Saturday, January 31, 2015

4x8 Madness @ Armoury


PA now has 3 teams under the 8 minute mark for the 4x800! Pennsbury followed up their 7:57 with a blazing 7:52.46 to take 5th place overall. According to Milesplit's twitter account, Pennsbury's splits were 2:00.67, 1:57.61 (Webb), 2:01.74, and 1:52.61 (Sauer)... Unreal. Sauer just PR'd or got very close to his PR of 1:52.9 from outdoor states, indoors, at the end of January. After a tough XC season Sauer is out to prove himself and he is bringing his team with him. Pennsbury's 4x800 is clearly the top in the state as Penncrest finished 7th overall with the time of 7:56.90. Pennsbury has 4 seconds on them, which to me means they could get away with doubling Sauer back from the 800 and Webb back from the 3k and still compete for the win. I think Penncrest’s names are mixed up. It says that Hanna led off in 1:58.3, but that was most likely Kamat with Hanna running 2:02.24 on the 3rd leg, which is an improvement for both runners. Emanuel was also probably switched with J. Teal, who still ran 1:58.71 and was the big split of the day for this group who really needed a sub 2 runner on the relay. This is a fantastic group that has been steadily improving for the past year and a half. I don’t see them slowing down anytime soon.
Arguably the biggest surprise of the day, however, came from LaSalle, who place 8th overall in 7:58.64! Grant had the biggest leg for the team as he anchored in 1:57.69. That’s a big drop for him, but it’s been a long time coming after his breakout races as a freshman. Grant has had potential and it’s really starting to come together for him and the rest of this team. The training atmosphere with so many runners around the same level must be fantastic. It’s no wonder they’re improving so quickly. 

That's all for now Folks!
 --ForrestCRN

P.S. Don't forget to check out the conversation between Etrain and I about the Mile and who might be running it and why. It's a new series we're starting up; we hope you all enjoy it. 

Friday, January 30, 2015

Beginning of Weekend Results



 Check out Etrain's website to see a new conversation about the Mile between the two of us. It will be a new series that we're starting.

13th Ed Poreda Invitational
Etrain just made a recent post about how Pennsbury should consider the DMR more… well they just ran 10:32.15 to win the DMR by 10 seconds over CB East. I think that this team will run the 4x8 at states despite this fantastic time, which will allow Webb to run the 3k/4x8 and Sauer to run two 800’s, which he can clearly do very well based on outdoors last season. Matt Mulvaney is developing into a strong 800m leg for them and I think this squad is going to be very dangerous in that event. With this being said, I think they’ll run the DMR at Penn Relays and drop like a 10:15ish type time. That’s my bold prediction of the day.

The rest of the race was very interesting. CB East decided to race the DMR and a 10:42 is a time that will get them into the top 12 as a team qualifier at the state meet. It seems as though this could be a better event for them than the 4x8. Brophy would probably be forced into the Mile/DMR double instead of potentially going for the 3k/4x8 double. 

CB West also killed it with a 10:45! This team I think will clearly run the DMR at the state meet and they will do it fresh. If they break 10:40 at the state meet I think that it would be a very solid performance for this squad. Fortna is developing into a strong track running and I think he’ll breakout in the Mile outdoors. Behind them was CR South who ran 10:46.55. I think they’ll end up racing the 4x8 at states, but I do like them in this race. Hanna and MaGuire are built for longer distances, but again CR South is the type of team likes to run 4x800.

Council Rock North had a tough day with Ben Heintz running 3:21/22 when a few weekends ago he split 3:18. He’ll need to be running 3:17ish if this team is going to compete at states.  Griswold hit 2:06.8, but on the good side they had a freshman split 52 mid. Arita went out in 2:12 for the first 800 and his final split was 4:27. I think he’s in 4:25ish shape, but it’s tough to split well when he’s that far behind the other teams. He was able to catch Holy Ghost who ended up finishing in 10:49.29. CRN has 10:40 low potential at states, but they’re going to need to step it up over the next few weeks or Arita might run the 3k and ditch the team.

