Paul Short Recap

By Jarrett Felix

Editors note: runhigh continuously updated results from Paul Short to ensure all finishers were properly captured. If you are looking at milesplit's results, I've been informed they may not be fully updated to reflect all changes. So I suggest runhigh.com.

I hate to go all Story-Time-Jarrett, but ... Actually who am I kidding yes, I do. 

The year was 2008. Upper Dublin High School was one of the early favorites for the state title in cross country so the boys squad scheduled the 2nd ever foundation meet on their calendars in hopes of preparing for the big dance. I ran in the JV race because I was (and am) nothing too special in the running department, but I also experienced the course for the first (and only) time. Our squad ran very hard, motivated after our first meet disappointment, won the gold race and the JV race.

The next weekend was the Carlisle Invitational. This was always a big meet on the calendar and our team was pretty excited to face off against North Penn, the defending district and state champions. It was a rainy weekend and the course became a bit sloppy. We started the meet with the JV race and about half way through the race I just started to feel like absolute garbage. I had no energy and after running low 18s at Hershey, I barely broke 20 minutes on the (much) easier Carlisle lay out. Then the varsity team ran and our squad completely bombed. Our front runner died hard the final mile and our normal 5 had to step up big time just to keep us from getting demolished in the team standings.

I can still remember my Coach's reaction after the meet. He instantly knew the diagnosis. The Hershey course, one of the most difficult in the state, had taken its toll on our team and even a week later we were not ready to perform at a big time invitational. HG Prep, the team who finished 2nd at Pre States, also had a bad day at Carlisle. The previous year, my coach noted, North Allegheny had run Pre States and then, surprisingly, folded like a cardboard box at Carlisle. Then this year, after skipping Foundation, they won the race at Carlisle in impressive fashion. 

So as I was standing in the cold and rain at Lehigh this past weekend, I couldn't help but be brought back to 2008 and remember that those doubling back from Hershey could potentially be in big trouble at Paul Short. Some individuals would be able to handle it no problem, others would really struggle. Teams had a much more likely chance of seeing a big fall off in performance because the odds of one blow up compound one another when you are compiling a 5-7 man team. 

Basically, the moral of the story is, don't read too much into any rough performances that could be related to the double. And give big credit to the guys who blasted impressive doubles on Hershey and Lehigh the past two weekends. 

And if you are in district 3, thank your lucky stars that you don't have to deal with back to back runs at Parkview anymore.

And as we recap the meet, let's start with the defending district 3 champions, Hempfield, who dominated this invitational from the front for a second straight win. I've been surprised by the lack of respect this team has gotten in the milesplit polls all season, but I wasn't surprised by their dominating run this weekend. This team seemed like a logical class of the field and was fresher than many of its top competitors. However, the times from their front runners Justin Yurchak (15:59) and especially Coby Mattes (huge 16:06) were very impressive. I wasn't expecting quite that fast from those two out front. The rest of their pack all came through under 16:40 and that clinched things nicely. I think this pack still has room to tighten which could make them very dangerous in championship season and if their front running continues to improve, they will challenge the best teams in the state nicely.

District 3 seems to be Hempfield's for the taking at this stage of the game. They handled much of their biggest competition at Big Spring and doubled down against Cumberland Valley and PA's PTXC darlings Hershey beating the latter by 125 points. Hershey uncorked a sub 30 second spread, but couldn't get a front runner in the top 40 of this one and that was the difference. Meanwhile, Cumby also boasted an impressive spread, just 19 seconds, but had nobody in the top 50 overall. I think CV has some nice potential to move that pack up the standings, but they are running out of time to show it. Cedar Crest (one of the top teams at Big Spring) was 14th today and Mechanicsburg was 18th behind a killer first 3.

Bottom line here: Hempfield should almost definitely win the district. But after that your guess is as good as mine for the next 8+ spots at districts. You think the D1 playoffs will be madness? D3 should almost definitely be crazier. 

Speaking of District One, just a week after league rivals Owen J Roberts established themselves as state contenders, Spring Ford grabbed a well earned second at Paul Short. Spring Ford looked solid at Foundation, even with a relatively young and inexperienced team, but they were somewhat buried in the loaded team standings (finishing 8th behind O'Hara and CB East). This week their pack cheated it's way up the leaderboard with a consistent run, featuring no weak links. Really they took a page right out of Owen J's playbook from a week ago. It also helps that John Conner (isn't that a name of a character in the Terminator movies) is continuously establishing himself as a legitimate front runner. He ran 16:09 for his second straight top 20 performance in a loaded invitational field. 

Parkland ended up barely edging Owen J Roberts for 3rd, elevating their record to 2-0 against the D1 squad. Dan Kyvelos continues an impressive 2015 campaign, running as the team's #1 with a 16:06. Geiger also added a sub 16:20 effort to give the team two excellent low sticks. Freshman Nicholas Bower ran a very strong 16:37 to round out the top three. 3rd place in a race that I feel wasn't even their absolute best is a nice sign for the heavy favorites in D11. They also have a ton of depth, loading 8-10 varsity guys into the front of this race.

Owen J isn't going anywhere either. They had a great race this weekend for a close 4th a week after a killer run at Hershey. This team is legit.

