Official PA Distance Festival Discussion

Edit: Heat sheets now available at www.runccrs.com. Thanks to the commenter a post below for pointing this one out.

The PA Distance Festival is here and it's setting up to be an awesome meet! This post will be the official discussion post for the meet like I have done with some meets in the past. They seem to work pretty well so I tried it again.

I will also post up a few quick thoughts to hopefully stir the pot.

800m

Lewis is back and going after his own record with no prelims or 400m runs in his legs plus the confidence to know he has already run 1:48. He's training through for nationals and a shot at a title and an all time type mark so this meet should be an excellent opportunity to keep his momentum and enthusiasm going.

But this is also setting up to be his toughest challenge of the season. With all due respect to Sauer, Eddinger and Graca who ran amazing this spring, I honestly think the 2nd, 3rd and maybe 4th best 800m men in the state when fresh are Peretta, McDevitt and Ritz in some order. Ritz hasn't run a true time trial 800 yet this spring but has run a 3:47 1500m and ran 1:51 on the double during indoors. Plus I believe he is the only PA runner to beat Lewis at 800m this "year" when he beat him at the Armory in December. The problem for Ritz will be that he has been traveling back and forth across the country this week and just recently ran a hard mile at Hayward. That's going to make it tough to run fast, but I really appreciate that he is not making excuses and still taking this great opportunity to chase a fast time. Gotta give credit where credit is due, this is a gutsy move.

Peretta has been virtually unchallenged at 800 this year with his closest battle probably coming against Graca at Baldwin where he won 1:52-1:54 or something along those lines, both men doubling back from the mile. That's the other thing, keep in mind that Peretta has not run a fresh 800m all year, he's always doubling back from the 16. That hasn't stopped him from running 1:51.50, 1:52.44 and 1:53.30 in three winning efforts, two of which he was leading the entire way. It's possibly Peretta won't lead a single step this time around.

And then there's McDevitt who quietly became one of the best 800m runners in state history at Henderson earlier this year with his 1:51 mark against Sauer and Boswell from DE (set to be in this race as well). McDevitt has been really impressive at 800m, surprising myself and others (and maybe himself) with his ability to go down in distance. He has beaten Sauer the last two times they raced and since Sauer ran 1:49ish/1:51.00 this past weekend, would it be a huge surprise if McDevitt challenged the 1:50 barrier?

Looking for big PRs as well will be some top flight relay runners in Tucker Desko of Pennridge and Evan Emanuel of Penncrest. Austin Howell and Jeff Espinal of Pennridge are also both expected to be involved after their 7:40 run at states. Matt Wisner and David Fletcher are two others to watch, both of whom have excellent kicks and hit their stride at states.

The big question will be can anyone beat Lewis and, is it smart to try? Making too big of a move down the back stretch to try and catch up may take a toll on one of these guys for the final 200m. That being said, Lewis's running style is perfect for dragging these miler types in the field to a fast time. If they sit back, ride the pace and try and kick down the final 200m, we might see multiple sub 1:50 performers in the same heat for what would likely be the first time in PA history.

Mile

Zach Brehm will be running just the mile, leaving him fresh and focused for possibly the first time since last summer at nationals. He's fresh of an 8:55 state meet record run in the loaded 3200m and a third state title. I'd argue Brehm's best event is the mile so after seeing 8:55 the day after 4:18/1:55 it will be interesting to see if he can break that 4:09 mark from two years ago.

Two years ago he was helped by efforts from guys like Tony Russell pushing the pace so it will be interesting to see who, if anyone, is interested in helping keep this one fast throughout. There are some very fast out of staters signed up (Kieran Tuntivate, Boswell, Edwin Rutto) but I would be lying to you if I told you I had any idea what sort of ability/strategy they have in store. But from PA it looks like Mike Kolor, Jaxson Hoey and Colin Abert will provide the main threat for gold alongside Brehm.

Kolor has technically run the fastest of all the PA guys in the field at 1600, having already run 4:11 low. Kolor had a bit of a disappointing finish in the states field where he was 4th, but a non tactical, fast race could suit him the best of the group. He will be out for revenge in this one. 

Meanwhile newly crowned state champ Jaxson Hoey is still undefeated at 1600m this spring and unleashed a killer kick to win states. I doubt he will be afraid of a fast pace or making a big move to try and shake Brehm. Last year at this meet he ran the equivalent of 4:11.13 in the 1500 and this year all signs suggest he's in better shape (speed wise at least).

Colin Abert ran 8:56.00 at states. Any other year that wins. He ran 14:55 at Lehigh. He ran sun 15:50 at states. But somehow he's "under the radar". I completely underestimated his ability for states and he wowed me with his awesome near gold performance. So why should I expect him not to come back with a vengeance in this race? He's run 4:14 solo this year and if states was any indication, he will benefit from some company this time around. 8:56 for 3200m suggests to me 4:10 or fast is in play. Remember Barchet and KJ last year ran about 4:11-4:12 and they were both 9:03ish guys and you can argue Barchet was definitely not known for his speed.

Sleeper in Nick Dahl of GFS. The sophomore ran 9:02 on this very track earlier this year and sophomores historically have a history of running very fast here (see Brehm, Ritz, Logue). Dahl ran 4:18ish earlier in the season, but that 9:02 indicates there is room for more.

Keep an eye on Kyle Shinn and Cooper Leslie, both of whom will get the 1600m on fresh legs after impressive doubles at states in the event. Josh Hoey and Spencer Smucker are both slated to be involved in another battle of top Frosh as are top runners like Perlman, Sappey, Szuhaj, Morro, DiCintio, Knapp, RJ, Wills, Coakley and more.

Lastly, keep an eye out for Casey Comber in the 5000m. Could be an indication of a possible try for that event at nationals later this month. Curious if anyone knows the state record at 5k on the track? I honestly don't know, but I'd imagine Comber has a real shot at it at this meet.