Henderson Distance Festival Preview!

There is a lot to talk about in terms of this meet, so for tonight I’m going to put up previews of the big races. I’ll go back and look over the Mixed Races tomorrow and put up the preview before the meet goes off.

In the Men’s 1500m Elite Run

When it says Men’s Elite Run, boy there are some Elite runners racing: Travis Mahoney, Kyle Merber, and Owen Dawson. Also some other PA-alum runners including Phil Celona, Vince Perozze, Nick Scarpello, Lyle Wister, and Ed Donnelly. (Sorry for anyone I missed!)

These PA Alumni will be joined by two current PA high schoolers’ – Zach Brehm (Jr.) and Jaxson Hoey (So.). Today on pa.milesplit.com I got in a great discussion about the top 1500m time of All-Time at the state level and it seems like it 3:49.67 by Paul Vandergrift in his Penn Relays win back in 1987. Zach Brehm is put down at 3:49 and Hoey is at 3:51… 

I did my best to use conversion factors from 1600 to the 1500 in order to predict these results:

The pace will go out hard, of that I have no doubt, and by bets are on Kyle Merber to win the race despite his recent struggles, but enough of that, back to Brehm. He can quadruple well and proved his strength at the state meet. A race going out fast actually benefits Brehm. I think the fastest he can run over 1600m is 4:06.80, which gives him a conversion of 3:49.89, just off of Vandegrift’s record. I’m a huge believer in Brehm, but I predict Brehm run’s 3:50.12. And I really have a bad feeling about doing that, ugh. 

Now, onto our youngster Jaxson Hoey. I love that he’s going for it and entering the Elite section. He always tries to hold onto fast paces and I give him a lot of credit for that. Fearless racing is awesome, but I believe he’s just a bit over his head on this one. I think he could run 4:11 for a full Mile, which gives him a 3:52.48 1500m conversion. I think he’ll go after a fast pace too early and it will hurt him in the end and I see him falling back and running around 3:58. In a race paced more towards his needs I think he could run a 3:52. 

Boys 1 Mile Run Elite

Oh Boy am I excited about this Mile! There are a ton of great races, although I am sad to see that Billy Caldwell will not be competing this year. I’m not really sure where to start, but I will say that I bet the race goes out hard; most likely there will be a pacer.

Sam Ritz had his big race here last season, but I do not foresee him running the same time again this season. He has been very solid all-around however and I think he’ll be top 3. He’s how I see the rankings playing out (in PA order)

1. Kevin James – 4:10.97 – I really loved his 9:03 and he’s got a 3:04 1200 to his name. With that type of speed/strength combination I think he’s got what it takes to win this race and drop a huge PR. He rarely runs the 16/Mile distance and I think it’s time he kills it. 

2. Sam Ritz – 4:11.23—Ritz ran so well at the end of last season and he’s run some very strong races against Hoey, so I have to believe he’s in top notch shape. I think James will get the best of him, however.

3. William Cather – 4:12.76 – Will Cather has had an amazing season. He’s an XC medalist and he’s running 1:52.2 splits on 4x8’s and looking relaxed doing it. Cather has not run the Mile too often this outdoor season, but he did solo a 4:17 on the double. I think he’s got great potential and if he sticks in the top 6 I think he’ll be able to kick home over the chase pack. 

4. Jim Belfatto – 4:12.90– He did not have a great states race, but I do still believe he’s got a few more great races in him during his high school career. He’s run 4:11 splits and had a solid triple at Delco’s that I did not forget about. I think he’s got a lot more in him and he shows it here, but gets kicked down by Cather in the final meters, putting him at 4^th.

5. Reiny Barchet – 4:14.50 – Yes, I think Barchet is going to have a killer race and is almost in it until he last 300m. Barchet has dropped 60 second last 400m en-route to run a 4:16. He’s got way more speed than I’ve ever seen before and his 2 mile time shows he can hang with a pace. I think he sticks in there and finishes well.

6. Eric Stratman – 4:16.84 -- Stratman had a killer 4x8 split at states (1:55.8) and he was a 4:19 miler last season. He’s been solid all season long and I think he has his second big PR in a row.

7. Kevin Moy – 4:16.88 – Moy had a solid race at the state meet, splitting 1:56.9, and honestly I thought he could have been splitting in the 1:53’s. The man came into the season as the top 1600m returning finisher from the state meet. He hasn’t dropped those same times this year, but I do believe he ends his season on a good note with a good performance for this season.

8. Gunnar Sjoreen – 4:17.16 – After a really tough state meet I bet Sjoreen is out for blood. He’s a strong runner and I believe an even pace really benefits him. I think he ends his season on a high note instead of a low one.

9. Seamus Collins – 4:17.59 – I think Collins will run with Stratman, but I just don’t think Stratman beats him in the last 200, although Collins did just split 1:56.1, and I sure never saw that coming. Maybe he might drop a 4:16 Mile, we shall see.

 

10. Andrew Marston – 4:17.90 – The Coaches over at Conestoga do a fantastic job at training their runners to stay even. I said it in my last post, but Marston really does have a clock in his heat. I think he just clocks off 64.5’s the whole way. 

11. Billy McDevitt – 4:18.03 – Marston will help McDevitt roll his way to a big PR. He surprised me indoors with his 3k marks. This would be quite a jump in time of him (4 seconds), but he hasn’t raced in a couple weeks. 

12. Cole Nissley – 4:18.32 -- Cole Nissley ran his 4:19.95 seed time after running a sub 9:30 3200, although it was over 1600m. Nissley had a rough day doubling at the state meet, but I think he’s got one last great race. He’s Mr. Consistency and I think a small drop in time is reasonable.

13. James Hare – 4:18.54 – Hare is one of my favorite runners out of District 1. He comes on big at the end of the season and he’s dropped a lot of time recently. I think he’ll have a great race to end his high school career. 

I’d love to see Mike Kolor break 4:20 for the Mile. He’s only a sophomore and I’m really excited to see how he and Brett Foster do next season together.

