Starting at 8, Etrain will be ready and waiting to answer any questions you might have about the state meet (or even not about the state meet depending on the question). He will be closely monitoring the comments section while recording a little pre states podcast. Hope you guys enjoy.
For extra fun, I recorded a few extended answers on my phone and uploaded them to youtube. I've linked them below. Hopefully they work well!
Mile Sleepers
Hockenbury vs. Henderson
DT West vs. State College
Race of the Day?
Biggest sleeper in boys mile? My money is on Scarpill having a big PR
ReplyDeleteHere's a piece of the podcast where I discuss this question. Hopefully the link works. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-eWv1L8cVyJMkhXVXhrcnFyd2c
DeleteScarpill is a great candidate for a breakthrough. CB South has had a nice history of performing in this event and Scarpill himself performed very well as a frosh on the relay. My top sleeper candidates are probably Ryan Barton from DT West and Brody Beiler from Selinsgrove. I think they have a lot of room to drop on their season bests.
Very important question about the state meet. For years Etrain and RTJ's PA Don't Play attempted an even modest collaboration with PennTrack and they were rejected every time. Yet this week Etrain and PennTrack have a huge breakthrough that's interesting, intriguing and some great gamesmanship. So, do you think any athletes participating at states will be inspired by your tenacity and persistence and if so, will it provide an advantage over the competition?
ReplyDeletehahaha I think these guys have much more than that to inspire them out there, but I do really appreciate Dan for giving this a chance and participating in our competition! Should be a lot of fun!
Deletepenntrack picks Henderson ahead of Hock?
ReplyDeleteWell it's definitely an interesting pick. Hock is a super accomplished runner with a lot of state hardware already in his possession. But Nate did run 9:08 for 3200m as a sophomore last year outdoors and had a great XC season. He also hasn't run on a super fast track or against super fast competition so there is still room for him to drop. Plus, there's always potential, if Hock decides to kill the pace and try and break the field, that he could falter at the end and some other guys could catch back up (kind of like Deluca in 2014).
DeleteDTW vs. SC in the overall team competition?
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough one. I'm no expert on the fields and sprints so it's hard for me to say anything for sure. I feel like DT West has the talent to pull this one out. They have a lot of guys who can win or place top 3 or 4 in individual events, plus some strong relays. But State College has that home field advantage in their back pocket. If I have to pick someone, I pick West, but I think this will be a really fun race and the DMR/4x4 at the end should be extra exciting because I expect things to be tight team wise.
DeleteHas milesplit made states predictions in the past? Obviously they've always had virtual meets, but I don't think of them as a prediction making site.
ReplyDeleteI'm not 100% positive, but I believe this is a first for them. Certainly the first time I can remember. Predictions are risky because you not only pick winners but you also pick "not winners" for who is 2nd, 3rd, and out of the medals. You don't want to offend anyone obviously, but I think people understand it's all in good fun and sometimes the best motivation for a runner is someone telling them they can't do something.
DeleteWhy do you have Falasco gaining time and finishing outside the top 8? He nearly beat Desko at Lehigh.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fair question. Penntrack and I clearly differ here (they have Noah 4th in their predictions) so there are people in his corner. It also helps that guys like Austin Cooper and Cristian Sanders have done so well at states in recent years for Upper Merion. Noah has cut a lot of time of his PR in the last two weeks and that's a great achievement, but, in theory, not every race can be a PR. This is his first major state championship race so maybe he will just have an off day.
DeleteOn the flip side, he's getting hot at the right time and this is a sport where momentum and motivation are key. This field is pretty wide open, especially in the back half of the medal spots, so if Noah continues his hot streak he could really do something special.
What will be the race of the day ?
ReplyDeleteOh man, this is a great question. Personally, I think it's going to be either the 800 or the DMR. Ironically, those are the two races where I think the meet record is probably out of reach, but I think they are the deepest and most competitive races. The 800 could be a blanket finish between those top 3-5 guys, kind of similar to what I thought things might be like last year. Meanwhile, the DMR is just so wide open. I could see any of the 14 teams finishing the top 4-5 teams and that makes for a really cool race.
DeleteAre you voting for Trump?
ReplyDeleteHaha I will answer that political question with a political answer: No I am not, but there are plenty of people out there who are.
DeleteAny predictions for who's going to be running New Balance nationals and their potential for all American?
ReplyDeleteHmmm, that's a tricky one. I'd assume the Hoeys will be there based on their past nationals history, but they also may want to rest up for outdoors. Maybe we see their DMR as well? State College has gone the last couple years and the last time they were on the Armory track they did pretty well. Wisner was also there last year. Abington has been national champs at this meet in the past. Those are just some quick ones that come to mind and, obviously, all those guys/teams are very fast with lots of all american potential.
DeleteAccording to the milesplits 3200m to 3000m conversion Hock should be the #1 3k seed at 8:34.75
ReplyDeleteare you going to do a moc recap?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I wasn't planning to. I know that's kind of inconvenient considering how many great performances there were, but for the sake of time, I opted to roll all the final weekend meet recaps into my predictions/preview articles.
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