Weekend 3/29

This weekend has plagued with terrible weather, so the times are slower than expected, but there's always a silver lining and that's the runners that still ran well despite the weather. So let's get to it.

Mt. Lebo invite

Billy Doughetry absolutely commanded the 800 in a solo effort in 2:03.90. He's a 1:57 runner and given the conditions, that's a solid opener for him. Mt. Lebo boys are in pieces right now and I don't see a relay in the future for this team so I expect Dougherty to fully focus on the 800 and make it to States. I can see him running a low 1:55 by the end of outdoor.

Ian Baun opened up his season with a win and a new PR for the 1600. That's always a good sign no matter what the conditions and in this case, it's a great sign. Just falling short was Ryan Lerda who dropped a lot of time this indoor season and dipped under 4:30 in the mile. Keep tabs on him for a low 4:20 by the season's end.

39th Annual Altoona Igloo Inv.

Mitch Endress killed the 800 in a 2:01.42, the fastest he's ever opened up and following his season last year and family name, I expect big things from him in his final season. He had a solid indoor season, resulting in a 5th place medal in the 4x800.

Continuing the Altoona wins was Brad Foust in the 1600 in a 4:31. He was also a part of that 4x800 indoors and this squad is only looking to improve places for outdoor. Following Foust was Patrick Miller in 4:33. He's always been a part of the relays and if Brent Kennedy is back to strength he would be a solid 1200 leg to kick off their relay. If my memory serves correctly, he was the leadoff of Kiski Area's DMR at Indoor States. He's a gutsy racer and isn't afraid to go out hard. Speaking of Kennedy, Eric Kennedy opened up his freshman year in a 4:40, which is very impressive. To give some perspective, Willig was 4:51 when he opened up his season and Magaha was 4:37, but Magha's was late april. That was Magah's freshman PR and Willig ended in 4:33, so Kennedy is off to a great start.

Brent Kennedy lead the 3200 wire to wire running a solo 9:31.96. It's great to see him back in action after missing XC and indoor. Seems as though he trained through indoor and got back into great shape to end his career on a high note.

In the relays, Altoona kept the ball rolling in the 4x800, winning in an 8:17. Not a bad mark to start at. This team definitely looks to make it back to states in the 4x800 and have the pieces to do it.

PA Track Classic

There were a ton of scratches which is disappointing, but given the weather, it's understood. I wasn't at this meet, but I live 25 minutes away from the school so I could feel how bad the weather was.

The 800 had John Lewis being the stud that he is going 1:59.81 to take the win. No surprises there. Jon Carroll coming up big keeping it close in a 2:01 effort. Opening up exactly where he left off indoors. That's basically the dream to end where you peaked indoors. His season will be huge and for everyone who didn't know who he was, you'll know by the season's end. Speaking of starting where you left off, Charlie Hoyt left off better than he ended indoor season. Give him a few weeks and I expect him to be at 1:56 or better. He has solid 400 speed as well and I always love when 400 runner step up to run the 800.

Ryan Grace taking the mile by 5 seconds in 4:25.68. I figured he'd run 4:25, on a good day, but for the conditions to be as they were, that's incredible to me. Kudos to him. Dan Shalala, yet another runner to open up the season in this miserable weather to drop a PR. On a side note: What a name! Anyway, he surprised me huge here running better than he was running in May last year. Not sure what to expect from him, but he can only get better from here. Glad to see Eric Diestelow back at it. He's a very talented runner with a lot of potential. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him go low 4:20's by May. Pat Hopkins is piecing together a solid senior year and a 4:33 is a great way for him to start it. To round out the top 5, Billy McDevitt. He truly confuses me as a runner. a 4:35 is a solid mark, but his 1200 suggests he could go faster, but then he has a great 3k time to his name as well. Not sure what the future holds for him, but I can imagine it's a 3200. A fast one.

Jim Belfatto easily winning the 3200 in 9:37, not an impressive time, but a win is a win. Chris Kazanjian and Dominic Hockenbury battling it out for second with Chris just beating him out by .59. Hockenbury was the best performance of this race in my opinion, as just a sophomore running .23 under his PR in these conditions and beating out some pretty big names. He's definitely going to do big things this outdoor season. Casey Comber rounding out the last of the district qualifiers in 9:45 and Matt Kazanjian rounding out the top 5 in 9:52.

Radnor winning the DMR in an impressive battle with Spring Ford and SJ Prep in 10:46. Spring Ford running 10:46 and SJ Prep running 10:49. All solid times, but my biggest question is: Was David O'Such running the 800 leg for Spring Ford and if he was, what did he run? He is Joe O'Such's little brother and Joe had 1:55 speed to his name. He also had mile strength which David doesn't have, but he has more 400 speed. I'm not sure how low he can go, but I would love to see him run it at Henderson or the TFCAoGP meet at Coatesville.

There was an impressive battle between Malvern Prep and Carlisle, both going 8:06. Brehm and Hoey had a great dual. Not sure of the time, but word is Brehm was in third and by the end of the first lap was leading, but couldn't hold is as Hoey outkicked him. Not sure who was in each of the relays, but I have a pretty good idea. If anyone could throw up splits that would be great. Jon Carroll had a solid day, running that 2:01 off the double. I assume both teams wanted to try and get an invite to the Penn Relays 4x800 and with that time I wouldn't be surprised if they did. North Penn was close behind in 8:11. Solid time for them as well. Was Ryan Grace on that relay? Splits for them would be great as well. They ran 7:58 indoors so I would be very surprised if they didn't get the Penn Relays invite.

All-in-all, this weekend was a solid one given the circumstances. It's supposed to rain next Friday so I'm not sure how the weather will be on Saturday, but let's hope it's not as bad as this one.

-RTJ