4x800m Recap

by Jarrett Felix

The Race (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBTDyER9WMk)

State College entered the race as a heavy favorite after their Millrose Games victory, but a week after some heavy travel, the boys from SC got all they could handle from a few of PA’s top programs. Jake Good of Abington and Dennis Manyeah of Penn Wood jumped out to set a fast pace while Nick Dahl of GFS (who nearly was tripped 200m in) poised ready to strike. He had a huge third lap and broke the race open for the Tigers, giving Jonnie Plass the lead. Penn Wood and Abington (who closed a bit on the last lap) were the closest competitors and SC was back closer to 5^th.

On the second leg things got crowded again as a pack of six or so teams jockeyed for position, including Abington led by Cameron Mitchell. O’Hara was in the mix with some of the favorites with Justin Jones going out hard to close the gap. It strung out a bit to the point where that was a group of seven or so battling and then a group of six trying to get the final medal. CB West decided to run arguably their best leg in Rock Fortna at the second spot and he came up with a clutch kick handing off right along with Penn Wood, who got a big lift from Seck. Through two legs, the field was at about 3:53 which was within record pace. State College was still back in about fifth.

Penn Wood used arguably their best two legs on the first spot which left them a bit vulnerable. But they were in excellent position in the five way battle. Abington once again surged to the front with CB West running a gutsy leg alongside. But Tony Degleris of State College rallied hard on his leg to kick ahead of the top two competitors and give Alex Milligan a lead. O’Hara had worked up a bit into 6^th within striking distance of Penn Wood and GFS after falling a bit behind. But the top three, as expected, were away as CB West and Abington gave chase to SC.

Milligan let Broadus and Claricurzio for Abington and West move back up and take over the lead as he sat in waiting through 400m. GFS’s Grayson Hepp was making a strong charge in 4^th, but he had some room to make up against some strong anchors. But just as Hepp began to move within striking distance, Milligan threw down a killer surge. Meanwhile CB West and Abington both had each other to race as both teams were right alongside one another. From about 300m out, it was clear State College was now just racing the clock. Milligan got to the line first with a somewhat comfortable margin, getting the gold on his home track. Just behind Claricurzio barely held off Broadus on the anchor leg, the two teams finishing just inches from one another. I don’t think Broadus forgot that race quickly (foreshadowing).

Despite a valiant early effort, Hepp finished in 4^th place for GFS and Penn Wood held on for 5^th, escaping the clutches of a fast closing Logan Yoquinto of Bishop Shanahan who helped run down a flurry of teams to get his squad into the medals. Rounding out the medals were the teams from LaSalle and CR North, running 8 flat and 8:02. CB East originally finished in 9^th, but were later disqualified for throwing the baton.

SC: Wing 1:59.2, Feffer 1:56.3, Degleris 1:56.6, Milligan 1:55.9

CBW: Zerweck 1:58.4, Fortna 1:55.0, Hofer 1:59.8, Claricurzio 1:56.7

ABG: Good 1:57.7, Mitchell 1:56.6, Singh 1:58.9, Broadus 1:56.7

GFS: Dahl 1:55.7, Plass 1:59.5, Riley 2:00.3, Hepp 1:57.0

PW: Manyeah 1:56.5, Seck 1:56.6, Jackson 2:04.1, Smith 2:01.2

BS: Kolimago 1:59.5, Breslin 2:02.2, Fromhartz 2:00.0, Yoquinto 1:57.7

LS: Price 2:00.0, Addison 1:58.0, Livolsi 2:03.6, Grant 1:58.4

CRN: Keller 2:01.6, Early 2:02.2, Haldeman 1:59.6, Heintz 1:58.3

OH: Francis 2:00.3, Jones 1:59.2, Morro 1:59.8, Inglis 2:04.9

Pennridge:

Upper Darby:

North Penn:

CBE: Eisenlord 2:04.9, Motter 1:58.8, Kettelberger 1:59.6, Shahideh 1:59.1

The Analysis

With the win and the fast time, State College becomes just the 4^th team in state history to break 7:50 in a winning effort at the state meet (Abington broke 7:50 when they finished second in 2011). They ran faster than CB South did in 2009 (before they ran 7:33 outdoors) and North Penn did in 2008 (also a sub 7:40 team outdoors and former indoor state record holders). Of course, SC was running 4 fresh legs which puts an asterix next to their time relative to many of the other top squads (including their 2014 state championship squad that ran 7:50.72). But all the same, there are few teams, even with fresh legs, who have run under 7:50 in the 4x8 indoors. By a quick count the list is: North Penn 2008, CB South 2009, Abington 2011, CB West 2011, Pennridge 2012, State College 2014, State College 2016. Those schools went on to run something like 7:37, 7:33, 7:37, 7:38, 7:44 and 7:41 come outdoors. All the teams who broke 7:50 at indoor states have gone on to run under 7:40 outdoors, a very exclusive list.

