Cut-offs ended up as follows
800m: 2:02.54
Mile: 4:32.24
3000m: 8:59.14*
4x800m: 8:12.10
DMR: 10:48.38
I broke it out into seeds for all you guys so you could see things as they will be set up at states. Some very interesting scratches and I'm also surprised they extended the 3k field to 13 but didn't even consider touching the 4x800m field? Odd to say the least .... Seriously we are leaving roughly 8 schools that were well under the standard out of the field in that event! At least throw The Haverford School in there and make a 13 team field in the 4x8! I'm upset needless to say.
The 800m was crazy. Congrats to Upper Darby and Kevin Hong for getting in after not even making the top 58 or so seeds going into the meet! Hong's seed was somewhere around 2:02.54 converted to banked I think? But Darby entered him and it paid off! I'm curious if any team didn't enter a runner for the 800m with a faster time just because they didn't think they would get in because they didn't have the SQG. That may have happened in the mile too. That would be a real bummer for the athlete who missed out on the chance to go to PSU but should be a lesson to all coaches. Big congrats to Upper Darby for being aware of the situation and getting in their entry!
The bolded runners are those I predicted would enter/be accepted, the italicized ones are names I was not expecting.
Mile
Heat 1
Colin Wills, Malvern Prep
Sean Weidner, Lower Dauphin
Scott Seel, North Allegheny
Jeff Kirshenbaum, Methacton
Jon Perlman, Lower Merion
Sebastian Curtin, Mercyhurst Prep
Tucker Desko, Pennridge
Khai Samuels, Pleasant Valley
Adam Rabon, Hershey
Cooper Leslie, Camp Hill
Heat 2
Sam Ritz, GA
Kevin James, O'Hara
Jake Brophy, CB East
Sam Webb, Pennsbury
Billy McDevitt, Malvern Prep
Mike Kolor, Seneca Valley
Kyle Shinn, Wyomissing
Paul Power, Spring Ford
Julian Degroot-Lutzner, Masterman
Eric Diestelow, West Chester East
800m
Heat 1
Dan Williams, Pennridge
Derron Terrell, Penn Hills
Connor Holm, Radnor
Noah Falasco, Upper Merion
Quentin Francis, Neuman Goretti
Ata Shahideh, CB East
Alex Lindsey, Upper Moreland
Kevin Hong, Upper Darby
Heat 2
Michael Strosko, Canon-Mac
Matt Wisner, Carlisle
Nick Wagner, Penn Trafford
Brett Wolfinger, Quakertown
Brook Wilson, Central York
Kamil Jihad, Chester
Julian Degroot-Lutzner, Masterman
Andrew Koryak, Vincentian Academy
Heat 3
Sam Ritz, GA
John Lewis, Cheltenham
Elias Graca, Fox Chapel
Alek Sauer, Pennsbury
Dylan Eddinger, Boyertown
Brad Foust, Altoona
Khai Samuels, Pleasant Valley
Brian Hackman, St. Joesph's Academy
3000m
Heat 1
Dom Hockenbury, Lake Lehman
Matt McGoey, North Allegheny
Casey Comber, Horsham
Will Loevner, Winchester Thurston
Hunter Wharrey, North Allegheny
Todd Gunzenhauser, Mt Lebanon
Jack Tidball, Tunkhannock
Aaron Gebhart, New Oxford
Jacob Heinauer, North Hills
Paul Power, Spring Ford
Colin Abert, Easton
Jake Susalla, Plum
Alex Knapp, WC Henderson
4x800m
Heat 1
Pennsbury
Penncrest
LaSalle
CB West
State College
Pennridge
Abington
Strath Haven
Neshaminy
Altoona
Bensalem
Wissahickon
DMR
Heat 1
O'Hara
St. Joe's Prep
Conestoga
GFS
Malvern Prep
DT West
CB East
Bonner
CR South
WC Henderson
Twin Valley
CR North
Does anyone else think is it fishy that the 3k is the only event to get extended, and Alex Knapp was the runner to benefit? I believe Henderson coaches are pretty high up in the PTFCA, maybe assistant meet directors or something, regardless I don't think its fair if he was able to push one of his own runners through while so many other talented runners stay home. There were set guidelines and Knapp just missed. It is definitely a shame because he completely deserves to run at states, but so do many other runners (as Etrain pointed out many of them 4x8 teams). It disappoints me to see clear bias towards certain teams just because coaches have pull.
ReplyDeleteThis is actually a really good point...
DeleteThey took 13 in the girls 3000 also, so it may just have been that they wanted to add one more slot to the race. Still I agree that it seems strange. Why just one more? Why only the 3k? All good questions that I hope get answered.
ReplyDeleteMy theory for the 13 entries in the 3000 is to compensate for the inclement weather on Saturday. Some schools couldn't get to MOC on Saturday because their bus companies chickened out with the predicted snow storm. Alex Knapp was right on the edge of qualifying for the 3000 and missed an opportunity to improve his time. Not sure what impact this had on other events though. Thoughts?
ReplyDeleteI mean, although thats a viable answer and a sure possibility, it still doesn't make enough sense. They could've done that with the mile because Hoey and Sappey couldn't make it there and they definitely could've qualified. So something's definitely up, and the PTFCA really should answer the questions that everyone's thinking.
