy to compete at a top level and handle the mileage. Its up for debate just how high he will finish on the squad.
The good news is, in early September/late August we should have plenty to talk about as there will be fast times at Viking and Red, White and Blue which should spark some interesting conversation.
On August 31st, the Viking Invitational should include the likes of Conner Quinn, Max Norris, Mac Emery, Connor Harriman, James Zingarini, Ross Wilson, Chris Berry, Christian Kardish, Sam Webb and Joey Logue. Last year the Viking invite featured 7 runners under 16 minutes and 9 runners who ended up being in the top 50 at states including state medalists Hibbs (1st), Quinn (4th), Magaha (5th), Harriman (6th) and Israel (10th).
Across the state in the Red White and Blue Invitational, North Allegheny, Mt. Lebanon, Kiski and Quaker Valley will look to show off their team prowess and drop some fast times early.
Last year Dan Jaskowak had an incredible break out race at this meet, proving he was a legit force and riding the wave of momentum all the way to a near state championship in November. He will look to defend his title in 2012 against the likes of Brent Kennedy, Ean Disilvio, Hunter Johnston, Ethan Martin, Chris Culley, Luke Schott, Ryan and Alex Archer, Ethan Louis, Roy Hadfield, Jon Faye, Scott Seel, Matt Mcgoey, Cordon Luoco, Pat Miller and George Kelly. A lot of talent here in this race of WPIAL stand outs.
Jaskowak and Kennedy were top 10 guys in 2011 at states and Quaker Valley was the AA state championship squad in 2011. This race last year was littered with future medalists and arguably 3 of the top 6 teams in the state. 8 men were under the 16 minute barrier at this race last year.
Just one more thing I figured I'd throw down, here are the top 3200m returning times, names worth considering for this XC season (I started the guys who were not sub 16):
1. Emery 9:11
2. Jaskowak 9:14
3. Shearn 9:15
4. Macauley 9:15*
5. Harriman 9:18
6. Quinn 9:19
7. Galassi 9:19*
8. Aziz 9:21*
9. Ritz 9:22*
10. Berry 9:23*
11. Martin 9:24*
12. Williams 9:24
13. Jones 9:25
14. Groh 9:27*
15. Barchet 9:28*
16. Ferruzzi 9:28
17. Faye 9:28*
18. Corcoran 9:29*
19. Wistar 9:29*
Those are all the gents sub 9:30
1. Dan Jaskowak 15:24 Red, White and Blue
2. Luke Jones 15:31 Lackawanna
3. Max Norris 15:31 Viking Invitational
4. Dan Savage 15:32 Great American
5. Mac Emery 15:33 Viking Invitational
6. Conner Quinn 15:33 Viking Invitational
7. Tony Russell 15:43 District One
8. Francis Ferruzzi 15:45 District One
9. Chris Pastore 15:48 Great American
10. Curt Jewett 15:48 NTL Coaches
11. Brent Kennedy 15:51 Red, White and Blue
12. Connor Harriman 15:52 District One
13. Ean DiSilvio 15:56 Red, White and Blue
14. Tom Coyle 15:56 PCL Championships
15. Sam Williams 15:57 NTL Coahes
16. Kevin James 15:58 Coaches
17. Brendan Shearn 15:58 Northeast
18. Sam Haugh 15:58 District One
19. Austin Pondel 15:58 Big Red
And those are all the guys milesplit has listed under 16 minutes for 5k. What stands out is most of these times came in September. Meaning those courses are either fast as frick or short. Viking and Red, White and Blue stand out. Lehigh has clearly also produced some very fast times. It is a very fast course and the weather at districts co operated this year. Tom Coyle clearly has the most impressive mark on this list, his 15:56 PR came at the PCL Championships at Belmont. On this list, Emery, Russell, Norris, Ferruzzi, Pastore, James and Haugh all didn't snag medals at the state meet in 2011 despite having such fast PRs. Shearn sits with a 15:58 XC PR but a sub 15 5k PR on the track.
Missing from this list of XC fast times are guys like:
Ryan Smathers, Rico Galassi, Sam Aziz, Jack Macauley, Alec Kunzweiler, Vinny Todaro, Jack Huemmler, and Jeff Groh who are all top ranked guys coming in to the 2012 season.
Sam Haugh didn't even make it onto my rankings for this upcoming season. The same can be said for Kevin James. In Haugh's case it remains slightly uncertain whether Haugh will even be a top 3-5 guy for Henderson by season's end as they just have so much depth and he has to very healthy to compete at a top level and handle the mileage. Its up for debate just how high he will finish on the squad.
The good news is, in early September/late August we should have plenty to talk about as there will be fast times at Viking and Red, White and Blue which should spark some interesting conversation.
On August 31st, the Viking Invitational should include the likes of Conner Quinn, Max Norris, Mac Emery, Connor Harriman, James Zingarini, Ross Wilson, Chris Berry, Christian Kardish, Sam Webb and Joey Logue. Last year the Viking invite featured 7 runners under 16 minutes and 9 runners who ended up being in the top 50 at states including state medalists Hibbs (1st), Quinn (4th), Magaha (5th), Harriman (6th) and Israel (10th).
Across the state in the Red White and Blue Invitational, North Allegheny, Mt. Lebanon, Kiski and Quaker Valley will look to show off their team prowess and drop some fast times early.
Last year Dan Jaskowak had an incredible break out race at this meet, proving he was a legit force and riding the wave of momentum all the way to a near state championship in November. He will look to defend his title in 2012 against the likes of Brent Kennedy, Ean Disilvio, Hunter Johnston, Ethan Martin, Chris Culley, Luke Schott, Ryan and Alex Archer, Ethan Louis, Roy Hadfield, Jon Faye, Scott Seel, Matt Mcgoey, Cordon Luoco, Pat Miller and George Kelly. A lot of talent here in this race of WPIAL stand outs.
Jaskowak and Kennedy were top 10 guys in 2011 at states and Quaker Valley was the AA state championship squad in 2011. This race last year was littered with future medalists and arguably 3 of the top 6 teams in the state. 8 men were under the 16 minute barrier at this race last year.
Just one more thing I figured I'd throw down, here are the top 3200m returning times, names worth considering for this XC season (I started the guys who were not sub 16):
1. Emery 9:11
2. Jaskowak 9:14
3. Shearn 9:15
4. Macauley 9:15*
5. Harriman 9:18
6. Quinn 9:19
7. Galassi 9:19*
8. Aziz 9:21*
9. Ritz 9:22*
10. Berry 9:23*
11. Martin 9:24*
12. Williams 9:24
13. Jones 9:25
14. Groh 9:27*
15. Barchet 9:28*
16. Ferruzzi 9:28
17. Faye 9:28*
18. Corcoran 9:29*
19. Wistar 9:29*
Those are all the gents sub 9:30
Battle of the Milers: Jack Huemmler or James Zingarini
Zingarini is a solid all around XC runner from Council Rock North, a potential state title contender with perhaps the best top 3 punch in the state. He had a break out year, running his best races when it mattered most at the state championships.
Unfortunately, however, this question all comes down to your interpretation of Mr. Huemmler. Jack had a breakout season of his own which included a 4:12.54 2nd place effort in the 1600m outdoors and a 4:16y indoors for 3rd. He also showed he had 1:54ish 800m ability and doubling back to make states and won the 3200m at the DELCO championships over the O'Hara boys. He clearly has incredible track talent and if the 1600m at Shippensburg played out differently and he didn't have to lead as much of the race as he did, it is possible he may be in Coyle's shoes right now showing off his state gold. Based on his track season, Huemmler is poised to compete for the individual District One title at the fast Lehigh course and battle for a XC state medal.
But unfortunately this fall will not include any 5ks raced on a track. On the trials in 2011 Huemmler did not have the same stand out success that he enjoyed on the track. Early in the season Huemmler was 2nd fiddle to Haven's Jeff Seelaus who turned a lot of heads after his first place finish at the Abington Invitational. Huemmler placed 7th in this race (ironically Zingarini placed 6th in that race, three seconds ahead of Huemmler). The tables turned starting at Paul Short and Huemmler became the leader of the Haven squad, highlighted by a 2nd place finish at DELCOs, a 3rd place finish at Centrals, and a 13th place finish at Districts. But at states, Huemmler couldn't quite master Hershey on his first trip. He finished a disappointing 94th.
At states Zingarini did his best work, finishing right next to Ross Wilson and Chris Trimble taking 36th overall. It highlighted a nice streak of races that included a 25th place finish at Districts in 16:16 and a 4th place finish in the Suburban One National race. On the track he placed 5th at the District One Championships in the 1600m and then 6th at states, running 4:18 both times. He has a resume that suggests he can be a state medalist in 2012.
These two runners are clearly tough to compare. Huemmler boasts a solid XC season that shows potential for improvement with experience and also boasts an incredible, stand out track year. Zingarini, conversely, was the epitome of balance with a very efficient, consistently improving XC season followed by a similar track season that racked him up some state hardware outdoors after a solid indoor campaign. It really all comes down to whether you want to be safe or you believe in taking chances.
I personally do believe in taking chances. I see plenty of potential with Huemmler and he boasts a 4:12 PR. Magaha proved that guys with that kind of talent can turn things around and put it together on the trials in the end. He was arguably the best runner in PA in 2011 for XC and I certainly didn't see that coming based on his past XC results.
This may apply: Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
Unfortunately, however, this question all comes down to your interpretation of Mr. Huemmler. Jack had a breakout season of his own which included a 4:12.54 2nd place effort in the 1600m outdoors and a 4:16y indoors for 3rd. He also showed he had 1:54ish 800m ability and doubling back to make states and won the 3200m at the DELCO championships over the O'Hara boys. He clearly has incredible track talent and if the 1600m at Shippensburg played out differently and he didn't have to lead as much of the race as he did, it is possible he may be in Coyle's shoes right now showing off his state gold. Based on his track season, Huemmler is poised to compete for the individual District One title at the fast Lehigh course and battle for a XC state medal.
But unfortunately this fall will not include any 5ks raced on a track. On the trials in 2011 Huemmler did not have the same stand out success that he enjoyed on the track. Early in the season Huemmler was 2nd fiddle to Haven's Jeff Seelaus who turned a lot of heads after his first place finish at the Abington Invitational. Huemmler placed 7th in this race (ironically Zingarini placed 6th in that race, three seconds ahead of Huemmler). The tables turned starting at Paul Short and Huemmler became the leader of the Haven squad, highlighted by a 2nd place finish at DELCOs, a 3rd place finish at Centrals, and a 13th place finish at Districts. But at states, Huemmler couldn't quite master Hershey on his first trip. He finished a disappointing 94th.
At states Zingarini did his best work, finishing right next to Ross Wilson and Chris Trimble taking 36th overall. It highlighted a nice streak of races that included a 25th place finish at Districts in 16:16 and a 4th place finish in the Suburban One National race. On the track he placed 5th at the District One Championships in the 1600m and then 6th at states, running 4:18 both times. He has a resume that suggests he can be a state medalist in 2012.
These two runners are clearly tough to compare. Huemmler boasts a solid XC season that shows potential for improvement with experience and also boasts an incredible, stand out track year. Zingarini, conversely, was the epitome of balance with a very efficient, consistently improving XC season followed by a similar track season that racked him up some state hardware outdoors after a solid indoor campaign. It really all comes down to whether you want to be safe or you believe in taking chances.
I personally do believe in taking chances. I see plenty of potential with Huemmler and he boasts a 4:12 PR. Magaha proved that guys with that kind of talent can turn things around and put it together on the trials in the end. He was arguably the best runner in PA in 2011 for XC and I certainly didn't see that coming based on his past XC results.
This may apply: Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
etrain Stock Exchange
So boys I'm ready to try and get back into consistent posting having finished taking my test this past weekend. I'm still working during the day and running at night but I will have some gaps to fill and I'm hoping that will be with posting.
I came up with this idea while I was watching Dark Knight Rises:
The etrain Stock Exchange
Basically how this works is kind of like the stock exchange. You want to make money. You can buy any runner currently on the top 50 for 51-x dollars where x is the ranking of the individual at this time. Anyone not on the list you can buy for 50 cents. Then as I move people around on the rankings from week to week you can buy or sell other people. You buy and sell based on those same 51-x values for the newest rankings. At the end of the season you will get 61-x where x is the end of season ranking for your runner as payment for your investment. Person with the most money wins.
Note: this is imaginary, not really money.
I'm going to make a facebook group to help answer questions and keep track of everyone's money/acquisitions. If you are interested let me know.
train out
I came up with this idea while I was watching Dark Knight Rises:
The etrain Stock Exchange
Basically how this works is kind of like the stock exchange. You want to make money. You can buy any runner currently on the top 50 for 51-x dollars where x is the ranking of the individual at this time. Anyone not on the list you can buy for 50 cents. Then as I move people around on the rankings from week to week you can buy or sell other people. You buy and sell based on those same 51-x values for the newest rankings. At the end of the season you will get 61-x where x is the end of season ranking for your runner as payment for your investment. Person with the most money wins.
Note: this is imaginary, not really money.
I'm going to make a facebook group to help answer questions and keep track of everyone's money/acquisitions. If you are interested let me know.
train out
PCL Boys: Tom Coyle or Dan Savage
Yeah I'm going out of order here, sorry kids, take it up with my lawyer, I got save the good stuff for later.
Tom Coyle has quickly become the AAA favorite to win the state title in XC. He was arguably a tactical error away from winning in 2011 and now he boasts state gold in the 1600m and 4:11 and 1:51 PRs. He also bested Savage on the track in Savage's best events, the 3000m and the 3200m. In fact, Coyle's only head to head loss to Savage all year came at the state meet in XC.
But Savage ran his best race when it mattered most. He took a "smarter" race strategy and had a great day on a very tough Hershey course. He is built for the state's course and Coyle, in theory, is better suited for flatter, faster courses.
I know people tend to jump on to bandwagon's pretty quickly after track seasons, sometimes overhyping solid seasons and putting too big of expectations onto the XC season, but Coyle was a top runner at the state meet in his first state level competitive year. He gains experience of the big race, experience of winning, and experience of running with and for a team with guys like Magee and Stone trying to help the squad get to states. That's a powerful piece of motivation. Just ask Dan Savage, who ran his heart out for his O'Hara team each and every race last year, and will do so again this season as they make another title push.
I think Savage ran an outstanding race at states last year, definitely his best race of the season. That has to give him confidence. But Coyle beat him twice in a row at Belmont Plateau, a pretty tough course in its own right. He made a tactical error that I doubt he will make again. In a kicker's race, it's Coyle's to lose.
I have a ton of respect for Savage and I think he will have a great season and another top 5 finish at the state meet in an extremely competitive field. He will put in the mileage and he will work hard. But Coyle has all the momentum right now, he has all the confidence, all the speed, all the doubling strength and all the top level experience.
The only advantage I see Savage having is the fact that he probably doesn't have a target on his back in any locker room besides O'Hara's (because teammates are always chasing the guy in front of them). Coyle, on the other hand, is a household name (or as much of a household name as possible) and every single competitive runner will pick him out of a race and give everything to beat him. He has some pressure of expectation.
All the same I think Coyle is ready to handle it and right now he is the favorite for the AAA state title.
Tom Coyle has quickly become the AAA favorite to win the state title in XC. He was arguably a tactical error away from winning in 2011 and now he boasts state gold in the 1600m and 4:11 and 1:51 PRs. He also bested Savage on the track in Savage's best events, the 3000m and the 3200m. In fact, Coyle's only head to head loss to Savage all year came at the state meet in XC.
