Results 1/7-10/15 O'Hara State Leading DMR -- 10:48; PB 8:08 w/out Sauer; LaSalle PA#2 -- 10:49; CRN PA #3 -- 10:51

Chester County Indoor Championship

800 – Marlowe Tooles of Coatesville took the win in 2:04.38 over a still recovering Josh Smith of Avon Grove who ran 2:06.30. Tooles is a sub 2 runner who will look to make it to the bubble for the open 8 in the coming months.

Mile – Diestelow of WC East gets a solid win in the Mile with a time of 4:34.26; he cruised to a 5 second win over Twin Valley’s Colin Geary who ran a 4:39.13. Diestelow has always been right on the outside of cuts on the track in recent years, but I think he’s working on his speed to drop a solid 3k later in the season. And Geary should be a key piece in TV’s 4x8 aspirations this season.

3k – Jack Carmody won in 9:35, which is nothing special from the young man as he beats out runners like Ettien of Coatesville (9:37) and Jack Iffert of Conestoga, but the biggest race here was from Kennett sophomore Austin Maxwell, who is really starting to look like a name to watch for the future.

In the DMR Bishop Shanahan puts down their second solid time of the season with a win in 11:11 over a stacked Conestoga squad with Murray, Marston, Nelson, and Cooper, who only ran 11:21. That would be the opening race for all those guys, but I’m surprised they didn’t break 11. The pieces are there for a really solid team.

Perkiomen Valley won the 4x8 in 8:32, but nothing special from them just yet. 

Hill School Prep Invitational

The only event worth talking about here is the open 800 where Grayson Hepp and Nick Dahl opened their seasons running 2:00.12 and 2:00.14 respectively with teammates Goldstein and Newmann following behind in 2:11.55 and 2:11.58. Hepp and Dahl could really open something up for a very strong DMR out of GTF and is one of these other two can put together a 2:05/2:06 this squad could be pretty scary. 

Haverford Holiday Invitational

Mile – Brian Arita took the win in his second 4:33 clocking of the season after going out in 69.5. Patrick Grant showed he could be a valuable piece to a LaSalle relay (I’m thinking DMR) with a second place finish in 4:34.56 as he was able to stay just a second behind a fast closing Arita. Dineen of HGP showed his XC successes would translate to the track with a 4:38.84 as he was able to beat out Bensalem XC stud Tyji Mays who ran 4:39.28. Also solid 4:40’s from Price, Shah, Mitchell, and Ramirez. I bet Bensalem’s 4x8 is going to be dropping much lower than a 8:18 in the near future. LaSalle had 6 guys under 4:45. Not too shabby, and their freshman Evan Addison ran 4:48.21.

Donovan St. Louis of Upper Darby ran 52.01 to win the 400m dash. He’s split ~2 flat before for UD’s relay team and maybe we’ll see him pop something in the open 800 soon. Also we might see 

Bensalem’s Hamzah Massaquoi (53.22 400) move up and drop a ~2:03 type time in the near future.

John Daly continued to look good as he takes down Stefan Sutton of LaSalle in a time of 2:02.34 to Sutton’s 2:02.78. Daly should be capable of running a very solid 3:12 for a 1200 right now, which would be great for that St. Joe’s DMR squad. Sutton looks to be a key piece of a LaSalle DMR that would have a 4:34 anchor in Grant and this nice leg from Sutton. I’m sure one of their solid XC guys could hang with a 3:20 time right now. 

Jesse Laitman runs a solid 9:40 to win the 3k by 10 seconds over the HGP sophomore Sean Dixon.

TFCA of GP Meet #4 – Division II

Addison Mueller the sophomore out of Malvern Prep wins the open 800 in 2:08.22. 

Julian Degroot-Lutzner follows up his 2:02 and 9:03 with a 4:32.97 in the Mile to win by 5 seconds! He’s having a really awesome start to his season and I don’t see any sign of him slowing down. Second place was a really great race for Springfield’s sophomore Liam Galligan who ran 4:37.05 to get himself into the MOC. That’s a great time for a sophomore this early and in previous years he’d be a guy who might sneak into the Mile with a low 4:32 time by the end of the season. Sadly I don’t see him making it into the top 20. Ryan James opened his season for O’Hara with a 4:46.92. I think these guys took a lot of time off and it’s not a bad rust buster for the kid.

Colin Wills takes the 3k in 9:15.81 for Malvern Prep with his defeat of Springfield’s Justin Miller who ran 9:25. Wills and McDevitt have both run very well at the beginning of this season, but I think we’re going to have to wait till late January to watch them again in a fast DMR. Springfield could be a surprise story: I like the legs of Miller and Galligan on the Mile and 1200 leg’s. With a solid 400 guy in Ache Hall (He’s gone 53.42 in the open 400 already this year) they only need a 2:05-2:08 leg to keep this team in contention. I’m thinking 10:55-11:00 flat by seasons end.