Men 800m Run Elite

Before I get serious about this race, let me point out that there is a man running from Haiti seeded at 1:48.00 named Joseph, Joesph…. Okay, now time to get serious again.

Joe Logue also believes he can run sub 1:50. He man put himself in the Elite race in a fast heat with the seed time of 1:49.50. He believes in himself and he’ll be running against some really strong College Kids including Josh Lampron and Ben Malone. It’s a great opportunity for him. I believe they will have 8 people per heat for the Elite races, or at least the first few heats. This puts Logue and company in the 3^rd heat.

In a slightly slower heat, I believe they will have the last 14 runners in a heat starting with this heat, we’ll have North Penn graduate Chris Trimble with a 1:51.80 seed, Tom Kehl the Father Judge alum with a seed time of 1:53.00, and Nick Scarpello of CB West seeded at 1:54.12. Current PA runners are Nick Smart – 1:52.01, Evan Emanuel – 1:54.93, the Penncrest anchor who just split 1:54.5 at states, his teammate Soham Kamat – 1:55.37

Here are my predicted times

1. Joseph Logue – 1:49:27 – I was halfway through a write-up saying that Logue could beat Tom Mallon for 3^rd place All-Time, but I don’t believe he can do it. I think he just misses Mark Folwer’s mark of 1:49.24. Logue is absolutely amazing and he’s been amazing all outdoor season. I think he has his big breakout 800 race here much like he did as a sophomore.

2. Nick Smart – 1:52.94 – I think Smart has a bounce back after states. He had a rough time, but I think he’ll be able to pull great race together right before Nationals to give him his confidence back.

3. Evan Emanuel – 1:55.08 – After a huge PR at the state meet for his team I think Emanuel has a great open PR. I don’t think he’ll dip back into the 1:54’s, but I think he’s in shape to run this low of a time without the magic of states.

4. Soham Kamat – 1:56.80 – I think he is a bit too over his head getting into the Elite races and his suffers a bit on time. A 1:56 isn’t too bad for him though.

Mixed 5000m

Casey Comber is running and is seeded at 15:15. There are a bunch of runners around him with similar seed times including Alexander Balla. Comber I think has a size-able PR and runs 15:12. I never thought he’d be a sub 4:20 guy as a junior, even after his strong indoor campaign. I think he’s going to be scary good in XC next year and this race is the start of that.

Balla’s seed time of 15:25 seems very reasonable after his big 9:24 race at districts. He ran 15:47 on grass at Lehigh and he excels at longer distances, so I think he just betters his seed time with a 15:24.50.

Also signed up is James Hare, to you, I say good luck, my friend.

One more Note: 7 of the top 3 finishers in the distance events are not racing. Granted two are from District 7, but the District 1 boys Wilson, Russell (injury), Francis, Wiseman,  and Caldwell. It's a shame, but they're going out of their high school careers after PR'ing at a state meet. I don't blame them at all, and I can't wait to see them race in college.

--ForrestCRN

In-depth Analysis of AAA Boys Distance States

I wanted to start this post by public apologizing for the ruckus that I caused on Penntrack these past few days. I over-reacted to having another one of my posts deleted, but it is something that I've dealt with multiple times in the past and it was out of line for me to rage on their forums. I'm not that type of person, and I understand it gives me a poor image, which is why I am apologizing and promising to all of you that it will not happen again. I will be calling Don Rich later tonight to personally apologize to him and his team as well. I wish I could work in tandem with them, but every time we attempt to work together things seem to fall through and I just got frustrated over something insignificant and lashed out. I repeat that this will not happen again. Not much else to say about that, so moving on.

Milesplit has a poll up on the top performances of the week and right now State College's 4x800 is second place! Go on and vote to try and boost them to the top! http://usa.milesplit.com/articles/129314-poll-top-national-boys-performer-from-5-24-weekend#.U4Yj3iiopp4

In depth look at states: We know how the races played out up front, but who else stepped up to the plate, had good and bad days, the state medalists and the ones who just missed. These posts will be for those runners who are really top notch, but might not be the top of these deeply talented fields. 

Boys 1600m AAA

Brehm and Caldwell stole the fame and the top two places in the 1600, but who else should we talk about? I know I talked a bit in my other posts about him, but Jeff Van Kooten is scary good. This kid peaks so well, and he has done so consistently all season. In XC he had a rough season, but come the state meet he placed 15^th overall! Outdoors he had some decent 1600’s, but then he dropped a 4:17 in pouring rain and then hit 4:14.05 at states! He closed incredibly well and should not be overlooked next XC season. Nathan Sloan barely broke 4:20 last year and its rare seniors drop a ton of time. I thought Sloan could be a 4:16.80 runner at best this season, but he dropped a bomb in the state finals of 4:14.67 to place 4^th! Really great stuff from those two guys out of district 7. 

Behind them Colin Abert ran a very solid 4:17.23. After a strong second place finish at the XC state meet Abert looked to run in the low 4:10’s this outdoor season. It was quite an ambitious goal for the junior. Sadly sickness and injury during the winter months really delayed his training, but he came back strong and a 5^th place finish is really solid for the junior who is the 3^rd returner next year. He’s scary good and the top returning XC runner in the state for AAA.

Ryan Grace. Talking about guys who had big days, Ryan Grace should be at the top of that list, and in my opinion he had one of the best doubles at the state meet. First he split 1:54.80 (according to Jarrett) and came back in a PR of 4:18.43!! I’m super impressed with the North Penn senior. He really jumped all in this track season after his breakout XC year (15:47 5k). He continued to race strong and was never scared of a pace or a runner. 6^th place outdoors, 8^th place indoors and anchored two very strong relay teams.

Jim Belfatto didn’t have a great day at states, and I hope he’s not burning out. Belfatto has had some amazing races in March including a solo 4:11.90 at nationals to win the DMR in 10 flat for his team, which is just incredible, and then hung with Tony Russell at the Penn Relays on a blistering 2:02 open half, eventually he would fade, but he lead O’Hara to a second place finish. He leads paces and sticks his neck in every race. It’s always excited to see Belfatto on the track and hopefully he ends his outdoor season on a strong note at Henderson and nationals. 

