AA State Meet Recap

by Jarrett Felix

Recap

One Mile
Hockenbury, like Mackey before him, took it out hard and decided not to play any games. His first mile split was 4:42, but it looked like it could have been even faster as he sprinted well ahead of the field and came storming by me. There was a little concern that maybe Hock had taken things out a little too hard, but the field behind him had not shied completely away from the fast clip. Matt Kravtiz got out hard for perhaps the first time all season, hoping to keep contact and coming through 4 seconds back. Kachman and DiCintio were up there as well with Skolnekovich running a tiny bit more reserved. I noticed a couple Grove City jerseys, particularly Jonah Powell, up in the mix and figured that was a nice early sign for the team. I had no clue what the York Suburban jerseys looked like so I completely lost track of that squad in the mix. Dallas had some pieces in the front pack as well and looked like they were ready to compete.

The official standings listed Grove City out well ahead of the field with York Suburban, Dallas and then a little bit farther back, Bishop Shanahan. Knoch’s front three had taken a bit of a conservative approach and the D7 champs were sitting in 6^th, running with Greensburg Salem whose front three were out strong, and South Fayette who had two men in the top 7 team scorers.

Two Mile

Hockenbury was still holding a commanding lead at the two mile mark although Kravitz looked like he was running strong and making a push. At this point, Dominic certainly seemed to have the upper hand over the field, taking things through in a very quick 9:53 (just two seconds off what I believe to be the fastest 2 mile split recorded on this lay out, Tony Russell's 9:51 in 2013), but maybe Kravitz had a shot to run him down using his finishing speed over the final mile. The top four or so runners had broken clear of the next pack with Skolnekovich and Kachman chasing Kravitz. Skolnekovich seemed to come into the second Aloha hill with some solid momentum and it appeared that Kachman would have a tough time keeping Zach’s pace.

Franco Balbuena and Ben Bumgarner continued to excel, even at a very fast pace. Both runners were not in the mix individually at their district meets, but were running against loaded fields and took advantage of their big race experience by pushing into the top 10 at 2 miles.

By two miles, Dallas had also taken the lead in the team standings, with their entire top five under 11 minutes. York Suburban was trailing by 24 points and Bishop Shanahan was back another 40. Dallas’s top three were holding their own against York Surburban and their two freshmen, running in the 4-5 spot, were not losing any ground to the defending champs. Meanwhile, Bishop Shanahan’s pack was creeping up nicely into contention, as was Knoch’s top 3. Max Freyermuth from Knoch had made a strong push on the second mile to put himself in medal contention.

Finish

Hockenbury came off the final hill with a commanding lead and was able to celebrate on the final straightaway. Although the final margin of victory ended being just five seconds (meaning Skolnekovich made up 4 seconds on the last mile), most of that gap was made up as Skolnekovich fought his way past Kravitz on the final stretch to guarantee himself silver with an impressive kick. The top three runners in the field broke 16 minutes, marking the first time any AA runner had cracked the barrier on the course. Hock also added his name to the rapidly growing list of sub 15:50 performers. Kachman’s very strong 16:07 was enough for 4^th place, 13 seconds ahead of Sam Signor who put on an excellent kick to take 5^th.

Bryce Descavish held off a slew of runners (places 6-11 were separated by just 3 seconds) and earned 6^th place and the 1^st spot in the team standings. It was a second straight clutch performance from Bryce who also ran a killer 3200m last outdoors at Shippensburg. Sophomore Isaac Davis continued an impressive year with a very smart race, finishing a well-earned 9^th place overall. He will be the #4 returner overall behind Skolnekovich, Bumgarner and Aaron Pfeil. Pfeil’s teammate Sam Snodgrass was the 2^nd sophomore to cross the line, grabbing 12^th overall. All in all, the WPIAL put 5 runners in the top 13 and added two more medalists at 20^th and 21^st.

In the team competition, when the points were tallied it was clear that Dallas had upset York Suburban to claim the title. Dallas’s super young squad delivered a performance well above their years to eke out an 8 point victory over the defending champions. In 3^rd place was a bit of a surprise team in Bishop Shanahan who had their own clutch performance from freshman Jack Ettien and rode a pack of four in the top 30 team scoring to a comfortable 3^rd. Knoch and Grove City rounded out the top five.

