Indoor Weekend Recap #2

by Jarrett Felix

Hill School Invitational 12/16
Fresh after his NXN performance, Unionville's Kent Hall debuted in the mile at the Hill School against fellow state medalist Kevin Lapsansky. Hall ended up dropping a very quick 4:26.77 to win by 13 seconds over Lapsansky (who ran 4:39, which is a very nice opener for him as well). 4:26 flat track on a week night is no joke, especially when we consider Hall may end up a 3k guy before all is said and done. Also clocking a really encouraging performance was Xaiver Friel from the Hill School who ran a 4:41.92. He was 11th at Independent States in XC alongside teammate Khayre Ali.

In the 3k, Zachary Smith from Spring Ford ran away with the victory, running 9:31 to win by thirty seconds over second place. It's not an incredibly quick time, but it's a dominant win and, again, it's just December. This should be a nice mark to build off looking ahead for one of many intriguing young pieces in Spring Ford.

Maroon and Gold Invitational 12/19
I've run at Kutztown's track before. It's got good turns and a nice facility, but it's not a particularly fast surface. Just as a heads up.

In the 800m, PA's Calvin Schneck and John Conner were the top two runners in the meet, each clocking 2:07 for 2nd and 3rd respectively. Schneck was a sub 2 man last year and has developed into a pretty consistent 800m leg in the Whitehall system. Conner is a bit more of an unknown on the track, but he really came on strong during XC so I gotta imagine he has some upside coming this winter/spring.

In the 1600m, David Fletcher from Mount Caramel took a commanding victory, running 4:41.95 to win by over six seconds. Fletcher is one of the best 800m runners in the state, having run 1:55 on multiple occasions outdoors and grabbing a variety of AA state medals. Fletcher is a beast and this impressive win at a slight overdistance makes me excited for a big race in the future. I'm not sure he will get on a fast track, but I'm curious what's next for the Mount Caramel senior.

Dickinson College Invitational 12/19
Easton won the 4x8 at the Hill School Invite and shortly turned around to dominate at Dickinson just a few days later in 8:33, a 20 second victory. Easton may have lost Colin Abert, but it still seems like they have the pieces to make an interesting relay. They certainly are very early favorites to win the D11 championships in the spring, but without a real focus and a few big meet appearances, I'm not sure they will crack the difficult top 12 this winter.

Matt Wisner is a force to be reckoned with on the track. He's fresh off his best XC season ever and appears to be staying red hot on the track with a 4:34 1600m and 2:03 800m double gold. The times admittedly aren't crazy fast, but what I like is that Wisner is a winner. I'm not 100% positive on this, but I think he's never lost a heat during indoor track with the exception of New Balance Nationals. By time both indoors and outdoors he's a clear favorite in the 800m (1:54/1:53.1) and he's clearly a strong racer so the road to state gold will likely go through Carlisle.

Strong racing also from Cooper Leslie who ran 4:34 and 2:05 for a silver and a bronze. He's also coming off a big breakthrough in XC for the A team champs. He ran some strong marks at both the mile and the 3200m last spring so he could be an interesting sleeper pick individually in the mile.

In the 3200m, Kevin Lapsansky produced a second solid race of the week, running 10:12 for the victory over Sam Signor (10:14). That's worth probably low 9:30s or so for 3k which is a fairly strong mark for this time of year. Signor is an interesting name to watch after his huge run at XC states this past fall. I don't remember many indoor performances from him in recent years, but I think if he is focused on getting in solid training and racing fast tracks he could get a state qualifier.

Armory Hall of Fame Invitational 12/19
At the Armory Track and Field Center in New York, PA sent a few of it's top competitors. Germantown Academy's Owen Ritz opened up with a very strong opening mile for this time of year, clocking 4:36.30 and earning the bronze in his section of the race. This was a pretty large up tick from his start a year ago. The Ritz family continues to produce fast runners for GA.

Of course the mile spotlight was stolen by Seneca Valley's Mike Kolor. In a very fast race, won by Aidan Tooker of New York in 4:09.38 (in December!). Kolor's time of 4:18.29 was good enough for 4th and puts him on the (early) short list for Millrose Games contenders. It also starts him roughly 8 seconds ahead of the rest of the state already in the distance. Considering Jaxson and Josh both had long falls and Brophy just finished his XC season, Kolor should be able to get a strong head start on this group for indoors. Considering he's already running faster than he did at the very end of last winter, Kolor will be hard to catch.

