Update on 24th Bulldog XC Course
In Previous years such as 2007 they Bulldog XC invitational was posted as a 3.0 course while now it is posted as a 5k online. This change clearly shows that they changed the course length to the correct cross country distance. Now if this isn't enough for everyone I will call the meet director and inquire about the course length.
BRIARWOOD UPDATE (9/22/13 @ 2:55 pm)
I have just spoken to the meet director Ed Ulman who was quite wonderful and answered my questions about the meet. They had a guy come in this season to officially direct the course and proclaimed it was a bit short in previous years. This year they made the adjustment in the first mile to run out after the 800m mark to an extra pole 50m away and come back to the regular course adding on about 100m, but the start line was also moved up from previous years (he did not say how far), so the course was slightly longer than in the past, take that for what you will.
All of this being said:
Ross Wilson gets the win over Kevin James by 5 seconds in 15:51.47. So that effort is right where Dustin Wilson was back in '09 if not faster than him (yet he wasn't pushed like Wilson probably was) so I'm really liking what type of shape he is in. And James with about 15:40 equivalent right with Tony Russell and Brendan Shearn last season, so he too is looking quite beastly.
Well O'Hara as a team looked fairly solid in this meet, but not as good as I thought they could be. James is really looking fantastic as a front man, but PA is stacked this year. Belfatto and Pastore go 6-7 while Morro and Donnelley looked solid as well. The big story for this team is the release of James' younger brother Ryan. This freshman wins the JV race by 40 seconds in a 17:22 effort that is a second faster than what Donnelley ran. This young man will definitely be in O'Hara's top 5 the rest of the year and if he and Morro can close the gap with Belfatto and Pastore they will be a force to be reckoned with, but right now NA is looking leagues ahead of them.
I'm impressed with CRN as well. Right now they've got a really great top 4, but they will need to see improvements in their 5th man. I was 18 flat my senior year @ Briarwood and ran 16:44 at Lehigh by the end of the season, so I do expect to see Profy or Laitman around 16:30 by then, but they will need to step it up soon if CRN is going to compete for a top 5 spot in the state with LD and SC.
Malvern Prep-- I thought this team had some really solid pieces, but they really showed up at Briarwood. This is an independent league team so I'm not sure how much more we'll see them at big competitions like this, but I do believe they're a top 10 team, especially after this performance.
Matt Willig and the rest of the GV team severely under-performed this weekend. I'm not sure what is up with this squad right now, but for a team that had so many pieces going into the season they're really not putting it out their like I thought they might and it's worrying me.
Division 1:
Casey Comber of Hatboro Horsham is the real deal! He won a non-championship race two weeks ago and I wasn't sure if it was legit or not, but he beat out Jake Brophy and Brendan Bilotta in a close race. I would keep a watch on this young man as the season goes on. HH has a great coach and he could be the next HH state medalist.
Brophy on the other hand is taking backward steps. He's running solid for a young guy, but not the domination that we saw out of Webb and James last season. Maybe he's waiting until leagues and districts to really unleash, but we shall see.
Team wise I'd say La Salle and WT are about top 15 teams, but not top 10 just yet. La Salle has two freshman in the top 5 who looked good this weekend meaning they have a strong team future ahead which is good, but one of WT's varsity guys got severely injured last week according to some reports which will hurt them. Twin Valley also held their own quite well with these two squads.
Dvision 2:
Scott Mason easily win's this race in 16:37, I wish I could have seen him in a faster race, but he's going in the right direction.
PIAA Foundation Invitational -- Updates made 9/22 @ 3:30 pm (After watching the race video and interviews on PennTrack)
Dang, North Allegheny just told me off, maybe I should just retire. This team is unreal right now. Scoring 31 points at the Foundation meet is no joke and with a 16 second spread (3-9 placing). WOW. Plus Cordon Louco was their 5th man and Wharrey was there 3rd, this guy is the real deal. And McGoey proved he truly is the real deal with that 15th ranking. This team really came to play at Foundation and they want that state title. Henderson better shaking right now. It seems as though Henderson feels as though Nationals is a bigger goal than the state meet, while NA is looking at the state meet as the bigger race.