DeleteHoey and Sappey both could have made it into the open mile if they wanted to. Their seed times were faster than about half the field, meaning they must have scratched out to save themselves for the DMR. As for Knapp, he wasn't qualified for MoC in the 3000m, just the Mile if my memory serves me correctly. So while that excuse is likely valid in general, I'm not sure it necessarily applies to this situation.
DeleteYour memory is correct. Alex Knapp had not qualified to run in the MOC at Lehigh where he could have lowered his time and bumped a slower runner. Let me state- Alex Knapp is a great runner who deserves to be in the 3K field based on the time he posted at Yale back in January.
DeleteWhat I really would like to see is Henderson run more of their top runners in local PTFCA meets like OH and other top teams. Conscious decisions were made to pass on the local meets in favor of stiffer competition elsewhere. The strategy worked in years past, but under the system in place this year it really came down to running in the local championship meets on the last weekend of the season to improve seed times.
Alex Knapp had not qualified to run the 3K in the MOC on Saturday. Weather had nothing to do with it. As for the girls field extension, it was a title 9 type of thing. If they were doing it for the guys, they had to do it for the girls too in order to be fair.
DeleteI've been operating under the assumption that Knapp was the only individual to hit the SQG but not be in a qualifying position for states (on the distance side). So they decide to add one more guy into the 3k. He deserves to be in the field and the 3k is a race where you can add an extra team without much trouble. Fine, I'm cool with that.
ReplyDeleteThe problem for me is (and has been) why did they leave the 4x8's untouched? clearly they were willing to bend some rules, why not others? The problem is they cut that 4x8 field in half from any typical year just to save time in the meet and it ruined a bunch of really good teams chances of competing for states.
I don't pretend to know who is in charge of the PTFCA (none of the officers listed online are henderson guys as far as I can tell), but regardless I think it was good of Coach Kelly to get his guy into states. It's like how I praised the Upper Darby coach for getting Hong in. You want a guy coaching you who will do all he can to get his guys a place on the line. So for that reason, if I'm a coach of one of these 4x8 schools that hit the SQG, I'd be arguing my case with the PTFCA and citng this 3k situation as an example. If the kids to deserve to be there (like Knapp and like the 4x8 squads) then they should be there. That's my honest opinion.
So, you do believe Kelly got his guy into states? The Upper Darby coach got his guy in fair and square, so I find the two cases a little hard to be comparable. My problem is if Knapp is running for a team where Kelly isn't the coach, I'd say he doesn't get into states. That's the only question I'd like answered.
DeleteI don't know the specifics of the situation whatsoever. I also doubt there was any foul play involved. I just think, like you do, that it probably isn't a coincidence that #13 was let in and #13 was Alex Knapp. This could be wrong (I didn't realize they expanded the girls field to 13 as well so that discredits my theory a bit), but I think Coach Kelly is a good, smart coach who would try to get his guy into states. That's his job as a Coach honestly. But certainly the PTFCA itself has behaved somewhat questionably or at the very least is being unfair to a bunch of 4x8s.
DeleteI don't know how the state selection process works or who makes decisions or anything and I don't intend to start any rumors I'm just merely speculating like everyone else.
Bottom line for me: Knapp deserves to be there 100% and I have no problems with his addition. But I also believe some of the 4x8 schools are getting completely and utterly robbed and I would really like to hear PTFCA's excuse for why they decided to act as they did for that event.
There are other runners who posted a faster time than Alex Knapp that met the SQS. Where's Brian Arita? Hope he's not entered in the 3K because he is running another event.
DeleteI'm assuming Arita scratched to stay fresh for CRNs DMR
DeleteThe guys fast. Send him to states, simple as that. Don't feel like its that big of a deal. I do get Train's point though about where do you draw the line on bending the rules
ReplyDeleteThe real travesty is that they limited the number of entries to begin with. This has more to do with length of time of the meet because it's on a Sunday this year, which of course has more to do with Penn State bumping the meet that's been held there on a Saturday this time of year for a long, long time. Really a bad break for those who met the standard but don't get to go.
ReplyDeleteYeah, what was up with that? I heard PSU bumped the high school chamionships in order to make room for an indoor lacrosse tournament or something like that. It doesn't make sense since the meet is held the same Saturday every year, it's not like they didn't know about it.
DeleteIt was my assumption that Bill Lott (Henderson Coach) is the assistant meet director at states. If in fact he did get Knapp in I don't blame him, what coach wouldn't, but I still think it is unfair. Having coaches running the state meet is a clear conflict of interest that I think the PIAA should address. Obviously any coach is going to advocate for their runner and do everything in their power to see their deserving runner make the state meet. The issue arises when some coaches have MUCH more power than others to influence decisions at the state level, and I see that as the case here. Nothing against the Henderson coaches for doing it, I think this is more a PIAA problem for letting a system exist where it can happen.
ReplyDeleteIndoor isn't run by the PIAA and the PIAA should not get involved. As the high school track community, we should be the ones to take a stand against the PTFCA.
DeleteJust my opinion but I don't think Coach RJJL would allow one of his guys any special treatment, especially at the expense of other runners. That would go against the spirit of the competition and I just don't think WCH would pull a move like that, they've always had outstanding integrity. Plus WCH was already going to states with the DMR so it's not like Knapp wouldn't have the opportunity to run at states.
Delete