Taylor Werner finished 5th in 17:34 at Nike Cross
Nationals, just 3 seconds behind Fiona O’keeffe. They were over 30 seconds
behind the top 3. At FL Nationals Barrett won by 10 seconds and Taylor Werner
finished 10th overall. She was 30 seconds behind Barrett. Maybe she
didn’t have the best race, running two national meets in a row, I’ll give that
to her, but Barrett dominated her field. Although I do not believe she could
have mixed up with for more than 2.5k with the leaders at Nike, there is no
question in my mind after Footlocker
that she was the 4th best girl in the nation this season.
Moving on!
Since Footlocker was founded in 1979 PA has had some really fantastic showings at the meet. Until 2004 there were only 8 competitors entered from each region. At that point it was increased to 10 runners per sex. The following list is the places that everyone finished and the year that they ran it. Soon I'll be compiling a similar list for PA guys at Nike Nationals, but the results are a bit more difficult, since the state each individual/team is from, is not listed.
Finishes by Place at Footlocker Nationals
Mike Connelly – 1982 – 2nd place
Paul Vandegrift – 1986 – 4th place
Michael McWilliams – 1989 – 4th place
Mike Connelly – 1981 – 5th place
Michael McWilliams – 1988 – 6th place
Chris Dugan – 1996 – 6th place
Dan Coval – 1999 – 7th place
Steve Oliver – 1990 – 11th place
Jack Cuvo – 1984 – 12th place
Jason Stewart – 1989 – 12th place
Mark Dennin – 2007 – 13th place
Dustin Wilson – 2011 – 13th place
Craig Miller – 2004 – 15th place
Max Norris – 2012 – 17th place
Zach Hebda – 2010 – 18th place
Brendan Benner – 1992 – 19th place
Derek Seiling – 1991 – 19th place
Coubly Dunn – 1994 – 20th place
Brendan Shearn – 2012 – 21st place
Brad Miles – 2009 – 21st place
Eric Reese – 1997 – 21st place
Keith Capecci – 2005 – 21st place
Ian Gottesfeld – 2002 – 21st place
Jeff Weiss – 2004 – 23rd place
Scott Munro – 1999 – 23rd place
Radford Gunzenhauser – 2009 – 24th place
Michael Sanford – 1996 – 25th place
Russell Coleman – 1994 – 25th place
John Carson – 1993 – 26th place
Ross Wilson – 2013 – 26th place
Robert Chandler – 1992 – 27th
place
Vince McNally – 2007 – 27th
place
Robert Colvin – 1986 – 29th
place
Michael McCalfferty – 1990 –
29th place
David Crowe – 1989 – 30th
place
Philip Wood – 2008 – 30th
place
Thomas Parlapiano – 1998 –
30th place
Chris Aldrich – 2007 – 31st
place
Ben Furcht – 2008 – 31st
place
Ryan Gil – 2009 – 31st
place
Austin Pondel – 2012 – 32nd
place
Brent Kennedy – 2012 – 34th
place
Josh Hibbs – 2005 – 35th
place
Paul Springer – 2006 – 39th
place
Chris Campbell – 2010 – 39th
place
Places PA has not finished: 1, 3, 8, 9, 10, 14, 16, 22, 28,
(more recently: 33, 36, 37, 38, 40)
I must say that looking through this list there are some really fantastic names. The strongest year for PA in my opinion was back in 1989 when PA sent 3/8 guys from the region and they group had a 4th, 12th, and 30th place finish at the meet.
I'm also really glad to see that since the move to 40 runners, PA has very rarely fallen in the lower spots. The closes we came to last was Chris Campbell finishing just a second out of 40th place back in 2010.
21st Place - This seems to be the sweet spot for PA runners, as some unreal PA talents have finished in this spot. Never a bad place to be at 21st! Out of these runners, Keith Capecci and Ian Gottesfeld were in very, very strong FL fields. It's a bit tougher to tell with the more recent results how impressive the field is, given many of the runners are still in college, but from those two years there are many very highly regarded professional runners.
Most Impressive Non-Top 10 finish? - Mark Dennin, no question. Look at the list of guys from 2007 (here are the 1st 5):
Michael Fout – Multi time All-American (FSU), Chris Derrick
(possibly best NCAA runner to never win a title, recently competed for the USA
in the 10k at the World Championships), German Fernadez (NCAA record holder for
1500m, OKS), Colby Lowe (Placed Top 10 4 Times at National Meets, OKS), Luke
Puskedra (10 Time All-American for Oregon). The list goes on with Ryan Hill (Made the 5k Finals for the World Championships this past year) and Don Cabral (Princeton Standout who anchored two relays to Penn Relay Victories and made the Olympic 3k Steeple team in 2012).