As I said, HGP ran 10:49 and I could see them running a fresh DMR at states. Donahue and Dineen have developed into strong runners this indoor season and this is another team with 10:40 potential.
I’d love to know what the splits were on Pennsbury’s SMR team, but I really wish we had an SMR at the state meet indoors. Maybe instead of the 4x4 or the 4x8? I think the event is a lot of fun and isn’t run enough. Pennsbury has a team built for it with a strong 4x2, a 48 open 400m runner in Snorweah and a 1:52.9 split from Alek Sauer. It’s no wonder they won in 3:35, which was 6 seconds faster than GTF who raced Nick Dahl and Grayson Hepp. CB East also put together a solid team in 3:43.61 for 5th place. It’s great to see Boucher and Brophy doubling this early and the two of them, in my opinion, will be studs at the state meet. 

Sam Webb doubled as well and won with a very solid 4:26.92. Webb is a total beast right now this indoor season and I can’t wait to see what he decides to choose at the state meet. Often times I talk about runners who never won a state title with guys like Kevin James, but Webb is the real deal and often gets dismissed as one of the top runners PA has seen in the past few years. Andrew Hanna had a tough time doubling as he ran 4:38.49 for 3rd place as he beats out a few CB runners in Goetz, Sands, Mass, and Iatarola who ran between 4:39-4:47.

Pennsbury also put together a B 4x800m team that ran 8:22.10, which is really impressive.

 That's all for Now Folks!
--ForrestCRN

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

Some Questions

Storms continue to brew in the Northeast as Etrain and I seem to have gone in slight hibernation... We're currently working on some fun projects that will be going up on his page. It will be worth the wait :)

All of that being said, I wanted to pose a few questions to all of you:

What will John Lewis choice to race? And how fast will he run in these races? (Don't forget relays!)

How many teams will follow Pennsbury in breaking 8 minutes in the 4x800 this season? And how fast could they go at states? Will they double anyone, if so who and in what event(s)?

Saint Joe's Prep just dropped a 10:29 in the DMR... 10:...29... wow. John Daly apparently split a 4:17. That's unreal. Will this continue? Could they break 10:20? This team seems to be legit, and I'm excited about it.

Any questions for me? I'll be writing responses over the next few days.

--ForrestCRN

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Weekend 1/24/15 Meet Result Analysis



I highly apologize for not posting this past week. I had an extremely busy week, and that won’t happen again. Kevin James’ 8:40 3k was the most impressive race of the weekend in my opinion, but it’s too late for a recap, so lets move on to today, where we’ve getting live results in from Kevin Dare!

Mile: I’m furious I didn’t put up predictions for this race, because I wanted to call so much of this race. McDevitt was a shoe-in win for me. He ran 4:23 last weekend after running the mile leg of the DMR the night before. On fresh legs McDevitt kicks home very strong on this field for a win in 4:23.62. I bet he’s in ~4:20/21 shape right now. Kyle Shinn had a solid, but not spectacular XC season, but he’s really turned up his came on the track. He out kicks Brad Foust to take 2nd place in 4:25.39 to Foust’s 4:25.48. Wyomissing might have a really good DMR in store for us this season. It’s good to see Foust running well indoors. I bet we see Altoona take a top 2 spot in the 4x8 later today.

Another prediction that I wanted to make was Murray beating out Marston as he does with a 4:26.04 and 4:26.15. I really have no idea what ‘Stoga is planning for the state meet, but I’m banking on the DMR right now. Although Murray and Marston are both steadily improving I don’t see either medaling in the Mile, but their combined efforts could place them under 10:30.

Alex Milligan opened this season very strong, but as State College usually does in the middle of the season they seem to plateau. This 4:27.85 doesn’t worry me at all. I have a feeling he’ll be a 4:22 guy by the state meet with a real shot at a medal. I’m excited to see how he doubles back. Liam Galligan ran 4:32. The sophomore might have gone a bit over his head at the beginning, but it’s great to see hi mixing it up in these races. 