Bishop Loughlin Games 12/19
On the brand new Ocean Breeze Facility on Staten Island, District One stand outs Jeff Kirshenbaum and Connor McMenamin blitzed two of the best marks in the state, running some very quick 2 miles. Jeff ran a 9:29.91 for the full two miles, taking 4th overall in the race. The time is worth probably somewhere around 8:48 for 3k (although PTFCA conversion rates will translate it down just 38 seconds to 8:51.91). Either way you spin it, Kirshenbaum just clocked a time that would put him among the top 4 runners in the state most years, and he did it in December (that will be the theme of this post it appears)! He is a member of the sub 16 club at Hershey and those guys have all went on to do pretty big things, so who knows ...

As for McMenamin, his mark converts to 8:59.23 on milesplit conversions (from 9:42.20 for full 2 miles that he raced). The PTFCA will convert it to just 9:04 which should be outside the qualifying window, but this is still an encouraging start for McMenamin who should be a serious contender for a 3k medal.

PA produced some pretty quick 600m runs in this one as well. Penn Wood's Dennis Manyeah continued his mid-distance strength with a runner up finish in 1:22.08. That's a crazy fast mark at this distance, which is likely the perfect distance for his specific skill set. Penn Wood also got a strong 1:27.49 mark from Jahi Smith at 800m, looking like another potential sub 2 leg.

Meanwhile, Penncrest, another top proven mid distance program, got a big performance from James Teal. Teal ran an extremely quick 1:24.87, winning his section of the race and running well above his seed. Teal is another 400/800 type, but he's definitely a name to keep an eye on in the individual standings now for 800m. Central league compatriot and 1:55 man Ahmir Gordon ran 1:23.83 for 6th overall in the 2nd heat just ahead of Teal.

The Central League wasn't done there. In the mile, we saw some absolutely huge runs from some (in my opinion) unexpected sources. Joe Angelina of Penncrest won his section of the mile, clocking a 4:30.36 to win his heat and best his seed time by almost 15 seconds! Angelina and Teal make a nice one-two punch for this proven relay program, even after graduating the majority of their indoor runner up squad. Teammate Avery Lederer dropped a 4:42.20. In another impressive performance, Conestoga's Aidan Lake ran a very quick opener of 4:31.64. Lake's milesplit PRs are mostly in the longer distances, so this is a big break through speedwise and could be a huge piece to put alongside PJ Murray in a potential strong DMR to follow up last year's impressive squad.

Something also worth noting, Josh McLemore of Downingtown West won the 300m in a very quick 34.32, over some top notch competition (apparently a 48 second man from CBA). That's a pretty sick 400m runner to add to a crazy strong group of talented distance runners. Let the 10 flat DMR talk begin?

In other 400m news, Penn Wood clocked 3:26.01 for the 4x4 to take second in the meet.
 
TFCAofGP Meet #2 12/19
Division II
Our own Garrett Zatlin was on site at this one and he was very impressed with the performance Colin Wills unleashed in the 800m. He ran 2:00.84 to pull away from Charlie Scales of the Haverford School (second straight strong race out of him) and assert himself as a mile contender. Wills has always had great range at the under and over distances, but I think his best event in the mile. I look forward to watching him showcase his ability in this event in the hopefully near future.

In the mile, a couple runners who faced off in last weeks 3k went down in distance for another battle. Sean Sullivan and Rob Moser took 2-3 in this one while Noah Falasco of Upper Merion turned the tables on his competition with a huge win in 4:32.08. Falasco was primarily a stand out as an 800m guy last year, but this is a huge race from him in the mile. Upper Merion has had their fair share of studs in recent years (Christian Sanders, Austin Cooper) and Falasco looks like he could be heading down the same direction. Sullivan made it a close battle, as another speedster, running 4:32.87 with Moser, a bit of a longer distance specialist, dropping a strong 4:38.93 mile for the bronze. GV's Brett Zatlin took 4th in a nice mark of 4;43 for the soph.

