Harry Spiked Shoe Invitational
Off the bat it is great to see a win by Brehm and looking very strong doing so. Molino (#17) is off to a great start with a second place finish to Brehm, hopefully he and Parsons will have a great dual for the A state title later in the season, but a big start for the youngster. Most impressive of the day though in my mind is Jack Tidball. I had him on my watch list for Tunkhannock, and man is he rolling! Really big time for the junior this early who was a nobody last season. His teammates do have a while to go though if they want to get back on the Top 10 Team's list, but Tidball may have earned himself a spot in the top 50.
William Cather placed 4th which is solid for him this season, but if he wants to medal in AAA, he'll have to try and start rolling with the big boys like Brehm and Molino. State College was really solid having 4 guys in the top 11, but their 5/6 fell back to 31st and 32nd respectively. They will need to tighten that spread if they want to be a top 5 team in the state. Golembeski continues to impress me this year however.
Carlisle ran a fantastic race and they're much better than I had thought. Obviously they got a great low stick in Brehm, but wow Jon Carroll has stepped it up as a distance guy after running mid-distance last season. This team has some really nice pieces and if they keep improving they have a great shot at top 3 in District 3 and making it to states.They may have earned their way into the top 10.
Other Notes: Brad Wilt had a solid race from Biglerville (7th) and Owen Seeber (So-CV) placed 17th. He's a name to watch in the future, this CV squad also had two very solid freshman run in their top 5 this weekend which is great to see they've reloaded for the future. Another young team to continue watching is Hempfield, they placed 7th at this invitational, but have no seniors.They'll be a force to recon with next year in D3, but I'm excited to watch them step it up as the season progresses.
24th Bulldog Cross Country Invitational
After looking at the results and reading PennTrack's article on this meet, I do believe it is a full 5k. Cummings, Diestelow, Smith, and others ran very similar times at Abington and Bulldog. Abington is a full 5k, so why would Cummings and a slew of other guys be running so much slower the weekend afterwards? It doesn't make sense. Also, hearing things like: X runner was sick and Y runner lost their shoe from posters, I find is very important and informative. It is a fact of the race and shows me that curtain runners had more potential; this is not people giving excuses as to why runners didn't win or what not. I'm tired of seeing people post like: "Oh well they didn't win so who cares they lost their shoe," just take the comment into consideration when reading race results and that's all. No need for sarcastic underhanded remarks. I want to keep this blog as open as possible guys, but I will remove comments along those lines for future warning. Please don't make me do that. BACK to race results/summaries!
Wow, O'Hara came out on fire showing that they are definitely a top 3 team in the state, only time will tell where they fall with NA, but both squads look great. Kevin James opening up the season with big victory over a bunch of very strong runners. Belfatto ran quite well and Morro is the real deal, he is reminding me a lot of James, which is exactly what this squad needs. Pastore is a very quality runner and the 800m man Nick Smart has begun his series of races as he hopes to prove many doubters wrong that he is only a mid-D guy.
Downingtown West: This is a deep, young squad that is being coached very well. They were right with WCE last week, then held out their upperclassman and top sophomore (Sappey) and they finished just slightly back of WCE this weekend. I can't wait to see how good this team gets as the season progresses. They've got an extremely competitive atmosphere which is every coaches dream. They are the real deal and they're only in the beginning stages of what could be something special.
I don't know where there are so many haters on WCE here, but Cummings is running really well placing second over Jake Brophy and Belfatto running his second 15:30 5k of the year. This team will need him as a low stick at districts if they wish to make it to the state meet.
Josh Smith of Avon Grove put himself right in the mix once again, I'm really liking his steady improvement. Brophy takes his second 3rd place finish of the season, but this time last year he was a nobody. I have full faith he'll be peaking at the right time for districts and states. Billy Caldwell also had a solid race, but I did expect him to mix it up more out front.
In the Small School race Connor Holm (Jr - Radnor) ran a fantastic race. This young man was on my radar two years ago when he ran 2:02 indoors for 800m, but after some injuries his sophomore year I wasn't sure if he'd be back, but this sub 16 clocking means he's fit and ready to roll. He's got the talent to go far. Scott Mason is also stepping it up for Penn Charter for Szujah who is injured.
Lebanon County XC Championship
Down at Union Canal Park Cedar Crest HS dominated their meet
putting 7 in the top 8 with a 45 second spread 1-7. It’s hard to tell exactly
what this means due to a lack of competition, but they are well coached as in
the early 2000’s they were a very solid squad who was often at the top of the
PA scene. Keep a look out for them at bigger meets.