3000m: Pennsbury disappeared from the Kevin Dare Invitational, but I do hope that there team is healthy. The snow might have forced them and other teams to cancel. Because of that the 3k turned from potentially the top race of the day to not much at all. Casey Comber won in 9:02.75 and doesn’t even grab the SGS during his first open race of the season. Jerrod Sunderland of Altoona ran very well as he takes 2nd in 9:07.64! I wouldn’t have seen that coming and this Altoona team might be able to drop a solid DMR if he and Foust team up on two nice legs. Matthew Beyerle also dropped his PR quite a bit with a 9:14 for 5th place. Zach Seiger has a tough race running 9:16.68 for 7th place. How about Tucker Desko of Pennridge coming out of nowhere and running 9:16 for 3k! He’s just a junior. I’m interested to see what he can do for this team. We saw solid raes from DiGiacomo and Kirshenbaum who both hit 9:18.

4x800: Well Alex Milligan must have doubled back with something pretty strong as State College takes the win in 8:05.64! I believe that’s a PA #1 time right now. Milligan, Degleris, and Feffer are all returners and Milligan has really made quite a jump this season. I think we can expect to see the same from Feffer next season. I bet Milligan makes the same double at the state meet. If so this relay will be fresh and pretty dangerous. 

Pennridge placed second in 8:07.19. Dan Williams must have had a solid anchor split and hopefully Masgai is still in about 2 flat shape. I think this team will challenge the 8 flat mark at the state meet and I bet they keep everyone fresh. Williams went from a breakout middle relay man last season and now he’s their anchor. It’ll be interesting to see if he can handle the pressure as the season progresses. Behind them was the most even squad in the state – Strath Haven. Basically everyone on this team runs 2:02, which makes perfect sense for their 8:08.05 time. Hopefully each guy can take off a second or so to put them under 8:05 by season’s end. It’s tough to compete with such an even marked line-up, but I think they sneak into the state meet and their competition at practice will be helpful to a quick development. 

Altoona put together a decent 4x8 in 8:11.25. I really wish they would run a fast DMR this year, since I think it’s a much better even for them. TV had a rough day running 8:20 flat, while keeping everyone fresh. Sometimes things don’t come together, and it’s a shame, since this is one of the best shots for a fast time that this team will get to qualify this season. Stoga was doubling people back and they raced 8:29, so they’ll have to work on that double for Marston and Murray.

New Balance Invitational
DMR – Penncrest comes out the best PA team in 5th place with a 10:48.36. These guys are made for the 4x8, so I’m pretty impressed with this result. It’s nice to see them mixing it up in the relays. I think they’re one of the top PA 4x8’s in the state. Avon Grove had a decent race with a 10:54.20. It can be tough to pull a great DMR together, but this team has more time to qualify. I’m thinking they’ll drop a 10:45ish around or at the meet of champions. Radnor had an off day with an 11:15.86 8th place finish. I’m not sure what we’ll see from this team, but it seems as though they’d have a better shot at making the 4x8 top 12 than the DMR.

Mile – It was a tough outing for PA all around. Kevin James has an uncharacteristic bad race with a 4:26.01 10th place finish. If I had to guess, I would say his back flared up again. That being said I hope James is alright, and I’m not too worried. He’s a total stud and his 8:40 shows just how strong he is right now. Khai Samuel’s also had a tough outing for Pleasant Valley with a 4:31.77. It’s not a bad time, but I bet he wanted to break 4:30 at least. Ryan Paradise was a bit over his head and got dropped by the field and finished in 4:45.96. These D11 guys haven’t raced as much and sometimes these guys have a lot of rust to bust. I have no doubt Paradise is in good shape right now.

2 Mile – Undercover Ryan Rastatter of Archbishop Prep almost snuck past me, but his 9:51.96 is a strong time for this early in the season as he places 10th overall. There were a lot of big names in this race and he navigated himself very well. It could be a sign of big things to come.

