District One Finals Predictions

Predictions: The qualifiers will be in order, but I will not be predicting times.

1600 – Russell, Caldwell, Barchet, Sjoreen, Grace, Diestelow, Hare, Power. Hopkins in the first one out. 

Marston is not on the list because I see him finishing top 3 in the 3200 and goes to the state meet in that event instead. Holm is a fantastic runner, but for some reason I don’t see him making the finals. Russell and Barchet are looking very strong and I think they’re going to go for both events at the state meet. Caldwell is going 1600m only and he’s 1:53 speed is a killer kick. Sjoreen’s also got the 800 speed/strength and I like him in the event. Grace has been fantastic all season and he’s always in the mix, remember he was 8^th indoors. Diestelow has been strong this outdoor season and really coming into his own, and I see him making finals. Hare is peaking wonderfully and I believe he sneaks in with Paul Power. 

800m – Francis, Logue, Wiseman, Garton, Moy, Cooper, Mercado, and LeConey. Stewart the first to miss the state meet.

This was tough to call, since Francis hasn’t raced hard all season, but I have total faith in Bensalem’s training. They’ve got a great track record, literally, and I can’t go against that. I believe Francis will pull this out, despite Logue and Wiseman’s low 1:52’s. I think Wiseman outkicks Logue in a low 1:51 time. Garton ran very well at Henderson and I see him taking 4^th out of a hard pace. Moy also runs hard off a fast pace and I think he does well in this field. Cooper came up big indoors in the 800 and I think he does the same here to make it to the state meet. Mercado ran a 1:54 split earlier today in the 4x8 and I think this and the 4x8 finals will hurt him, but I have no doubt he makes the state meet. LeConey will also be doubling and Stewart won’t, but it comes back to history again with the NP runners coming up big. Sauer hasn’t been running nearly as well this year and I think he’ll have to run a big split for Pennsbury, which will hurt him in the finals. I could be way wrong on this however.

3200 – Russell, Barchet, Marston, Comber, Wilson, Kazanjian (C), Webb, Knapp. First one out – Arita.

As I said earlier, I think this race goes out pretty slowly in round 4:40 to 4:42. Russell won’t let the double gold get away from him and I think he’ll be strong in the final 1k. Barchet has been getting stronger and stronger all season and I’m pretty excited about it. I think he follows Russell for the 1-2 punch. Marston has got the strong credential to even or negative split; he always runs so even, which makes him a fantastic XC competitor. I think he finds success in this even. Comber has been great this season and I think he does very well and can medal at states. Wilson runs smart and sticks with the pack, so he can split strong for his 4x8 team. Chris Kazanjian will not waste his opportunity and remember he was 3^rd at Districts in 15:22 and 6^th at States for XC. Webb and Knapp are two other XC studs and I like how that translates to the 3200. Both Arita and Knapp have no lived up to their potential this outdoor season in the 3200, but I think they have strong runs tomorrow morning. Knapp is strong and I think he beats out Arita, but they both get the SQS (9:32). 

4x800 – Pennridge, Henderson, CB East, Pennsbury, North Penn, D-Town East, Bensalem, CR North. First out – Penncrest. 

Maybe a little bias here, but I think CR North will run 7:53 low and beat out Penncrest for the final spot. Pennridge is just too strong to lose to anyone in this field. They ran 7:45 earlier in the year and I have no doubt that they’ll run sub 7:44 to get the win. Henderson is a new, strong team to really look out for and with only 1 runner on their team to make states they’ll kill it being so fresh. CB East has run 7:48 behind Pennridge and they have saved everyone to be fresh, which seems to be the best move. Pennsbury also has been looking strong and I think they’ll get big legs out of Sauer and O’Connell. North Penn has got some great legs and I have no doubt they’ll make it in. DT-East is one of my favorite squads and a 1:53 anchor gets you in any day when you’ve got 3 other sub 2 legs. CR North has two legs who can go 1:55/1:56 along with two other legs who go sub 2. The same goes for Pennridge. The battle will be crazy for that last spot.

--ForrestCRN

I will be attending a conference called LeaderShape for my fraternity and I am not sure how much internet connection I will have from tomorrow until next Friday. I hope I will be able to get on to give some predictions.