To finish 13th in a group of guys like that is just fantastic. It is being said that the past class of 2013 when PA sent 4 runners to nationals, could be a class of similar talent, as Edward Cheserek just won nationals. But we shall see!
--ForrestCRN
P.S. On a quick side note, Penn State- Blue-White Meet happened this weekend and we saw some nice PA finishes.
Nike Scarpello and Ean Disilvio both ran 8:31 for 3k
finishing 3-4th respectively. Quinn was 5th in 8:37,
Campbell 6th in 8:41 (he ran 8:21 as a freshman), Jewett was 8:42,
Pondel 8:43, and Colwell 9:06.
A few people have been asking if Brad Rivera is running in
college, well he is, and he opened up his college career with a 3:04.40 for
1200m! For a guy that had a lot of difficulty moving up in distance I’m glad to
see him dropping such a solid time. He was helped by Wakin’s 2:58.1 which is
just ridiculous from the sophomore from NY.
On the women’s side Tori Gerlach finished 4th in
the 3k running 9:56. Stephanie Aldrich was 12th in 10:50.
Leigha Anderson from CV was ahead of Gerlach in the 3k. Sorry, I've forgotten the time.
ReplyDeletePA sprinters ran fantastic too, Shisler, Bennett-Green's, Gilmore, Rhodes, Black
Why are so many downplaying Barrett's accomplishment by speculating what she might have done in another race. You'd think this was Penn Track.
ReplyDeleteShe's the FL National Champion...nuff said!
I'm with you man. I'm not saying "tony Russell would have placed ____ if he ran FL or "Ross Wilson would have placed ____ if he ran nike." Leave Barrett alone, she's the best female XC runner in PA history and should be given credit.
Delete-RTJ
Why do so many feel the need to defend her and the alleged lack of good press? Her running results speak for themselves and she the plethora of positive articles reflect that. The last time I checked, Penntrack looked like the all-Tessa Barrett, all-the-time blog. It's not cool when her appearance or personality are attacked but I am so freaking tired of hearing about poor Tessa Barrett...this blog has gone way too pink and boring.
DeleteMaybe she is, maybe she isn't the girls best XC runner. I dare say though that most of the readers of PADON'TPLAY are more than ready to move on.
Aww poor you. Three posts about girls and you can't take it. Seeing as the boys had their meet canceled, there's nothing to talk about on the guys side, except for a semi-adequate F&M meet that already had a post about it. Sorry Tessa Barrett winning FL and being the first PA runner to do so didn't interest you with nothing else going on. Also, take note that Forrest isn't bringing her up, this is a guys post and she's brought up in the comments so you dare say... incorrectly. Forrest can't stop that.
DeleteHey gurl, think you missed the previous posters point. Tessa Barrett is awesome, blah, blah, blah. No argument there. The Tessa Barrett spin & hype machine is getting a little old though. Her team should refrain from making any more whiny posts about "nobody loves her, waa, waa, ..." when the last 4 or 5 posts on penntrak are...you guessed it,Tessa Barrett! There has to be more to write about in the Pa world of track & field, right? Please?
DeletePenn track gave a lot of coverage to Rome up until Barrett destroyed at States. Now Barrett is getting the coverage she deserves.
DeleteYou're 100% correct, she is getting a lot of well-deserved press. I don't know why people are complaining about that, but you can't say the "hype machine" because people talk about Henderson, O'Hara, and NA hype all season and trust me, that gets old. She won two days ago, she hasn't and won't be talked about for too much longer, don't worry. Come the first boys meet, she'll be long forgotten, until she breaks the PA record in the 3k that is.
DeleteTeam Rome!
Deletedon't forget rob finnerty in that class with mark dennin, he was a 4:01 high school miler
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of other PA girls that ran the 3k... Two of them beating her.
ReplyDeleteMarta Klebe (winner/she went to stoga), Leigha Anderson (second/went to CV) and Lauren Mills (went to uville) to name a few.
Did any of them do anything in college?
ReplyDeleteTo run at PSU,Should speak for itself.......
