Ross Wilson has impressed me so much this year. I always thought of him as a 3k/5k guy, but this year he has straight killed the mile. Hitting 4:15.09 for a full mile translates to a 4:13.61 1600. During the Henderson night invite I can honestly see him going sub 9 in the 3200. Also in this race we had the sophomore sensation Jaxson Hoey running 4:16.72. He’s put together quite the year as well. The last sophomore to be as dominant as him was Tom Mallon running a 1:52 and shocking everyone at the state meet to win. I fully believe that if Tony Russell wasn’t in that race Hoey would have had the calmer pace and would have pulled out the win in around 4:15-ish. Sam Ritz ran a great race as well in 4:16.85, bouncing back from his States race. He has 4:09 speed so this outdoor season he will definitely be one to watch.
State College running a 7:46 indoor is extremely impressive, especially when all of the runners didn’t run a PR. Cather had a monster anchor in 1:53 and This relay looks unbeatable outdoors. Mason Post has really progressed nicely in his 800 this season and only can get better from here. O’Hara ran a 7:54, nothing too impressive for them, but since they ran out of their minds the day before, I think we can give them a free pass. D-East was the last PA team and didn’t run too hot. On the bright side, even with a bad day they can still run close to 8 flat indoors which means they will be a solid squad outdoors.
Henderson had a solid showing in the 4xMile. Definitely thought they could go faster, but there’s always a bright side and that’s Barchet still showing he can perform in the post-season. Yes, Russell did “only” run a 4:20, but there was honestly no point in him going any faster. The top three teams were way too far for him to catch so why waste energy that you don’t have to? I wish Moy/Stratman ran a little faster, but I’m sure they will both drop solid miles outdoor. NA shocked me. For being such a strong XC team, I expected at least a sub 18:00, but they are more 3200 runners than milers.
Colin Martin continues racing impressively by dropping a sub 14:50 5k for fourth place! Max Norris and Brendan Shearn didn’t even go that low and both were very impressive 3k/5k runners. Shearn went 9:04 so this makes me think Martin has a shot to go sub 9, especially since Martin has better 1600 speed than Shearn. He’s had such a great season and will only improve when he gets his training partner back.
Cardinal O’Hara, wow. Just wow. If there was a team that improved the most over this season it is definitely them. Kevin James rocking a 3:03 is blazing fast. He went 3:04 last year at Penn Relays so I can only imagine he will be close to 3 flat this year. Nick Smart dropping a 1:53 amazes me as well. He went from 2 flat at Delco’s to 1:53 about a month later. That’s on some serious Sam Ellison-type dropping of time in the 800. Last, but not least, Jim Belfatto absolutely killing the anchor leg in a 4:11. Not sure what O’Hara’s coach did the last month of the season, but he did it right. In THREE weeks he went from a 4:22 at PCL’s, which was his PR, to 4:17 at the state meet, to 4:11 at Nationals. Wow. I’ve never seen anyone drop that much time. The anchor split of the DMR is a 1600, which would be about 4:13, but still a ridiculous drop in time over three weeks. Congrats to the national champs and PA’s all time best, they deserve it. Henderson also ran very impressively going 10:04 for fourth. That was also a PA all time best. Moy was a little off, but Stratman ran a great race in 1:57 and Russell Absolutely killed the anchor leg in a 4:07! I believe he will dip under 4:05 in the 1600 if he gets in the right race and for the mile I think he can go 4:07-ish.
If only Jeff Wiseman repeated his feat at State he would be the National champ right now. It’s insanely difficult to run a PR two weeks in a row though, especially when you’re that low. He ran a solid race and grabbed sixth place. Cather ran a solid race as well placing 14th.
Gotta mention the double national champ, Tessa Barrett. She has had an unbelievable year this year and to break the National record is insane. She also broke the 3k state record in her two mile… and in her 5k. She is actually a monster.
-RTJ
Looking forward to outdoor one of the things we should consider about State College is while everyone one was being affected by training, they had the amazing track of PSU to practice on. Would not be surprised if they didn't improve much. I say 7:44 at best from them.
ReplyDeleteI highly doubt the Penn state coaches just let the high school team have free use of their indoor track. I would bet they're only there for meets.
DeleteWith regards to Belfatto's improvements, there is an old PennTrack thread somewhere about a kid named Ryan Fink from Strath Haven dropping from 4:26 to 4:13 (and almost winning states) over the course of like a month. However, I would temper my expectations for Belfatto's outdoor times - remember that Dan Savage split like a 4:15/6 at NBIN last year and took a backseat to James and some of his other teammates outdoors.
ReplyDeleteRoss's time was awesome, especially considering that his indoor season got off to a slow start and was a bit more relaxed, ensuring that he didn't plateau/burn out after a long XC season. He is an animal, and has a great shot at sub 4:10/9:00
I also think that Sam Ritz will run some very fast times this year and potentially break 4:10. I'm confident that he and Hoey are on roughly the same level right now, but Ritz is improving faster relative to where each of them was in January and February.