Connor Holm! After sneaking onto the medal stands indoors from the slow heat in a 1:56, how was Holm going to do outdoors? He dropped a great, 5 second, PR of 4:20.50 at his lead championships, and continued to roll at districts placing 7^th in 4:20.64. How would he handle the trials at states? Just fine, dropping another PR of 4:20.06. Running 4:20 3 times in a row right off of a 5 second PR is extraordinary. Major props for the fantastic consistency from him during the championship season. In the state final he did what he had to in order to grab the 8^th place medal in a 4:21.29. It would have been awesome to see him PR again in the finals and dip under 4:20, but that is too unrealistic. Holm is only a junior and I have a feeling we’ll see big things from him next year. 

Cole Nissley and Reiny Barchet ran 4:24.42 and 4:25.98. The fact that both of them went for the 32/16 double shocks me. They’re both strong, XC minded runners, but it’s gutsy to try and do both. Barchet had a very solid race in the 3200 to grab a medal (more on that later), while Nissley was hurt from the trials the day before and only ran 9:37 to place 20^th. Both guys really went for it, and I give them a lot of credit for trying. I’m sure you guys remember from XC how much I ranted about my love of Nissley’s consistency and he ends with just that outdoors. Slowly dropped time all outdoor season, and I’m sorry to see him leave without an outdoor state medal. 

Lastly, Matt Brown out of district 12, the man I predicted would pop out a great race to make the finals, and he did just that. Sadly he did not have another 4:20 race in him and he fell off the pace early. Brown ends high school with a 4:20 PR and a bid to the state finals, something that seemed quite far-fetched during indoor season when he was running 4:30’s. 

Boys 3200 AAA

Yes, two runners broke the State Meet Record and 3 guys went under 9 minutes. Yes Kevin James, a junior, ran 9:03.19 and Dominic Deluca helped the 4 runners with his blistering starting place to end in a 9:07 (PR of 9:03 and 8:21 3k), but who else did we miss in the ruckus behind these super stars?

First man, 6^th place finisher in 9:08.11, the junior, Sam Webb. My goodness, talk about comeback seasons, Webb would get the award no question. After breaking his leg during regionals Webb didn’t run all of indoors. Outdoors he started off pretty strong with a 4:20 1600 at Henderson’s Warrior Invite. Then in the 2 Mile he ran 9:29, so the 1600 was looking like his best event considering he ran 9:14.87 at the meet last year. Webb however was not deterred from the 3200m distance and stuck with Ross Wilson at Districts and dropped a massive PR of 9:11.91!  How would Webb follow that up at states? By running another PR of over 3 seconds. This kid is not afraid of anyone and it’s awesome. With so many strong juniors returning next year for XC, Sam Webb has got to be one of the runners to look out for. Oh did I mention that he doubled back and split 1:58.7 as the second leg of Pennbury’s 4x8? Yeah, that happened. Sam Webb – Beast.

Reiny Barchet will be attending the University of Colorado in the fall, and I’m pumped for him. He’s got a great distance running body and I believe he will really excel at the 8k and 10k distances in XC for the Buffalo’s. I’m not sure how much we’ll see him race and I hope he doesn’t get lost in the pack (they return all 7 runners from their championship team last year and get back Jake Hurytz who is an animal). Enough about College though and more about Reiny. He ran 9:11 to place 8^th at states, which is really solid for him, but his body of work is really fantastic. I ripped the guy in XC for lack of consistency during races, but he placed 5^th at states during XC and ran 9:06 for two miles at Henderson’s Nike meet. He’s such a pure distance guy and I’m ecstatic to see him going to such a great program in college.  Also, he ran the open 400 at Ches-Mont’s (53.56), just thought I’d point that out, because I find it hilarious.

Matt Mcgoey is the last of our 3200m medalists and boy did he have a solid year. He medaled in all 3 seasons (24^th – 16:35 in XC, 6^th indoors – 8:45.76 3k, and 8^th outdoors – 9:12.32 3200) and PR’d both indoors and outdoors at the state meet. Talk about peaking perfectly. XC he looked to be a ‘teen’ medalist, but 24^th is a medal, which is tough to do as a junior and he placed 3^rd at WPIALs. He’s not someone to be overlooked next XC season and could be a top 5 guy in AAA. 

What about the rest of the field? So many runners had great days and I’ll start with the senior class. District 3 champion Patrick Reilly placed 11^th. At the start of the outdoor season he solo’d a 9:14 to really push his competition into dropping fast times early in the season. Sadly come states he didn’t have the same spark, but ran a very solid 9:19. He ran 9:18 the week before and during the season also dropped a 10 second PR in the 1600, running 4:20.48. A great season overall for Reilly. Right behind were 3 more strong seniors who will be missed greatly: Chris Kazanjian, Brent Kennedy, and Jeff Groh. All 3 runners had such amazing careers. Kennedy and Groh showed such talent as sophomores with Kennedy medaling at the state meet and Groh running 9:27 outdoors to place 9^th at the state meet. Chris Kazanjian was able to stay fairly injury free and had a huge XC season, while the other two were plagued with injuries. They both railed and made it to the state championships outdoors. To all 4 runners in this paragraph you were fantastic runners and PA track and cross country will miss your presence. 

Now to the non-medalist juniors – Aaron Gebhart, Casey Comber, and Andrew Marston. Both Gebhart and Comber ran just a second off of their PR’s at the state meet, which is really fantastic. Comber ran under 9:20 3 times this season and has a 4:19 PR in the 1600 to his name. A sophomore that nobody had heard of turned into a junior that everyone strove to be. His hard work and dedication have really shown through and from my time meeting him at districts he’s such a light-hearted fun loving kid. Really an awesome season overall. Gebhart is my boy out of district 3. He caught my eye after a big 28^th place finish his sophomore year and he has not backed down from challenges and always races big at district and state championship meets. This is a great finish for him and we can expect to see big things out of the 3 of these guys during XC. Marston is the best pacer I’ve seen. He must have an internal clock or something, but at Districts and states he clicked off the same 400 time every lap. He’s going to be a big threat in XC next year with these other two.