That's all for now Folks!
 --ForrestCRN

Friday, January 16, 2015

Yale Results -- IND School's DMR's On FIRE: GTF PA #1 10:33 and PA#2 Malvern Prep 10:36

Wow, I was informed this week that Malvern Prep would go under 10:40, and I thought no way. Wills would have to go around 3:15, which he ended his season in last season, they're 800 runner just went 2:08 and that would require a 2:03-2:05 split at least. Plus McDevitt ran 4:20 at the end of last season. Then again, despite the disappointment for the team as a whole, Wills and McDevitt both ran very strong during XC. McDevitt looked like a stud during XC and I thought he really broke out. This team is going to be scary to watch for at states. I think McDevitt will be like Wilson was for CRN and run the Mile instead of the 3k for a faster DMR time. Running 10:36.29 this squad placed 2nd overall and really ran fantastic. I'd love to know the splits, but wow that was a quick time. I think they could push 10:20 at the end of the season.

Holy Ghost Prep put together a solid race running 10:52 for 5th place and West Chester Henderson was behind them in 6th with a 10:54. Both teams could make pushes for sub 10:49 efforts later in the season. HGP traditionally likes the DM and I bet they'll hit around 10:45 and sneak into the state meet by the end of the season. I'm not sure what Henderson's plans are this season. Probably individual events or a 4x8. I don't see them going DMR just because I don't see the total speed there in the mile and 1200 legs.

The true story of this meet, however, was the championship race. Grayson Hepp and Nick Dahl teamed up for a big time DMR race as they took PA #1 honors with a 10:33.10. Joe Newmann also must have raced better than his 2:10 open race last weekend. Dahl's split was probably pretty awesome. This sophomore is unreal on the track and I don't see him slowing down this season. Grayson Hepp's 2 flat season opener over Dahl was a good indicator that we would see a strong split from him as well. I forsee Dahl racing the Mile and doubling back for the DMR (much like McDevitt) and I see Hepp racing the open 800 and coming back for a strong 1200m split.

In last place in the race was Conestoga, but that doesn't make there performance unimpressive. They ran a PA #3 in 10:41.00. My speculation is that Pj Murray hung pretty well in ~8th, but Marston split 4:25, which would be a great split for him this time of the year, but there were some very strong anchors out there today. I'd guess Dahl was like 4:22.

Also to note DTW ran 11:04 in the DMR and Great Valley ran 8:44 in the 4x800. In the later 4x8 event DTE put together a solid 2nd place finish with an 8:19 and DTW put out another relay squad in 8:22 for 3rd place.

Overall PA looked pretty good today on the DMR seen, although LaSalle Academy (RI) won the race in 10:22.

Please post splits!!!

--ForrestCRN

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Sam Ritz Wins Millrose Qualifier -- 1:57 last 800m

Sam Ritz wins the Millrose games qualifier in 4:16.69. Ritz let Gavigan (4:09 NY State Champ) take it out slow in 68. The race apparently took off with Patrick Tucker taking the lead with a 58 3rd lap Ritz must have held on nicely and taken the leader with ~150-200 to go and finished really strong. Blaise Ferro finished 2nd in 4:20.68 and Tucker finished 3rd in 4:20.72. Congratulations Ritz on a really smart victory. I think we'll see something similar at the state meet if he wants to realistically win double goal. I think trying to go for both records is a bit out of his reach, but he looks like a total stud who could double 4:15/1:53 by states if he races smart.

--ForrestCRN

Yale Performance List Discussion and Two Meet Results!



Albright College HS Invitational #1
Brook Wilson of Central York ran a very solid 2:03.52 to take the open 800 by 7 seconds! Hopefully he can find an invitational to race at in the coming weeks with strong competition to race against so he can try and jump into the top 24 in the state. He had trouble coming back in the Mile however with a 4:53 for 3rd place. Seamus Breslin of Bishop Shanahan won in 4:48. 

Glen Mills Invitational
Rahi Shah of Bensalem gets the open 800m win in 2:06 over Chester’s Ryan Rucker. This is a really terrible track to race on and I bet they went out pretty slow, but good racing from both guys. Also to note is Haverford’s James Abrahams running 2:07.50. You may recall the sophomore ran 4:41 earlier in the year to win the Mile at TCFA meet. He’s improving and is a name to keep an eye on.