Oh yeah, one more thing: where will Zach Brehm be in all of this?
I don't think Belfatto will fall of like Savage did because Belfatto continued to improve. Savage didn't really improve much and then he just burnt out come outdoor track much like Norris at the end of his season. As Brehm, him and Carlisle really didn't do many meets in indoor. So I really have no idea where he could be at by the end of the season. But I'm sure he is still in contention with Francis, Russell, Wilson and all the rest of PA's elites for a state title by the end of the season. Carlisle had a good peak for XC so I'm sure they'll do the same in track.
DeleteWith regards to PSU letting SC use their track, it's definitely possible, but highly doubtful. A college letting a high school team use their track is a reach, especially because there are other high schools around close-ish to that area and they would kind of have to let the others train there as well if they're going to let SC use it. None nearly as close, but definitely others. Busing would be extremely expensive as well, every day to and from PSU would cost the school a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteRitz is definitely a late season runner. Ritz will definitely break 4:10 or else this year would be a bust, seeing as he ran 4:09 as a sophomore. I believe Hoey will be right there with him at the distance festival and all of their seasonal duels. I wouldn't even doubt if they coordinated to run against each other.
-RTJ
State college's high school is basically on the Penn State campus so there is no busing fees. Plus their distance coach is an alumni so he probably could get them a little bit of special treatment.
DeleteThe track is open to the public in the evenings. While I seriously doubt the whole team was practicing there, I'd bet that 5-6 State College guys were allowed to get on a couple times a week.
ReplyDeleteState College looks unbeatable outdoors in the 4x800? no way, oharas dmr killed it the night before and ran out of their mind and could definately take down that SC relay when they are on the fresher side of things
ReplyDeleteThe 4x800 and DMR are completely different events. Just because you're great at one doesn't mean you'll be great at the other.
DeleteThey proved that they have a very good 4 x 8 by running 7:50. If they went that way, they would certainly run in the 7:40 range or better. I would expect them to run individual events outdoors. Their top 3 guys should be contenders for a Championship.
DeleteAgreed. You figure Smart vs Cather is close with the edge to Cather probably. James is one gutsy guy and who knows what Belfatto can do. I'm not super knowledgeable on O'Haras 4th guy but I think a :53., :55., :55. and whatever their fourth guy can muster could be real potent. Say about a 2 flat and still around 7:44. Watching that DMR it's not out of the question. And maybe Henderson wants to go for it too???
DeleteHenderson is done. Out of all those guys only Russell has improved this year. They're burnt out.
DeleteReiny and Seamus are the only ones who didn't run faster indoors then last year. Stratman ran 8 seconds faster in the mile and 5 seconds faster in the 800. Moy ran 6 seconds faster in the mile and a second faster in the 800. Thompson ran 11 seconds faster in the mile and 2 seconds faster in the 800. Knapp ran 18 seconds faster in the mile. Waltz ran 10 seconds faster in the 3k.
DeleteO'Hara improved on their outdoor times from last year, that's why they're doing better, because they're not burnt out.
DeleteO'Hara will dominate.
DeleteThe question with O' Hara is whether or not James and Belfatto will sacrifice individual events for the relay. I realize some of State College's guys will also be dealing with that, but they have already set a precedent of sacrificing individual events for the relay. O' Hara didn't do that last year, so the question is, will that change this year?
ReplyDelete-GBC
Sorry, the question applies to Smart too. My bad, I totally blanked on that one.
Delete-GBC
It would be less of a sacrifice for Smart because the 800 double isn't the most difficult since there's at least 4 hours in between. The question is what will James and Belfatto be doing?
DeleteThat's a good question and a difficult choice for them. Smart, James and Belfatto would all be favorites to medal but chances of individual gold will be tough with all the talent this year. However, if they went fresh in the 4x800 they'd have a much better chance for a win. My guess is they run their individual events and double back though.
Delete- RJJL
Anyone know who are the teams that have broken 7:40 in the 4x8 since 2005. I can only think of CBS and NP off the top of my head.
ReplyDeleteAbington and CB West. Both at the Penn Relays in 2011.
DeleteO'hara got that DMR title and tried to come back and win the 4x8 as well. all of their legs ran pretty well except smart looked pretty tired on the first leg and didnt break 2. that put them way out of it, so i think doubling for him will be out and ohara will focus on the winning that 4x8 and we'll see what belfatto and james will ran alongside it. either way o'hara vs. state college has the potential to be quite the race
ReplyDeleteo'hara won a national title but not the state title. hmmm... i think its a race
ReplyDeleteThe track carnival acceptance list is up
ReplyDeletehttp://pa.milesplit.com/meets/152496/attachment/288682
Snow is returning to the mid-state on Tues. What a way to enjoy outdoor track!
ReplyDeleteIs snow supposed to hit the entire state?