So I've been a bit busy today and I'm going to the Eagles game tomorrow so be on the look out for weekend recaps late Sunday/early Monday. In the meantime, feel free to discuss the weekend events in comments under this post!
As always, I'm curious to hear your thoughts
Keeping us waiting for your thoughts on performances. You're killing us etrain! ;)
ReplyDeleteDT West destroyed.
ReplyDelete"DT West will fall apart with so much firepower" lol ok then. I will say my two biggest performances of the week go to OJR at Foundation and WCH at Carlisle for making the D1 predictions even HARDER if that's somehow possible. Hoey over Brophy also starting to look better and better...
ReplyDeleteI'll agree Hoey is looking in top form, but what I gathered from watching Brophy at Foundation, he didn't have to work very hard. He seemed to be completely relaxed and controlled the whole race. There wasn't much competition to make him run a fast time. I don't think there is anything to suggest he won't run well this year.
DeleteThere were some big surprise performances in JV at both Carlisle and Foundation this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by how well Henderson's JV performed at Carlisle yesterday. I didn't know they had depth.
DeleteSC, NA and La Salle had some times that could have done well in the Varsity race at Foundation.
DeleteCarlisle performances are a curious thing. Last year; Brehm 15:23 , then never within 40 secs of that the rest of the season. Also, Zach Seiger fell at 4K lost about 20 secs.
ReplyDeleteSeiger went down more than once in the last mile I believe. He was I the mix with the lead pack till then, I would think he lost more than 20 secs.
DeleteI don't know enough about Seiger's race to comment about that, but I can comment about Brehm's times.
DeleteThe Carlisle course is easily the easiest on Carlisle's schedule. The rest of the season is run at Salesianum (very hilly), Big Spring (course record at 15:50), and Hershey (with and without Poop-Out). While maybe he could've been within 40 seconds, Carlisle probably should have been his PR simply based on the other courses run.
Really looks like it is Dwest for the title and then everyone else.
ReplyDeleteQuestion, if you are Coach Burns and the Hoey's come to you and say "my sons will run for your team and win you a state championship, but they will not practice with the team", do you say yes?
No. Two guys can't win a state championship, it takes a team.
DeleteIn a private school fostering teamwork may be important to the culture of the institution and they may tell a parent to take his kids where they'll all be happier. But in a public school the athletic director or others may influence or override the decisions, they might bend the team rules and the coach has no choice but to be accommodating.
DeleteI agree. I have 0 respect for the Hoeys leaving Malvern because they didn't like the coach.
DeleteIf they are not practicing with the team, then they are kind of defeating the purpose of winning as a team. High school is a place to learn and prepare for the future. What's the point in making a special All-Star team just to wreck everyone at states?
DeleteDo they really not practice with the team and do they have their own coaches and workouts or is this just running blog rumors?
DeleteIf you don't like a teacher, you drop the class... why are coaches any different.
DeleteBecause if you did that with 2 public schools in PA, you'd be declared ineligible.
DeleteI agree with there decision to ditch their old coach. I'm not sure anyone here knows if they are actually practicing with the team. I would hope that they are, and that the coach would at least have enough power or kick them off if he wanted to. Personally, I don't think it's fair for someone to only run with their team during races.
DeleteFor the first time ever I'm rooting for NA.
DeleteBurns has his hands full and not just on the boys side. His top female runner is not really coached by him either. But I guess if you can put up with the strong, over-reaching personalities, those are good problems to have.
DeleteBefore you bash the Hoeys again, remember the golden rule:
ReplyDelete"Do unto others as they would do unto you on an anonymous blog about running."
-Pope Francis
This is the best thing I have ever read.
DeleteLooks like something sappey would say
DeleteI have blessed this blog would like to remind everyone who thinks that DWest is going to run away with states that David did slay Goliath. Don't be so surprised if David is wearing a North Allegheny jersey this year.