Oh, and might I add that their JV squad with a score of 20 points and 7 guys in the top 9.
Lets talk other runners proving themselves:
Chris Cummings of West Chester East: Man, this guy has come to PLAY in XC. He's turned from a medal contender to a total stud who could have top 10 capabilities if he keeps this us. Running 16:13 on Hershey is no joke anytime. After watching his interview this guy has clearly matured. It seems as though WCE has added lifting to their program as Cummings looks much stronger and more mature than in the past years. The leap he's taken is one usually done by sophomores into junior year. He's year later blooming, but man he's strong. He and Jeff Groh were neck and neck coming off Poop-Out hill and he just ratcheted it up out kicking a 4:16 flat 1600 guy.
Behind him is another man who is running really well in Jeff Groh with a 16:17, he's also a top 15 guy easily right now. I had doubted both of these people if they should be up their but yet to truly prove themselves, but now they definitely have. I'm excited to see how they progress during the season. Groh's teammate Nissley placed 4th which is really great for him, as he ran 7 seconds faster than last year @ states. That's the right place to be right now.
Sam Webb didn't come out and kill and and it seems as though Pennsbury's guys were running solid, which is what I want to hear. I really believe they have a new program that should help them peak much better, Webb will have to move out of the top 10, but I think this is positive for the long run. Or this could be the decline of Webb. He doesn't look any different than he did his freshman year in terms of body size or weight and all of that early career training in middle school could have really hurt him. We'll only know as time goes by.
Brian Delany (10th) had a really great race and could be the big sophomore break out this season if he keeps this up, I'm loving the way he's racing. Another stand out sophomore is Freedom's Daniel Quigley.
Lower Dauplin (151) and State College (163) battled really nicely in the meet, but in the end having 6 points through 2 while SC's first, Will Cather, was only 13th. Alex Mulligan didn't race as I expected, but I think he'll come back in the squad, while Golembeski (20th) is really coming along well for SC. LD's 3-4 are fantastic as well, but they really need a 5th man to step up.
Freedom - 169, Pennsbury - 177, WCE- 190, Mt. Lebo - 193. So it was quite close team wise after that. Freedom should handily make it out of District 11 this year.
AA- Dominic Hockenbury ran away from the field in a 16:43, second place was 17:06. That's a great sign for this young sophomore. While Pottsgrove dominated the team race with a 101pt win.
A- Some anonymous blogger called it, but Masterman wins this race with an impressive 46 points. NEB who is ranked top in A by Penntrack has a bit to go, but they're a very young squad with 3 underclass man and only 1 senior on varsity. They'll be a top 5 team this year, but more of a force next season.
18th Annual Ben Bloser Bulldog Invitational - Big Spring
Over at Big Springs, PA Patrick Reilly made a statement of his own running 16:05 with a huge 34 second win, running 4 seconds faster than Vinny Todaro did last season. This is a big race for Reilly and I think he's a top 20 runner after that meet. Daniel Green grabbed second place from James Buchanan in 16:39, while Brady Wilt was 5th in 17:00.
That's All for Now Folks
--ForrestCRN
Forrest,did you make a mistake putting that last sentence about Henderson shaking, in the Cummings paragraph that was meant for the North Allegheny summary or are you suggesting WCE will take down Henderson
ReplyDeleteI switched it to the NA part, thanks for the edit :)
DeleteNo problem, keep up the good work!
DeleteAnd you're right, NA is looking real good, a serious contender. They may not have the depth though. 6 & 7 were a minute behind the top 5, though they did have a guy win the JV in 17:08
Ditto with the previous comment. NA, COH, WCH are all state champion contenders but to proclaim WCE who placed 6th today with a 2:33 spread and team average time of 17:27 could take the state title is outlandish! Congratulations to Cummings though. Great racing to date!
ReplyDeleteIf O'Hara only had James sub 17 they aren't looking as good as I thought. I'm surprised Belfatto and company didn't go way under 17. I hope that's wrong.