But Savage ran his best race when it mattered most. He took a "smarter" race strategy and had a great day on a very tough Hershey course. He is built for the state's course and Coyle, in theory, is better suited for flatter, faster courses.
I know people tend to jump on to bandwagon's pretty quickly after track seasons, sometimes overhyping solid seasons and putting too big of expectations onto the XC season, but Coyle was a top runner at the state meet in his first state level competitive year. He gains experience of the big race, experience of winning, and experience of running with and for a team with guys like Magee and Stone trying to help the squad get to states. That's a powerful piece of motivation. Just ask Dan Savage, who ran his heart out for his O'Hara team each and every race last year, and will do so again this season as they make another title push.
I think Savage ran an outstanding race at states last year, definitely his best race of the season. That has to give him confidence. But Coyle beat him twice in a row at Belmont Plateau, a pretty tough course in its own right. He made a tactical error that I doubt he will make again. In a kicker's race, it's Coyle's to lose.
I have a ton of respect for Savage and I think he will have a great season and another top 5 finish at the state meet in an extremely competitive field. He will put in the mileage and he will work hard. But Coyle has all the momentum right now, he has all the confidence, all the speed, all the doubling strength and all the top level experience.
The only advantage I see Savage having is the fact that he probably doesn't have a target on his back in any locker room besides O'Hara's (because teammates are always chasing the guy in front of them). Coyle, on the other hand, is a household name (or as much of a household name as possible) and every single competitive runner will pick him out of a race and give everything to beat him. He has some pressure of expectation.
All the same I think Coyle is ready to handle it and right now he is the favorite for the AAA state title.
Battle of the Norths: North Penn or North Allegheny?
Well folks, life in Willow Grove Pennsylvania has not been as carefree as I would like it to be, but I'll try to squeeze a post in here while I have a little bit of time. Unfortunately, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day most of the time. I tend to make big plans and have big ideas, but I can't always make them come to fruition. Those who have been following me know that pretty well. I was visiting with my girlfriend this past weekend and no offense to any of you out there reading this, but there is no way in the world I was going to waste any portion of the few moments I have this month with her to post on this blog. This weekend coming up I have my first actuary test and I have been studying that like crazy (think the amount I study the Top 50 and triple it) and this week I will be cutting myself off from the world. Working, studying and running. If I need a study break, I may end up blogging ... or eating.
But I digress ... I doubt most of you read my blog because you like hearing my life story.
On to the first question on my list of 11 (get cuz it's like etrain11 ... I know I'm clever as frick), who will be better North Penn or North Allegheny?
It is interesting to consider these two as pair not simply because they both start with the word "North" but because they are connected in so many other ways that are actually relevant to cross country. For starters, North Penn and North Allegheny have combined to 4 out of the last 5 state championships (although admittedly 3 of those have been North Penn) and NA added in a second place finish and a trip to nationals in that time period. The teams have racked up a boat load of medalists over these years (and a state champion for each side) and established themselves as the powerhouses of their respective districts and a favorite to make the state meet and compete for a top spot regardless of who is returning on their roster.
But perhaps the greatest similarity as that both squads are in a "rebuilding" phase in this coming XC season. I use the word rebuilding here very loosely because these schools do not really rebuild, they reload. North Penn won back to back state championships and then had back to back runner up finishes at districts after seemingly loosing everyone that mattered out front. Then they won the state championship again.
North Allegheny some how manages to win the WPIAL every year. Gil goes down, Baldwin is killing it, they still win. They lose the bulk of their squad that took the team to Nationals, they find some JV studs, get Logan Steiner from Meadville and then finish higher at states then they did the previous season. Then they won the state championship.
Both teams do the seemingly unthinkable on a regular basis. They are well coached, train hard, and have a lot of kids to pick from in their massively sized schools. Sorry if that offends anybody, but c'mon we are all at least thinking it.
So based on all my praise of how awesome these teams are, I bet you could tell that I think both squads will be back at states and, if everything goes well health wise, I think both teams will finish the year in the top 5 as a team at the state meet. I know my rankings don't say that, but rankings are based more on what the data shows me than my gut.
But ultimately, one team has to be better than the other, there are no ties in cross country (even though we came pretty darn close ....) and my money is on North Allegheny to beat out the state champs in 2012.
And I will tell you why.
But first a look at history.
The last team to repeat as state champions was .... North Penn! They returned an ironic 5 of their top 7 guys and lost 2 of their top 3 runners, but still managed to repeat as state champions. Sounds extremely familiar to this years group of guys doesn't it?
So this is the part where everybody checks to make sure that I said North Allegheny not North Penn. Don't worry boys, I know where I am going with this. What was the difference between the team that repeated as state champs and the squad we are looking at in 2012?
Sam Bernitt.
North Penn pulled a guy from seemingly no where onto their XC squad and turned him into the 10th place finisher at the state championships, running just behind Brad Miles who ironically finish 10th the previous season. That was the difference. Logically, I can't assume North Penn is going to do that again (although let's face it, it could happen) and thus I do not believe North Penn can recapture their magic and make another run to the state title.
Let us go back now, to my favorite school subject (actually it's Math, but it sounds cooler if I phrase it like this) History.
In 2007 North Allegheny finished a hard fought 3rd at the state championships after a WPIAL title. The squad graduated 4 members of their top 7 guys including their two front runners who were state medalists. Their top returner was a freshman who was relatively unproven on the big stage. Sound familiar?
Well in 2008 North Allegheny dropped the hammer on PA XC and qualified for the NXN championships and finished 12th at the meet. They were probably the 2nd best team that PA has seen while I have been following the sport (Coatesville's squad is #1, arguments can be made for the North Penn squads and O'Hara this year).
So we know North Allegheny can take nothing and turn it into a lot more than something with guys already in the system. And I see a lot of guys in their system that they can turn into studs. At WPIALs this past year Luoco and Seel were 9th and 10th! They were the two spots behind Alex Moran and ahead of Tim Appman and Lawtin Tellin who finished in the top 30 at states (Appman was 20th). Mike Meehan was 19th at WPIALs just one spot behind Chris Culley who was 17th at states (still kinda surprised about that jump for Culley so not my most convincing piece of evidence admittedly).
North Allegheny made those guys factors at the WPIAL meet and they beat Mt. Lebanon who up until that point had dominated NA (look at the Tri State results from just a week earlier) and had only barely lost to O'Hara at pre states. And then they beat Lebo again at states and were only 12 points away from being tied for the title as well. If Luoco was the spot behind Moran at states like he was at WPIALs NA would have beaten North Penn by roughly 31 points. Now I know that is kind of a bold statement to make since Luoco's best race was at WPIALs and that may have been Moran's worst, but the point is the difference between North Penn and North Allegheny wasn't all that massive last year and the result easily could have been flip flopped if NA had their best weekend just a week later.
Now that being said, there are reasons to suspect North Penn will do better than NA. For the reasons I stated above I think NA will be better, I think history suggests that they will be incredibly strong again this year and probably will keep the WPIAL title.
But for all of you trying to win a debate against me and are supporting North Penn, here are the points you should use to foil my arguments above:
-North Penn peaked at the right time last year. Their guys ran their best races at the state course, where state's is run.
-North Allegheny is still young and lacks a serious front runner. North Penn has Macauley, a potential top 5 finisher at states, and a host of solid Juniors and Seniors with states experience on the roster.
-North Allegheny has been close to winning titles before, but North Penn has won 3 state titles in the last 5 years.
-Pat Morgan
-Have you seen North Penn's uniforms? They are way prettier.
I think the evidence for NA outweighs the evidence for NP, but feel free to debate on boys. I know you guys are master debaters.
But I digress ... I doubt most of you read my blog because you like hearing my life story.
On to the first question on my list of 11 (get cuz it's like etrain11 ... I know I'm clever as frick), who will be better North Penn or North Allegheny?
It is interesting to consider these two as pair not simply because they both start with the word "North" but because they are connected in so many other ways that are actually relevant to cross country. For starters, North Penn and North Allegheny have combined to 4 out of the last 5 state championships (although admittedly 3 of those have been North Penn) and NA added in a second place finish and a trip to nationals in that time period. The teams have racked up a boat load of medalists over these years (and a state champion for each side) and established themselves as the powerhouses of their respective districts and a favorite to make the state meet and compete for a top spot regardless of who is returning on their roster.
But perhaps the greatest similarity as that both squads are in a "rebuilding" phase in this coming XC season. I use the word rebuilding here very loosely because these schools do not really rebuild, they reload. North Penn won back to back state championships and then had back to back runner up finishes at districts after seemingly loosing everyone that mattered out front. Then they won the state championship again.
North Allegheny some how manages to win the WPIAL every year. Gil goes down, Baldwin is killing it, they still win. They lose the bulk of their squad that took the team to Nationals, they find some JV studs, get Logan Steiner from Meadville and then finish higher at states then they did the previous season. Then they won the state championship.
Both teams do the seemingly unthinkable on a regular basis. They are well coached, train hard, and have a lot of kids to pick from in their massively sized schools. Sorry if that offends anybody, but c'mon we are all at least thinking it.
So based on all my praise of how awesome these teams are, I bet you could tell that I think both squads will be back at states and, if everything goes well health wise, I think both teams will finish the year in the top 5 as a team at the state meet. I know my rankings don't say that, but rankings are based more on what the data shows me than my gut.
But ultimately, one team has to be better than the other, there are no ties in cross country (even though we came pretty darn close ....) and my money is on North Allegheny to beat out the state champs in 2012.
And I will tell you why.
But first a look at history.
The last team to repeat as state champions was .... North Penn! They returned an ironic 5 of their top 7 guys and lost 2 of their top 3 runners, but still managed to repeat as state champions. Sounds extremely familiar to this years group of guys doesn't it?
So this is the part where everybody checks to make sure that I said North Allegheny not North Penn. Don't worry boys, I know where I am going with this. What was the difference between the team that repeated as state champs and the squad we are looking at in 2012?
Sam Bernitt.
North Penn pulled a guy from seemingly no where onto their XC squad and turned him into the 10th place finisher at the state championships, running just behind Brad Miles who ironically finish 10th the previous season. That was the difference. Logically, I can't assume North Penn is going to do that again (although let's face it, it could happen) and thus I do not believe North Penn can recapture their magic and make another run to the state title.
Let us go back now, to my favorite school subject (actually it's Math, but it sounds cooler if I phrase it like this) History.
In 2007 North Allegheny finished a hard fought 3rd at the state championships after a WPIAL title. The squad graduated 4 members of their top 7 guys including their two front runners who were state medalists. Their top returner was a freshman who was relatively unproven on the big stage. Sound familiar?
Well in 2008 North Allegheny dropped the hammer on PA XC and qualified for the NXN championships and finished 12th at the meet. They were probably the 2nd best team that PA has seen while I have been following the sport (Coatesville's squad is #1, arguments can be made for the North Penn squads and O'Hara this year).
So we know North Allegheny can take nothing and turn it into a lot more than something with guys already in the system. And I see a lot of guys in their system that they can turn into studs. At WPIALs this past year Luoco and Seel were 9th and 10th! They were the two spots behind Alex Moran and ahead of Tim Appman and Lawtin Tellin who finished in the top 30 at states (Appman was 20th). Mike Meehan was 19th at WPIALs just one spot behind Chris Culley who was 17th at states (still kinda surprised about that jump for Culley so not my most convincing piece of evidence admittedly).
North Allegheny made those guys factors at the WPIAL meet and they beat Mt. Lebanon who up until that point had dominated NA (look at the Tri State results from just a week earlier) and had only barely lost to O'Hara at pre states. And then they beat Lebo again at states and were only 12 points away from being tied for the title as well. If Luoco was the spot behind Moran at states like he was at WPIALs NA would have beaten North Penn by roughly 31 points. Now I know that is kind of a bold statement to make since Luoco's best race was at WPIALs and that may have been Moran's worst, but the point is the difference between North Penn and North Allegheny wasn't all that massive last year and the result easily could have been flip flopped if NA had their best weekend just a week later.
Now that being said, there are reasons to suspect North Penn will do better than NA. For the reasons I stated above I think NA will be better, I think history suggests that they will be incredibly strong again this year and probably will keep the WPIAL title.
But for all of you trying to win a debate against me and are supporting North Penn, here are the points you should use to foil my arguments above:
-North Penn peaked at the right time last year. Their guys ran their best races at the state course, where state's is run.
-North Allegheny is still young and lacks a serious front runner. North Penn has Macauley, a potential top 5 finisher at states, and a host of solid Juniors and Seniors with states experience on the roster.
-North Allegheny has been close to winning titles before, but North Penn has won 3 state titles in the last 5 years.
-Pat Morgan
-Have you seen North Penn's uniforms? They are way prettier.
I think the evidence for NA outweighs the evidence for NP, but feel free to debate on boys. I know you guys are master debaters.
Pop Quiz
So I'm looking to get some opinions on some questions and then I will give you my own opinion after I hear yours, here's what I got ... Who will place higher in XC 2012 at states....
1. Battle of the Norths: North Penn or North Allegheny?
2. Battle of the Defending Champs: Brendan Shearn or Conner Quinn?
3. Battle of the PCL Boys: Tom Coyle or Dan Savage?
4. Battle of the Milers: Jack Huemmler or James Zingarini?
5. The Big Question: West Chester Henderson or O'Hara?
6. Battle of the Henderson Boys: Tony Russell or Reiny Barchet?
7. Battle of the Youngsters: Ethan Martin or Caleb Wakeley?
8. Battle of the Walking Wounded: Max Norris or Jeff Groh?
9. Battle of the Northeast Bradford Boys: Sam Williams or Curt Jewett?
10. Battle of the 3200m Stars: Mac Emery or Jack Macauley or Connor Harriman?
11. Battle for the State Championship: Shearn or Jaskowak, Quinn or Coyle, Williams or Galassi or Jones or Smathers ..... Or Other!
Note Question 11 is the only Question where the answer other is applicable
1. Battle of the Norths: North Penn or North Allegheny?
2. Battle of the Defending Champs: Brendan Shearn or Conner Quinn?
3. Battle of the PCL Boys: Tom Coyle or Dan Savage?
4. Battle of the Milers: Jack Huemmler or James Zingarini?
5. The Big Question: West Chester Henderson or O'Hara?
6. Battle of the Henderson Boys: Tony Russell or Reiny Barchet?
7. Battle of the Youngsters: Ethan Martin or Caleb Wakeley?
8. Battle of the Walking Wounded: Max Norris or Jeff Groh?
9. Battle of the Northeast Bradford Boys: Sam Williams or Curt Jewett?
10. Battle of the 3200m Stars: Mac Emery or Jack Macauley or Connor Harriman?
11. Battle for the State Championship: Shearn or Jaskowak, Quinn or Coyle, Williams or Galassi or Jones or Smathers ..... Or Other!
