PA Collegiate Recap

By Caleb Gatchell

To say the last 2 weeks have been pretty successful for PA alums would be a pretty big understatement. We’ve seen several guys win highly competitive invitationals, and even more guys lay down some very impressive times and places at some big meets. So, without further ado, let’s get to it.

Charlotte hosted their annual invitational 2 weeks ago and several PA guys turned in top 20 results. Nick Rotz led the way running 26:11 for 9th. While that’s not the fastest time in the world, it looks like it was a pretty slow course. The winning time was only 25:25, and Rotz was top ten. That’s pretty impressive for a primarily mid-D guy. Aaron Gebhart was the next PA guy coming at 26:23 in his season debut. That’s a pretty solid result and place to say the least. He raced unattached, but was one of Charlotte’s top runners, so it will be interesting to see if he makes their conference and regional squads. Finally, Zach Greth finished 16th not too far behind Gebhart in 26:33. He has run 25:18, so that gives you a pretty good indication of how tough the course was. He’s an old pro when it comes to college running now, and I’m sure he will peak well as the season progresses. 

Next up we have the Roy Griak invitational, where Pittsburgh brought a bunch of PA alums. There was a pretty mixed bag of results here. Christ Pastore ran a really solid race finishing 82ndin a very competitive field and running 26:31. Aaron Lauer also had a pretty good race, running 26:51 for 109th. After that things went a little downhill as Sebastian Curtin ran 27:16 for 136th, Billy Caldwell ran 27:43 for 160th, and Matt McGoey ran 28:30 for 185th. They all certainly gained some valuable experience, especially since they are all still relatively young. 

Dickinson’s annual Long/Short meet saw a few guys finish in the top 25 in the 4k. Jared Schatz continued an excellent season, and really, past year, by running 12:11. That course runs pretty quick, as shown by the winning time of 11:46, but 12:11 is still fast. Behind him Zach Trama ran 12:25 to finish 17th. That’s a solid time, but I was more impressed by his teammate, Matt Shenk who ran 12:35 to finish 25th. That doesn’t sound impressive, until you consider that he hasn’t competed in 4 seasons, and was gone studying abroad all of last year. To come back from that and be in shape to compete for a top 25 spot at this meet is really impressive.

A couple other guys that ran really well 2 weekends ago include Vinny Todaro, who ran 24:52 for 34th at Virginia’s Panorama Farms invitational. Todaro has progressed well since high school, and looks to be on course for another solid season. Dom DeLuca began his encore performance to a great freshman year with a 24:28 for 20th at Beantown. Look for him to be very competitive within his region this year. Finally, Ryan Hertzog dominated the field at Ted Owens, winning by 45 seconds in 25:43. He’s been very underrated the last 2 years, and I think he’s going to really turn some heads as the year progresses. 

Now we’re onto this weekend, and we’ll start with the Greater Louisville Classic. The course here is pretty fast, but the weather was a bit less than ideal this weekend which definitely slowed things down a bit. Conner Quinn and Wade Endress both ran really well for Penn State though, finishing 28th and 29threspectively, and both running 24:35. The competition here was really stiff, so finishing in the top 30 is quite impressive. EanDiSilvio followed them, running 24:50 for 56th. He continues to progress well, so it will be exciting to see where he ends his season. Next in was Colin Abert as he got his first taste of top notch competition and handled it quite well running 25:05 for 75th. Austin Pondel was just behind him in 25:07, which while a good result, was probably a little disappointing for him. I think he’s capable of running quite a bit faster than that. Finally, Francis Feruzzi ran 25:24 for 105th, just missing a top 100 finish. 

The Princeton Inter-Regional also saw several PA guys competing and holding their own. Sam Ritz ran a really impressive race to finish 27th in 24:28. There’s no doubt it was a fast course (Winning time was 23:34), but that’s still an impressive time. Alec Kunzweiler was not far behind him running 24:33 for 33rd. Clearly he likes the number 33. Seriously though, that’s really a great result for him. I haven’t seen much from him since he went to Duke, so to drop a really fast 8k is really encouraging. Max Norris was just behind Alec, and also had a favorite number as he ran 24:38 for 38th. I haven’t heard a whole lot from him recently, but it looks like he’s getting back on the right track. Dan Jaskowak (62nd, 25:06), Hunter Wharrey(73rd, 25:13), Rico Galassi (82nd 25:27), and Jeff Van Kooten (91st, 25:49) all competed as well. I think they all ran solidly, but I wasn’t blown away by anything either.

Probably the main event of the weekend was the Paul Short invitational at Lehigh. There were an insane number of PA guys here, so I’ll do my best to do them justice. In the open race Matt Gillete continued an impressive post-collegiate career and took home the win in 24:42. Zach Mains, who continues to race unattached, ran 24:51 for 4th. If he competes for Lock Haven, they could really make some noise on the national scene. Casey Comber and Andrew Marston continued their solid seasons by running 25:07 and 25:09 for 6th and 8th respectively. While solid, I expected a little more from them. Cordon Louco was not far behind them in 25:21 and 12th. That’s a big improvement over his time at Michigan State, which should be encouraging for him. Paul Power, another PA alum running for ‘Nova, finished in 17th running 25:37. He’s had a really solid, and mostly overlooked freshman year due to Comber and Marston’s success. Finally, Zach Brehm finished 31st and just snuck under 26 minutes in 25:56. He’s primarily a track guy, so that’s a pretty decent race given he’s not just adjusting to a new distance, but one that’s well out of his comfort zone. 

In the Gold race Dylan Mountain ran yet another great race finishing 9th in 24:13. That’s lightning quick folks. I think he could be a top 5 contender in DII this year. Patrick Reilly continued his incredible sophomore year finishing 24th in 24:35. He’s been on a tear so far, and I’m really excited to see where it takes him. Dan Savage just missed on a top 50 result, but did break 25, coming in 51st with a 24:58. Finally, Xavier Sauvageauran ran 25:16 for 81st. He’s run 2 really solid races so far this year, so it will be exciting to see where he ends up. 

In the Brown race Shippensburg dominated, both as a team and individually, helped by several PA alumni. Kieran Sutton ran an excellent race to take second in 25:01 as he continues to establish himself as their front runner. Ernie Pitone was right behind him in 25:02. I think he is one of the best runners in DIII, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see him win his regional race. Logan Steiner, another top DIII guy was 8th in 25:08. It’s going to be really interesting to see if he or Pitone wins that regional race. Calvin Conrad-Kline ran 25:15 for 20th, helping Shippensburg win the title, and establishing himself as one of their key pieces. Sam Webb ran a really great race for a true freshman, finishing 25:17 for 22nd. Cole Nissley finished 50th in 25:34 as he continues to work his way towards a top 7 spot for Shippensburg. Ryan Smathers wins this weeks “Hey, remember me?” award as he ran a solid 25:37 for 53rd, just in front of Harrison Schettler who also ran 25:37 for 54th. 

Out at Notre Dame Chris Cummings and Brendan Shearn ran solidly, finishing in 25:28 and 24:42 respectively. Up in New York Zach Trama reversed last week’s result, getting the best of Jared Shatz 25:14 to 25:23. It’s going to be exciting as those two continue to battle through their regional meet. All the way across the country Ryan Gil made his Oregon debut running a very quick 23:54 to finish as their 7th man at Washington’s invitational.

 

That’s all for this week folks. Look for another Alumni update in 2 weeks. These guys are running really well so far, so I’m excited to see how they keep progressing as we get closer to championship season.