Analysis

I suppose it’s worth starting with some apologizes. I picked against both champions in this race as Hockenbury looked pretty dominant en route to his 5^th (!) state gold. 5 golds has to put him in some elite company, especially with (at least) two more opportunities still left to come on the track. I’m incredibly intrigued to see how he does at Footlocker Regionals and really would have liked to see him go head to head with Brophy-Mackey-Hoeys, etc. at a Meet of Champs style meet. Between Mackey and Dom, the pace would have been fast and it would have been at least interesting to see what that did to Brophy and Hoey’s performances. I like this kid’s chances at Footlocker at the end of the month.

As for Dallas, I can’t say enough about their run. This team was led by two sophomores, a junior and two freshman with senior Robert Martin providing some nice help at the six spot. They are so incredibly young, but this marks two straight years they have handled the biggest stage in PA distance running admirably. Obviously, freshmen Stephen Postupak and Mitchell Rome deserve a ton of credit for their run, but I think the real difference maker in this one was Adam Borton. He had his fair share of struggles on the Hershey course, but had been doing the best running on his team prior to the state meet. Either trend could have won out, but Borton put on a huge run over the last mile to grab a top 30 spot and clinch things.

I thought York Surburban had a strong day and, with a bit more fortune could have potentially turned the tide, but ultimately that’s the state meet. They had a huge target on their back as you could tell from talking to all the coaches in the division that everybody was gunning specifically for the defending champions. That’s a ton of pressure and part of why it is so hard to repeat as a state champion. Donavan Mears had a very strong race out front to place in the medals and sophomore Josh Kerr really stepped up to deliver a solid performance in the 5 spot, but ultimately, this was Dallas’s day.

Bishop Shanahan continued their strong season, beating some strong programs in Knoch, Grove City and South Fayette. They had a bit of a gap from 4 to 5 which cost them in the standings, but unless their 4 finished just behind their #1, they were going to have a tough time making up the 47 points to YS or the 55 to Dallas. 3^rd place was a fantastic showing from the D1 squad.

What’s amazing is how much talnet will return next year. Dallas, as has been mentioned, returns their entire top five, YS returns 2 through 6, Knoch returns 4 of 5 including their 1-2 punch, Grove City returns 6/7 including their top three, South Fayette returns their entire top 4 as well as their 6-7. Should I continue? How about 10^th place Harbor Creek? They return 6/7 including 4 freshmen and they also should get back Christian Babo in 2016. And don’t sleep on Greensburg Salem. They were in position for a top 10 team spot for most of their race and also got a pair of clutch runs from their freshmen.

Overall, it was a huge day for freshmen in AA. Five freshman finished in the top 40 overall, all of them competing for teams that qualified for states.

Despite the well-earned praise for Hockenbury, it is worth reiterating that the other members of the top four really had fantastic races. Sub 16 on this course is no joke and the list of juniors who have done it is short. Kravitz had a phenomenal XC season and really went for it here at states. This was a big improvement on his run at Hershey last year and overall, he really showed his versatility on the trails in 2015. He is an exciting prospect for this upcoming track season.

Sam Signor had a fantastic run to close out his season as well. He moved all the way to 5^th place overall, putting on a strong kick at the end to solidify his place. The East Pennsboro stand out has been lost in the shuffle of a very loaded District 3 in 2015 behind names like Filler and DiCintio, but he finished as the top D3 runner this time around.

I’m optimistic that we will see some of these guys at Footlocker. Hockenbury will definitely be there, but Skolnekovich and Kachman I think should definitely consider it as well. I’d love to see Kravitz go (although track might play a factor) as well as some of the younger talents in this race. I really think it’s a worthwhile experience to go to the meet and learn from a race there to grow towards a potential future run. And heck, this Dallas squad is young enough that they should consider giving NXN a go, just to learn what it is all about.

These meets are really cool and a great opportunity to represent our state and showcase our talent. I hope everybody looks into it at least a little bit. That being said, it’s a big extra chunk of commitment and guys are going to have to get healthy and rest in a lot of cases, whether that be physically or mentally. My suggestion, although I’m far from a qualified coach, would be to take a little time off, recover and think it over, especially if you do not typically have a serious indoor track season.