Western Weekend Review - 10/4

I’m going to start this post off with saying just how much of a beast Colin Abert is.  He is obviously from the Eastern part of the side, which is far from my area of expertise, if you want to call it that, but I just had to say something about him.  Taking down Tony Russell’s 14:59 while running essentially uncontested is something special.  There is a video of the race on FloTrack and he takes it from the 800 and never looks back, it was a great race for him. Congrats to Colin on the win and I look forward to seeing what he does throughout the rest of the season.  Now, on to the west.  

Pittsburgh Central Catholic Invitational

NA sat some of their varsity squad, which I had a feeling they would do, but they still got the win.  Jeff Van Kooten took the individual title on his home turf in 15:52, making it three golds in five races this year.  He took down Hunter Wharrey as well, who handily beat him at Red, White and Blue.  There was no Matt McGoey at this race, but Van Kooten getting ahead of Wharrey certainly has to have McGoey a little nervous.  Jacob Heinauer rounded out the top 3 running 16:10 and spearheading a North Hills team that is growing stronger with each meet.  Killian McNally seems to be getting back into the swing of things, which is nothing but good news for NH, who put three runners in the top 9.  Their only real problem is their 4-5, who scored 43 and 54 for the Indians respectively.  Elias Graca returned with his first race in a month running 16:36.  I have to admit that this worries me a bit, he missed a couple races that the rest of his team ran at and I’m wondering if there is a bit of an injury there.  I’ll see if I can get more info on that.  Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy is still a beast.  The sophomore ran 16:11, logging his fourth top 10 finish of the season.  He is scary good and should make the A race at WPIALs amazing.  Mackey vs Delaney will undoubtedly be one of the most exciting races that day.  Nick Wolk of Peters Township is certainly on the upswing as well, taking sixth in a PR of 16:30.  I’m a big fan of him and I think he can be Peters first top ten finisher at WPIAL meet since Scott Maronde in 2004.  Casey Conboy of Baldwin continued his excellent sophomore campaign, taking 10th in 16:44 and pulling teammate Dennis Doyle to 11th in 16:46.  Baldwin was only 5 points back from Central Catholic in the team standings, they’re doing pretty alright this year.  North Allegheny had four under 17 while resting McGoey and Seel and with Peter Savchik (16:57 this season) running 17:16, that team is ready for big things.

Grove City Invitational

Jake Susalla.  Wow.  He’s had one of the most solid seasons of anybody in the state.  This weekend he became the first non Grove City runner to win the GC Invite since 2006, clocking a 16:08 and just missing his PR of 16:07.  A huge statement by him to beat two of the best AA runners in the state in Benka and Budnik.  Andrew Maxwell of Slippery Rock Area had a nice showing as well, taking 3rd in 16:19, nearly taking down Aaron Benka who was 2nd in 16:18.  Andrew Koryak is continuing to make statements as an 800 runner having a great cross country season, taking 6th in 16:43 and leading Vincentian to a 3rd place team finish.  He could certainly be a deep sleeper for A.  Grove City controlled the team battle though, scoring 30 points to second place Chartiers Valley, who scored 106.  GC is definitely the favorite to win AA in D10 and it should be an exciting October.

Legends Meet

Mount Lebanon made the trip out to the Legends Meet in Ohio for the second year in a row.  Todd Gunzenhauser stepped up huge and seems to be getting back into the rhythm he was in last championship season, running a PR 16:17 for 4th.  I’m so glad to see him bouncing back as I know he had a rough few weeks to start out the season.  Ian Baun, who had established himself as a great guy out front for the Blue Devils, was 6th in 16:26.  The 1-2 punch of Gunz-Baun will certainly help to bring down the team score come WPIALs and States.  Ian Harris was 3rd with a 17:06.  Matt Stone, Lebo’s 4-5, was sick this weekend and missed out on the race but Josh Kalapos, the team’s typical 6-7 runner stepped up big and filled his spot at 4, running a PR 17:13.  Bryce Brandenstein continues his fantastic freshman year with a 17:21 to take 43rd.  They took 3rd as a team scoring 113.  

Thanks for reading!
-Evan