Hey guys, things on my side have been super busy as I have
just started the pledging process. I may not have as much time to blog in the
next week or so as I am trying to figure out how my new schedule will work out.
I am sorry for not being here the past two days, honestly I haven’t opened my
computer for anything other than homework since Saturday afternoon. I’m going
to try and do a video on Friday if that’s in the cards.
I am glad to see that some PA guys out to the Youngstown
Meet #2 so I’ll talk about that now.
Dylin Wilhoite of Penn Hills opened his season very well
with a 1:59.87 to win the open 8 over District 7 rival Marcus Smail (1:56 guy).
I wasn’t sure how much of Smail we would see this indoor season but his 2:00.50
opening is a very good sign. Wilhoite is going to be a beast this indoor season
I have no doubt and although Wiseman, Cather, Lewis, and Logue seem to be on
another level altogether, Wilhoite could surprise. Penn Hill’s has a history of
putting out big time 800m guys and I think Wilhoite can be a threat.
Seneca Valley’s Mike Kolor had a very solid double running
4:35 for 1600m and 2:04 for 800m. Nothing crazy, but he’s got the potential to
grab that SQS at a later weekend.
Hopefully next weekend we’ll get to see the Martin twins opening
up their seasons.
At the New Balance Games I was quite impressed with freshman
Seth Slavin’s 10:05 for a full 2 Mile. He beat out Dan Shalala (still has an
amazing name) who ran 10:09 and ran very well in XC. Slavin is a real talent
for us to keep an eye on. If he’s in this type of shape now I have no doubt he
could break 9:40 for 3200m towards the end of outdoors, putting him in very
strong company.
O’Hara looked strong in the 4x8 running 7:58.76 for the win.
We didn’t see anything killer from them, but I think the DMR is a better
overall event for them. State College went 7:57 with 3 guys on the doubt and
O’Hara’s only guy on the double was Belfatto who placed 9th in the
Invitational Mile in 4:25.42 which is pretty solid for him. I still think the
1200 is his ideal distance and I like Kevin James anchoring their DM. Clearly
they’re a top tier relay squad so I’m picking hairs here. They should easily be
able to go top 2 to 3 in whatever relay they choice with the depth and pieces
they have. They’re B and C relays did not fare as well, both teams running
8:48. This shows some solid depth all around from the team, but they were
clearly seeded a bit fast.
Behind them was a fantastic time for Penncrest in 8:03! I
wasn’t sure why they were seeded at 8:24, but I’m glad they got into a fast
race. I’d love to know the splits for those guys to see if both Kazanjian’s
were in the race. Looks as though they’ll be looking for a top 5 medal spot at
states and they’ve got pretty even splits all around which is good to see.
Abington ran pretty solid grabbing the SQS in 8:12. It’s
nice to see them on the upswing and they should be under 8:10 by states,
although often times they peak a bit too early. Either way if the relays get
slow they could sneak in for a medal. Upper Darby ran 8:19 which was a bit
disappointing since they seemed to be ready to break 8:10. They did peak well
last season however and are still an outside medal threat in my opinion.
Jeff Wiseman of CR South looked really great running 1:21.07
which was good enough for 3rd place. I’m sure he took it out hard,
but he’s got some work to do with Logue and Cather going out in 1:24 through
600 this weekend. I think he could have gone 1:54 with them this weekend. He’s
got the best lean in the state and you can never count him out for the win.
RTJ was spot on with his prediction for the O’Hara girls as
they went 12:15.91 in the DMR which puts them at a new PA #1 and placed them 3rd
in the race. They’re looking really strong as a relay team and I think they’ll
be all fresh unless Kelly runs the Mile. Behind them Garnet Valley had a nice
repeat performance running 12:41. They’re a legit team and were in no man’s
land which makes it difficult for them to PR. Last race they had much more
competition. I see them as an outside medal contender.