Lastly Zach Seiger. To PR as a sophomore at the state meet in 9:30 is really something. It’s rare to see a sophomore break 9:30 and I’m not surprised it was this sophomore out of Red Land. He showed us big things during XC and finished the season with a 28^th place finish (exactly like Gebhart… a trend?). To also come up big on the track is another thing and to PR back to back weekends at Districts and States is huge. He’s one to watch.

Boys 4x800m AAA (And 800m)

 – Note – Most of the information I am using are splits from Etrain’s collection, so thank you very much Jarrett. They can be found here - http://www.therealtrain.blogspot.com/2014/05/2014-states-splits.html#comment-form

--  And if you guys have any splits to offer him please post them up!

One thing that made the states 4x8 so excited this year is that most of the teams out front had pure consistency on their legs. State College having Will Cather as a big anchor put them away from the rest, but most teams were even across the board. Just look at Henderson and CB East’s team splits, all between 1:54 and 1:56! That means some awesome training groups and sessions keeping these kids together, which is wonderful to see.

It’s a shame Pennridge’s team wasn’t totally in it. They’re legs however were very consistent all season in the 1:58 to 2 flat range with Logue being a beast of an anchor. Logue ran 6 amazing races at the state meet and probably deserved athlete of the meet. He split 1:54 to get Pennridge into the finals of the 4x8, ran 1:54.76 in the open 800 to make finals, split 47.9 to get Pennridge’s 4x4 through the trials. Then he came back the next day and split 1:51.90, ran 1:51.45 in the open (a PR) and split 48.20 in the 4x4 at the end of the day. My goodness, what a weekend. Logue has been tearing up the track since his freshman year when he split 1:57 and 50.0. He has improved his strength in order to double and triple for the sake of his team, and he does so without fail. I don’t think he gets enough credit for how difficult his job is and has been over the past two years as a middle distance stud. I think the 1500 will be his bread and butter in college. Also if he runs the 800 at Henderson’s distance festival I have no doubt he has the capability to break 1:50. 

I’m very impressed with Seneca Valley’s performance. I thought they had a low 7:50’s capability and they really came up big when it mattered. They ran 7:55 at districts and then dropped a 7:51.13 at states! Despite a 2:02 leg before him and the knowledge of the 800m open finals, Brett Foster put it all on the line and dropped a massive split of 1:53.3 running with Boyertown’s Eli Mercado who split 1:53.1. It’s tough to see them in the video’s I’ve watched of the event, but they must have been working together as they scorched the track in order to get medals for their teams. Doing so caused them to miss the medal stand in the open 800, but I love runners who will put it all on the line for their relay squads. It’s tough to see that Boyertown placed 9^th and Mercado placed 11^th (still running 1:55) in the open 8. Mercado had a truly fantastic outdoor season. Foster will be back next season with Mike Kolor for SV and the two of them will be a duo to watch out for.

Penncrest continued to prove me wrong as they just kept on dropping time in the post-season. They placed 6^th overall in a strong 7:50 mark. They had a big anchor leg from Evan Emmanuel who split 1:54.5. Brendan Hanna subbed in for Chris Kazanjian and ran a 2:02 leg, which isn’t bad at all. Chris was running 2 flat and 2:01 all season and I think it was good of them to let him go for the 3200. 

One of the big teams was Pennsbury. Liam O’Connell splitting 1:56, Sam Webb splitting 1:58.7 on the double (don’t worry I won’t rant again), but the real story is Alek Sauer splitting a 1:52.9! He came out like a rocket and never stopped to get his team into 7^th place and just off of 6^th. His open PR came at districts and was a time of 1:55.39. Then at states he PR’d in the trials of the open 800 with a 1:54.69 (not sure what he split earlier in the day on the relay), but he wakes up the next morning off a PR and decides to split over a second and a half faster!! Are you serious?!? Instead of dying in the finals of the 800, like I expected him to, Sauer stepped up to the challenge again and ran ANOTHER PR of 1:54.38 to place 5^th! My goodness gracious. Did I mention before that he’s a junior, because well, he’s a junior. Pennsbury track is coached well and I have no doubt we’ll be seeing some amazing times from Sauer next year.

Also shout out to Dylan Eddinger for taking the reins on the opening leg of the 4x8 for Boyertown. The dude’s PR is 1:59.29 in the open 800, but he was totally cool with leading the whole first leg and dropping a bomb on the field. He looked so good in the last 200 as he dropped everyone, splitting 1:55.20! He is also a junior, so keep an eye out for this young man. 

--ForrestCRN

Your Favorite States Race

We had some incredible races at states, so I'm putting up a poll now for you guys to vote on your favorite race this weekend. Below I am going to write a brief synopsis of the race in as non-bias of a fashion possible.

3200 AAA
This race had so much potential going into it, and the boys lived up to the challenge and more! After going out in a hammering pace of 66's-68's they continued to roll hitting 4:29.29 for the first 1600 lead by Dominic Deluca and Tony Russell. They were closely followed by Kevin James, Ross Wilson, and Colin Martin. Deluca and Russell continued to hammer the pace for another 800m, but they began to slow down just a bit when they hit a 69 with two laps to go. Would this group go sub 9? Tony Russell picked up the pace again as Deluca was clearly feeling the pace that he had set after running a 9:03 the weekend before. Russell pulled away from the group as Martin, Wilson, and James did their best to follow. With 200m to go Russell had about 2.5 seconds Wilson and Martin. Martin just passed Wilson and looked to be the closes to catching up to Russell, while James had been slowly fading from the group. Something changed with 150m to go, as Ross Wilson put on a big kick, passing Martin who had no response. With 80m to go Wilson was barreling down the home-stretch towards Russell. With 60m to go they were neck and neck. Russell put his head down and gave everything he had, but Wilson gave no notice, as he continued to burn down the track. Wilson cross the line first, for the first time during a state championship, and he clocked 8:56.29. It's a new state record by over 2.5 seconds that has been around since 1983 by XC great Mike Connelly.