Note Question 11 is the only Question where the answer other is applicable
XC Talk: Kiski Area
Key Returners: Brent Kennedy (Jr), Tyler Snider (Sr), Patrick Miller (Jr), Justin Stascak (Sr)
Key Losses: Richard Lednak
Notable Track Performances: Kennedy 1:56/4:19/9:31, Miller 1:56/4:31, Snider 9:44
The Kiski boys were one of the new up and coming studs in the WPIAL and took the final spot in a very tough D7 Championships in brutal conditions. They then followed it up at the state meet with a solid 9th place finish as a team led by a big time 7th place finish by Brent Kennedy who was just a sophomore. Kennedy was one of the most consistent runners of the year and he was clutch all XC season into the track seasons where he anchored his DMR relay to a medal and then helped their 4x8 medal outdoors. He then stole a medal in the open 1600m in one of the toughest doubles to pull of in Shippensburg. He could do no wrong with success at every distance. All of this as just a sophomore.
Lednak, however, is a valuable piece to the team's success and he is gone. He was always a solid two miler and big part of the team's success at WPIALs. Yet he is the only big piece missing from the states squad of 2011. 5 of the team's top 6 from Hershey are returning this season including two guys making the sophomore to junior jump which usually brings big results. Pat Miller, the team's 4th man from states in 2011, ran a 1:56 split on the state's 4x8 squad. Tyler Snider ran a 9:44 last spring which makes him a solid 3rd man for this squad. Then after those 3 things are a little more dicey. Justin Stascak, the team's 5th man in 2011 at Hershey, ran his fastest time of the season at Hershey which is impressive, but it was only an 18:18. Tyler Lookabough is the other returner for this squad, but he was 31 seconds behind Stascak and 2:33 behind Kennedy, which would make for quite the huge spread on this squad.
Kennedy is an outstanding front runner and has potential to compete for the state championship as an individual and is the favorite in an always tough WPIAL, but this Kiski team has to deal with North Allegheny who is always good and has very solid returners, 3 of their top 7. And North Allegheny has dominated the WPIALs in the last decade and that makes it tough for Kiski to get respect and to get a top 5 finish at states. Look at Lebo, they were very, very good all season but NA still bested them at crunch time.
Kiski has a great leader, a solid top 3, but some big question marks after that. The surer they can get those 4-5 legs, the better this team will do as the season hits crunch time.
Project Top 5 By Season's End
Kennedy (ET #6), Miller, Snider, Stascak, Lookabough
Key Losses: Richard Lednak
Notable Track Performances: Kennedy 1:56/4:19/9:31, Miller 1:56/4:31, Snider 9:44
The Kiski boys were one of the new up and coming studs in the WPIAL and took the final spot in a very tough D7 Championships in brutal conditions. They then followed it up at the state meet with a solid 9th place finish as a team led by a big time 7th place finish by Brent Kennedy who was just a sophomore. Kennedy was one of the most consistent runners of the year and he was clutch all XC season into the track seasons where he anchored his DMR relay to a medal and then helped their 4x8 medal outdoors. He then stole a medal in the open 1600m in one of the toughest doubles to pull of in Shippensburg. He could do no wrong with success at every distance. All of this as just a sophomore.
Lednak, however, is a valuable piece to the team's success and he is gone. He was always a solid two miler and big part of the team's success at WPIALs. Yet he is the only big piece missing from the states squad of 2011. 5 of the team's top 6 from Hershey are returning this season including two guys making the sophomore to junior jump which usually brings big results. Pat Miller, the team's 4th man from states in 2011, ran a 1:56 split on the state's 4x8 squad. Tyler Snider ran a 9:44 last spring which makes him a solid 3rd man for this squad. Then after those 3 things are a little more dicey. Justin Stascak, the team's 5th man in 2011 at Hershey, ran his fastest time of the season at Hershey which is impressive, but it was only an 18:18. Tyler Lookabough is the other returner for this squad, but he was 31 seconds behind Stascak and 2:33 behind Kennedy, which would make for quite the huge spread on this squad.
Kennedy is an outstanding front runner and has potential to compete for the state championship as an individual and is the favorite in an always tough WPIAL, but this Kiski team has to deal with North Allegheny who is always good and has very solid returners, 3 of their top 7. And North Allegheny has dominated the WPIALs in the last decade and that makes it tough for Kiski to get respect and to get a top 5 finish at states. Look at Lebo, they were very, very good all season but NA still bested them at crunch time.
Kiski has a great leader, a solid top 3, but some big question marks after that. The surer they can get those 4-5 legs, the better this team will do as the season hits crunch time.
Project Top 5 By Season's End
Kennedy (ET #6), Miller, Snider, Stascak, Lookabough
XC Talk: Cumberland Valley
Key Returners: Alec Kunzweiler (Sr), Alex Coburn (Sr), Scott St. Peter (Sr), Ryan Kidd (Sr), Brandon Dunham (Jr)
Key Losses: Abdallah Soliman
Notable Track Performances: Kyle Rhode (Jr)- 4:34, Coburn- 4:22/9:49, Kunzweiler- 4:25/1:53, 7:43.81 4x800m with 3 returners (Kunzweiler, Coburn, St. Peter)
Cumberland Valley has consistently been a D3 powerhouse, but in 2011 the team wasn't quite sure what pieces it had to play with. But Coburn reemerged from injury problems and Alec Kunzweiler began his climb from solid 800m runner to all around stud in both XC and track. The squad ran solid throughout the season but peaked at the right moment, finishing 3rd at Distrits and then 11th at states (the top D3 team). Kunzweiler finished 14th overall at the state meet, the only D3 medalist in the field.
Outdoors Cumberland Valley's 4x800m squad turned heads throughout the season, culminating in a fantastic finish at the state meet. St. Peter ran solid splits all season around the 2 minute mark, Coburn built a house in the 1:56s and then Kunzweiler powered through a 1:51 anchor carry. All these boys are going to toe the line in XC again this season with new found confidence and state gold already around their necks.
Cumberland Valley is a tough team for me to read. They came on strong at the end of last XC season, hitting their best at the end of the season. Then they followed the fall up with a great spring. Obviously 800m success does not translate directly into XC prowess but seeing Kunzweiler and Coburn run as well as they did this past season combined with their proven XC ability in the past (Kunzweiler 14th last year and Coburn the top freshman in his class) that was a great sign. I'm very high on Coburn this year and he is a sleeper pick for all you guys looking for great runners who didn't make my top 50.
Add in the fact that Cumberland Valley returns everyone from their varsity squad at states in 2011, including 4 will be seniors, and you have yourself a pretty sick looking team.
BUT ...
CV was just 11th at states last year and in front of them sits a Kiski team that returns 5 of their top 7, a Great Valley team that returns 5 of 7, a LaSalle team that returns 4 of 6 (5 of 7 with Greco), a CRNorth team that returns their top 5, a Henderson team that returns 5 of 7, Mt. Lebo returns 4 runners and sick JV squad, NA returns 3 and doesn't rebuild but reload and then of course O'Hara with 4 of their top 5 and North Penn with 5 of 7 as well.
That's a lot of teams to try and jump.
Then you add in the fact that CV was anchored by a big performance by Kunzweiler and a solid one by Coburn. Behind him the team had no other runners under 17 minutes all season. Coburn was the only guy under 10 minutes for 3200m on the track this past spring. At the state meet Kidd ran 17:35 as the team's third man. After Kidd they had no one else under 17:50 at the state meet.
It's hard because I don't follow the D3 guys as closely as the D1 boys, but right now CValley needs to fill the spots after their front runners. They return a lot of pieces, but returning a lot off a team that places 20th isn't the same as returning a few off a team that places 1st. Similar situation applies here but obviously not exactly the same. The "no name" guys need to take that next step to "name" guys in order to put this team on the map, but right now they are the class of a great district in District 3.
Projected Top 5 by Season's End
Kunzweiler (ET #15), Coburn, Dunham, Kidd, St. Peter
Key Losses: Abdallah Soliman
Notable Track Performances: Kyle Rhode (Jr)- 4:34, Coburn- 4:22/9:49, Kunzweiler- 4:25/1:53, 7:43.81 4x800m with 3 returners (Kunzweiler, Coburn, St. Peter)
Cumberland Valley has consistently been a D3 powerhouse, but in 2011 the team wasn't quite sure what pieces it had to play with. But Coburn reemerged from injury problems and Alec Kunzweiler began his climb from solid 800m runner to all around stud in both XC and track. The squad ran solid throughout the season but peaked at the right moment, finishing 3rd at Distrits and then 11th at states (the top D3 team). Kunzweiler finished 14th overall at the state meet, the only D3 medalist in the field.
Outdoors Cumberland Valley's 4x800m squad turned heads throughout the season, culminating in a fantastic finish at the state meet. St. Peter ran solid splits all season around the 2 minute mark, Coburn built a house in the 1:56s and then Kunzweiler powered through a 1:51 anchor carry. All these boys are going to toe the line in XC again this season with new found confidence and state gold already around their necks.
Cumberland Valley is a tough team for me to read. They came on strong at the end of last XC season, hitting their best at the end of the season. Then they followed the fall up with a great spring. Obviously 800m success does not translate directly into XC prowess but seeing Kunzweiler and Coburn run as well as they did this past season combined with their proven XC ability in the past (Kunzweiler 14th last year and Coburn the top freshman in his class) that was a great sign. I'm very high on Coburn this year and he is a sleeper pick for all you guys looking for great runners who didn't make my top 50.
Add in the fact that Cumberland Valley returns everyone from their varsity squad at states in 2011, including 4 will be seniors, and you have yourself a pretty sick looking team.
BUT ...
CV was just 11th at states last year and in front of them sits a Kiski team that returns 5 of their top 7, a Great Valley team that returns 5 of 7, a LaSalle team that returns 4 of 6 (5 of 7 with Greco), a CRNorth team that returns their top 5, a Henderson team that returns 5 of 7, Mt. Lebo returns 4 runners and sick JV squad, NA returns 3 and doesn't rebuild but reload and then of course O'Hara with 4 of their top 5 and North Penn with 5 of 7 as well.
That's a lot of teams to try and jump.
Then you add in the fact that CV was anchored by a big performance by Kunzweiler and a solid one by Coburn. Behind him the team had no other runners under 17 minutes all season. Coburn was the only guy under 10 minutes for 3200m on the track this past spring. At the state meet Kidd ran 17:35 as the team's third man. After Kidd they had no one else under 17:50 at the state meet.
It's hard because I don't follow the D3 guys as closely as the D1 boys, but right now CValley needs to fill the spots after their front runners. They return a lot of pieces, but returning a lot off a team that places 20th isn't the same as returning a few off a team that places 1st. Similar situation applies here but obviously not exactly the same. The "no name" guys need to take that next step to "name" guys in order to put this team on the map, but right now they are the class of a great district in District 3.
Projected Top 5 by Season's End
Kunzweiler (ET #15), Coburn, Dunham, Kidd, St. Peter
XC Talk: LaSalle College High School
Key Returners: Tom Coyle (Sr), Andrew Stone (Sr), Jack Magee (Sr), Brendan Bilotta (Jr)
Key Losses: Kevin Quinn
Notable Track Performances: Coyle 1:51/4:11, Stone 1:52/4:19, Bilotta 9:44, Greco (Sr) 9:53
LaSalle returns all three of their top runners from last year's 7th place team and 5 of their top 7 runners overall. LaSalle, who came into the year trying to bounce back from their worst finish as a member of the PIAA (10th place), returned no runners under 17 minutes at the state meet and just one of their top 4 runners. Amazingly that team ended up getting things rolling when Tom Coyle emerged as a top class XC runner and Andrew Stone joined the varsity squad. LaSalle ended up finishing 3 spots higher at states than the previous year with just one medalist and one member of the top 50 at states (Coyle). Their top returner from the previous season ended up being their 7th man at states.
LaSalle has always been an excellent XC team with consistent top finishes and excellent pack running. During their 3rd place effort in 2009 they had an outrageously close spread of just 15 seconds. The year before a team on nobody's radar whatsoever finished 2nd at the state meet over eventual national qualifiers North Allegheny (I think that NA team finished top 16 or so as well). There is no doubt in my mind that this LaSalle squad can surprise this year. However, they need to find a way to get 5 guys to states in the 5 qualifying spots or beat O'Hara. That's a very, very tough task either way you spin it.
On the track LaSalle added momentum as they finished the year with 3 returners under 10 minutes for 2 miles, two runners at 1:52 or faster and three guys under 4:25 in the 1600m. Coyle added a state title for the crew which was also indoor state medalists in the 4x8 and the top PA team at Penn Relay (all returners). 5 different runners are included in this group above which makes up a very solid top five group of runners for LaSalle.
In my opinion, Tom Coyle is my early pick to win the state title and honestly it has nothing to do with his 1:51 800m (although that is quite the nice little bonus). Coyle clearly has speed, but he also has strength. He has the endurance strength to drop a 4:11 1600m with a big kick at the finish, but more importantly he made constant impressive doubles over 1600m and 3200m indoors and outdoors where he would run with, and beat, the O'Hara boys in the second of those two events. His indoor PCL 3k really jumps to mind. Obviously it's hard to make a big conclusion like this without proof, but I believe if Coyle focused on the 3200m this past season he could have run 9:12 or faster (which means he would be one of the top returners in the event). Don't forget that Coyle beat Savage two weeks in a row before Savage bested him at states in XC and also remember that Coyle, tactically, was not at his best at the XC state meet. He tried to break away too early in the race and it cost him. The XC state meet was the deepest and most pressure packed race Coyle had ever faced, and the pressure of state gold had never before braced his shoulders. Now that's just a past memory.
Stone also made a lot of strides. Sure he improved his 800m substantially, but more important he showed he was running the 800m off mile strength not 400 speed. He proved he had great mile ability to go with his fantastic 800m speed. Magee too has improved. Qualifying for the state meet as an individual in the 1600m out of District 12.
The biggest thing holding LaSalle back from a top finish might be their horrible situation in District 12 where it is beat O'Hara or stay home that weekend essentially (technically if LaSalle takes the top 5 non-O'Hara spots but does not beat O'Hara they can also qualify for states as a team, but the chances of that are fairly slim, but not impossible). LaSalle has some solid pieces in the middle of their line up at the 4-5 spots that aren't big names but have track times comparable to the 4-5 guys on other top teams and better than some others. There are some great pieces here and if they can turn themselves from track guys to cross guys effectively this fall, they will surprise people and maybe even surprise O'Hara.
My projected top 5 at season's end in order:
Coyle (ET #4), Stone (ET #45), Magee, Greco, Bilotta
Key Losses: Kevin Quinn
Notable Track Performances: Coyle 1:51/4:11, Stone 1:52/4:19, Bilotta 9:44, Greco (Sr) 9:53
LaSalle returns all three of their top runners from last year's 7th place team and 5 of their top 7 runners overall. LaSalle, who came into the year trying to bounce back from their worst finish as a member of the PIAA (10th place), returned no runners under 17 minutes at the state meet and just one of their top 4 runners. Amazingly that team ended up getting things rolling when Tom Coyle emerged as a top class XC runner and Andrew Stone joined the varsity squad. LaSalle ended up finishing 3 spots higher at states than the previous year with just one medalist and one member of the top 50 at states (Coyle). Their top returner from the previous season ended up being their 7th man at states.
LaSalle has always been an excellent XC team with consistent top finishes and excellent pack running. During their 3rd place effort in 2009 they had an outrageously close spread of just 15 seconds. The year before a team on nobody's radar whatsoever finished 2nd at the state meet over eventual national qualifiers North Allegheny (I think that NA team finished top 16 or so as well). There is no doubt in my mind that this LaSalle squad can surprise this year. However, they need to find a way to get 5 guys to states in the 5 qualifying spots or beat O'Hara. That's a very, very tough task either way you spin it.