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, but I had to remove your comment for several reasons.
Delete1. This is not the outlet that such comments are accepted on. If such accusations are true you should go to a newspaper with the story.
2. Going off of #1, that was an Anonymous comment, making your accusation baseless.
3. Innocent until proven guilty. I will not have such accusations on my blog that diminishes a runners reputation. That is unacceptable. If this is a true story, this is not the outlet for it (as I stated earlier).
4. I have copied and pasted your comment into a word document so I have it and it isn't gone.
5. I do very much believe in freedom of speech, but that is Libel, which again is unacceptable on this blog.
--ForrestCRN
Totally understand and support your move there Forrest. Interesting though...I heard something similar but blew it off as sour grapes but who knows? Maybe in this instance where there is smoke, there's fire.
DeleteAside from the runner in question(and btw, you were correct to remove those comments) hasn't the popularity of hgh and other steroids been a dirty little secret in the high school football community? Remember reading things a while back. Would a distance runner benefit from them as well? And for the record, it is not Libel, if it is indeed true. The burden of proof lies on the accused to disprove it.
DeleteGeez, I leave the blog for practice and something goes down. Who accused who of what?
DeleteAfter being away for a few days, I come back to what seems like PADontPlay getting saucy. What happened? Can I get a clean version of those comments? haha.
Delete-RTJ
Would steroids benefit distance runners performance? Google, Mary Decker, Regina Jacobs (1500-5000), Eddy Hellebuyck (marathon), heck even Lance Armstrong as his sport is similar in physical needs. It’s a dirty topic but one to be aware of.
DeleteI hope someone does look into this further. Someone opened a can of worms here and frankly, it does make a lot of sense. Surely if there is a confirmation, it will be explained by much medical mumbo-jumbo and excuses. Shame to either dirty the runners reputation or the sport-either outcome stinks.
DeleteWhile we still have anonymous people commenting on the matter, let's not take anything too seriously. This could be someone taking it way too far because he really wants to stop talking about girls... and since he can't do that, he's going to give them a bad rep.. even though the subject is being brought up in the comments (and not by me for once... progress?). Anyway, let's leave this topic alone and stray away from Barrett. The legitimacy of these statements are very low from our standpoint.
Delete-RTJ
Steroids in a high school runner would likely show through increased muscle, a dramatic drop in PR times over a short period and possibly an overly aggressive and physical running style.
Deletewho accused whom of taking steriods?
DeleteI don't know squat so for what it's worth, I thought the original post was legit. It was not some flaming accusation and it made sense. I wouldn't attach my name to that either(remember dad is a lawyer too)but it sure does give rise to thoughtful discussion and to whomever posted the tell-tale signs of hgh use- check, check, check...if it walks like a duck...
DeleteRTJ, I would think a quicker way to eliminate posts about female runners in PA would be to not comment at all. That subject should not have been brought up here but if it is true, it's worth checking out.
DeleteI don't blame the guy for staying anonymous-historically there are plenty of whistleblowers who did not reveal their identity. Doesn't make the story untrue and the poster in this case sounded like he/she had some cred. I buy it
Is this guy or girl we're talking about?
DeleteForrest,
DeleteI can appreciate you taking down the comment I posted early, but first, I want to defend why I posted it here:
1) I feel as though this is a subject that needs to shed some light. I use the anonymous alias in order to save myself from seeming like a snitch. I’m very close to the situation and can assure that there is 100% validity behind the claims. I want to call attention to the matter and without drawing attention to myself as a whistle blower
2) Where do I go with this information? As far as I’m concerned this is the only congregation of people who really care about Pennsylvania distance running.
I won’t mention the runners name anymore on this blog, however, I want people to open their eyes and realize that running is not a sport where you can just drop 2 and a half minutes in one year. While, I understand this runner probably put a lot of hard work in to supplement her usage in growth hormones, it’s still a disgrace in my mind. I want people to think logically to realize that it is impossible to go from a decent runner from a state’s perspective to a national champion. It just cannot be done naturally.
If you would like to talk to me personally, Forrest, I can set up a fake email account to provide you with more information. I’m not trying to ruin this runner’s name, I just want to save the integrity of the sport. I never thought this type of activity would start taking place in high school. I’m disgusted.
The guy who posted that comment is afforded the right to speak in his own defense by the Constitution of the United States.