Kamil Jihad switches up events this week for the first time running a mile in high school and he wins in 4:42.63 by 5 seconds over Upper Dublin’s Riley Hannon. I’m sure Jihad closed really quickly after sitting on the leaders. I’d love to know how much faster he could go against some 4:35 milers or how he’d race in a 400. But he’s got the middle distances on lockdown for now. 

A 3200 was on the docket at this meet instead of the 3k and Tyji Mays and Alex Ramirez went 1-2 for Bensalem with 10:04’s and 10:19’s to their names. Both guys had strong XC seasons and are probably training for the 4x8, but it’s good to see them both succeeding at longer distances.

In the 4x8 Penn Wood put together a solid 8:22 squad to win the relay over Cheltenham’s 8:27. It’s always good to see these spring squads moving up in distance. Wissahickon dropped two seconds from last week with an 8:28 performance to place 3rd.

Yale Invitational Meet Preview
I’ll open the discussion with the 3k and boy am I pumped! After Great Valley began attending this meet to get some fast times out of Willig this meet seems to have really hit it off with PA runners. Not as many teams as I expect attend Armoury meets, but traveling to CT seems to be the thing. I’m still scratching my head at this, but hey, it makes for a lot of fun mid-January. So who is on the list this year you might ask? No Brendan Shearn’s or Tony Russell’s to look out for in the first heat… but WAIT:

PA gets strong representation from the fast heat with 3 runners: Nick Dahl, Dominic Hockenbury, and Andrew Marston. Quite the trio. Dahl recently opened his second with a 2 flat performance over 800m. He also PR’d this XC season in the 3200 with a 9:11. This kid loves to hang onto paces and clearly excels on the track. I think he goes as low as 8:40, but I’m thinking ~8:45 for the youngster, which is a blazing fast time. He’ll be competing against David Principe Jr. of La Salle, who is one of the top sophomores in the nation as well, so that story line is also something to be excited for. Going up in grade the next young man we have is Dominic Hockenbury. Hockenbury has yet to open up his track season (to my knowledge), but he finished quite well at Footlocker regionals for the second year in a row. The track isn’t totally his thing, but remember he solo’d 9:19 for the win outdoors last season in AA over 3200m. I think he’s got a solid shot at breaking 9 minutes, but I’m not sure the speed is there to go that far under the 9 minute barrier. Andrew Marston is our senior in the fast heat. He has opened up with a 4:28, but we know that distance is clearly his forte. He beat Dahl in a 3k during XC, but his strength on hills was able to give him the advantage. Marston, in my opinion, is the toughest to predict here, but I’m thinking something around 8:55ish, but I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him drop a real bomb here either.

In the 2nd heat, featuring Alex Ostberg for some odd reason (the regional winner – coming off a bit of an injury) we have Colin Abert! I’m shocked he’s not in the fast heat, and I think this hurts him a little, but he should be able to race behind Ostberg and kick off what should be a solid pace for him. Honestly depending on Ostberg’s health, I think Abert can win this heat in 8:52ish. He’s got the kick we’ve seen so many times and I’m glad he’s really starting to move up in distance and race the 3k more.

The 3rd heat is stacked with PA runners including Alex Knapp, Colin Wills, Will Swart, and Gordy Barchet. Potentially a bit fast for Swart and Barchet, but I think they should both be able to handle ~9:10ish pace. I don’t know too much of their track backgrounds, but that would make sense with the XC times they hit. I’ve got no idea what to expect from Knapp. He had a great ending to his XC season at states and regionals, which hopefully translates to the track, but he’s never been too much of a track runner, so we shall see. I’d love to see him run between 9 flat and 9:05. I think he’s got the talent and coaching to run just under 9 minutes, but I’d be surprised to see it come together like that, especially this early. Lastly, Wills has run a solo 9:15 for Malvern Prep this season and I think he can go ~9:07ish, but like Swart and Barchet, I’m afraid too quick of a pace early may really hurt him, but I think he can hang out pretty well.