ReplyDeleteNA looked amazing and like a state champion team, that spread was insane, but until Hendrrson runs an actual 5k then I can't say anything. Manhattan isn't a 5k so I'll get an idea but nothing good until an actual 5k is run.
Tessa Barrett ran a 17:48, that breaks the course record by almost 40 seconds. That time is no joke and a lot of boys don't even hit that time, great job to her. Also, mount Leno girls looking very impressive. They got two in front of Pennsbury's first. Maddie Sauer wasn't racing and idk why, but hopefully she's okay.
-RTJ
West Chester Henderson will be at Carlisle Invitational next weekend.
DeleteShould be an incredible Race of Champions. Team wise: West Chester Henderson, Don Bosco Prep (NJ), Tatnall (DE), Cardinal O'Hara, James W. Robinson (VA), State College, Carlisle, University (WV), Cedar Crest, Downingtown West, Red Land. It's simply packed.
Individually: Brent Kennedy, Tony Russell, Reiny Barchet, Kyle Levermore (Don Bosco), Michael Higgins (Don Bosco), Seth Edwards (University), Andy Paladino(University), Jack Hagood (Tatnall), Patrick Reilly, Sam Ritz, Kevin James, Aaron Gebhart, Zach Brehm.
There are still 2 days left to enter so there may be another big name pop into the race. There are some other great individuals and teams that I may have missed. No offense if you feel left out. I simply overlooked if I did. Can't wait to see how fast the race is this year.
Anyway, West Chester Henderson will get to show what strength they have against some of the best teams in PA and the entire NE. If only CBA and North Alleghany came too...
How hard is it to measure a course? You map it out and get a few guys to jog it three times separately with the wheel and then three times separately with a Garmin, and make the adjustments. It would take about an two hours and the course would be accurate to within 10 yards.
ReplyDeleteBelmont was off? Seriously? Up until five years ago Lehigh was short. Sharp is said to be short. Chesmonts was rumored to be long last year. Bulldog was just proven to be a joke and James' time will probably be atop the rankings all year, not to mention everyone else who ran it being overstated.
Everyone runs the same course at a particular race, but school records, rankings and expectations get based on the accuracy of the course. Get it right!
Amen brotha!
DeleteI agree that these places should get the distances correct. Yes the old Viking course was short, but the next one is a legit 5k and I think that if anything Bulldog was proven to be a legit 5k. James just ran 15:56 for 3.2 miles on an extremely hard course. I'm not surprised at all that he was about to run 15:12 on a flat course. And Cummings ran 16:13 on the state course, that is so legit, and he ran 45 seconds faster on a flat course, sounds very reasonable to me.
Delete--ForrestCRN
A brief email to the meet director at Bulldog and Briarwood to verify the race distance would be a more reliable source than relying on the parents who thought that the course MUST be long because their little darling didn't run as fast as they did the week before would serve all your readers. Let us know...verify, verify, verify.
DeleteSpoken like a ...meet director, maybe?
DeleteI've talked to meet directors before who had no idea how long the course actually was and freely admitted it. Jus sayin.
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DeleteI think we should have a COH runner or coach chime in. After all, they run approx. 5 meets per XC season at Belmont. Kevin James, Tom Kennedy was it 3.2?
DeleteA 5K on an XC course that starts/finishes at the same elevation, even if totally flat, would yield at least a 15 second conversion to a track due to the terrain. So a 15:12 would be like 14:57 on a track, which is like a 9:05 3200. Even if that's off 10 seconds and it converts to a 9:15, as good as James is, it's doubtful he's at that pace in mid Sept running away from the field in a low key invite.
DeleteWhat's up with Great Valley?
ReplyDeleteHow about this for a tri-meet on Wednesday-WCH vs WCE and DTW? Can Cummings run away from the Henderson boys early? I heard it's their first time spiking up. Can DTW finally beat WCE? Who you got?