DeleteThis guarantees his liberty. "Liberty," in case any of you guys forgotten, is a soul's right to breathe. When it cannot take a long breath, laws are girded too tight. Without liberty, man is a syncope.
DeleteNice Good Will Hunting reference on the liberty quote.
DeleteFinally, someone who watched the movie!
DeleteI'm not saying we have a right to speak or not constitutionally. My thoughts on such issues have no place here.
DeleteAs for the idea/concept of drug use in the sport of track and field as a whole is something I find absolutely appalling. As someone who runs and works very hard at what I do I find it disgraceful for those who cheat or bend the rules.
Addressing a few of the accusations though: There are many people who drop a lot of time very quickly. Some people get injured or change the way they train. I had multiple teammates this year drop over a minute in PR's one dropping 2:30 (went from 220 to 61st in the region and he was running on a partial injury and hasn't ran since the race). Now this is over an 8k distance, but these are also guys, some of which have been training for over 6 to 8 years of their lives in running. Yes, it is a longer distance, but I've seen guys drop over a 90 seconds for 5k before on the guys side, especially over 2 years. She was injured last XC season, so we didn't get to see how fast she ran, so I do not believe that is an affective measure that you are using as "proof". For example Brian Arita ran 18:10 as a freshman and 16:26 as a sophomore at districts (hope you don't mind me using you as an example man!) and then ran 15:56 as a junior. Imagine if he didn't have that sophomore race. It would look as though he dropped over 2 minutes. The girl you are accusing ran very fast indoors coming off of the injury, showing she had potential to run very well in XC.
But despite all of this, if you were truly "disgusted" as you say you are, this is how I would handle the situation:
1. Contact Footlocker and provide all of the evidence and information you have and encourage a possible investigation.
2. Contact the PIAA and provide all of the evidence and information you have an encourage a possible investigation.
3. Contact Don Rich and provide all the evidence and information you have and encourage a possible investigation.
All of these sources have high amounts of resources and can act on such claims. If nothing is getting done and/or they believe that not enough evidence has been provided, then I would take what you have to a newspaper that is credible (probably a local one) to get the story out, if they believe it is legitimate enough to get published.
I understand you don't want to ruin a runners name, but if you have such evidence and you are unhappy with the situation enough to talk about it on a blog, especially one that attempts to promote competition and positivity in the sport, in many ways you're not helping the situation, only hurting it. Also if you're that close to the family, if you have not yet, bring it up with her father, or her and try and talk through the situation. It may be that you have already. In that case, that's fine. But either way if what you say is true, then all of the facts should be out with professions that can do something about the situation. If such illegal use is occurring than other people have gotten medals and titles taken away from them.
I do appreciate the comment and wish for our liberty and our freedom of speech to be used and expressed, but your comment I believe was not meant for the blog, but there are other outlets which you can go through that would be better to handle the situation. I'm not saying what you have said is false, but I cannot, in good conscience as an American where it is innocent until proven guilty, look at this situation and make or pass judgements. It is something interesting to consider, but nothing more for me and anyone else who is a by stander or even participant of the sport. Such accusations should be taken to officials.
Thank you for your readership however. I appreciate the comment.
--ForrestCRN
Well, if these accusations are true, then why now? Senior year means very little in terms of college. Most athletes are already talking to the coaches after their junior year is completed (the summer going into their senior year). Why would her dad put his license at risk now if not for college? There is no financial benefit, the only actual benefit is for Tessa to win. Between that and Tessa already being a great athlete, I don't see it. People are saying how she dropped so much time, which is true, but they aren't looking at the whole story. Tessa was hurt all last XC season and couldn't even finish the season. That's why her junior year XC times weren't stellar. She came off of injury, to set the state record in the 3k indoors and then come in 4th at Nationals in the 5k, running 16:42. Between that, he doing great outdoors at the Penn Relays and States (just missing the record with not so great conditions), she had confidence and put a lot of work in during the summer. Her times appear so low because she didn't get a chance to run a healthy XC season last year. I gave a lot of thought to this subject and it just doesn't add up because if she did use in excess, she would have killed FL, not just by 10 seconds, but how the Nike trio killed it. I honestly believe last year is when she would have used (if she would have) for that free college ride.
Delete-RTJ
Wow.