On the track LaSalle added momentum as they finished the year with 3 returners under 10 minutes for 2 miles, two runners at 1:52 or faster and three guys under 4:25 in the 1600m. Coyle added a state title for the crew which was also indoor state medalists in the 4x8 and the top PA team at Penn Relay (all returners). 5 different runners are included in this group above which makes up a very solid top five group of runners for LaSalle.
In my opinion, Tom Coyle is my early pick to win the state title and honestly it has nothing to do with his 1:51 800m (although that is quite the nice little bonus). Coyle clearly has speed, but he also has strength. He has the endurance strength to drop a 4:11 1600m with a big kick at the finish, but more importantly he made constant impressive doubles over 1600m and 3200m indoors and outdoors where he would run with, and beat, the O'Hara boys in the second of those two events. His indoor PCL 3k really jumps to mind. Obviously it's hard to make a big conclusion like this without proof, but I believe if Coyle focused on the 3200m this past season he could have run 9:12 or faster (which means he would be one of the top returners in the event). Don't forget that Coyle beat Savage two weeks in a row before Savage bested him at states in XC and also remember that Coyle, tactically, was not at his best at the XC state meet. He tried to break away too early in the race and it cost him. The XC state meet was the deepest and most pressure packed race Coyle had ever faced, and the pressure of state gold had never before braced his shoulders. Now that's just a past memory.
Stone also made a lot of strides. Sure he improved his 800m substantially, but more important he showed he was running the 800m off mile strength not 400 speed. He proved he had great mile ability to go with his fantastic 800m speed. Magee too has improved. Qualifying for the state meet as an individual in the 1600m out of District 12.
The biggest thing holding LaSalle back from a top finish might be their horrible situation in District 12 where it is beat O'Hara or stay home that weekend essentially (technically if LaSalle takes the top 5 non-O'Hara spots but does not beat O'Hara they can also qualify for states as a team, but the chances of that are fairly slim, but not impossible). LaSalle has some solid pieces in the middle of their line up at the 4-5 spots that aren't big names but have track times comparable to the 4-5 guys on other top teams and better than some others. There are some great pieces here and if they can turn themselves from track guys to cross guys effectively this fall, they will surprise people and maybe even surprise O'Hara.
My projected top 5 at season's end in order:
Coyle (ET #4), Stone (ET #45), Magee, Greco, Bilotta
XC Talk: Council Rock North
Key Returners: Mac Emery (Sr), Ross Wilson (Jr), James Zingarini (Sr)
Key Losses: Jack Felt, Forrest Kentwell
Notable Track Performances: Zingarini 4:18/9:50, Emery 4:28/9:11, Wilson 9:30/15:49
Council Rock North last year finished 6th place at the State Championship and returns their entire top 5, but that is just a small portion of why they have big upside this season. CR North had their best race at the end of the cross country season where they finished just 34 points back of Henderson at Hershey (compared to a roughly 150 point gap a week earlier). CR North was 4th at the District Championships at Lehigh but bested 2nd place Great Valley at the state meet by almost 20 points. When looking at the results, CR North's finish is even more impressive considering, due to sickness, Mac Emery finished outside the top 50 at the state championships. Zingarini came on strong at the end of the season becoming a very capable #2 runner for the team by states finishing in the top 40 and as just a sophomore Ross Wilson led the team with a top 20 finish at Districts and a top 40 finish at states.
On the track things continued to get better for CRN's big three. Emery rolled all season long leading to a huge 9:11 3200m mark this past spring. Zingarini continued to prove he was a top caliber guy and ran 4:18 on multiple occasions for 1600m. Wilson, who is clearly better over longer distances, added a sub 16 5k on the track early in the spring and ended his season under the SQS but unfortunately out of the top 8 in a deep field at Districts in the 3200m.
Council Rock North, a team that has made more state championships in a row than any other team in District One, has consistently found talent and trained it well. CR North's big three are all headed in the right direction and have had virtually 0 set backs besides Emery's sickness in the past year. I'm a huge fan of Zingarini this upcoming fall. He's my sleeper pick out of the big three, although I am a fan of all of them this spring. He has been rolling ever since Districts in XC and he continues to get better with every season.
But the big question people will have about CR North is will they be strong enough after the big three to win a state title. I see CR North as similar to this year's North Penn team but with a arguably a much stronger front 3. CR North, like North Penn, is well coached and trains hard and guys like Zac Keller and Marty Leonard may develop into the kind of finishers that Ryan Grace and Matt Molloy were for North Penn this past fall.
But CR North does not have a group of young JV runners who look like they are about to break out. The top 4 on their JV squad last year were all Juniors or Seniors and none of those top 4 runners finished under 17:50 on Lehigh's fast course. Henderson's entire top 8 from their JV squad did last year and that group included 6 freshman or sophomores. This makes Keller and Leonard (who will be a Junior next year and has potential to take the next step) the most likely guys to be the 4 and 5 men for CRNorth. Each man ran 17:08 last year at Districts and will need to drop into roughly the 16:30s range to help this team win a state championship is my guess. The CR North squad does have an up and coming youngster, Sean Griswold, who ran 10:21 for 3200m as a Freshman this past spring. If he has a big sophomore jump, which is not unheard of, he could be a nice piece to the puzzle.
Ultimately, the big three will make this team a contender, but they will go as far as their 4 and 5 guys can carry them. I can't see them competing at the same level as Henderson or O'Hara at this stage of the game unless O'Hara is struck by injury out front (Henderson seems to have enough depth to recover from an injury to anyone but Barchet and Russell and still compete for a state title). The advantage is at the state meet depth matters less because there are not as many runners as districts who are scoring in the team race and can push the 4 and 5 guys points up.
This is my projected top 5 by season's end for CR North:
Emery (ET #12), Zingarini (ET #26), Wilson (ET #25), Leonard, Keller
Key Losses: Jack Felt, Forrest Kentwell
Notable Track Performances: Zingarini 4:18/9:50, Emery 4:28/9:11, Wilson 9:30/15:49
Council Rock North last year finished 6th place at the State Championship and returns their entire top 5, but that is just a small portion of why they have big upside this season. CR North had their best race at the end of the cross country season where they finished just 34 points back of Henderson at Hershey (compared to a roughly 150 point gap a week earlier). CR North was 4th at the District Championships at Lehigh but bested 2nd place Great Valley at the state meet by almost 20 points. When looking at the results, CR North's finish is even more impressive considering, due to sickness, Mac Emery finished outside the top 50 at the state championships. Zingarini came on strong at the end of the season becoming a very capable #2 runner for the team by states finishing in the top 40 and as just a sophomore Ross Wilson led the team with a top 20 finish at Districts and a top 40 finish at states.
On the track things continued to get better for CRN's big three. Emery rolled all season long leading to a huge 9:11 3200m mark this past spring. Zingarini continued to prove he was a top caliber guy and ran 4:18 on multiple occasions for 1600m. Wilson, who is clearly better over longer distances, added a sub 16 5k on the track early in the spring and ended his season under the SQS but unfortunately out of the top 8 in a deep field at Districts in the 3200m.
Council Rock North, a team that has made more state championships in a row than any other team in District One, has consistently found talent and trained it well. CR North's big three are all headed in the right direction and have had virtually 0 set backs besides Emery's sickness in the past year. I'm a huge fan of Zingarini this upcoming fall. He's my sleeper pick out of the big three, although I am a fan of all of them this spring. He has been rolling ever since Districts in XC and he continues to get better with every season.
But the big question people will have about CR North is will they be strong enough after the big three to win a state title. I see CR North as similar to this year's North Penn team but with a arguably a much stronger front 3. CR North, like North Penn, is well coached and trains hard and guys like Zac Keller and Marty Leonard may develop into the kind of finishers that Ryan Grace and Matt Molloy were for North Penn this past fall.
But CR North does not have a group of young JV runners who look like they are about to break out. The top 4 on their JV squad last year were all Juniors or Seniors and none of those top 4 runners finished under 17:50 on Lehigh's fast course. Henderson's entire top 8 from their JV squad did last year and that group included 6 freshman or sophomores. This makes Keller and Leonard (who will be a Junior next year and has potential to take the next step) the most likely guys to be the 4 and 5 men for CRNorth. Each man ran 17:08 last year at Districts and will need to drop into roughly the 16:30s range to help this team win a state championship is my guess. The CR North squad does have an up and coming youngster, Sean Griswold, who ran 10:21 for 3200m as a Freshman this past spring. If he has a big sophomore jump, which is not unheard of, he could be a nice piece to the puzzle.
Ultimately, the big three will make this team a contender, but they will go as far as their 4 and 5 guys can carry them. I can't see them competing at the same level as Henderson or O'Hara at this stage of the game unless O'Hara is struck by injury out front (Henderson seems to have enough depth to recover from an injury to anyone but Barchet and Russell and still compete for a state title). The advantage is at the state meet depth matters less because there are not as many runners as districts who are scoring in the team race and can push the 4 and 5 guys points up.
This is my projected top 5 by season's end for CR North:
Emery (ET #12), Zingarini (ET #26), Wilson (ET #25), Leonard, Keller
XC Talk: West Chester Henderson
**Since the last post had 52 comments and I have tough time following all the changes in conversation, I strongly encourage people to go to www.tracktalk.net, make an account, and scroll down to the PA thread and talk about O'Hara v. Henderson or whatever else you would like to talk about on there. You can feel free to comment here still, but a forum would be a better place for these comments in most instances.**
Key Returners: Tony Russell (Jr), Sam Haugh (Jr), Reiny Barchet (Jr), Bobby Rimkis (Sr), Seamus Collins (Jr), AJ Chaborek (Sr)
Key Losses: Charlie Grab, Mike Salach
Notable Track Performances: Russell 4:18/9:31, Chaborek 4:22/9:40, Barceht 4:26/9:28, Stratman (Jr) 4:29/9:47, Rimkis 9:40, Collins 9:44
The Henderson boys bested eventual state champions North Penn by an impressive margin at the District One Championships at Lehigh in 2011, but unfortunately were unable to repeat the magic and came up short at the state meet where the team took 5th. But Henderson rebounded on the track, especially in the spring, where a healthy Reiny Barchet exploded back onto everyone's radar with an impressive 9:28 clocking at the District Championships.
Despite the struggles on the state course, Henderson did post solid marks at hilly courses throughout the season. Out in New Jersey Tony Russell and Charlie Grab (now graduated) helped lead the way to a top finish. The injuries to Charlie Grab and Reiny Barchet hindered this Henderson team and weakened their experience factor at the state meeet where the team led by mostly underclassmen had a disappointing day. Keep in mind before the championship season, Charlie Grab was the leader of this Henderson squad and losing him down the stretch hurt in more ways than just the spots he lost.
The boys from Henderson are very well coached and have consistently produced top level talent over the years and are always competitive for a state and district title. This team kind of reminds me of the Coatesville team that won the national championship a few years back. That Coatesville team had a top 5 of all Juniors in 2005, when they, again, failed to pull out the state title despite being one of the favorites. However, in 2006 when the group were all seniors, they left no doubt who the dominate team was. Now I'm not saying Henderson can't win this year or is going to be national champions or anything like that, but I do think this team's best year will be 2013.
Tony Russell has now consistently been a top level runner in District One. He is without a doubt a contender for a top 10 finish at the AAA state championship meet. He showed off some solid 1600 strength to go along with a killer XC season. Reiny Barchet, in my mind, is the guy to watch this season for Henderson. Even after his injuries and set backs during the crucial XC training period, Barchet had a great spring, headlined by his 9:28. He has had success at the District and State meets before as just a Freshman and has arguably been the clutchest runner on Henderson's squad this year. I'm not sure Chaborek's awesome track season is going to transfer to a killer XC year. I think he could end up kind of like an Achraf Khattabi this year if things go well, but he could also just as easily end up like a Sam Zengel. Don't forget about Collins whose brother was a top contributor for this team when they finished 2nd at states.
Plus the JV depth of Henderson is outstanding. They once again took most of the top spots at a very talented JV race at Districts. Their JV squad also features a lot of freshman who could potential become the next Tony Russell as a breakout sophomore.
There is potential here, crazy potential, but ultimately the critics will always point to the past state meets where Henderson has ran solid, but has not blown anyone away. People may make the argument that O'Hara choked at the state meet as well, but as stated by others, O'Hara had 4 guys who placed very well and their 5th man simply had an off day. Henderson had few bright spots at the state meet in XC and took home no individual medals from states in track or XC. I believe Henderson has a very good shot at winning states. They are well coached and heading in right direction. But the fact of the matter is I project that 4 out of their top 5 guys will be Juniors. In XC especially, Seniors are the main reason for big wins.
But tell that to Conner Quinn.
Here are my projected top 5 by states in order:
Barchet (ET #24), Russell (ET #18), Rimkis, Stratman, Haugh
Key Returners: Tony Russell (Jr), Sam Haugh (Jr), Reiny Barchet (Jr), Bobby Rimkis (Sr), Seamus Collins (Jr), AJ Chaborek (Sr)
Key Losses: Charlie Grab, Mike Salach
Notable Track Performances: Russell 4:18/9:31, Chaborek 4:22/9:40, Barceht 4:26/9:28, Stratman (Jr) 4:29/9:47, Rimkis 9:40, Collins 9:44
The Henderson boys bested eventual state champions North Penn by an impressive margin at the District One Championships at Lehigh in 2011, but unfortunately were unable to repeat the magic and came up short at the state meet where the team took 5th. But Henderson rebounded on the track, especially in the spring, where a healthy Reiny Barchet exploded back onto everyone's radar with an impressive 9:28 clocking at the District Championships.
Despite the struggles on the state course, Henderson did post solid marks at hilly courses throughout the season. Out in New Jersey Tony Russell and Charlie Grab (now graduated) helped lead the way to a top finish. The injuries to Charlie Grab and Reiny Barchet hindered this Henderson team and weakened their experience factor at the state meeet where the team led by mostly underclassmen had a disappointing day. Keep in mind before the championship season, Charlie Grab was the leader of this Henderson squad and losing him down the stretch hurt in more ways than just the spots he lost.
The boys from Henderson are very well coached and have consistently produced top level talent over the years and are always competitive for a state and district title. This team kind of reminds me of the Coatesville team that won the national championship a few years back. That Coatesville team had a top 5 of all Juniors in 2005, when they, again, failed to pull out the state title despite being one of the favorites. However, in 2006 when the group were all seniors, they left no doubt who the dominate team was. Now I'm not saying Henderson can't win this year or is going to be national champions or anything like that, but I do think this team's best year will be 2013.
Tony Russell has now consistently been a top level runner in District One. He is without a doubt a contender for a top 10 finish at the AAA state championship meet. He showed off some solid 1600 strength to go along with a killer XC season. Reiny Barchet, in my mind, is the guy to watch this season for Henderson. Even after his injuries and set backs during the crucial XC training period, Barchet had a great spring, headlined by his 9:28. He has had success at the District and State meets before as just a Freshman and has arguably been the clutchest runner on Henderson's squad this year. I'm not sure Chaborek's awesome track season is going to transfer to a killer XC year. I think he could end up kind of like an Achraf Khattabi this year if things go well, but he could also just as easily end up like a Sam Zengel. Don't forget about Collins whose brother was a top contributor for this team when they finished 2nd at states.