Tony Russell also broke Connelly's record with a time of 8:58.26. Martin continued to charge home in his goal to break 9 minutes, and he made it under -- 8:59.90 for 3rd place. The junior Kevin James kept moving to hit 9:03 for 4th place!!! Deluca's gutsy effort that helped the pace so much finished in 9:07, but his 9:03 solo district mark and 8:21 Penn Relays 3k will not be soon forgotten. Overall 8 runners hit under 9:13 to medal.

1600m AAA
11 Runners in the finals, all of whom ran quite fast to get into the finals, most hitting under 4:18. This race was going to be big. Unlike the 3200, nobody had the guts like Deluca to take the pace out hard and Brehm did most of the leading. The field went through the halfway mark in 2:12. With multiple sub 1:55 runners like Brehm, Belfatto, and Caldwell everyone knew the pace would get fast eventually, but how fast would it get, and when would they go? The 3rd lap Brehm picked it up quite a bit hitting a low 63 with Billy Caldwell right on his shoulder. Caldwell then made a big move on the back-stretch with 250m to go and almost passed Brehm, but he would not be denied his second outdoor state title. Brehm used his superior strength to sprint the last 200m to clock a 56.8 last lap to finish in a time of 4:11.73! Such a quick last 800m (1:59) shows he is in amazing shape and I have no doubt he can PR in the Mile again this year (he was a 4:09.27 guy last year). Caldwell did his best to match Brehm and he dropped a PR of 4:12.99! District 7 rivals Jeff Van Kooten (jr) and Nathan Sloan both hit 4:14 kicking past the chase pack. It took 4:21 to medal and under 4:19 for the top 7 spots on this hot afternoon.

800m AAA
Another extraordinarily deep field was brought together. Kyle Francis broke the state record indoors in an incredible 1:50 effort. Behind him were studs Jeff Wiseman and  Joe Logue who have both run under 1:52.10 this outdoor season. All 3 are from District One and Wiseman one that battle. Zach Brehm was coming off the Mile and Nick Smart had hit a few 1:53 splits this season and was looking to break out. Plus Will Cather who anchored his 4x8 team to a 7:41 win in a split of 1:53.20.

Jeff Wiseman took the race out very hard in a 25.3 with Kyle Francis right on his back. The rest of the field was a bit behind them in 26 mid. Wiseman continued to lead through 500 hitting a 400 split of 54.2. Kyle Francis made his first challenge on the back-stretch, but Wiseman denied him going into the turn with 200m to go. Wiseman was looking very strong and his denial of Francis could have put Francis away for good, but Francis used the turn as time to revamp. Coming off the turn he swung out into the second lane. Wiseman fought him off, but Francis gained just a bit of ground with every step and by 40m to go Francis had taken over the lead. Francis continued his flat out sprint all the way home to take his second individual state championship in a time of 1:49.57, just off the state meet record by Tom Mallon (1:49.21). Jeff Wiseman finished up very strong in 1:50.37. Behind them Joe Logue kicked off of the chase pack to finish in 1:51.45. Zach Brehm lead a group of 7 other runners in the 1:54 range to finish in 1:54.24 to place 4th.

Any time you've got a runner under 1:55 not medaling at the state meet you know the field is extremely talented and 6 of the 12 runners were on the double!

4x800 AAA
Every year PA seems to come up with some of the top 4x8's in the nation on both the girls and the guys side. This season didn't seem to be any different going into the state meet. Two teams, Pennridge and State College made it to the state meet and West Chester Henderson's 4x8 started to look really good at the end of the season. CB East also stayed totally fresh and North Penn always pulls together a strong team. The race went out in 1:57 lead by Boyertown and Henderson. It look until the 3rd leg with Mason Post going out in 54 for State College to finally get into the lead group. Post handed off into 3rd place behind a leading CB East, who ran their top leg, Frank Brophy 3rd, and West Chester Henderson. Will Cather decided to take it out hard and leave nothing left on the track splitting ~52.9 through the 400. He blew by sophomore Jake Brophy and Henderson's Steve Thompson. Cather pushed through the final lap to bring his team the second best time in the nation and a Gold medal with a time of 7:41.99! This leaves them at US #2! Behind them Thompson anchored his team to a 7:43.24 (US#5), CB East finished 3rd in 7:43.70 (US #9). North Penn's anchor Ryan Grace knew he had the 1600 later in the day, but this didn't deter him from going out hard and trying to catch the lead pack. His efforts helped the relay team finish in a time of 7:45.38, which is US #13! US #12 Pennridge didn't come together as they would have hoped, finishing in a solid 5th place with a time of 7:48. Behind them were 4 more squads under the 7:52 mark, which puts 9 PA teams in the top 45 in the nation for the 4x8!

I hope to see some of these squads continue to the national meet. Many of the teams had guys doubling and the prelims will take something out of you. For example 3 of State College's legs tripled the day before! I have no doubt this squad could clock under 7:40 totally fresh.

--ForrestCRN

Wilson Gets Title - 8:56, State College - 7:41, Brehm - 4:11, Francis - 1:49.57!

3200m Results:

  1   180 Wilson, Ross        12 CR North 01          9:11.19    8:56.29R  10   

Deluca took it out hard, and a bunch of runners went through the 1600m in ~4:28! Russell put 40m on the field with 800 to go and the race was really strung out, and Martin moved passed Wilson going into the last lap. With 300m to go Wilson pushed passed Martin on his quest to catch Russell. Wilson had 30m to catch up to Russell with 200m to go, but he put on a huge move and began to blast around the turn! With 50m to go he finally caught up to Russell and they battled for a bit, but Wilson was too strong as Russell faded in the final meters.