Wissahickon wins the 4x800 in 8:39.25 over Neumann Goretti’s 8:35.51. WC East also takes 3^rd in 8:36.41.

The biggest story of the meet, however, came from Cardinal O’Hara’s state leading DMR win with a time of 10:48.14. Kevin James must have been a part of this relay, but if anyone has splits please post them up! Radnor also placed second in a solid 11:00.53 as they take down Bishop Shanahan who ran a 10 second season best in 11.01.51. Radnor hasn’t had any individuals run particularly well so far this season, so it’s good to see them put together a solid relay time for early January. Bishop Shanahan has run two solid DMR’s this season, and it’s awesome to see them drop 10 seconds in just 3 days. Clearly they will keep improving all season. They’ve got a focused squad with a distinct goal of top 12 in the state in the DMR. I’m rooting for them to do it. Also of note is Msgr Bonner who took 4^th in 11:02.69 as they get pulled to a very strong time. Sean Sullivan has run some solid open times this season and I bet he had a big leg for this squad. 

TFCA of GP Meet #4 Division I

In the open 800 Chester finds another star as Ryan Rucker wins in 2:04.83. Maybe we’ll start to find more distance stars from this school. He takes down XC stud Isaiah Fisher of St. Joes who ran 2:05.12. 

In the Mile Andrew Hanna grabbed another victory with his 4:32.95 win over Connor McMenamin, the sophomore out of Souderton, who ran 4:38.94. La Salle’s freshman Evan Addison continues to impress with a 4:45.55 for 3^rd place (by 10 seconds). 

LaSalle’s team continued to perform well with Eddie Goebel taking the 3k with a time of 9:21.35. Tucker Desko of Pennridge also ran well and took second in 9:29.89. 

The 4x800 saw Pennridge edge out Boyertown in 8:29.00 to 8:29.54; both teams lost big time anchors last season and are coming back with some nice relay teams once again. Upper Darby also qualified for the Meet of Champions with an 8:35.86. They also lost a strong anchor leg.

Once again the DMR was the event of the day as LaSalle runs a PA #2 time of 10:49.14! They looked great at Haverford and all their pieces must have come together nicely. I’d love to know the splits of everyone or at least the relay order. Council Rock South also put together a squad that ran 11:04. And maybe Casey Comber opened up his season on that Hatboro Horsham 11:11 DMR? Comment below and let me know!

State College Invitational #2

Alex Milligan dipped under two minutes in the open 800 as he clocked 1:59.3 for his victory. Brian Hackman of SJCA hung in well for a 2.00.7. Tony Degleris ran well with a 2:05, but Nick Feffer didn’t run as well as the first meet with just a 2:06.9 this time. This team could become something if everyone starts running well.

Aaron Gebhart won the mile in 4:32.6 to open his season with an 11 second victory over Mifflinburg’s Quincy Amabile. After a strong end to his XC season it’s good to see Gebhart starting to roll on the track. Gebhart and Amabile came back in the 3k and Gebhart once again took the crown with a strong 9:05.9! Amabile was second once again, this time in 9:22. After a breakout XC season Jerrod Sunderland took 3^rd in a solid season opener of 9:30.2. He was the top Altoona runner as we saw Foust, Stroh, and George run 9:42, 9:50, and 10:05. 

The Altoona boys with Uliano did run 8:35 in the 4x800 to take a big win with a clear solo effort. Nice double in the second meet of the year.

Hispanic Games - Updated 11:00PM

After looking unbelievable at the start of the season Sam Ritz took a tougher day at the Hispanic Games. After leading the Mile for 1200m Ritz was pasted by 4 runners despite finishing in a season tying time of 4:14.59. Jeremy Spiezio took the win in 4:10.92 with Lundy, Brannigan, and Rice all dipping under 4:14 to beat Ritz. It’s still a solid time to run and his second 4:14 of the season, this time with him doing a lot of the work. Maybe a bit antsy, but Ritz should still be solid. Andrew Marston ran his first open race hitting 4:28.77 to take 15^th out of 19 runners. 