Easton looks like a clear #2 in D11 with a nice pack behind Lapsansky, led by a nice year from Koch thus far. HG Prep put itself back in the mix for the D1 title, really impressing with a 9th place finish here. They ended up well ahead of powerhouse Pottsgrove who was doubling back from Hershey this weekend.

But enough about the teams. Let's talk individuals. Out of state Kevin Murray ended up being the dominant winner in this one. He and Griffin Mackey got out very hard despite somewhat sloppy conditions, particularly in that first 1k. They went out at the pace needed to run near or under 15 minutes and that set up a sizable gap back to the chase pack. Mackey couldn't quite hold the blistering pace and the conservative early running of Matt Kravitz paid off big time as he sprinted away from Mackey on the final straightaway, looking quite controlled and fast. Both of the top runners broke 15:40 just a week after Foundation and Kravitz really impressed me for the second straight week. He's really held form excellently in the second half of his races and maybe, just maybe, he has the skill set to foil the front running, pace hammering style of Dominic Hockenbury. As for Mackey, he remains the clear favorite in A and clocks yet another very fast time this season. He's back under 16 again, this time dipping under 15:40. 

Zach Lefever, flying solo for Ephrata, had another impressive run of his own, climbing into yet another top five and clocking a big PR at 15:46. Sean McGinnis ran an absolutely fantastic 15:48 in his best race of the season. He really utilized his speed on the flat lay out this weekend and backed up his Foundation performance emphatically. Jeff Kirshenbaum ran a strong 15:49 just behind, following up his incredible 16:11 from Foundation with a nice PR.

Sub 16 marks were also added from D'Aquila, Conway, DiCintio, Abrahams and Yurchak. DiCintio and Conway are fairly well known names considering DiCintio was the runner up in AA last fall and Conway is one of the best sophomores in the state, but they delivered under the pressure this weekend. I liked DiCintio's run because he had been missing from the line up earlier, so this restores some confidence for him. D'Aquila was one of the top performers at Briarwood outside the championship race and was among my sleepers this year. However, I didn't see a huge 15:53 time coming from him. Look out, this could be the next strong name among a pretty impressive group at Lowe Merion. And how about James Abrahams at 15:57? He's gotten little to no talk on the blog, but was a 1:57/4:25ish type last year as a sophomore. He clearly has taken a next step within a nice program for developing talent and now, in his first real big stage, drops a huge Pr. If I remember correctly he gave Ilgenfritz (another top finisher at PS and one of the top names from Carlisle) a nice run at Abington in his only other major invitational and came in ready to challenge out front again. 

Dan Quigley continues to reascend the individual rankings in XC as the man from Freedom cracked the 20 in this one. Also worth noting was Hunter Crawley in 22nd for South Williamsport. For those who don't remember, Crawley came along nicely at the end of last season behind two time state champ Griffin Molino and medaled at states as a sophomore. Here, in his first major invitational of the year, he ran a very strong 16:09, just 6 seconds back of Ben Clouse who was #2 in the White race at Foundation and has been excellent this season. Crawley could be a sleeper pick for top 5 in A this year. Maybe even more.

There was a white race as well at Paul Short, where Bishop Shanahan led the team race with a victory over AAA William Tennent. Shanahan rode a strong pack to victory that was spearheaded by an impressive run by freshman Jack Ettien. He and his brother Blake combined to make up two of a top four that was all sub 17. HGPrep had a better average time in the faster Brown race, helped by their two front runners, but I'd argue Shanahan had the better performance in a slower race, running well at the front and in a pack. That being said, BS still has to have a terrific run at districts if they want to get to states out of District One. Pottsgrove is not done yet and Prep may benefit from having the best front running in a smaller field like districts.

WT had another strong showing, especially from Rahill and Hutton who both placed in the top 10 overall. I think McHenry can run on their level on a different day which would give them a dynamite top three and Kraus has been rounding nicely into form in recent weeks. I also really liked sophomore Jake Ringers race at the #5 spot. This team is improving and just needs it all to click together on the right day to really turn heads. There is big potential here on the right day.

Can Twin Valley sneak into the D3 picture? They have a nice pack and have quietly put together a great season after graduating so much of their core. Their pack is a bit back of CV and Hershey, but this was admittedly a slower race. Maybe they could have been a bit faster in a faster paced race out front, which would put them in the mix with those bubble teams in D3. It's worth keeping an eye on, especially when you consider this team was a state qualifier each of the last two years.

Individually, independent league runner Gabriel Allgayer made it two in a row at this meet, winning with a 16:11 mark to take the crown. He opened up a six second margin at the mile and did not surrender it, even though Liam Galligan of Springfield DELCO presented a nice challenge at 16:15 for second. Allgayer has yet to prove he can run at Dahl's level, but it seems like he's the #2 runner in the independent league. One of the runners closing at his heels is Colin Wills who finished 3rd in this race at 16:17, improving consistently form his run at Briarwood a few weeks back. Khyare Ali of the Hill School is another independent name to watch for as he went out hard and couldn't quite hang on, but has shown some real talent and ability in his races at Briarwood and Lehigh this year. He and Charlie Scales from the Haverford School are among the sleeper names in the independent league.