Slippery Rock Invitational
Mt Lebo continues to impress me as they win this meet easily with a 43 second spread 1-7. Todd Gunzenhauser has big shoes to live up to as his brother was state runner up a few years ago, but I think he's going to be a stud for this team and probably the top guy by the end of the season. Their 1-3 is really solid, but right now I'm not sure exactly how they match up with other potential top 50 finishers in the state. Freshman Shaun Hay ran well once again with a 13th place finish in 17:03.
Just waiting now for the full results of these other meets to write more about them, but NA placing 4th at Bordman really shocks me. Last year they held out Seel and Love from the week before, but still not sure exactly what happened. I pegged McGoey for top 5 and he was 8th, which is still a good sign, since Zemet placed 7th here last year and ended up 15th in the state. This is a really big invitational, but I did expect Love and Seel to be top 15 as well. I guess they held Louco and Wharrey among other runners, but we'll have to see.
Slippery Rock Invitational
Mt Lebo continues to impress me as they win this meet easily with a 43 second spread 1-7. Todd Gunzenhauser has big shoes to live up to as his brother was state runner up a few years ago, but I think he's going to be a stud for this team and probably the top guy by the end of the season. Their 1-3 is really solid, but right now I'm not sure exactly how they match up with other potential top 50 finishers in the state. Freshman Shaun Hay ran well once again with a 13th place finish in 17:03.
Just waiting now for the full results of these other meets to write more about them, but NA placing 4th at Bordman really shocks me. Last year they held out Seel and Love from the week before, but still not sure exactly what happened. I pegged McGoey for top 5 and he was 8th, which is still a good sign, since Zemet placed 7th here last year and ended up 15th in the state. This is a really big invitational, but I did expect Love and Seel to be top 15 as well. I guess they held Louco and Wharrey among other runners, but we'll have to see.
That's all for now Folks!
--ForrestCRN
I think Cather ripped his shoe or something. He dropped off brehm at mile two.
ReplyDeleteEither way a loss is a loss. If a shoe rips or falls off at states, there's no rerun. Sad to see someone possibly lose a shot at a win, but it happens. Its part of the sport
DeleteBulldog results:
ReplyDeletehttp://pa.milesplit.com/meets/146850/results/259679
Downingtown West almost beat West Chester East without their top 5 guys...
ReplyDeleteApparently, West Chester East was running without their 5th man plus Diestelow totally wiped out at the start of the race. If he doesn't go down, he runs sub 16:00. DTW has a nice pack but do they have anyone to displace Cummings & Diestelow?
DeleteIt looks like DTW's top 5 is changing
DeleteMucha has yet to race a full 5K, he was sick for Abington. But as of now, it looks like DTW's top 5 are Mucha, Sappey, White, Barton, and Alansky, the last two being freshmen, but all of them are sub 16:38
DeleteDTW has 8 people run under 17:10 this year, not including Mucha
DeleteDTW has no front-runners, which means they cant make much noise at states.
DeleteAny news from Boardman? I'm curious as to how NA did...
ReplyDelete15:12, props to Kevin James. Kid is a tank.
ReplyDeleteIt's tough to take those Bulldog times seriously.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably at least a full minute off of a normal 5K XC course.
DeleteWhat do you define as a normal xc course?
DeleteIts a little over 3 miles
DeleteA course measured accurately, with a little undulation and believable times would be a normal cross country course. Those times are ridiculous and will be the ranked times for the rest of the season. Maybe 10% of the top 50 run a faster time later in the year, maybe.
DeleteInterboro did a lot of preparation to host Bulldog, as they do every year. I saw them measuring the course on Friday. Could the Coach, or someone involved in hosting the meet, please comment about whether or not the course was a full 5K so we can put this controversy that comes up every year to rest. Thanks.
DeleteMaybe the course was accurate but the timer messed up.
DeleteI don't see why the times are so unbelievable. Cummings ran the same time last week at Abington. To say it's a full minute off is absolutely ridiculous
DeleteWCE had an off day, it happens to everyone. Cummings was sick and Diestlow fell in the first 150 and struggled to catch up the rest of the race. DTW has yet to beat them.
ReplyDeleteAlways with the excuses from these guys. If Cummings was well enough to run, he was well enough.
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DeleteCarlisle isn't playing around this year. As long as they can tighten their spread they have the fire power to be a top 10 team.
ReplyDeleteDon't know if any of you guys saw the results from the Lebanon County meet. If you didn't, check them out. Cedar Crest is a force to be reckoned with in district III. They may not be the best team in the district, but they could finish as high as second if they keep this up.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to Kevin James for breaking the COH school record. Should be interesting to see if he runs Great American.