Ritz returned in the open 800 as a preparation for the state meet and found the double tough when he placed 3^rd overall in 1:57.70 off of a presumably slower pace. Khai Samuels ran another great indoor race as he placed 5^th overall in 1:58.63. He continues to roll in quick races and has broken 2 twice now. The Penncrest duo ran well in their first big open race of the season with Evan Emanuel placing 7^th overall in 1:59.93 and Soham Kamat placing 12^th in 2:00.67. They have already run a strong 4x8 this season and it’s good to see them succeeding in open races so far this season. Ritz’ 4:14/1:57 double shows he getting ready for the state double, but he’ll have to work on that strength. It’s tougher than most people assume. Often times we forget how strong of an XC runner Wade Endress was for him to complete that double. Brendan Hanna also ran the open 800 for Penncrest hitting 2:04.95. 

Seth Slavin took his chances with the 2 mile invitational run. After struggling with some 3ks earlier this season Slavin posted a very strong 9:46 flat time to place 5^th overall. 

After his fantastic 1:52 showing to open his season John Lewis placed 4^th overall in the open 400 with a strong tie of 48.81. He was the top PA contestant however with Charles Snorweah of Pennsbury taking 6^th overall in 49.28. They were 1^st and 2^nd last season at the PA state meet over this distance. Also in the open 400m Donovan St. Louis of Upper Darby ran another strong 400 this week with a 50.09 on the banked track of the armoury. Isiah Smith of Abington also found success with a time of 50.93.

 

Lavino Relays - Updated 11:00PM

I want to give quick props to Council Rock North’s 4x200 team winning from the second heat in 1:33.52 – We’re rarely a school with sprinters, and it’s fun for me to see you guys doing well.

CB East wins the 4x800 with a solid time of 8:06.30. Jake Brophy opened his season with a 1:58 split for this squad that has pulled some nice pieces together. Pennsbury placed 3^rd overall with a time of 8:08.9 without Alek Sauer and a 1:57 split from Webb who was out quickly. Both of these teams could probably also put together a strong DMR and it will be interesting to see what they do, but both have preferred the 4x800 in recent years. They are both teams to watch as the season continues with the pieces to break 8 minutes.

Council Rock North takes second overall in the DMR in 10:51.98. Ben Heintz had a breakout race running 3:18 as the 1200 leg, their 400m runner split 56, and Sean Griswold split 2:06. Brian Arita got the baton with Bensalem's Tyji May's who went out in 60 flat; Arita traveled behind in 65. They came through in 2:15. Arita charged on the 3rd lap and finised with a 4:28 split. Bensalem ran 10:57, which is slightly ahead of their 8:18 from a few weeks ago, but I expect them to run a strong 4x800 in the coming weeks. CB West had a tougher day running behind both teams with a time of 11.09.

Youngstown State Invitational #1

Hempfield Areaand Penn Hill’s take 2nds and 3^rd in the 4x800 with solid times of 8:38 and 8:41 to open their seasons. 

Eric Kennedy of Kiski Area had a fine season opener of 4:41.72 to place 3^rd overall. I think he’ll greatly improve in this next month and be low 4:30’s if not high 4:28’s by February. 

Andrew Koryak brought it in his season opener with a victory and a sub 2 clocking of 1:58.64, which is just .8 seconds off of Dylin Wilhoites Facility record from a month later than this last season. Koryak could be a sleeper medal threat to watch out for. 

Jeff Van Kooten opens up with the 3200 and a slower time of 10:09.72 to place 3^rd overall. With his injuries at the end of the season I’m not surprised to him starting a bit slower right now, but he had a tough indoors last season, but it led to a very successful outdoor season, so I’m not worried about this young man. 

Franklin and Marshal High School Meet #2

J.P. McCaskey opened the 4x800m relay up with a 20 second victory and a very nice early season time of 8:23.15. With better competition (maybe Kevin Dare) we can watch this team drop 10 to 15 seconds. They’ve put together very strong relays in the past and are a sleeper to watch out for.

Kyle Shinn looked strong taking a 5 second win in the Mile in 4:36.95. This Wyomissing team had 

some nice DMR pieces like last season, but will they be able to finally put a strong relay together? 

Two sophomores battled it out with Johnelle Joe (??) taking second over J.P. McCaskey’s XC stud Nathan Henderson by .05 seconds. Dan Filler of Gettysburg also stuck his neck in there and placed 4^th in 4:41.85. If Henderson doubled back off that 4x8 I’d be pretty impressed, but not too surprised. The kid is a stud. And I like Filler sticking in this race. He started to break out during XC that’s for sure. We could see success on the track from him in the coming months.

Nate Becker of Ephrata took the 3k win over J.P. McCaskey’s Duncan Hopkins. A nice day all around for McCaskey with Hopkins running 9:21. Filler doubled back in 9:25, which is a strong second race of the day. Henderson also ran 9:43 for 5^th place over teammate Xavier Guttierrez.

 

Thanks all for Now,

-- ForrestCRN