Mile Recap

by Jarrett Felix

The Race (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofhpuutWR9c)

After an exciting finish in the first section of the mile, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgSFH10i0JE), the fast heat took the track to battle it out for the title and sort out the medal positions. Just like State College before him, Jaxson Hoey was the heavy favorite in the mile, but there were challengers lurking in this field with the potential to surprise. The race didn’t get out crazy fast through the opening quarter (maybe 64 high) and Josh Hoey made a bid for the lead just as they passed two laps. His brother Jaxson was lurking nearby along with Matt Scarpill and Tucker Desko at the front. Desko ending up being next to seize the lead and inject some pace while McMenamin and Galligan rounded out the field which was beginning to string slightly. Desko led through 800m in about 2:09 while Jaxson now moved to his shoulder ready to take over, Josh hanging in third.

Jaxson moved to the lead by the end of the first k, continuing the trend of straight 32s, Desko slightly boxed in by Josh on his outside. Wills was now up in fourth with three laps to go. Then at 1200m, Josh moved ahead of Desko and the two brothers took over, coming through around 3:15. The top three began to break away from Wills and Cooper Leslie of Camp Hill who were leading the chasers. Falasco, McMenamin and then Galligan remained in the hunt but were a few steps behind. As they hit the bell, the Hoey brothers continued their surge at the front. Meanwhile, Liam Galligan began to really turn things over and make up ground. Galligan found his way all the way up to 4^th, nearly catching Tucker Desko, but there was little drama out front as the Hoeys sprinted their way to a 1-2 finish, each closing at or under 30 seconds by my watch.

Analysis

A lot of people I talked to, including myself (yeah, I talk to myself), thought Jaxson Hoey may get a bit of a challenge from some of the other top dogs in this field, but in the end he looked very comfortable en route to the state championship. The time wasn’t anything blazing, but he still ran under 4:17 looking very in control. Keep in mind, only Mike Kolor has broken 4:17 for the mile this season in any race.

However, I feel like Jaxson’s younger brother Josh may have stolen the spotlight when all was said and done. Josh had a pretty killer meet, finishing 2^nd overall in the mile (and adding a really impressive 4x4 split). Few people were putting Josh or his speed on the level of his brother, but in recent weeks he’s beaten arguably the state’s most well respected kicker, Jake Brophy, in an 800 and then closed right on the heels of the reigning indoor and outdoor state champion at this distance. And, in case you forgot, Josh is still just a sophomore. How many sophomores left the meet with an individual medal? Most guys aren’t poised enough at such a young age to pull that off, but Josh left with a silver. In his five state meets to date here’s his resume: 2^nd at Independent XC (ahead of McDevitt, Dahl, etc.), anchors DTW with a sub 4:20 DMR split into the medals, grabs an individual medal at states in the 1600, finishes 3^rd in the state for XC behind two of the four fastest dudes in course history and now silver at states in the mile. To go along with a freshman mile national championship, a #1 finish for DTW at Manhattan and a #1 finish for DTW at Regionals and Nationals.

But enough about the Hoey brothers. This race also featured some nice breakthroughs from the rest of the field. Producing his own impressive sophomore race was District 7’s Tristan Forsythe. He won the first section, outkicking a 1:55 half miler, and brining the WPIAL its only medal at this distance. He will be in AA come outdoors where the battle behind Domenic Peretta for silver is very up for grabs. If Forsythe pulls it off as a sophomore that would be quite historic. Sullivan had a great race for 2^nd, nearly stealing the thing but getting nipped right at the finish, perhaps starting his kick a tiny, tiny bit too early (but really just a perfectly timed move by Forsythe). Ryan Barton also had a very impressive race and that, combined with his excellent 1200m leg (sorry for the spoiler), really made for a nice meet for one of the lesser known stars of the loaded DTW squad.

In the fast heat, I was quite impressed with the effort Liam Galligan threw down over the final 400m. He looked dead in the water at 1200m and seemed like he would fade out of contention. But he dug down and rallied with a huge finishing kick and nearly moved all the way up to third. He’s still just a junior, gaining a lot of positive experience. He’s not quite as polished of a racer as Josh is just yet, but these two will be an interesting matchup next year. Also set to come back next year is Souderton’s Connor McMenamin who ran a beautifully even race en route to his first state medal. I really feel like this was a big breakthrough for Connor who has had his struggles at states in XC. He’s really got underrated speed to pair with his impressive strength. I think come outdoors he is a candidate for sub 9:20 in the 32 if he moves back up. He qualified for states in that event last year when the field was absolutely loaded. Of course he likely has a lot of confidence in his mile chops right now (in a seemingly more wide open event right now?) so he will likely keep his options open.

Great, consistent season from Cooper Leslie who caps it off with another season best in the mile. I believe he has dropped a couple seconds every time he hit the track which is no easy task. He and his Camp Hill teammates will hit the track in AA this coming spring and will look to build off their state champion momentum from the fall. Leslie ran both the 32 and the 16 last outdoors. Meanwhile, Tucker Desko of Pennridge finished 3^rd in the state championships for the mile, a dramatic improvement on his finish from a year ago. This was really his first time on this stage for an individual event and might have been the most competition he has seen in a race under 3k this winter. Most of the races I remember him contesting, he left with gold. I think this was a great opportunity and should him up nicely for the 800m at Nats, which might be his best event right now.

9^th place is never an easy spot and Upper Merion has had a couple 9^th placers recently in Austin Cooper and now Noah Falasco. But Falasco made big strides forward during indoors and his 4:24 would have been a substantial PR even two weeks ago. Falasco has good speed and now has a little extra motivation after just missing out on some hardware.