--ForrestCRN
New news in the track world. Joey logue has dropped his commitment to Pitt and is now committed to PSU. Now PSU has Joey, Tony, Cather, Tommy louro from NY a 1:53 800 guy. And on the girls side Tessa Barrett, Gretta Lindsley, and Elizabeth Chikotas. This is definitely one the best recruiting class they've obtained from PA on the distance side in a very long time, maybe ever.
ReplyDeleteMaybe great recruiting, maybe not. A lot of the big name high school runners don’t do much at the college level. No XC or 1600/3200 PA champ has really made an impact at the college level over the last five years. Some high school programs have a reputation for burning guys out. It’s usually the late bloomer who was on the fringe of being a big high school name who finds success in college.
DeleteThat's so true. Lots of examples in PA to support that theory.
DeleteThey have nice relay team potential but I don't see even Russell running XC with any impact there. That's just not Penn State.
Magaha, Fischer, Kellar or Burkhardt were outstanding in high school, not even sure if they run in college but then again college running doesn't have an Etrain or PA Don't Play to promote it.
DeleteMagaha is still running he just was injured/redshirted last year. He will probably have a pretty good college track career once he gets going. Also, in regards to the statement about PA state champs not making an impact thats just not true at all. Ned Willig PA State champ indoors won a Heps title in track as a freshman and has one of the fastest time in the country this year. Also, Matt Fischer of Penn State won a PA State Championship in the 3200m and has a top 5 finish at regionals in cross and a solid run at nationals. Also Conner Quinn of Penn State was a state champ and had one of the highest finishes for freshman at regionals in cross country this year. Ryan Gil despite being injured for two years had a very solid cross country season along with a 4:08 mile to open his season indoors. So to say that NO XC or 1600/3200 PA Champ has made an impact at the college level over the last five years is completely false.
DeleteI stand corrected. Thank you RJJL Kelly.
DeleteSo now I know why he ran like that on Saturday...$$$.
ReplyDeleteI think that's a good move for him especially since at PSU he'll have the better academic support he needs.
Un-committing is unusual. What are the ncaa guidelines pertaining to that? Besides Russell, have any of the other senior runners from WCH committed yet? Curious as I haven't heard. Guess they all live in the shadow of Russell.
DeleteThe 2011 class I think it was? That was a pretty solid one. Burkhardt, Endress, Chris Campbell, and Manley from NY. They even snagged Matt Gilmore. That was one outstanding recruiting class
DeleteYou can back out of a verbal commitment any time you want.
DeleteManley ran for cb west he is not from New York ... Dennin was a national qualifier as was Fischer and Dawson ... That's very hard at ncaa level ... Psu invite coming up this weekend will highlight a lot of pa alumn talent ....
DeleteNever understand why kids are in such a hurry to commit and broadcast it as soon as they can. Obviously college coaches push to get that commitment/early decision app. in, etc...that's their job. But maybe that's why you never hear from some of the runners you mentioned-they jumped into the wrong situation too soon without fully exploring their options. And sports was or is the priority, not academics.
DeleteAs someone who has had to commit early, maybe this year maybe years back. Its mostly because of money. Many people think all these great runners can choose wherever they want to go like the only thing separating school from school is the program. Scholarships are only available for so long and if you're one of the really good guys, college coaches need to know if you're coming to them or not so they don't waist time on you and lose another runner they're interested in because they held the scholarship money for you. Its a very stressful ordeal and sometime money comes up late. My guess all of Penn States recruiting money went to Russell, someone may have left who was on a scholarship so PSU may have found money for longue that they didn't have before.
Delete^im starting to think now that I post on this blog so often I should give myself a nice tag to identify myself with. And I did mean to say Logue at the end. My bad.
Delete-KP-
Nobody gets a full ride for running, it's too unpredictable. They spread around the scholarship money for partial rides over several with potential.
DeleteOn facebook Barchet said he commited to Colorado, the NCAA champ.
ReplyDelete