After 31 years Mike Connelly's record has fallen to not one, but two runners. Connelly is one of the top runners in PA history and placed 2nd and 4th at XC nationals during the early 80's. Wilson's 8:56.29 is really incredible and he split 4:28/4:28 to do it, my goodness. It was a valiant and gutsy effort by Deluca. If he had someone else leading it out in 4:25 I bet he can run ~8:55 and I hope we see him at Nationals.
Here are Wilson's splits recorded by Don Rich: 66, 2:15, 3:31, 4;28, 5:36, 6:45, 7:51, 8:56.

3 guys went under 9 minutes over 3200m's, the 3rd being Colin Martin who ran 8:59.90! Good lord these guys came out ready to roll. Behind him was Kevin James who ran 9:03.19 and the junior now has an ever tougher record to try and break next season. Imagine running 9:03 and getting put in the dust! That last lap nobody was paying attention to a dude running a time that would have won states almost any other year. Kevin James is in amazing shape (Brendan Shearn ran 9:04 in high school) and is an absolute stud as a junior. Props for not shying away from the big dog seniors and running an amazing time.

Dominic Deluca paid the price for taking the race out so hard and died, but he finished 5th in 9:07.33 (4:21/4:46) . Sam Webb came up big once again and placed 6th in 9:08.11, which is another PR for the junior. He ran 9:13 last year and coming off a huge injury after XC he has now dropped 5 seconds this outdoor season after not racing indoors. It's really phenomenal and he's going to be scary next season. Reiny Barchet had a tough day, but he still medaled running 9:11.35 (which would have been second last season!). And Matt Mcgoey grabbed the last podium spot in 9:12.32, which is a nice new PR for the junior. Right behind him were two more junior studs who missed out on the medal stand, were Aaron Gebhart (9:17) and Casey Comber (9:18). (I will watch the race at 5PM tonight so I can discuss them better)

  1   180 Wilson, Ross        12 CR North 01          9:11.19    8:56.29R  10   
  2   655 Russell, Tony       12 WC Henderson 01      9:07.68    8:58.26R   8   
  3   236 Martin, Colin       12 Fox Chapel 07        9:10.74    8:59.90#   6   
  4    65 James, Kevin        11 Crdnl O'Hara 12      9:19.45    9:03.19#   5   
  5   183 Deluca, Dominic     12 Dallas 02            9:03.54    9:07.33    4   
  6   474 Webb, Sam           11 Pennsbury 01         9:11.91    9:08.11    3   
  7   652 Barchet, Reiny      12 WC Henderson 01      9:17.50    9:11.35    2   
  8   403 Mcgoey, Matt        11 No Allegheny 07      9:16.00    9:12.32    1   
  9   396 Gebhart, Aaron      11 New Oxford 03        9:16.15    9:17.27  
 10   270 Comber, Casey       11 Hatboro Hrshm 01     9:17.33    9:18.56  
 11   184 Reilly, Patrick     12 Dallastown 03        9:18.90    9:19.40  
 12   449 Kazanjian, Chris    12 Penncrest 01         9:17.21    9:22.60  
 13   297 Kennedy, Brent      12 Kiski Area 07        9:21.57    9:24.28  
 14   319 Groh, Jeff          12 Lower Dauphin 03     9:13.91    9:24.71  
 15   174 Marston, Andrew     11 Conestoga 01         9:17.50    9:25.17  
 16   520 Seiger, Zach        10 Red Land 03          9:31.08    9:30.34  

4x8 AA Results:

Jack Dicinto ran a 1:58 split. Wyomissing went out hard and hurt the team quite. A bit. Lake-Land’s second leg got a huge lead on the field by splitting 2 flat. Kyle Shinn (Wyomissing) made up about 15m and took, but Washington’s runner took the lead going into the final leg. They were about 3m ahead at the exchange, but Washington took a 10m lead in the first lap of the anchor leg thanks to Cortés Levi who increased his lead over the next lap as Washington wins in 7:58.­­35. Andrew Miller was running 1:57’s earlier this season, but he did not look good at all on the anchor leg.

4x8 AAA Results: (Sorry for the Randomness, these are just notes I took while watching)

First lap- 13:46 – Alex Milligan lead off for State College instead of Golembeski! First lap out in 57 seconds, which is pretty solid for the group led by Boyerown’s Dylan Ettinger. Eric Stratman ran behind them.

Second lap – 14:43 (57) – Dylan Ettinger was the top finisher in the leg with a 1:56.9 split.

Third lap – 15:42 (59) – Sam Webb second leg for Pennsbury. Pennridge and State College were 8^th and 7^th after 3 laps.

Fouth lap – Seamus Collins ran second leg for Henderson and finished in

17:38 – CB East took over and battled with Henderson on the 3^rd leg.

CB East, Henderson, State College, and Penncrest were the top 4 going into the anchor leg. East handed off in first, Henderson second, State College 3^rd, and Penncrest 4^th

5:47 after 600m

Cather, Thompson, Jake Brohpy (Frank ran 3^rd leg) with Ryan Grace coming on strong after the first lap. Cather pulled away from the field in the final 200m. Henderson second, CB East 3^rd, North Penn 4^th, Pennridge 5^th.  Second Best time in the nation this season in 7:41.99!! 