Plus the JV depth of Henderson is outstanding. They once again took most of the top spots at a very talented JV race at Districts. Their JV squad also features a lot of freshman who could potential become the next Tony Russell as a breakout sophomore.
There is potential here, crazy potential, but ultimately the critics will always point to the past state meets where Henderson has ran solid, but has not blown anyone away. People may make the argument that O'Hara choked at the state meet as well, but as stated by others, O'Hara had 4 guys who placed very well and their 5th man simply had an off day. Henderson had few bright spots at the state meet in XC and took home no individual medals from states in track or XC. I believe Henderson has a very good shot at winning states. They are well coached and heading in right direction. But the fact of the matter is I project that 4 out of their top 5 guys will be Juniors. In XC especially, Seniors are the main reason for big wins.
But tell that to Conner Quinn.
Here are my projected top 5 by states in order:
Barchet (ET #24), Russell (ET #18), Rimkis, Stratman, Haugh
XC Talk: Cardinal O'Hara
**Keep in mind that it is only June and a lot can and will change. But these are my best guesses as of this point**
Key Returners: Dan Savage (Sr), Ernie Pitone (Sr), Chris Pastore (Sr), Kevin James (So), Nick Smart (Jr)*
Key Losses: Mike Bilotta
Notable Track Performances: Kevin James 4:29/9:40, Dan Savage 4:27y/9:30, Ernie Pitone 4:29/9:33, Chris Pastore 9:40, Jim Belfatto (Jr) 1:57/4:30, Jimmy Boyle (Sr) 1:59, Nick Smart 1:59
The O'Hara boys tied for the AAA team title in 2011 and came up short in the tie breaker, but O'Hara did finish the season as etrain's top team in the state due to their dominating performances in their previous meets. At states, unfortunately, their young 5th man Kevin James had a rare off day and O'Hara's lack of depth outside its top 5 showcased itself. The team returns three of their four runners who were in the top 50 at states last fall including last year's 4th place finisher Dan Savage. Returners Ernie Pitone and Dan Savage competed at both the indoor and outdoor state championships in the 3000m/3200m. Pastore and Savage ran sub 16 minute 5k marks in 2011. With the addition of Nick Smart (16:26 at Lehigh in 2011) from Garnet Valley, the team returns 3 guys with sub 2 minute open 800m marks. Smart is the only one who managed real XC success in 2011, but O'Hara has a good program and consistently churns out XC talent.
The strength of the Cardinal O'Hara squad the last two seasons has been pack running. They gang up together and feed off each others strengths to push themselves. Behind their consistent #1 Savage last season they had rotating order and great inter-squad competition. That is the recipe for success in cross country ask any coach. This season looks promising with a group of runners experienced in this system and this style of running. Kevin James has looked great as a freshman dropping a 9:40 3200m and a 4:29 1600m proving that he is ready to be a key contributor in 2012. Nick Smart is also a great addition which now gives them a solid harrier to round out their top 5.
I personally really liked the season Pitone had this past spring and he is my early pick as the sleeper on this team. I also think Kevin James is ready for a break out season. I project the top 5 looking something like this by season's end:
Savage (ET #7), Pitone (ET #28), Smart, James, Pastore
I see both Savage and Pitone being medalists in this new ramped down AAA field and I see O'Hara competing for the state championship once again. I'm not ready to call them champions, but they certainly are the most experienced team the favorite as of right now.
O'Hara will be fighting hard against the LaSalle boys in the PCL and District 12 Championships. As of now I expect O'Hara to take both of those titles relatively easily.
Key Returners: Dan Savage (Sr), Ernie Pitone (Sr), Chris Pastore (Sr), Kevin James (So), Nick Smart (Jr)*
Key Losses: Mike Bilotta
Notable Track Performances: Kevin James 4:29/9:40, Dan Savage 4:27y/9:30, Ernie Pitone 4:29/9:33, Chris Pastore 9:40, Jim Belfatto (Jr) 1:57/4:30, Jimmy Boyle (Sr) 1:59, Nick Smart 1:59
The O'Hara boys tied for the AAA team title in 2011 and came up short in the tie breaker, but O'Hara did finish the season as etrain's top team in the state due to their dominating performances in their previous meets. At states, unfortunately, their young 5th man Kevin James had a rare off day and O'Hara's lack of depth outside its top 5 showcased itself. The team returns three of their four runners who were in the top 50 at states last fall including last year's 4th place finisher Dan Savage. Returners Ernie Pitone and Dan Savage competed at both the indoor and outdoor state championships in the 3000m/3200m. Pastore and Savage ran sub 16 minute 5k marks in 2011. With the addition of Nick Smart (16:26 at Lehigh in 2011) from Garnet Valley, the team returns 3 guys with sub 2 minute open 800m marks. Smart is the only one who managed real XC success in 2011, but O'Hara has a good program and consistently churns out XC talent.
The strength of the Cardinal O'Hara squad the last two seasons has been pack running. They gang up together and feed off each others strengths to push themselves. Behind their consistent #1 Savage last season they had rotating order and great inter-squad competition. That is the recipe for success in cross country ask any coach. This season looks promising with a group of runners experienced in this system and this style of running. Kevin James has looked great as a freshman dropping a 9:40 3200m and a 4:29 1600m proving that he is ready to be a key contributor in 2012. Nick Smart is also a great addition which now gives them a solid harrier to round out their top 5.
I personally really liked the season Pitone had this past spring and he is my early pick as the sleeper on this team. I also think Kevin James is ready for a break out season. I project the top 5 looking something like this by season's end:
Savage (ET #7), Pitone (ET #28), Smart, James, Pastore
I see both Savage and Pitone being medalists in this new ramped down AAA field and I see O'Hara competing for the state championship once again. I'm not ready to call them champions, but they certainly are the most experienced team the favorite as of right now.
O'Hara will be fighting hard against the LaSalle boys in the PCL and District 12 Championships. As of now I expect O'Hara to take both of those titles relatively easily.
Olympic Trials Preview
Obviously not my area of expertise, but seeing as it is a pretty big event in the track and field community and it starts tomorrow (sort of, I mean hammer throw stuff does but ....) I figured I'd get on it.
The important thing to remember for this time around is you need to have the A standard by the time the olympic trials are over to go to London. Meaning the 5k and 10k guys who don't have the standard need a quick pace (and how often does that happen) and they need to come out in the top 3 finishers of said quick pace. The 15 is always tactical as well and they have to run rounds in the 8, 15, 5k and steeple. So the guys heading to London are most likely the ones who already have that precious A standard.
In the 800m, Nick Symmonds, who has dominated the 800m scene in the U.S. since the last Olympic trials, is joined by a handful of top youngsters and experienced veterans in the field. Symmonds has to be the heavy favorite for this race once again coming off his strong early season 1:43.83. He also had a solid split at the Penn Relays and ran a 1500m PR. He is a strong runner with the strength to get through the rounds and I expect him to come out on top barring some type of disaster. Khadevius Robinson, still going strong at a climbing age, has run 1:44.0 this season and has a life time best in the 1:43s. He is experienced in these kind of meets with 3 rounds and that experience should help him.
Without Robby Andrews in the field, it looks like Charles Jock, who was on the team last summer at the World Championships in Daegu, will be back again. He has run 1:44 this year and won the NCAA title over 800m leading wire to wire. His front running style could hurt him if the kickers are running strong at the end of the race, but Jock has used his front running very well in many top caliber 800ms so I don't expect him to make a mistake and falter in the home stretch.
Ryan Martin, who ran a 1:44 PR right behind Jock at the two's conference championships. He could slip into the mix with another big day. Cas Loxsom seems to be just starting to peak as we approach the summer. I'm sure he has had London on his mind since last year's world team trials and will be ready to go. Mike Rutt is high on my sleeper team as well. He has run some very solid 800m runs and bested my boy Robby Andrews already this spring. He had a runner up finish in the indoor 800m while at UCONN two years back. Erik Sowinski, the runner up at outdoor NCAA's this year could be in the mix as well. Andrew Wheating is entered in the race, but he may not run if he decides to put his eggs into the 1500m basket. Elijah Greer is always a threat if he can get to the finals. He runs fantastic finals, but sometimes struggles in the prelims. PA alumn Benn Scheetz made it into the meet as one of the last few entries to qualify.
In the 1500m, I'll be pulling for my boy Robby Andrews whose kick almost led to a shocking upset of Mo Farah and Galen Rupp (but didn't, maybe went too early?). We saw last year that a guy with a kick can mix it up in the tactical races and surprise for gold at the trials. That man who proved it to as all, however, is back. Matt Centrowitz will be looking to defend his US title and bronze medal from worlds. However, Centrowitz has struggled of late at the Prefontaine mile and will have to work hard to utilize his kick in this field of kickers. Amongst the stud kickers in this race are Leonel Manzano who has made his fair share of international teams in the past but has yet to take a U.S. championship. He has a 3:33 seed time coming in and should punch his ticket to London. Russell Brown boasts a 3:34.11 seed and has had a series of solid marks in the middle distance. David Torrence may be the guy to watch. He has got the A standard and has run 1:45 and 13 teens this season. He is putting all his chips in the pot for the 1500 and that is why I see him taking the third spot to London. I've got Robby winning because I am incredibly biased and blind sided by him being my favorite runner. What are you gonna do?
Also in the mix will be guys like Will Leer and Andrew Wheating who were both within .01 of each other at last year's meet with Wheating getting the spot to Daegu. Wheating has a 3:30 PR that many here in the US hope he can duplicate. He seems to be rounding into form as of late. He was at the Olympics in 2008 as a College sophomore in the 800m. He may look to duplicate that magic, he is entered in that race as well. Jeff See and PA alumn Craig Miller have run solid 1500s throughout their pro career and Oregonian Jordan MacNamara has danced around the A standard on multiple occasions as well. AJ Acosta and his beard will also run. Then there are the collegians, headlined by Kyle Merber and his 3:35, but also Miles Batty, Andy Bayer, Riley Masters, Erik Van Ingen, Rob Finnerty and German Fernandez! It will be interesting to see how all these collegian boys handle the big stage.
At 5000m, Bernard Lagat, still going strong even at his old age, is essentially a lock to get back to London, especially with his focus entirely on the 5000m. He has run solid marks this year including his indoor American Record around 13:07. But he will have his hands full with Galen Rupp who is attempting the 5k-10k double. Rupp has training partner Mo Farah to boast about and recent PRs at 1500m and 5000m. And oh yeah he has the American Record at 10000m after he smashed Chris Solinsky's mark last summer. I got Rupp taking the next step this year, but I just don't think he has the wheels to hang when it is kick time and I think it an epic finish, Lagat will pull it out. Then of course there is Lopez Lomong who has a 13:11 mark after he miscounted his laps and managed to hold on after his epic kick and drop ... an epic kick. Dathan Ritz has been rounding into great shape as well. He is entered in the 5k and the 10k, however, which could complicate matters. But he does boast a 13:14 this year. Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Derrick are other guys with top marks who have 10k and 5k duties to pull at the meet. Andrew Bambalough, Ben True, Ryan Hill, and PA's own Dan Lowry are other guys with solid marks this season in the mix.
At 10k, Rupp seems a lock to defend his title. As mentioned earlier he is clearly in top notch shape. Behind him are guys like Ritz, Tegenkamp and Derrick with great marks at 5k and 10k this year who are trying to battle it out behind Rupp and come out in the top 3 and head to London. Also in the mix at 10k are Rob Curtis and Tim Nelson who have marks under 27:30 this year already. Hassan Mead, Jacob Reilly, Girma Micheso and Luke Puskedra are all big name college guys trying to take the next step. I'd like to see Ritz pull out a big performance here at make the team, but he is going to have a tough time, especially considering he is still chasing the olympic A standard he needs to punch his ticket to London.
Lastly in the steeplechase, converted 15/5k guy Evan Jager is looking to redeem himself after his fall at Oxy. He still is one, if not the, favorites for this event as the Americans have piled on some great steeple times this year. Collegiate Don Cabral, who won that Oxy meet in the steeplechase after the fall and also added an NCAA title to his resume this spring, is another one of the pre race favorites. Will Nelson and Ben Bruce are the top two seeds in the race, headlining the field of 12 guys under 8:30. Craig Forys and Cory Leslie who finish close to Cabral at NCAA's, taking advantage of Leilei fall, will be looking to fight their way into the final and into contention with the top group.
The important thing to remember for this time around is you need to have the A standard by the time the olympic trials are over to go to London. Meaning the 5k and 10k guys who don't have the standard need a quick pace (and how often does that happen) and they need to come out in the top 3 finishers of said quick pace. The 15 is always tactical as well and they have to run rounds in the 8, 15, 5k and steeple. So the guys heading to London are most likely the ones who already have that precious A standard.
In the 800m, Nick Symmonds, who has dominated the 800m scene in the U.S. since the last Olympic trials, is joined by a handful of top youngsters and experienced veterans in the field. Symmonds has to be the heavy favorite for this race once again coming off his strong early season 1:43.83. He also had a solid split at the Penn Relays and ran a 1500m PR. He is a strong runner with the strength to get through the rounds and I expect him to come out on top barring some type of disaster. Khadevius Robinson, still going strong at a climbing age, has run 1:44.0 this season and has a life time best in the 1:43s. He is experienced in these kind of meets with 3 rounds and that experience should help him.
Without Robby Andrews in the field, it looks like Charles Jock, who was on the team last summer at the World Championships in Daegu, will be back again. He has run 1:44 this year and won the NCAA title over 800m leading wire to wire. His front running style could hurt him if the kickers are running strong at the end of the race, but Jock has used his front running very well in many top caliber 800ms so I don't expect him to make a mistake and falter in the home stretch.
Ryan Martin, who ran a 1:44 PR right behind Jock at the two's conference championships. He could slip into the mix with another big day. Cas Loxsom seems to be just starting to peak as we approach the summer. I'm sure he has had London on his mind since last year's world team trials and will be ready to go. Mike Rutt is high on my sleeper team as well. He has run some very solid 800m runs and bested my boy Robby Andrews already this spring. He had a runner up finish in the indoor 800m while at UCONN two years back. Erik Sowinski, the runner up at outdoor NCAA's this year could be in the mix as well. Andrew Wheating is entered in the race, but he may not run if he decides to put his eggs into the 1500m basket. Elijah Greer is always a threat if he can get to the finals. He runs fantastic finals, but sometimes struggles in the prelims. PA alumn Benn Scheetz made it into the meet as one of the last few entries to qualify.
In the 1500m, I'll be pulling for my boy Robby Andrews whose kick almost led to a shocking upset of Mo Farah and Galen Rupp (but didn't, maybe went too early?). We saw last year that a guy with a kick can mix it up in the tactical races and surprise for gold at the trials. That man who proved it to as all, however, is back. Matt Centrowitz will be looking to defend his US title and bronze medal from worlds. However, Centrowitz has struggled of late at the Prefontaine mile and will have to work hard to utilize his kick in this field of kickers. Amongst the stud kickers in this race are Leonel Manzano who has made his fair share of international teams in the past but has yet to take a U.S. championship. He has a 3:33 seed time coming in and should punch his ticket to London. Russell Brown boasts a 3:34.11 seed and has had a series of solid marks in the middle distance. David Torrence may be the guy to watch. He has got the A standard and has run 1:45 and 13 teens this season. He is putting all his chips in the pot for the 1500 and that is why I see him taking the third spot to London. I've got Robby winning because I am incredibly biased and blind sided by him being my favorite runner. What are you gonna do?