Delete- Pope Francis
Thank you Pope Francis for looking over PA XC and Etrain's blog.
DeleteYou're very welcome, my child. I was actually reading this blog on my cell phone while Aretha Franklin was singing last night.
Delete- Pope Francis
The David and Goliath analogy is accurate. The only way NA wins at Hershey is if they all hit Dwest runners in the head with rocks.
DeletePeople do always go down at state...
DeleteIt's funny that one of the biggest schools with one of the best xc traditions in the State is considered the "David" and not the Goliath. Also, remember the year before Coatesville won Nationals, they were the heavy favorites going into States and didn't get it done.
Delete@Gordy Barchet last year.
DeleteAs one anonymous commenter on a blog about running once said: "Dwest will implode, there's too many cooks in that kitchen."
DeleteThey'll be fine. The kids are all good, it's the adults who sometimes muck it up. States should be a breeze for them if everyone just plays nice.
DeleteI have always heard good stuff about Coach Burns, but I wonder how to accurately assess his coaching if his top male and female runners are coached independent of the team? It's kind of a shame that he doesn't have full coaching control over his teams. Is this typical in high school running?
Not going to reveal my school, but our coach would probably kick a kid off the team for practicing without the team and then expecting to be put in a meet.
DeleteThank God my parents are couch potatoes and don't know the first thing about competitive running.
DeleteThat being said, there are a fair number of elite runners, successfully coached through high school by parents who struggle quite a bit at the college level. College coaches don't usually tolerate parents who have difficulty turning over the coaching role to someone else. It creates a lot of stress.
It creates a lot of stress at the high school level too. Even some of the couch potato parents get all worked up and blame the coach when they think their superstar is underachieving. Then they actually pay some trainer to take over which leads to their kid doing his own workouts apart from the team and creates divisiveness and usually an arrogant prima donna.
Delete2015) DTW: 57 points, Avg. 16:00
ReplyDelete2014) St. Anthony’s: 62 points, Avg. 16:02
2013) West Chester Henderson (without Russell): 88 points, Avg. 16:09 (If Russell wins they score 67 points and Avg. 15:54 if Russell runs 15:18)
2012) WCH: 60 points, Avg. 16:16; Don Bosco: 73 points, Avg. 16:19; Saint Anthony’s: 97 points, Avg. 16:27
DT West looked awesome, but I'm not ready to hand them a state title just yet. North Allegheny looked really good at Foundation. I don't think a Henderson/COH type battle is out of the question come November.
ReplyDeleteCOH is just not deep enough... they have a great top 2 then nobody else really
DeleteI think he meant the type of team battle that COH and Henderson had back in 2013. Not that COH will be the team to contend.
DeleteIn a dual meeting setting DT West would most likely win on any course. However, at states there is enough displacement that they are far from invincible.
DeleteNo way NA beats dwest. NA is well coached and peaks well for states every year, but dwest has the ability to put 3 in before NAs 1 and then match up with all of their supporting cast. Unless dwest peaks like absolute crap, they are winning states and they are winning with ease.
DeleteDT West has by far the best chance of victory. With that in mind, any team can have injuries, sickness, and bad days. NA proved that they are a strong team. The collection of multiple strong teams could bring them down in a given situation.
DeleteThe only way DWest doesn't win states is if they all get the stomach flu the night before the meet. If NA was smart, they would send a case of Hot Pockets to the Dwest team's rooms the night before states. Then we will really see how good they are running with nausea and cramps.
DeleteChesmonts should be interesting
ReplyDeleteIf one assumes Carlisle is 20 seconds faster than Hershey, then DWest beats NA by about 30 points, and WCH comes in between La Salle and Mount L.
ReplyDeleteDWest's number 7 runner beats all other teams number 5, and in most cases the number 4 runners.
Carlisle is much faster than Hershey. 40 seconds would be a better conversion.
DeleteHaving run both, 40-50 seconds sounds about right.
Delete