ReplyDeleteThey keep a record for a 2.9 mile race?
DeleteI knew it! That course was way too fast for a 5k...even on a nice day.
DeleteKevin James will tear it up at Great American too!
DeleteThe entire COH team will tear it up at Great American! It's one of the best (fastest) courses in the country. For example, COH average team time at Great American in 2011 was 15:50. In 2012; 15:41. Fast forward to the PIAA State meet; aver. team time 2011 was 16:46; 2012 was 16:25. My prediction is COH aver. team time 15:45 at Great American - come state meet; average team time of 16:38.
DeleteI can sort of see where people hate on wce. They have very good runners who are properly recognized as such. But that never seems enough for them or their supporters. Seems whenever there is an acknowledgement of their accomplishments, they keep piling on like Forrest's posting don't accurately reflect their greatness. Get over yourselves.
ReplyDeleteIn defense of WCE, (and don't come at me saying I'm a fan of them, I live in District 3 and could really care less who wins Bulldog at 2.8/.9/3.2 however miles it is) we cannot see who is writing "he could've gone 14:30." If it is a legitimate runner from WCE, than yes, this is absurd. But with the huge number of people who don't like WCE, it could be someone writing it as a joke to increase hatred against WCE.
DeleteThere are 0 excuses for a loss. There are however reasons to run faster next time. If WCE are sick or fell, it is there job to try to do their best in that race and it shouldn't be used as an excuse to lose. To say that someone who fell might run faster in the next race is not unreasonable. This race may not have been his best effort, that happens. Accept it and aim for a better race.
Has anyone been able to find the results to the Centaur Invitational or know who the kid from Quakertown who won is? I was in the race and didn't recognize him but he ran away from the field beating Kardish and a lot of other good runners.
ReplyDeleteI’m very skeptical of that Bulldog 5K. Those times are just too fast for this point in the year, even with the good running weather. James is real good, but 15:12 in mid- September? Cummings is solid, but 15:30? I’d be real impressed if he runs that at Lehigh district which is one of the fastest legit courses in D1. Smith from Avon Grove should be a force in the Chesmont league, but he just ran like 17:50 in coming in 5th against WCH in a dual meet this week. Grant it, that was 90 degrees but two minutes drop off in three days? DWests first two Bulldog finishers are freshman who ran 11:30 and 11:52 for an open two miler at Oakbourne relays two weeks ago, that just doesn’t translate to the 16:38 they ran at Bulldog. If it wasn’t accurate, they should keep the times out of the rankings on Penn Track, just not fair.
ReplyDeleteYet if you look at the top ten finishers who ran both Bulldog and Abington, their average time dropped by 0.4 seconds. Are we saying Abington is not good course too?
DeleteAbington, Sharp, Bulldog and Great American are notorious for meaningless PR's.
DeleteI've also heard that the track at Coatesville is actually only 395 meters around, so all of the track district one pr's are pretty meaningless too.
DeleteI was at that meet and noticed WCH guys not wearing spikes. What's that about?
DeleteFor the record, nobody is going to care about the legitimacy of bulldogs whenever championship season comes around so who actually cares? It's all about championship season not September.
ReplyDeleteIt’s tough to gauge individual performance early in XC. Some runners take a lot of time off after outdoor and need to build up again, others take little time off and are in top shape early. The courses and the weather have a big impact on times.
ReplyDeleteWe’ll get a better idea of the parity after races on the familiar courses for Foundation and Briarwood this week, and then Carlisle and Paul Short. Even ignoring the early fast times, there’s no denying Brehm, James and Cummings are in good shape, WCE and DTW are serious contenders to make states again and O’Hara and North Allegheny are for real. Maybe Henderson isn’t a sure thing to win states.
- RJJL
If you really want to check Bulldog's accuracy, look up last year's times there and compare them to the Delco Championships. Same park, same terrain, different layout. Delcos is at least a full 5k, hailed as the hardest course in Delco if not D1...you be the judge of Bulldog
ReplyDeleteThe Delco championship course is a real test that's for sure. It's probably at least a minute tougher than Bulldog.
DeletePutting together a cross country meet is a lot of work so kudos to Interboro for getting it done at Bulldog. Aside from the administration prep needed there are really four musts that a meet director should make sure are accomplished:
ReplyDelete1) measure the course accurately
2) start on time
3) get the results on-line immediately
4) make sure there are a sufficient number of port-a-potties.
Number 4 is by far the most crucial
Delete