Also in the mix will be guys like Will Leer and Andrew Wheating who were both within .01 of each other at last year's meet with Wheating getting the spot to Daegu. Wheating has a 3:30 PR that many here in the US hope he can duplicate. He seems to be rounding into form as of late. He was at the Olympics in 2008 as a College sophomore in the 800m. He may look to duplicate that magic, he is entered in that race as well. Jeff See and PA alumn Craig Miller have run solid 1500s throughout their pro career and Oregonian Jordan MacNamara has danced around the A standard on multiple occasions as well. AJ Acosta and his beard will also run. Then there are the collegians, headlined by Kyle Merber and his 3:35, but also Miles Batty, Andy Bayer, Riley Masters, Erik Van Ingen, Rob Finnerty and German Fernandez! It will be interesting to see how all these collegian boys handle the big stage.
At 5000m, Bernard Lagat, still going strong even at his old age, is essentially a lock to get back to London, especially with his focus entirely on the 5000m. He has run solid marks this year including his indoor American Record around 13:07. But he will have his hands full with Galen Rupp who is attempting the 5k-10k double. Rupp has training partner Mo Farah to boast about and recent PRs at 1500m and 5000m. And oh yeah he has the American Record at 10000m after he smashed Chris Solinsky's mark last summer. I got Rupp taking the next step this year, but I just don't think he has the wheels to hang when it is kick time and I think it an epic finish, Lagat will pull it out. Then of course there is Lopez Lomong who has a 13:11 mark after he miscounted his laps and managed to hold on after his epic kick and drop ... an epic kick. Dathan Ritz has been rounding into great shape as well. He is entered in the 5k and the 10k, however, which could complicate matters. But he does boast a 13:14 this year. Matt Tegenkamp and Chris Derrick are other guys with top marks who have 10k and 5k duties to pull at the meet. Andrew Bambalough, Ben True, Ryan Hill, and PA's own Dan Lowry are other guys with solid marks this season in the mix.
At 10k, Rupp seems a lock to defend his title. As mentioned earlier he is clearly in top notch shape. Behind him are guys like Ritz, Tegenkamp and Derrick with great marks at 5k and 10k this year who are trying to battle it out behind Rupp and come out in the top 3 and head to London. Also in the mix at 10k are Rob Curtis and Tim Nelson who have marks under 27:30 this year already. Hassan Mead, Jacob Reilly, Girma Micheso and Luke Puskedra are all big name college guys trying to take the next step. I'd like to see Ritz pull out a big performance here at make the team, but he is going to have a tough time, especially considering he is still chasing the olympic A standard he needs to punch his ticket to London.
Lastly in the steeplechase, converted 15/5k guy Evan Jager is looking to redeem himself after his fall at Oxy. He still is one, if not the, favorites for this event as the Americans have piled on some great steeple times this year. Collegiate Don Cabral, who won that Oxy meet in the steeplechase after the fall and also added an NCAA title to his resume this spring, is another one of the pre race favorites. Will Nelson and Ben Bruce are the top two seeds in the race, headlining the field of 12 guys under 8:30. Craig Forys and Cory Leslie who finish close to Cabral at NCAA's, taking advantage of Leilei fall, will be looking to fight their way into the final and into contention with the top group.
Ask Etrain
So I'll keep it simple, I'm looking for stuff to talk about here on the blog, if you've got a question I'll do my best to give you an answer as in depth as possible. Leave the question as a comment here on the blog and I'll see what I can do.
Scouting for Interest
*I re-posted this to the top of the page, the original post with comments is still below.*
Alright folks, so obviously its the summer and my blog is not as popular as it was in May and certainly the fact that I have failed to update the blog at all during this last few stretch is not helping, but I figured I'd post this up anyway and see what we find.
Now I live in Upper Dublin, more specifically Willow Grove, and am currently training for what will be my Junior Cross Country Season at Muhlenberg College, located in Allentown PA. As part of our summer training, I'm running a 3k time trial on July 28th at 8 P.M. at the Upper Dublin High School track. It is a cool, fun way for me to check up on what kind of shape I am in and compare it to previous years. Last year I had the help of one of my friends Michael Fuery from CHA who raced with me and helped push me to a dramatic improvement from my Freshman summer.
So why I am telling you all this? Well I was thinking that I like running this 3k time trial and I like having other people racing with me so I decided to try and enlist some guys I know of similar ability to come run with me. Then I decided the more the merrier so I invited all my friends, regardless of ability, to train and come out and run with me.
Logically, my train of thought then led me to etrain. Pun intended. I decided I post up on here and see if there is anyone who wanted to come out to the Upper Dublin track on that night to race the 3k and see where their mid summer training is at.
It doesn't matter your ability at all, I don't care if you are 100m ahead of me, behind me, whatever, I just like running with people. The distance I'm sure is too far from some people and I'm sure most people don't really want to go race with somebody who they only know through the internet but if anyone is interested please talk to me. Any age is welcome: post college, in college, pre college, doesn't matter.
I encourage you to talk with your other running friends in the community and plan to meet up, if not for this then for something else, to catch up and run together and gain some confidence or learn other training tactics or just have fun.
If there somehow is a sizeable contigent of people interested I will make sure I reserve the track, but if it is just going to be me and my buddies from school I'm not going to do anything like that. I'll just hop the fence and get somebody to time me and save the trouble.
So in conclusion, if you have any interest or questions in this run, either leave a comment here, email me at jf245031@muhlenberg.edu, or text or call me at 215-450-1099, also you can facebook me, I'm Jarrett Felix.
Heat 4 of 4: 4x800m
Baldwin: Logan, James, Wolfe, Hobart
LaSalle: O'Kane, Stone, Lowry, Coyle
Henderson: Chaborek, Kellar, Ferry, Lefebure
CB West: Pregler, McGarvey, Bee, Manley
Abington: Smith, Taylor, Ross, Moran
Upper Dublin: Reilly, Ellison, Reilly, Palmisano
Chambersburg: Rotz, Eubanks, Grove, Holder
Wissahickon: Bray, Crits, Brooks, Cho
CR North: Wilker, Mahoney, Salome, Capecci
North Penn: Quintrell, Franks, Bookheimer, Montijo
Cumberland Valley: Somallah, Flynn, Fuller, Kunzweiler
CB South: Dickson, Poeisz, Manion, Mallon
800m (1st Exchange)
1. Wilker 1:53.1
2. Pregler 1:53.5
3. Quintrell 1:53.5
4. O'Kane 1:53.6
5. Rotz 1:53.9
6. Chaborek 1:54.1
7. Logan 1:54.1
8. Somallah 1:55.0
9. Smith 1:55.1
10. Dickson 1:55.6
11. Bray 1:55.8
12. Reilly 1:56.1
1600m (2nd Exchange)
1. Stone 1:52.2 (3:45.8)
2. James 1:52.1 (3:46.2)
3. McGarvey 1:53.1 (3:46.6)
4. Franks 1:53.2 (3:46.7)
5. Kellar 1:52.8 (3:46.9)
6. Mahoney 1:54.0 (3:47.1)
7. Crits 1:51.5 (3:47.3)
8. Flynn 1:52.9 (3:47.9)
9. Taylor 1:53.0 (3:48.1)
10. Ellison 1:52.1 (3:48.2)
11. Poiesz 1:52.8 (3:48.4)
12. Eubanks 1:55.3 (3:49.2)
2400m (3rd Exchange)
1. Lowry 1:53.5 (5:39.3)
2. Wolfe 1:53.8 (5:40.0)
3. Ferry 1:53.3 (5:40.2)
4. Bee 1:53.7 (5:40.3)
5. Bookheimer 1:53.6 (5:40.3)
6. Ross 1:52.4 (5:40.5)
7. Salome 1:53.7 (5:40.8)
8. Reilly 1:53.0 (5:41.2)
9. Fuller 1:54.0 (5:41.9)
10. Grove 1:54.0 (5:43.2)
11. Manion 1:55.0 (5:43.4)
12. Brooks 1:56.3 (5:43.6)
3200m (Finish)
1. Coyle 1:51.7 (7:31.0)
2. Lefebure 1:50.8 (7:31.0)
3. Manley 1:50.8 (7:31.1)
4. Hobart 1:51.7 (7:31.7)
5. Mallon 1:48.6 (7:32.0)
6. Moran 1:51.8 (7:32.3)
7. Palmisano 1:51.8 (7:33.0)
8. Montijo 1:52.8 (7:33.1)
9. Kunzweiler 1:51.5 (7:33.4)
10. Cho 1:50.3 (7:33.7)
11. Capecci 1:52.9 (7:33.7)
12. Holder 1:51.0 (7:34.2)
LaSalle: O'Kane, Stone, Lowry, Coyle
Henderson: Chaborek, Kellar, Ferry, Lefebure
CB West: Pregler, McGarvey, Bee, Manley
Abington: Smith, Taylor, Ross, Moran
Upper Dublin: Reilly, Ellison, Reilly, Palmisano
Chambersburg: Rotz, Eubanks, Grove, Holder
Wissahickon: Bray, Crits, Brooks, Cho
CR North: Wilker, Mahoney, Salome, Capecci
North Penn: Quintrell, Franks, Bookheimer, Montijo
Cumberland Valley: Somallah, Flynn, Fuller, Kunzweiler
CB South: Dickson, Poeisz, Manion, Mallon
800m (1st Exchange)
1. Wilker 1:53.1
2. Pregler 1:53.5
3. Quintrell 1:53.5
4. O'Kane 1:53.6
5. Rotz 1:53.9
6. Chaborek 1:54.1
7. Logan 1:54.1
8. Somallah 1:55.0
9. Smith 1:55.1
10. Dickson 1:55.6
11. Bray 1:55.8
12. Reilly 1:56.1
1600m (2nd Exchange)
1. Stone 1:52.2 (3:45.8)
2. James 1:52.1 (3:46.2)
3. McGarvey 1:53.1 (3:46.6)
4. Franks 1:53.2 (3:46.7)
5. Kellar 1:52.8 (3:46.9)
6. Mahoney 1:54.0 (3:47.1)
7. Crits 1:51.5 (3:47.3)
8. Flynn 1:52.9 (3:47.9)
9. Taylor 1:53.0 (3:48.1)
10. Ellison 1:52.1 (3:48.2)
11. Poiesz 1:52.8 (3:48.4)
12. Eubanks 1:55.3 (3:49.2)
2400m (3rd Exchange)
1. Lowry 1:53.5 (5:39.3)
2. Wolfe 1:53.8 (5:40.0)
3. Ferry 1:53.3 (5:40.2)
4. Bee 1:53.7 (5:40.3)
5. Bookheimer 1:53.6 (5:40.3)
6. Ross 1:52.4 (5:40.5)
7. Salome 1:53.7 (5:40.8)
8. Reilly 1:53.0 (5:41.2)
9. Fuller 1:54.0 (5:41.9)
10. Grove 1:54.0 (5:43.2)
11. Manion 1:55.0 (5:43.4)
12. Brooks 1:56.3 (5:43.6)
3200m (Finish)
1. Coyle 1:51.7 (7:31.0)
2. Lefebure 1:50.8 (7:31.0)
3. Manley 1:50.8 (7:31.1)
4. Hobart 1:51.7 (7:31.7)
5. Mallon 1:48.6 (7:32.0)
6. Moran 1:51.8 (7:32.3)
7. Palmisano 1:51.8 (7:33.0)
8. Montijo 1:52.8 (7:33.1)
9. Kunzweiler 1:51.5 (7:33.4)
10. Cho 1:50.3 (7:33.7)
11. Capecci 1:52.9 (7:33.7)
12. Holder 1:51.0 (7:34.2)
Heat 3 of 4: 4x800m
Penn Hills: Rumble, Squirees, Baily, Anderson
E and S: Lamour, Lee, Rhodes, Jones
Penncrest: Cassey, Miller, Moore, Batch
Altoona: Gehret, Mountain, Replogle, Endress
Unionville: Allen, Fischer, Springer, Yannacone
Cedar Crest: Galli, Feinstein, Jackson, Troxell
Central Dauphin: Golden, Golden, Schrom, Rotz
GFS: Waterman, McKenzie, Waterman, Kaulbach
Great Valley: Wolffe, Addis, Turney, Willig
Strath Haven: Collins, Seelaus, Fink, Huemmler
Pennridge: Musiowski, Kohler, Kirsch, Logue
Souderton: Jacwah, Portock, Muelners, Heckman
800m (1st Exchange)
1. Gehret 1:54.1
2. Galli 1:54.2
3. Rumble 1:54.6
4. Waterman 1:54.9
5. Cassey 1:55.1
6. Musiowski 1:55.9
7. Allen 1:56.0
8. Collins 1:56.2
9. Jacwah 1:56.2
10. Lamour 1:56.3
11. Golden 1:56.8
12. Wolffe 1:56.8
1600m (2nd Exchange)
Feinstein 1:54.9 (3:49.1)
Mountain 1:55.4 (3:49.5)
McKenzie 1:55.0 (3:49.9)
Koehler 1:54.2 (3:50.1)
Golden 1:53.4 (3:50.2)
Miller 1:55.4 (3:50.5)
Squirees 1:56.2 (3:50.8)
Addis 1:54.1 (3:50.9)
Seelaus 1:55.5 (3:51.7)
Fischer 1:56.1 (3:52.1)
Portock 1:56.1 (3:52.3)
Lee 1:56.0 (3:52.3)
2400m (3rd Exchange)
1. Baily 1:51.6 (5:42.4)
2. Moore 1:52.5 (5:43.0)
3. Springer 1:51.0 (5:43.1)
4. Jackson 1:54.5 (5:43.6)
5. Rhodes 1:52.0 (5:44.3)
6. Replogle 1:55.5 (5:45.0)
7. Fink 1:53.6 (5:45.3)
8. Muelners 1:53.1 (5:45.4)
9. Kirsch 1:55.3 (5:45.4)
10. Schrom 1:55.2 (5:45.4)
11. Waterman 1:56.5 (5:46.4)
12. Turney 1:57.3 (5:48.2)
3200m (Finish)
1. Endress 1:51.1 (7:35.1)
2. Troxell 1:51.6 (7:35.2)
3. Jones 1:51.5 (7:35.8)
4. Batch 1:52.8 (7:35.8)
5. Rotz 1:51.2 (7:36.6)
6. Logue 1:51.4 (7:36.8)
7. Yannacone 1:53.7 (7:36.8)
8. Anderson 1:54.5 (7:36.9)
9. Huemmler 1:52.6 (7:37.9)
10. Heckman 1:52.6 (7:38.0)
11. Kaulbach 1:51.7 (7:38.1)
12. Willig 1:50.7 (7:38.9)
E and S: Lamour, Lee, Rhodes, Jones
Penncrest: Cassey, Miller, Moore, Batch
Altoona: Gehret, Mountain, Replogle, Endress
Unionville: Allen, Fischer, Springer, Yannacone
Cedar Crest: Galli, Feinstein, Jackson, Troxell
Central Dauphin: Golden, Golden, Schrom, Rotz
GFS: Waterman, McKenzie, Waterman, Kaulbach
Great Valley: Wolffe, Addis, Turney, Willig
Strath Haven: Collins, Seelaus, Fink, Huemmler
Pennridge: Musiowski, Kohler, Kirsch, Logue
Souderton: Jacwah, Portock, Muelners, Heckman
800m (1st Exchange)
1. Gehret 1:54.1
2. Galli 1:54.2
3. Rumble 1:54.6
4. Waterman 1:54.9
5. Cassey 1:55.1
6. Musiowski 1:55.9
7. Allen 1:56.0
8. Collins 1:56.2
9. Jacwah 1:56.2
10. Lamour 1:56.3
11. Golden 1:56.8
12. Wolffe 1:56.8
1600m (2nd Exchange)