ReplyDeleteKnowing Henderson has a meet on Saturday, I doubt they will go full throttle at this meet. They'll probably hold back & treat it like a training session,like they always do at duals. With that in mind, Cummings for the easy win!
DeleteDon't even expect half the varsity to run this one.
DeleteI think Henderson will run their full varsity against WCH & DWT. These are top teams and dual meet or not, there's pride at stake. They may not run for the individual victory with a big meet on Saturday but I'd expect their pack to stick together to assure the wins.
Delete-RJJL
Na, all these teams know the important races are Districts and States. WCH and DTW have to run Carlisle, WCE just ran Hershey. I think all the big guns will run 17:30 and some freshman will run 17:25 for the win.
DeleteThe meet still counts toward the chesmont championship so I doubt the teams will just defer the win to a team that feels like winning it that day. It will be a race. It will be a fast race. I guarantee.
DeleteThe Henderson guys are competitive. I doubt that they just lay down for Cummings and let him win. It's on their home course. East and Henderson don't particularly like each other.
DeleteCummings for the state win; because a WCE runner has never peaked too early
ReplyDeleteForrest, I would be shocked if WCH thought that ‘nationals is a bigger goal than states’. There was talk of O’hara looking past states last year, running too hard to win big at every meet, and especially after the state meet when their coaches said they were peaking for nationals. I don’t believe WCH is looking past states for nationals.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think you’re right, NA just showed that anyone winning this year’s state title is going to have to go all out and earn it. Someone said their times Saturday would have put them with a score of about 80 points at last year’s states. That is very impressive and it got our attention, so I doubt it’s lost on Henderson. The reason repeating is so hard is because they end up with a big target on their back. WCH and Russell set the standard last year and there’s too many talented teams and runners who won’t just lay down and let them walk away with state titles again.
WCH seems to be starting slow this year but a team planning on running nationals has a long season so it makes sense. And I might even agree with RTJ, based on NA’s performance this week and the fact that WCH has yet to show where they are, NA probably deserves the #1 ranking. To steal that earlier college basketball analogy post, NA wasn’t like Stoneybrook winning before Duke played, it was like Syracuse blowing out North Carolina before Duke played.
I also wouldn’t be shocked if WCH doesn’t meet the big expectations on them at Carlisle. It’s still early and they didn’t look like state champions at Briarwood last year but they got it together by late October. I do believe they’ll be ready for the Chesmonts/Districts/States run.
-RJJL
The question is: Does a WCH who doesn't meet expectations still beat Cardinal O'Hara, Don Bosco, and Tatnall?
DeleteDepends on their times and how they compare to other teams. Remember last year Henderson "only" averaged 16:16 at Carlisle.
DeleteIt's their first real meet of the year, they should be fired up but far from peaking.
DeleteAll I want to see from Carlisle is Russell/Barchet sub 15:50 and the rest of the pack sub 16:30. If they can do that then they are in better shape than last year. That's all we really need to see from WCH right now. Knapp/Collins/Moy/Waltz/Stratman/Barchet/Haugh ... if one of them can go sub 16 then WCH is back to the top of my list, easily. Right now since NA just threw down at Hershey they are the top of my list. I assume WCH's line up will go Russell, Barchet, Stratman, Collins, Haugh, Knapp, Moy, but only time will tell.
Delete-RTJ
Remeber RTJ that Haugh has quit running and is doing Rowing. This will limit their depth a bit. But Barchet's younger brother may step up into the top 7.
Delete--ForrestCRN
You earlier said Waltz & G. Barchet would round out the top 7 with Russell,,Barchet, Collins, Knapp & Stratman. I heard they have injuries? Anyone know about that?
DeleteI thought someone was joking when they said that. I actually think their line up will be Russell, Barchet, Stratman, Collins, Knapp, Barchet, and Moy.
Delete-RTJ
stratman was injured early in the summer, but he'll be back to racing this wednesday. g. barchet just came back from an injury a few days ago and is slowly building back up. other than that, there are no other injuries in the top 9
DeleteMalvern will be at salesianum
ReplyDelete