In the 3k, Joe Previdi of Masterman took control of this one in a battle with Rustin's Jack Carmody. Previdi was incredibly strong during XC and showcased that same ability here in an opening win. Previdi has run some strong 800m marks as well, so I'm curious what his sweet spot will be. I was also very encouraged by Carmody's 9:16 mark for 3k. Carmody has had some solid performances on the track, but overall I'd argue his XC resume has had more outstanding moments. This early season 3k is a very nice performance to build off.

Bishop Shanahan won the 4x8 for the second straight week, this time in 8:32 without Logan Yoquinto, who dominated his heat of the open 400m. In the DMR, Holy Ghost Prep ran away with the gold clocking an 11:08 to beat out Cardinal O'Hara by 16 seconds. Wissahickon also won the 4x4 in 3:35 without Andy Harman (medalist in the open 400m).

Division I
In the 800m, CB West's Rock Fortna took the reigns of this one and dropped an impressive 2:00.91 for the victory. Fortna split multiple fast 800s last year on the excellent relay and continues to show that kind of potential with a victory at this meet. In a bit of a surprising 2nd place finish, Jake Good of Abington ran 2:01.80. That is a strong run from Good who likely played a key role in Abington's early season 8:11. Good showed flashes of killer fitness during XC and I believe he was in the 1:56-1:57 range last year outdoors on splits. Ata Shahideh of CB East (1:56ish PR) took 3rd overall in 2:04.18 and Andrew Crosby, a sophomore from Cheltenham dropped a nice mark of 2:05 for 4th.

Worth noting as well, Luke Eissler, a freshman from the powerhouse Pennridge program, ran 2:08.65 to win his section of the 800 by over a second. Keep an eye on his development going forward.

In the mile, Joe Maguire won this race by 5+ seconds over Upper Dublin's Riley Hannon (who ran a strong 4:38). For Maguire, this 4;33 was a much better indicator of his potential than his race last weekend against Conway and company. I think Maguire should be a big factor in both the mile and the 3k at these TFCAofGP meets and I'm interested to see where he chooses to focus.  Aqeel Bacchus and Wolfgang Schanbacher of Bensalem and Cheltneham both also cracked 4:40 in this race.

Cheltenham finished off their impressive distance day with Will Griffen grabbing 1st in the 3k at 9:22. Cheltneham isn't known for their distance running, but they made a strong statement with their performance on the track this weekend and the rest of the state should take notice.

In the relays, Abington took their second straight convincing flat track win in the middle distances, running 3:31.69. It's worth noting that the 4x8 and 4x4 now bookend the indoor meet like the outdoor meet, so an Abington double gold is in play and won't take much doubling efforts. They also can fit in open  and open 8 races without truly taxing their relay efforts. It's not crazy to think Abington will find it's way into the team title mix if things break right. Pennridge and CB West ran 3:35 and 3:36 to take silver and bronze.

Even with a freshman cruising in the open 8 and a 4x4 that placed 2nd overall, Pennridge still had the pieces to win the 4x8. They ran a very impressive 8:18 for a narrow victory over CR North who impressed with an 8:19 for second. We known about Pennridge's ability in the relays after their past few springs, but CR North has not truly shined in the relays and, quite frankly, didn't appear to be returning a ton of relay talent in 2016. But they have come blazing out the gate with a pair of great relay performances after a surprising 5th place finish at the 2015 XC state championships. They also had a top soph in the open 400m. I really like this CRN squad looking forward.

Another top notch program, LaSalle, ran 8:22 for 3rd and Abington, without their 4x4 legs and Jake Good, still clocked a 8:28 mark and finished 4th overall in the fast race.

Meanwhile in the DMR, CB West took a victory in a very strong 11 flat mark, without their star anchor Rock Fortna, who won the open 8. I'm not sure exactly how much time that is worth, but Fortna is no joke in the 1600m historically and would take this relay to even another level. Quakertown and Boyertown each added some impressively quick times of 11:09 and 11:11 for 2nd and 3rd while CB East remains lurking with an 11:12 (most likely running without Brophy and definitely running without Ata Shahideh).