Feinstein 1:54.9 (3:49.1)
Mountain 1:55.4 (3:49.5)
McKenzie 1:55.0 (3:49.9)
Koehler 1:54.2 (3:50.1)
Golden 1:53.4 (3:50.2)
Miller 1:55.4 (3:50.5)
Squirees 1:56.2 (3:50.8)
Addis 1:54.1 (3:50.9)
Seelaus 1:55.5 (3:51.7)
Fischer 1:56.1 (3:52.1)
Portock 1:56.1 (3:52.3)
Lee 1:56.0 (3:52.3)
2400m (3rd Exchange)
1. Baily 1:51.6 (5:42.4)
2. Moore 1:52.5 (5:43.0)
3. Springer 1:51.0 (5:43.1)
4. Jackson 1:54.5 (5:43.6)
5. Rhodes 1:52.0 (5:44.3)
6. Replogle 1:55.5 (5:45.0)
7. Fink 1:53.6 (5:45.3)
8. Muelners 1:53.1 (5:45.4)
9. Kirsch 1:55.3 (5:45.4)
10. Schrom 1:55.2 (5:45.4)
11. Waterman 1:56.5 (5:46.4)
12. Turney 1:57.3 (5:48.2)
3200m (Finish)
1. Endress 1:51.1 (7:35.1)
2. Troxell 1:51.6 (7:35.2)
3. Jones 1:51.5 (7:35.8)
4. Batch 1:52.8 (7:35.8)
5. Rotz 1:51.2 (7:36.6)
6. Logue 1:51.4 (7:36.8)
7. Yannacone 1:53.7 (7:36.8)
8. Anderson 1:54.5 (7:36.9)
9. Huemmler 1:52.6 (7:37.9)
10. Heckman 1:52.6 (7:38.0)
11. Kaulbach 1:51.7 (7:38.1)
12. Willig 1:50.7 (7:38.9)
Heat 2 of 4: 4x800m
Carlisle- Brehm, Dennison, Hurston, West
CR South- Wiseman, Doyle, Garfield, Dreeman
Father Judge- Jermaine Lowery, Jerome Lowery, Joniec, Kehl
Norristown- Sadehpour, Gryffyn-Byrd, Hargrove, Hadrick
Boyertown- Wilkinson, Dennin, Kelly, Weller
North Allegheny- Hoover, Appman, Gil, Tonzo
Coatesville- Ward, Cline, Kyle Dawson, Owen Dawson
Hempfield- Kontra, Groff, Boirk, Hull
O'Hara- Conn, Garrity, McAndress, Buck
Trinity- Smith, Seymour, Pawlush, Gruschow
Horsham- Burns, Dempster, Hibbs, DiFlorio
Quaker Valley- Fox, Pegg, Hyjek, Westwood
800m (1st Exchange)
1. Wiseman 1:54.2
2. Kontra 1:54.3
3. Brehm 1:54.8
4. Lowery 1:55.8
5. Burns 1:55.9
6. Conn 1:56.0
7. Sadehpour 1:56.2
8. Fox 1:56.5
9. Wilkinson 1:56.8
10. Ward 1:57.1
11. Smith 1:57.1
12. Hoover 1:57.8
1600m (2nd Exchange)
1. Doyle 1:55.8 (3:50.0)
2. Groff 1:56.2 (3:50.5)
3. Dennison 1:56.7 (3:51.5)
4. Dempster 1:55.8 (3:51.6)
5. Gryffyn-Byrd 1:56.1 (3:52.3)
6. Garrity 1:56.6 (3:52.6)
7. Lowery 1:56.9 (3:52.7)
8. Seymour 1:55.9 (3:53.0)
9. Dennin 1:56.3 (3:53.1)
10. Cline 1:56.5 (3:53.6)
11. Pegg 1:57.2 (3:53.7)
12. Appman 1:57.7 (3:55.5)
2400m (3rd Exchange)
1. Hargrove 1:52.9 (5:45.2)
2. Hurston 1:54.2 (5:45.7)
3. Hyjek 1:52.4 (5:46.1)
4. Garfield 1:56.1 (5:46.1)
5. Hibbs 1:56.0 (5:47.6)
6. Pawlush 1:55.3 (5:48.3)
7. Birk 1:58.0 (5:48.5)
8. Gil 1:53.5 (5:49.0)
9. McAndress 1:56.5 (5:49.1)
10. Dawson 1:55.9 (5:49.5)
11. Kelly 1:56.6 (5:49.7)
12. Joniec 1:57.4 (5:50.1)
3200m (Finish)
1. Dreeman 1:53.6 (7:39.7)
2. Westwood 1:53.7 (7:39.8)
3. West 1:54.1 (7:39.8)
4. Hadrick 1:54.7 (7:39.9)
5. Kehl 1:50.8 (7:40.9)
6. Hull 1:52.6 (7:41.1)
7. Gruschow 1:53.0 (7:41.3)
8. DiFlorio 1:53.8 (7:41.4)
9. Tonzo 1:53.0 (7:42.0)
10. Buck 1:52.9 (7:42.0)
11. Weller 1:53.0 (7:42.7)
12. Dawson 1:53.3 (7:42.8)
CR South- Wiseman, Doyle, Garfield, Dreeman
Father Judge- Jermaine Lowery, Jerome Lowery, Joniec, Kehl
Norristown- Sadehpour, Gryffyn-Byrd, Hargrove, Hadrick
Boyertown- Wilkinson, Dennin, Kelly, Weller
North Allegheny- Hoover, Appman, Gil, Tonzo
Coatesville- Ward, Cline, Kyle Dawson, Owen Dawson
Hempfield- Kontra, Groff, Boirk, Hull
O'Hara- Conn, Garrity, McAndress, Buck
Trinity- Smith, Seymour, Pawlush, Gruschow
Horsham- Burns, Dempster, Hibbs, DiFlorio
Quaker Valley- Fox, Pegg, Hyjek, Westwood
800m (1st Exchange)
1. Wiseman 1:54.2
2. Kontra 1:54.3
3. Brehm 1:54.8
4. Lowery 1:55.8
5. Burns 1:55.9
6. Conn 1:56.0
7. Sadehpour 1:56.2
8. Fox 1:56.5
9. Wilkinson 1:56.8
10. Ward 1:57.1
11. Smith 1:57.1
12. Hoover 1:57.8
1600m (2nd Exchange)
1. Doyle 1:55.8 (3:50.0)
2. Groff 1:56.2 (3:50.5)
3. Dennison 1:56.7 (3:51.5)
4. Dempster 1:55.8 (3:51.6)
5. Gryffyn-Byrd 1:56.1 (3:52.3)
6. Garrity 1:56.6 (3:52.6)
7. Lowery 1:56.9 (3:52.7)
8. Seymour 1:55.9 (3:53.0)
9. Dennin 1:56.3 (3:53.1)
10. Cline 1:56.5 (3:53.6)
11. Pegg 1:57.2 (3:53.7)
12. Appman 1:57.7 (3:55.5)
2400m (3rd Exchange)
1. Hargrove 1:52.9 (5:45.2)
2. Hurston 1:54.2 (5:45.7)
3. Hyjek 1:52.4 (5:46.1)
4. Garfield 1:56.1 (5:46.1)
5. Hibbs 1:56.0 (5:47.6)
6. Pawlush 1:55.3 (5:48.3)
7. Birk 1:58.0 (5:48.5)
8. Gil 1:53.5 (5:49.0)
9. McAndress 1:56.5 (5:49.1)
10. Dawson 1:55.9 (5:49.5)
11. Kelly 1:56.6 (5:49.7)
12. Joniec 1:57.4 (5:50.1)
3200m (Finish)
1. Dreeman 1:53.6 (7:39.7)
2. Westwood 1:53.7 (7:39.8)
3. West 1:54.1 (7:39.8)
4. Hadrick 1:54.7 (7:39.9)
5. Kehl 1:50.8 (7:40.9)
6. Hull 1:52.6 (7:41.1)
7. Gruschow 1:53.0 (7:41.3)
8. DiFlorio 1:53.8 (7:41.4)
9. Tonzo 1:53.0 (7:42.0)
10. Buck 1:52.9 (7:42.0)
11. Weller 1:53.0 (7:42.7)
12. Dawson 1:53.3 (7:42.8)
Scouting for Interest
Alright folks, so obviously its the summer and my blog is not as popular as it was in May and certainly the fact that I have failed to update the blog at all during this last few stretch is not helping, but I figured I'd post this up anyway and see what we find.
Now I live in Upper Dublin, more specifically Willow Grove, and am currently training for what will be my Junior Cross Country Season at Muhlenberg College, located in Allentown PA. As part of our summer training, I'm running a 3k time trial on July 28th at 8 P.M. at the Upper Dublin High School track. It is a cool, fun way for me to check up on what kind of shape I am in and compare it to previous years. Last year I had the help of one of my friends Michael Fuery from CHA who raced with me and helped push me to a dramatic improvement from my Freshman summer.
So why I am telling you all this? Well I was thinking that I like running this 3k time trial and I like having other people racing with me so I decided to try and enlist some guys I know of similar ability to come run with me. Then I decided the more the merrier so I invited all my friends, regardless of ability, to train and come out and run with me.
Logically, my train of thought then led me to etrain. Pun intended. I decided I post up on here and see if there is anyone who wanted to come out to the Upper Dublin track on that night to race the 3k and see where their mid summer training is at.
It doesn't matter your ability at all, I don't care if you are 100m ahead of me, behind me, whatever, I just like running with people. The distance I'm sure is too far from some people and I'm sure most people don't really want to go race with somebody who they only know through the internet but if anyone is interested please talk to me. Any age is welcome: post college, in college, pre college, doesn't matter.
I encourage you to talk with your other running friends in the community and plan to meet up, if not for this then for something else, to catch up and run together and gain some confidence or learn other training tactics or just have fun.
If there somehow is a sizeable contigent of people interested I will make sure I reserve the track, but if it is just going to be me and my buddies from school I'm not going to do anything like that. I'll just hop the fence and get somebody to time me and save the trouble.
So in conclusion, if you have any interest or questions in this run, either leave a comment here, email me at jf245031@muhlenberg.edu, or text or call me at 215-450-1099, also you can facebook me, I'm Jarrett Felix.
Now I live in Upper Dublin, more specifically Willow Grove, and am currently training for what will be my Junior Cross Country Season at Muhlenberg College, located in Allentown PA. As part of our summer training, I'm running a 3k time trial on July 28th at 8 P.M. at the Upper Dublin High School track. It is a cool, fun way for me to check up on what kind of shape I am in and compare it to previous years. Last year I had the help of one of my friends Michael Fuery from CHA who raced with me and helped push me to a dramatic improvement from my Freshman summer.
So why I am telling you all this? Well I was thinking that I like running this 3k time trial and I like having other people racing with me so I decided to try and enlist some guys I know of similar ability to come run with me. Then I decided the more the merrier so I invited all my friends, regardless of ability, to train and come out and run with me.
Logically, my train of thought then led me to etrain. Pun intended. I decided I post up on here and see if there is anyone who wanted to come out to the Upper Dublin track on that night to race the 3k and see where their mid summer training is at.
It doesn't matter your ability at all, I don't care if you are 100m ahead of me, behind me, whatever, I just like running with people. The distance I'm sure is too far from some people and I'm sure most people don't really want to go race with somebody who they only know through the internet but if anyone is interested please talk to me. Any age is welcome: post college, in college, pre college, doesn't matter.
I encourage you to talk with your other running friends in the community and plan to meet up, if not for this then for something else, to catch up and run together and gain some confidence or learn other training tactics or just have fun.
If there somehow is a sizeable contigent of people interested I will make sure I reserve the track, but if it is just going to be me and my buddies from school I'm not going to do anything like that. I'll just hop the fence and get somebody to time me and save the trouble.
So in conclusion, if you have any interest or questions in this run, either leave a comment here, email me at jf245031@muhlenberg.edu, or text or call me at 215-450-1099, also you can facebook me, I'm Jarrett Felix.
What Could Have Been?
So a lot of my rules about medalists are going to be thrown off a bit by this new shake up in the classification conversation. So because I was curious I decided to break down what the medalists would have looked like last year under the new classification system. Obviously not a perfect system here, but it is the only one we have. The AA kids most likely would have ran faster in the AAA race last year so keep that in the back of your mind.
AAA
1. Conner Quinn, Hatboro Horsham
2. Brett Kelly, Boyertown
3. Dan Savage, O'Hara
4. Logan Steiner, North Allegheny
5. Brent Kennedy, Kiski Area
6. Tom Coyle, LaSalle
7. Ned Willig, Great Valley
8. Connor Harriman, Pennsbury
9. Mike Billotta, O'Hara
10. Sean Burke, Abington Heights
11. Sam Hibbs, Hatboro Horsham
12. Alec Kunzweiler, Cumberland Valley
13. Alex Moran, Mt. Lebanon
14. Jack Macauley, North Penn
15. Chris Culley, Moon Area
16. Tim Appman, North Allegheny
17. Dylan Mountain, Altoona
18. Ean DiSilvio, Allerdice
19. Korey Replogle, Altoona
20. Caleb Wakeley, Shaler Area
21. Tony Russel, Henderson
22. Lawtin Tellin, Mt Lebanon
23. Andrew Kuchta, Baldwin
24. Dan Davis, North Penn
25. Jon Colwell, Mifflin County
AA
1. Dan Jaskowak, Grove City*
2. Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland*
3. Brendan Shearn, North Schuylkill
4. Zach Israel, Holy Ghost Prep*
5. Aaron Wilkinson, Valley View*
6. Austin Pondel, Corry Area*
7. Vinny Todaro, Big Spring*
8. Josef Dipietrantinio, Beaver Area
9. Aaron Valerosa, Towanda
10. Chris Muldoon, Archbishop Wood*
11. Nat Fox, Quaker Valley
12. Connor Strynkowski, Palmyra*
13. Tyler Stelmack, Northwestern Lehigh
14. Jake Seigel, Tunkhannock*
15. Dominic Deluca, Dallas*
16. Tim Flanagan, Archbishop Wood*
17. Jared Schatz, Lancaster Mennonite
18. Aziz Yousif, Bradford*
19. Dan Alexander, Lower Moreland
20. Ryan McGuire, Trinity Christian
21. Jaryd Flank, Wilson Area*
22. Roy Hadfield, Quaker Valley
23. Gordon Phipps, Oil City*
24. Ian Yankuso, Pottsgrove*
25. Xaiver Sauvageau, Littlestown
A
1. Luke Jones, Elk Lake*
2. Rico Galassi, Holy Cross*
3. Sam Williams, Northeast Bradford*
4. Ryan Smathers, North East*
5. Jordan Jackson, Wellsboro*
6. Nate Tallada, Saegertown*
7. Ryan Archer, Vincentian Academy*
8. Barrett Kemp, Oswayo Valley*
9. Alex Archer, Vincentian Academy*
10. Shawn Wolfe, Anville-Cleona*
11. Curt Jewett, Northeast Bradford*
12. Kelby Mullen, Sullivan County*
13. Keaton Naff, Masterman*
14. Jason Parsons, Maplewood*
15. Mark Bachman, Anville-Cleona*
16. Hunter Johnston, Saegertown*
17. Carter Smith, Eden Christian Academy*
18. Ethan Wilson, Laurel*
19. Bob Owlett, Wellsboro*
20. Trey Powell, West Middlesex*
21. Ryan Brown, PennsValley*
22. Jack Bagamery, Shady Side Academy*
23. Wes Roberts, Freedom Area*
24. Kevin Dailey, Westmont Hilltop*
25. Spencer Cole, Oswayo Valley*
25th in A was 43rd in AA in 2011, 25th in AA was 26th in AA in 2011 and 25th in AAA was 31st in AAA in 2011. The * indicates a team that changed class. Naturally all A teams changed class and all AAA teams didn't. The AA ones are the interesting ones.