It looks like Pennridge came on too early at the start of the season and they died out in the 4x8 at the state meet. Cather looks so smooth and almost effortless pulling away from the 1:54 man Steve Thompson who held off Jake Brohpy (ran a wonderful leg!), but Cather 'only' had to run a 1:54.4ish split to get the win. This team can drop more time, no question. Cather did what he needed to do to get the W. Thompson and Brohpy both split ~1:56.8

  1 State College Area 06                             7:52.25    7:41.99#  10   
  2 West Chester Henderson 01                         7:52.41    7:43.24#   8   
  3 Central Bucks East 01                             7:53.18    7:43.70#   6   
  4 North Penn 01                                     7:53.33    7:45.35#   5   
  5 Pennridge 01                                      7:53.05    7:48.78#   4   
  6 Pennsbury 01                                      7:52.94    7:50.75#   3   
  7 Penncrest 01                                      7:53.06    7:50.80#   2   
  8 Seneca Valley 07                                  7:53.49    7:51.13#   1   
  9 Boyertown 01                                      7:53.35    7:51.77# 
 10 Saint Joseph's Prep 12                            7:54.06    7:53.57  
 11 Central Dauphin 03                                8:00.12    7:58.73  
 12 Cedar Crest 03                                    7:54.79    8:05.26  

More to come! But as we hoped, the racing have been wild and so much fun to watch today!

Boys 1600m AA Results

Domenic Perretta controlled the pace and clearly was the best runner in the field as he covered a strong move by Curtin and kicked it in the last 120m. This kid is really strong, but slightly shorter. I have no doubt he’ll win the 800 later today; he looked so easy at the finish line. The top 5 runners are all returning next season, which will make for an exciting race and not to mention Griffin Molino who ran 4:12 earlier in the year but choose to run the 3200m instead. Not sure if he got injured, but he did not run well at all in that race. Also Kyle Gonoude who placed 3^rd in 4:23 ran his PR in the prelims of 4:21.50, which would have placed him second. Poor prelim running by the youngster, but it’s a lesson learned.

 

  1    31 Perretta, Domenic   10 Beaver Falls 07      4:31.23    4:19.82   10   
  2   321 Curtin, Sebastian   11 Mrcyhrst Prep 10     4:31.27    4:21.91    8   
  3   484 Gonoude, Kyle       11 Salisbury Twp 11     4:21.50    4:23.38    6   
  4   488 Sweet, Nick         11 Sayre Area 04        4:29.91    4:24.33    5   
  5   556 Smith, Simon        11 Towanda 04           4:28.47    4:24.93    4   
  6   296 Parsons, Jeremy     12 Maplewood 10         4:27.71    4:24.94    3   
  7   171 Smith, Carter       12 Eden Chrstn 07       4:31.40    4:25.51    2   
  8   144 Vella, Tyler        12 Danville Area 04     4:31.31    4:26.13    1   
  9   525 Trimble, Colten     11 South Side 07        4:31.43    4:31.92  
 10   308 Degroot-Lutzner, J  11 Masterman 12         4:31.30    4:35.62  
 11   273 Morgan, Nathan      11 Lakeland 02          4:28.02    4:38.29  
 12    34 Kachman, William    10 Bedford 05           4:29.09    4:40.65 

Boys 1600m AAA Results

First off, Tony Russell dropped out of the 1600 after this 8:58 effort. He ran a really hard and gutsy race, and I won’t take that valiant effort away from him, but dropping out of the finals of another even because you’re tired is so disrespectful. Unless he got injured, run the race. You planned on it, and he took the spot of another runner who could have had an opportunity to shine. Reiny Barchet, Cole Nissley, and Will Kachman (AA) ran in the 3200 and came back to compete in the 1600 (None of them medaled, but they toed the line and put it all out there). 

Now onto the race: With Russell out of it, nobody felt the need to take it out hard and it went through 800m in 2:12. From there Zach Brehm took the lead and started hammering a strong pace and they went through the 1200 in 3:14. Billy Caldwell put on a huge serge and took the lead on the back stretch, but Brehm was not to be denied. The two battled, but with 100m to go Brehm slowly pulled away to grab the win in 4:11.73 (closing in 57 seconds!). Caldwell held on for second in a big PR of 4:12.99!! I can’t stress enough how great of a race Caldwell had and he really lived up to the hype I brought onto him after his strong 4:20 mile at the end of last outdoors. He really blossomed senior year. Back to Brehm, the kid is a horse. He is so strong is ridiculous. He just powered home. After running well in a torrential downpour last weekend the boys from District 7 were pumped up for good weather. Jeff Van Kooten and Nathan Sloan placed 3^rd and 4^th respectively, both running 4:14. Van Kooten collapsed at the line, but Brehm quickly went over to him and held him up and helped him walk off the track as they talked. Really great sportsmanship there (also to note Ryan Grace also helped initially). 

Colin Abert revamped his season after a tough indoor season and ran 4:17.23, which is pretty solid overall for the junior. Ryan Grace comes off a big split to help North Penn place 4^th in the 4x8 to grab 6^th place! That’s the best distance double of the day so far and I’d love to know what he split in the 4x8. After he had a tough junior year he broke out during XC and kept the ball rolling through the track season, very well done Ryan Grace. Jim Belfatto just didn’t look like he had it today placing 7^th overall. He had a tough day, but I think we’ll see him bounce back come outdoor nationals. Connor Holm was able to snag the last spot in 4:21 over the tired legs of Nissley, Barchet, while Brown just wasn’t in the race from the start. We’ve got 4 returning medalists for next season!

 

  1    75 Brehm, Zach         11 Carlisle 03          4:18.27    4:11.73#  10   
  2   193 Caldwell, Billy     12 D-Town East 01       4:18.52    4:12.99#   8   
  3   486 Van Kooten, Jeff    11 Pittsburgh CC 07     4:18.41    4:14.05    6   
  4   266 Sloan, Nathan       12 Hampton 07           4:17.19    4:14.67    5   
  5   214 Abert, Colin        11 Easton Area 11       4:16.90    4:17.23    4   
  6   408 Grace, Ryan         12 North Penn 01        4:19.59    4:18.43    3   
  7    62 Belfatto, Jim       12 Crdnl O'Hara 12      4:16.85    4:18.90    2   
  8   511 Holm, Connor        11 Radnor 01            4:20.06    4:21.29    1   
  9   320 Nissley, Cole       12 Lower Dauphin 03     4:19.95    4:24.42  
 10   652 Barchet, Reiny      12 WC Henderson 01      4:18.82    4:25.98  
 11   528 Brown, Matt         12 Roman Cath 12        4:21.73    4:26.07 

800 AA Final Results

Berretta let the race go out in 55.1 as he sat back in second place. He took the lead right as the bell sounded and didn’t look back, closing in 58.9 for a time of 1:54.01. He is a little bit shorter and is very strong. Hopefully he continues to grow in the next two years, or we won’t see much improvement. But anyway you look at it a sophomore doubling 4:19/1:54.01, I'm impressed.