This win also marks the second title in three years for the Little Lions, the first team to pull that off since North Penn (by my count North Penn won 9 titles in 11 years from 1998 to 2008). Their back three legs each ran 1:56.6 or faster according to my splits. And Milligan only went out in like 58, kind of playing with his food before eating it so to speak. It looks like there were only two guys in the entire field (Dahl and Fortna) who were more than a couple fractions of a second faster than their 3^rd best runner. It was going to be very tough for a team to topple them. However, I did find it interesting that in the post race interview on penntrack, the team seemed kind of upset rather than exciting about the win. I think they really wanted that record and they couldn’t quite get there. Maybe we see another push at Nationals with a title on the line.

Meanwhile, there were other great performances just behind them. CB West and Abington ran 7:50.03 and 7:50.09 which would have been state championship winning performances five out of the last seven years (and every year prior to 2008). The second leg of this race was absurdly fast (just about everyone in contention was out in 55 or faster) and CB West’s move to run Fortna second ended up looking pretty brilliant (my fastest recorded split of the race). Abington’s sophomore Cameron Mitchell also stepped up big time for his own 1:56 split. Both teams had 4 guys under 2 minutes which is pretty remarkable inside. Still waiting on that Isiah Smith appearance in the 4x8. Can’t imagine it’s not coming soon.

GFS raced very admirably in this one, but just couldn’t quite finish the job. Hepp ended up really closing the gap through 600m but ran out of gas after some hard fought chasing. Dahl looked really impressive on the lead off leg. He actually fell off just a bit that last 200m or he could have been in the 1:54s. That’s pretty impressive considering this guy is a two miler at heart. He made big improvements to his speed this winter, however, so we could see something historic come outdoors. Remember, Dahl ran 9:15 equiv for 3200m as a freshman in high school and now he’s added 4:14-1:55 indoor relay speed? Look out. Also worth noting, GFS returns 3 of 4 if memory serves (no Hepp) so they could run this one back next year and be dangerous.

Penn Wood, for the second straight state meet, really impressed me. I think Seck is going to be a really good 800m runner. He’s got such massive wheels and he’s getting consistently stronger each week. Manyeah is a real talent as well. Those two ran clutch first legs, broke the race open and then their back legs hung on valiantly. Props on a nice run. With a little more development at the 3 spot, they would be right there in the top 4. Considering the jump they made for outdoors last year, it just might happen. Bishop Shanahan, who is found a way to finish side by side with Penn Wood in almost every major meet, also continues to impress. Logan Yoquinto, their sophomore anchor, ran a gutsy anchor leg to get this team across the line in 6^th, splitting around 1:57. I was nervous about how he might handle the moment, but he stepped up big time.

LaSalle and O’Hara were both right in the hunt but perhaps just a piece away. O’Hara’s Justin Jones went out in 53 according to my watch which is straight flying. Interested to see who is tops in the PCL come outdoors and curious how much O’Hara will commit to this relay. Speaking of talented sophomores, Evan Addison of LaSalle had a huge split on his leg. That class is absolutely monstrous right now. CRN held their own, running a very poised race from the get go and reeling teams back in gradually over the second half of the race. As Forrest mentioned, they didn’t have Ryan Campbell, but they did have a crop of clutch youngsters who looked very formidable. Two straight state meets now that CRN’s young team has vastly exceeded my expectations.

Lastly, it’s worth noting that CB East ran a pretty solid race without Brophy. They fell behind a bit early, but rallied with 3 sub two minute types to close out and nearly get a medal. They were 9^th before the DQ. Technically, if you assume Brophy could run right around Dahl, the team could have been almost 10 seconds faster and running near GFS. If their guys are in the top pack, maybe they race up to the competition and chip a few more seconds off and then suddenly they are in the top 3. It’s not crazy. And if you watch Jake’s post-race interview, he says he wants to go for a state title with his relay squad come outdoors. So expect to see CB East competing for a shot in the COA and looking for a state gold at Shipp.