AAA
1. Conner Quinn, Hatboro Horsham
2. Brett Kelly, Boyertown
3. Dan Savage, O'Hara
4. Logan Steiner, North Allegheny
5. Brent Kennedy, Kiski Area
6. Tom Coyle, LaSalle
7. Ned Willig, Great Valley
8. Connor Harriman, Pennsbury
9. Mike Billotta, O'Hara
10. Sean Burke, Abington Heights
11. Sam Hibbs, Hatboro Horsham
12. Alec Kunzweiler, Cumberland Valley
13. Alex Moran, Mt. Lebanon
14. Jack Macauley, North Penn
15. Chris Culley, Moon Area
16. Tim Appman, North Allegheny
17. Dylan Mountain, Altoona
18. Ean DiSilvio, Allerdice
19. Korey Replogle, Altoona
20. Caleb Wakeley, Shaler Area
21. Tony Russel, Henderson
22. Lawtin Tellin, Mt Lebanon
23. Andrew Kuchta, Baldwin
24. Dan Davis, North Penn
25. Jon Colwell, Mifflin County
AA
1. Dan Jaskowak, Grove City*
2. Drew Magaha, Upper Moreland*
3. Brendan Shearn, North Schuylkill
4. Zach Israel, Holy Ghost Prep*
5. Aaron Wilkinson, Valley View*
6. Austin Pondel, Corry Area*
7. Vinny Todaro, Big Spring*
8. Josef Dipietrantinio, Beaver Area
9. Aaron Valerosa, Towanda
10. Chris Muldoon, Archbishop Wood*
11. Nat Fox, Quaker Valley
12. Connor Strynkowski, Palmyra*
13. Tyler Stelmack, Northwestern Lehigh
14. Jake Seigel, Tunkhannock*
15. Dominic Deluca, Dallas*
16. Tim Flanagan, Archbishop Wood*
17. Jared Schatz, Lancaster Mennonite
18. Aziz Yousif, Bradford*
19. Dan Alexander, Lower Moreland
20. Ryan McGuire, Trinity Christian
21. Jaryd Flank, Wilson Area*
22. Roy Hadfield, Quaker Valley
23. Gordon Phipps, Oil City*
24. Ian Yankuso, Pottsgrove*
25. Xaiver Sauvageau, Littlestown
A
1. Luke Jones, Elk Lake*
2. Rico Galassi, Holy Cross*
3. Sam Williams, Northeast Bradford*
4. Ryan Smathers, North East*
5. Jordan Jackson, Wellsboro*
6. Nate Tallada, Saegertown*
7. Ryan Archer, Vincentian Academy*
8. Barrett Kemp, Oswayo Valley*
9. Alex Archer, Vincentian Academy*
10. Shawn Wolfe, Anville-Cleona*
11. Curt Jewett, Northeast Bradford*
12. Kelby Mullen, Sullivan County*
13. Keaton Naff, Masterman*
14. Jason Parsons, Maplewood*
15. Mark Bachman, Anville-Cleona*
16. Hunter Johnston, Saegertown*
17. Carter Smith, Eden Christian Academy*
18. Ethan Wilson, Laurel*
19. Bob Owlett, Wellsboro*
20. Trey Powell, West Middlesex*
21. Ryan Brown, PennsValley*
22. Jack Bagamery, Shady Side Academy*
23. Wes Roberts, Freedom Area*
24. Kevin Dailey, Westmont Hilltop*
25. Spencer Cole, Oswayo Valley*
25th in A was 43rd in AA in 2011, 25th in AA was 26th in AA in 2011 and 25th in AAA was 31st in AAA in 2011. The * indicates a team that changed class. Naturally all A teams changed class and all AAA teams didn't. The AA ones are the interesting ones.
NBON
Keep in mind folks it is hard to peak at the state meet and then again weeks later at a Championship like this. Don't get too excited about the potential for dropped times. I think the Independent League guys probably have the best shot because they don't have as big of a state meet at the PIAA kids. I'm sure that these other guys are in good shape, but just keep the facts I said above in mind. Moran has also been to these national meets a lot so keep him in mind. Shearn hasn't really run a competitive 2 mile since Arcadia so keep it in mind that he could potentially drop a lot of time. I think assuming he's healthy Wilson is the guy to watch. He is just rounding into top shape and is always at his best at these meets. He should be ready to have a great 5k race at Nats.
PA Entries for the Distance Events
Haneef Hardy 800m
Ben Ritz Mile
Dustin Wilson 2 mile
Sam Hibbs 2 mile
Brendan Shearn 5000m
Dustin Wilson 5000m
GFS 4xMile
Great Valley SMR
Great Valley DMR
GFS DMR
Tom Damiani EE 800m
Curt Jewett EE Mile
Alex Moran EE Mile
Lyle Wistar EE 2 Mile
Curt Jewett EE 2 Mile
Brendan Shearn EE 2 Mile
Sami Aziz EE 2 Mile
GFS EE 4x800m
CHA SMR EE SMR
Haverford School EE SMR
Sam Ritz Freshman Mile
PA Entries for the Distance Events
Haneef Hardy 800m
Ben Ritz Mile
Dustin Wilson 2 mile
Sam Hibbs 2 mile
Brendan Shearn 5000m
Dustin Wilson 5000m
GFS 4xMile
Great Valley SMR
Great Valley DMR
GFS DMR
Tom Damiani EE 800m
Curt Jewett EE Mile
Alex Moran EE Mile
Lyle Wistar EE 2 Mile
Curt Jewett EE 2 Mile
Brendan Shearn EE 2 Mile
Sami Aziz EE 2 Mile
GFS EE 4x800m
CHA SMR EE SMR
Haverford School EE SMR
Sam Ritz Freshman Mile
4x8 Heat 1
Alright did the best with the splits and times I could find. Here is the first heat of 4.
Heat 1
Kiski- Kennedy, Lednak, Miller, Kennedy
McCaskey- Walker, Martin, Walston, Witmer
DT West- Graham, Leidal, Devlin, Jenkins
Spring Ford- Marchewski, Magolon, Boham, O'Such
Bensalem- Cox-Finn, Pryce, Klauptauskus, Rivera
Perk Valley- Gross, Dollago, Garton, Perozze
Hershey- Brodeur, DeWille, Reichert, Bekelja
Methacton- Quinlan, Swann, Mansuy, Morhard
WC East- Zamadics, LaColla, Libbi, Lobb
North East- Gray, Denne, Elchynski, Smathers
HG Prep- Arnold, Chylak, Pierce, Horgan
State College- Gainer, Jordan, Cather, Wandell
800m
1. Marchewski 1:56.0
2. Cox-Finn 1:56.7
3. Zamadics 1:56.9
4. Brodeur 1:56.9
5. Gainer 1:57.0
6. Graham 1:57.1
7. Gross 1:57.2
8. Kennedy 1:57.4
9. Arnold 1:57.4
10. Quinlan 1:57.5
11. Walker 1:57.7
12. Gray 1:57.9
1600m (2nd Exchange)
1. DeWille 1:55.7 (3:52.6)
2. Chylak 1:55.4 (3:52.8)
3. Pryce 1:56.9 (3:52.9)
4. Jordan 1:56.0 (3:53.0)
5. Magolon 1:57.4 (3:53.4)
6. Leidal 1:56.4 (3:53.5)
7. Dollago 1:56.4 (3:53.6)
8. Denne 1:55.8 (3:53.7)
9. Martin 1:56.1 (3:53.8)
10. Lednak 1:56.9 (3:54.3)
11. Swann 1:57.2 (3:54.7)
12. LaColla 1:58.2 (3:55.1)
2400m (3rd Exchange)
1. Garton 1:54.9 (5:48.5)
2. Boham 1:55.7 (5:49.1)
3. Klaptauskus 1:56.4 (5:49.3)
4. Cather 1:56.3 (5:49.3)
5. Reichert 1:57.3 (5:49.9)
6. Miller 1:56.0 (5:50.3)
7. Pierce 1:57.6 (5:50.4)
8. Devlin 1:57.0 (5:50.5)
9. Elchynski 1:57.9 (5:51.6)
10. Mansuy 1:57.4 (5:51.9)
11. Walston 1:58.3 (5:52.1)
12. Libbi 1:57.6 (5:52.7)
3200m (Finish)
Perozze 1:53.6 (7:42.1)
Rivera 1:53.4 (7:42.7)
Bekelja 1:53.1 (7:43.0)
O'Such 1:54.8 (7:43.9)
Lobb 1:51.8 (7:44.5)
Horgan 1:54.2 (7:44.6)
Jenkins 1:54.2 (7:44.7)
Smathers 1:53.2 (7:44.8)
Wandell 1:55.9 (7:45.2)
Witmer 1:53.9 (7:46.0)
Kennedy 1:55.8 (7:46.1)
Morhard 1:54.7 (7:46.6)
Heat 1
Kiski- Kennedy, Lednak, Miller, Kennedy
McCaskey- Walker, Martin, Walston, Witmer
DT West- Graham, Leidal, Devlin, Jenkins
Spring Ford- Marchewski, Magolon, Boham, O'Such
Bensalem- Cox-Finn, Pryce, Klauptauskus, Rivera
Perk Valley- Gross, Dollago, Garton, Perozze
Hershey- Brodeur, DeWille, Reichert, Bekelja
Methacton- Quinlan, Swann, Mansuy, Morhard
WC East- Zamadics, LaColla, Libbi, Lobb
North East- Gray, Denne, Elchynski, Smathers
HG Prep- Arnold, Chylak, Pierce, Horgan
State College- Gainer, Jordan, Cather, Wandell
800m
1. Marchewski 1:56.0
2. Cox-Finn 1:56.7
3. Zamadics 1:56.9
4. Brodeur 1:56.9
5. Gainer 1:57.0
6. Graham 1:57.1
7. Gross 1:57.2
8. Kennedy 1:57.4
9. Arnold 1:57.4
10. Quinlan 1:57.5
11. Walker 1:57.7
12. Gray 1:57.9
1600m (2nd Exchange)
1. DeWille 1:55.7 (3:52.6)
2. Chylak 1:55.4 (3:52.8)
3. Pryce 1:56.9 (3:52.9)
4. Jordan 1:56.0 (3:53.0)
5. Magolon 1:57.4 (3:53.4)
6. Leidal 1:56.4 (3:53.5)
7. Dollago 1:56.4 (3:53.6)
8. Denne 1:55.8 (3:53.7)
9. Martin 1:56.1 (3:53.8)
10. Lednak 1:56.9 (3:54.3)
11. Swann 1:57.2 (3:54.7)
12. LaColla 1:58.2 (3:55.1)
2400m (3rd Exchange)
1. Garton 1:54.9 (5:48.5)
2. Boham 1:55.7 (5:49.1)
3. Klaptauskus 1:56.4 (5:49.3)
4. Cather 1:56.3 (5:49.3)
5. Reichert 1:57.3 (5:49.9)
6. Miller 1:56.0 (5:50.3)
7. Pierce 1:57.6 (5:50.4)
8. Devlin 1:57.0 (5:50.5)
9. Elchynski 1:57.9 (5:51.6)
10. Mansuy 1:57.4 (5:51.9)
11. Walston 1:58.3 (5:52.1)
12. Libbi 1:57.6 (5:52.7)
3200m (Finish)
Perozze 1:53.6 (7:42.1)
Rivera 1:53.4 (7:42.7)
Bekelja 1:53.1 (7:43.0)
O'Such 1:54.8 (7:43.9)
Lobb 1:51.8 (7:44.5)
Horgan 1:54.2 (7:44.6)
Jenkins 1:54.2 (7:44.7)
Smathers 1:53.2 (7:44.8)
Wandell 1:55.9 (7:45.2)
Witmer 1:53.9 (7:46.0)
Kennedy 1:55.8 (7:46.1)
Morhard 1:54.7 (7:46.6)
XC Classifications
So here is what I have deduced:
This is the link to the enrollment numbers: http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/Cross_Country_Boys.pdf
And then based on the penntrack forum the new classifications will be:
Boys A- 1 to 217 Boys
Boys AA- 218 to 417 Boys
Boys AAA- 418 and Above Boys
If the numbers are wrong than everything I am about to say means squat so yeah let's hope they are right.
So what does this mean? Well ...
Magaha just left, and now Upper Moreland is on it's way down to AA next year. Phoenixville, Upper Perk, and Holy Ghost Prep are moving with them. HGP returns ET ranked Christian Kardish. One of this year's best AA 4x8s, Christopher Dock is moving down to A.
In District 2, Valley View, Dallas and Tunkhannock will move from the AAA class to the AA class. Dallas returns ET ranked Dominic Deluca. Elk Lake and Holy Cross (Rico Galassi) are moving down to A.
District 3 will feature a move of Vinny Todaro of Big Spring down into the AA class. In District 4, Sam Williams and Curt Jewett will take their Northeast Bradford class down a level to A. Meanwhile in District 7 the Archer boys will transition down to the A ranks as well when Vincentian drops. Oswayo Valley will also dip their hand in the A field with Barrett Kemp the main name on their squad.
From what I can see Jaskowak and Pondel are both AA guys as Corry and Grove City move down.
This is the link to the enrollment numbers: http://www.piaa.org/assets/web/documents/Cross_Country_Boys.pdf
And then based on the penntrack forum the new classifications will be:
Boys A- 1 to 217 Boys
Boys AA- 218 to 417 Boys
Boys AAA- 418 and Above Boys
If the numbers are wrong than everything I am about to say means squat so yeah let's hope they are right.
So what does this mean? Well ...
Magaha just left, and now Upper Moreland is on it's way down to AA next year. Phoenixville, Upper Perk, and Holy Ghost Prep are moving with them. HGP returns ET ranked Christian Kardish. One of this year's best AA 4x8s, Christopher Dock is moving down to A.
In District 2, Valley View, Dallas and Tunkhannock will move from the AAA class to the AA class. Dallas returns ET ranked Dominic Deluca. Elk Lake and Holy Cross (Rico Galassi) are moving down to A.
District 3 will feature a move of Vinny Todaro of Big Spring down into the AA class. In District 4, Sam Williams and Curt Jewett will take their Northeast Bradford class down a level to A. Meanwhile in District 7 the Archer boys will transition down to the A ranks as well when Vincentian drops. Oswayo Valley will also dip their hand in the A field with Barrett Kemp the main name on their squad.
From what I can see Jaskowak and Pondel are both AA guys as Corry and Grove City move down.
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