  1    31 Perretta, Domenic   10 Beaver Falls 07      1:57.71    1:54.01   10   
  2    70 Goodson, Jonathan   12 Boilng Sprngs 03     1:58.14    1:54.75    8   
  3   155 Garrett, Andrew     12 Delco Chrstn 01      2:00.99    1:55.63    6   
  4   335 Fletcher, David     10 Mount Carmel 04      2:00.40    1:55.98    5   
  5   290 Scullin, Nicholas   12 Lewisburg 04         2:00.75    1:56.52    4   
  6   603 Maloney, William    12 West Catholic 12     1:58.25    1:57.01    3   
  7   539 Steely, Andrew      12 So Columbia 04       2:00.61    1:57.47    2   
  8   589 Koryak, Andrew      11 Vincntn Acd 07       1:59.40    1:57.49    1   
  9   390 Kibbe, Ethan        12 Nrthrn Potter 09     2:00.23    1:58.81  
 10   180 Wilt, Devin         12 Fairfield 03         1:59.06    2:00.87  
 11   327 Hinkel, Ben         11 Minersville 11       2:00.52    2:01.65  
 12   268 Arzie, Mark         11 Lakeland 02          1:58.99    2:06.96  

800 AAA Final Results

Gosh darn it. I knew I should have stuck with my boy Kyle Francis. He didn’t run fast at Districts, and I guess he knew it didn’t matter as much as states. After Wiseman took it out in 25 high with Francis on his back they came through 400 in 54.0. The rest of the field was around 55.50. On the backstretch Francis tried to take the lead, it looked like he was going all out, but Wiseman held him off. (Not sure the 600 split). Coming off the turn Francis gave it one more try, and this time Wiseman broke. Francis powered home to win in a time of 1:49.57, which just misses Tom Mallon’s state record -- 1:49.31! Wiseman held it together very well in the final stretch and finished in 1:50.37! That was an absolutely incredible race to top off possibly the best overall distance day the Pennsylvania State Meet as ever seen. 8:56, 7:41, 4:11, and 1:49 were the winners… Wow, just wow.

Joe Logue came back from the 4x8 to finish 3^rd place in a fantastic time of 1:51.45! No doubt in my mind just about any other year Logue would have won an individual state title in the 800. Zach Brehm ran a smart race and sat back. 7 runners ran 1:54 and Brehm led the pack to take 4^th in 1:54.24. Alek Sauer proved me wrong as he came off the 4x8 to run 1:54.38! That’s a huge PR for him and it was on the double, very impressive. Behind him Cather did his best to double back hitting 1:54.56, beating out one of the few fresh guys Marcus Smail, who was 1:54.64. Smail did not run well at districts, much like Francis, but he ran exception at states this weekend and really earned his medal. 

Dave Garton did his best to keep with the pack hitting 1:54.71 to grab the last medal just over Dylin Wilhoite by .07 seconds. Eli Mercado was feeling the double as well, but still hit 1:55. Nick Smart however died pretty hard and finished last with a time of 2:00.87. 

  1    29 Francis, Kyle       12 Bensalem 01          1:55.01    1:49.57#  10   
  2   181 Wiseman, Jeffrey    12 CR South 01          1:54.21    1:50.37#   8   
  3   458 Logue, Joseph       12 Pennridge 01         1:54.76    1:51.45#   6   
  4    75 Brehm, Zach         11 Carlisle 03          1:54.54    1:54.24    5   
  5   472 Sauer, Alek         11 Pennsbury 01         1:54.69    1:54.38    4   
  6   597 Cather, William     12 State College 06     1:54.53    1:54.56    3   
  7   260 Smail, Marcus       12 Gr Latrobe 07        1:55.89    1:54.64    2   
  8   477 Garton, Dave        12 Perk Valley 01       1:56.06    1:54.71    1   
  9   438 Wilhoite, Dylin     12 Penn Hills 07        1:54.93    1:54.78  
 10   562 Foster, Brett       12 Seneca Valley 07     1:54.69    1:54.95  
 11    46 Mercado, Eli        12 Boyertown 01         1:55.40    1:55.33  
 12    72 Smart, Nick         12 Crdnl O'Hara 12      1:54.58    2:00.87  

O’Hara decided to keep their 3 studs fresh for individual events, and I’m not sure how well it paid off overall. Kevin James proved why he’s such a stud with a great time of 9:03, so he gets a 10/10 on performance. Belfatto looked like his junior year self, which I was sad to see. 4:18.90 is not a bad time and he got a medal, but the guy split 4:11 indoors and has run 4:15’s all season. And not sure what happened to Nick Smart who has split 1:53 and really looked poised to place very well. 

--ForrestCRN

Shout out to Central Bucks South girls 4x800m! They broke the state meet record by 4 seconds running 8:51.49!!! CB South now holds both the boys and girls 4x8 state records. The national records is 8:48... just saying, these young ladies are incredible.  

Again, I rarely talk about girls racing but Maddie Vallalba of CB West won the girls AAA 800 in 2:09.65 and had an absolutely stellar kick to make up a 15m gap in just the home straight away. I rarely see girls truly turn it on at the end of a race, but oh man did she do that. I’m extraordinarily impressed. 

Also Kennedy Wisner had a great 16/8 double to win double gold as she ran by herself in both races winning the 16 in 4:45 and 2:09 (63.6/65.8). Briana Swartz was the top in the state indoors no questions asked, but as Wisner was coming off injury she really broke out and had a wonderful outdoor season.