In the 5th heat we’ll get to see races from guys like DTW’s Ben Ryherd and Charlie Barton along with ‘Stoga’s Jack Iffert and Nick Boccella. These two district one new school powerhouses are going at it again, but this time on the track. Also to note is Joe Newmann of GTF getting into a quick heat. And ofc is the other heats are a slew of DTW and Henderson runners getting to show their chops over the 3000m distance. 

There are some big surprises in the open Mile. FL National qualifiers Benito Muniz and Ari Klau will be taking on Sam Ritz, who has run 4:14 twice now this season, along with 4:13 miler Kieran Tuntivate from DE. The biggest surprises, however, as the other two PA guys: Eric Diestelow and Billy McDevitt. McDevitt and Wills combined for a solid sub 11 DMR and McDevitt as also run 9 flat for 3k, while Diestelow has run 4:33 (or 4:34, I can’t remember) for the Mile. They must have entered pretty quick to get into the fast heat, but I’m interested to see how they navigate this race that is going to go out really fast by all indication (Ritz was out in 3:09 for 1200 last weekend). Hopefully Ritz can take the title here. I’d love to see a 4:25 from McDevitt and Diestelow to go sub 4:30. 

The biggest shock of the performance list, no questions asked, is Michael Kolor of Seneca Valley travelling to race in this Mile. WOW. Not in a million years would I have seen that one coming, but, if it’s not obvious, this is quite an exciting shock. Kolor medaled in XC after a very strong track season that saw him go 4:20 for the Mile and split 1:55/6 in the 4x800. I’m really, really excited to see what he can do in his opening season race. I’m hoping something along the lines of 4:25, but anything sub 4:28 would be a nice start for this young man. I think he’s a shoe in for a medal in the Mile this indoor season.

In the 3rd heat we’ve got Henry Sappey for DT West and PJ Murray of Conestoga. I love that these teams keep getting put in the same heats, and hey, it makes sense Sappey opened his season with an apparent 3:19 split, which is solid from the XC breakout star, but I’d really like to see a sub 4:30 from him this weekend. Murray had a great track season for a sophomore (4:29 1600), but it didn’t translate to as big things as some may have hoped during XC (although he did very well). He jumped quickly to success on the track this indoor season, however, as he ran 4:29 in the Mile to open up this season. I think he could take this race in ~4:26/27.

In the 4th heat is HGP’s Patrick Dineen who just ran 4:38 at Haverford and Josh Hoey’s first open race as a DT West kid. Still no sign of his older brother Jaxson, but Josh split 2:08 to open his season and I think under 4:40 would be awesome for a freshman to start indoor open racing. He should be able to do just that.

In the Open 800 we’ve got Greyson Hepp of GTF racing against Barton and Drownling (I hope I didn’t mess that up) from DTW along with a few Malvern Prep runners such as Mueller who just ran 2:08. Hopefully Hepp can get in a fast heat (they don’t release heat sheets for the 800 due to large numbers of scratches late in the meet) and really perform. Maybe a 1:57ish is possible form him after that 2 flat, but I’m thinking 1:58 mid will be his time. Also Jimmy Cooper of Conestoga will be in the 800 as well. Not sure what to expect from him. 

In the DMR Championship we get to watch GTF take on Conestoga, which should be a lot of fun. Both teams have a ton of potential with big legs. Around low 10:40’s for both teams would be really solid in my opinion. Both teams have the 12/Mile solidly covered (Hepp/Murray and Dahl/Marston), but the 800m and 400m slots are both question marks that could really hurt these teams overall times. In the regular DMR we will see Malvern Prep put something together, which could be a lot of fun, and it’s a shame they aren’t in the Championship race, but ~10:45-50 seems reasonable for them.

In the 4x8 we’ll see two DTW squads and Henderson going at it. I’ve got no real expectations here from either team, but they both have strong relay hopes for the state meet (or should) with the pieces they have. That being said both teams are clearly focused on individual events for their ‘true’ season opener.

--ForrestCRN