DeleteJust consider the possibility that an athlete may be taking a prescribed HGH for a medical condition such as a growth disorder, which is not at all uncommon in teens. I don’t know the PIAA rules for such drugs, but it may be totally permissible to compete. I’m not saying such a situation couldn’t be an advantage in sports or couldn’t be abused. But it wouldn’t surprise me if someone could have a medically supplemented prescription that is still acting within the guidelines of the current high school fair play rules. So I wouldn’t rush to judgment here without more information. I’ve never heard of a PA high school runner who used illegal HGH or steroids.
Having said all that, one of the things I love about running is it’s practically impossible not to see the results of hard work. From runners high fiving each other after a hard track or hill workout and then seeing the improvement in a meet to the kids who want to be part of the team or maybe just lose some weight. Every team has its share of top dogs, hard workers and just plain characters. It’s awesome. As with anything though, the competition at the highest levels can be fierce, scholarship possibility may be enticing and many are looking for an edge; nothing would surprise me. I would say though that anyone who would resort to cheating to get that edge just doesn’t get it and probably never will. I’ve seen cheaters cut corners (and get caught), intentionally trip the competition etc. But for every one of them there’s at least 1,000 who get it, work hard, support all fellow runners- teammates and competition alike. They enjoy the sport.
Quite the topic, more serious than I ever thought would hit Etrain or PA Don’t Play. Sorry for rambling but I do that from time to time.
Forrest, you’ve handled it well!
- RJJL
Leave it to coach RJJL Kelly to give some down to earth, rational reaction. I think I might start crying.
DeleteCoach Kelly is everything. OK, this runner is not financially motivated-this is a fact. They don't need the money. This runner was obsessed with the success and attention of another high school female phenom(who just turned pro). BTW, hgh is rarely used for growth disorders in 17-18 year old females. Sometimes though they have depleted themselves and their ability to mature due to anorexia.
DeleteI bet most of the dudes who commented and are pissed off about this are just butthurt because she has better 5k times than them.
Deleteyeah, my former teammate who graduated last year and now runs for a collegiate team dropped so much time. They went from running 21 min in a 5k to low 18s (8k split) in one year.
Delete*6k split my bad
DeleteThis is a shame. None of us knows anything except she obviously has tremendous drive and has put everything into her running. I hope this isn't true and I hope she can continue to impress.
Delete1st of all, RJJL is not coach Kelly. 2nd-If the guy making the accusations has any real "proof", he should come forward not make anonymous accusations on a high school blog. Proof would be seeing her inject HGH or whatever or her admission that she has been using those substances.
DeleteHGH or Steroids do not make a person better. They allow the athlete to recover more quickly from a hard exercise session. She would still have to do a lot of hard work.
I doubt that she's only running 5 miles a day and running that fast unless she's doing some crazy workouts. People often over or under estimate their mileage.
It's a shame that anytime someone does something great, their performance is questioned. She ran a great race and has been running great since getting healthy.
I'm not a coach (or a Kelly), I'm just a running freak who enjoys the discussions and appreciates what Forrest and Etrain before him do with these blogs.
Delete- RJJL
If HGH and Steroids don't make an athlete better(as you claim), then how come professional athletes risk their careers and their health to use them? If your statement were true there would be no controversy here. In addition to increasing muscle mass, you're right-they cut recovery time significantly allowing the athlete to train and compete harder, which makes them better.
DeleteThey do give an athlete an unfair advantage, which is why they are banned and why we are engaged in this discussion.
Forrest has every right to remove comments on this blog people. Remember that the first amendment only protects Government from interfering with those rights, not a private entity, like a blog webmaster. Forrest is on solid footing as far as controlling the content of this page.
DeleteIf Tony focuses on the 3000 instead of the mile during indoor, like you “predicted” he would, I’m not buying your story RJJL.
DeleteTony will be all about the mile indoors-no 3k for him. Trust.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you find the results for Paul Vandegrift?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.footlockercc.com/history/finals.php is where I got the results from. The drop-down box show's every year and the finishers places.
DeleteHere is Vandegrift's year specifically: http://www.footlockercc.com/history/1986boys.htm
--ForrestCRN
Thank you.
DeleteSo, who is running is which races this weekend?
ReplyDeleteI'd be willing to bet Wilson runs the 3k to qualify for States before taking his break. Doubt Barrett, Rome, or Schwartz does that though.
DeleteBL games this weekend, keep your eye on Millrose qualifiers.
-RTJ
It was Tessa Barrett day in Lackawanna! Not sure how to feel about that...hmmmmm
Delete