A Cap on League Recaps

by Jarrett Felix

Let's roll through the last couple league meets so we can get set for full on district championship action. And stay tuned because tomorrow night, we will likely be debuting our new YouTube channel with a special district edition of TheRoundHouse. 

District 3

Cedar Crest asserted itself as the potential district favorites with their first honest attempt of the season. The boys from CC clocked an 8:02 for gold and also boasted quality individual performances from Jesse Cruise and Matt Royer (4:17 and 1:57) to back that time up. Cedar Crest is the defending champions in the event and have represented the district well with two straight trips to the state finals and a state title back in 2010. Of course the boys from Carlisle, who clocked 7:52 this year, will be waiting for them eagerly at districts next week. Personally, I lean towards Cedar Crest to beat out Carlisle for gold on race day, but it should be an excellent race.

One team looming, ready to create an upset is JP McCaskey. They ran 8:04 to finish just behind Cedar Crest and, if the line up listed online is correct, they did it without their star runner Nathan Henderson (who won the 16 and the 32 at Lancaster Lebanons). Henderson is a big x-factor on race day who, because of the schedule, will be able to get his state qualifying mark out of the way for the 3200 on Friday before then having the option to double back on Saturday with his teammates and chase a state spot. In theory, a triple of 32-4x8-16 is not out of the question.

Also looking strong this weekend were Milton Hershey (8:05 for second at Mid Penns and a 1:56 open for Austin Padmore), Daniel Boone (8:14 for the win at Berks) and Eastern York (big, big sleeper for districts next week, crushed the YAIAA with an 8:05 17 second margin of victory). I also like what I’ve seen from Lower Dauphin who has the depth to compete, but just needs the breakthrough star.

In AA, both Wyomssing and Camp Hill appear to be in good shape for a match up at districts. Wyomissing took gold in the 400, 800 and 4x4 at Berks, including a strong 1:57.22 from sophomore Joe Cullen. Meanwhile, Camp Hill clocked yet another sub 8:10 4x8 mark and Cooper Leslie went off on an absurd 4x8-4:20-1:56 triple! I’d imagine he will try the triple again at districts (he’s been doing it all season and has been doing it quite well) and maybe even the Zach Brehm quadruple if he adds in the 32. In theory, he is arguably the favorite in all of those events, especially after dropping an open PR on the triple at Mid Penns.

As mentioned, Nate Henderson looked strong again, pulling out 4:17 and 9:29 times for the double win at LLs. He defeated Jesse Cruise narrowly in the 1600 and defeated Zach Lefever narrowly in the 32. Henderson will be the big favorite for 3200 come districts (he ran the equivalent of about 9:01 at Penn Relays), but the race behind him is going to be madness. Lefever has been excellent this spring and was the runner up in the fall for XC, hanging closest to Henderson. His recent 9:30 run puts another strong mark on his resume. His Ephrata teammate Nate Becker has been consistently at about 9:40 (that’s what he ran at LLs) but just needs to find that extra gear to breakthrough into the top tier of D3.

Zach Seiger ran a very strong 4:21.31 for 1600, showing excellent speed, at Mid Penns. He defeated Hershey soph Andrew Sullivan in the process. Both of those guys could definitely be factors in the 32, especially Seiger who has cracked 9:30 before and qualified for states last year. However, both may be confident enough in their 1600 times (now well under the SQS) to attempt that event fresh. The same could be said for Mechanicsburg sophomore Morgan Cupp (4:24 at Mid Penns) and East Pennsboro Senior Sam Signor (sub 4:20 earlier this year, 4:22 at Mid Penns plus 9:33 for the win). Add in Tomasko (just ran 9:35 for second at Mid Penns, but also is in the low 4:20s) and Kyler Shea (seems like a lock to contest the 32 and focus on that event) and you have a slew of sub 9:40 guys who all have realistic chances of cracking the top 5 and punching tickets to states.

But the biggest surprise for me out of District 3 this weekend was the emergence of a new 800m star. Derin Klick of Lebanon exploded for a 1:54.60 gold medal run, defeating Cole Sunderland by two and half seconds. Klick held a previous invitational best around 1:57 and bowed out of the district 3 championships last year. Assuming he runs this year, he’s a must watch. Wisner will be the favorite given his excellent credits, but a fresh and focused Klick, getting a level of competition he didn’t necessarily have this past weekend, could be extremely dangerous. I’m very intrigued to see how he matches up with Wisner. If he can dip into the 1:53s at Districts, he suddenly becomes a state title contender (the 800 is wide open). Unreal for a guy I’d never heard of before this weekend.

The aforementioned Cole Sunderland completed a terrific double with his silver medal mark of 1:57.09. He ran 4:24 in the 16 earlier in the meet and doubled back for this mark, which falls under the SQS. I’m interested to see what event he focuses on at districts and, with fresh legs, if he can dip into the 1:56s or 1:55s. Also coming through with a big, out of nowhere run, was Warwick’s Drayk Cassamajor who ran 1:57.55 for 4^th. He’s another guy I’d never heard of who dropped an impressive time on the big stage. He’s got momentum at the right time.

The emergence of these runners, along with Mid Penn runner Austin Podmore, makes for an interesting open 800 field. It appears Jesse Cruise (who may be a clear favorite in the 16 if Wisner and Henderson bow out) will be focusing on the longer 1600, so it’s going to be a group of relative newcomers preparing to chase Wisner for gold.

District 6

State College looks good. It’s a simple takeaway, but it’s great to see a 7:49 runaway gold followed by some strong doubles. Alex Milligan ran a huge open PR (1:54.79 was rough a 2.5 second drop) and Nick Feffer gave Wisner a good fight in the 1600, dropping another 4:20 for second off a reported 1:55 split. Owen Wing didn’t run on the team’s 4x8 so that he could contend in the 16 and he delivered with another 4:23 mark, under the state qualifying time for the event. Plus Tony Degleris dropped an open PR of 1:57.01 in the 8 on the double. So things are setting up for a busy weekend at districts and then perhaps again at states.

District 10

This district is a sneaky fun one. On the AA scene, the district may have AAs two best 4x8 teams. Harbor Creek ran 8:02 to defeat Seneca (who ran 8:04 at Baldwin), likely utilizing a big run from Dan Kuhn. Kuhn also ran a 50.16 400 and a 1:58 in the 800. In said 800, Seneca stand out Donovan Myers turned the tables on Kuhn, narrowly defeating the Harbor Creek senior by 0.03. We will see a slew of rematches at districts and, perhaps, our first sub 8 for AA in the 4x8.

District 12

PCLs is usually a pretty nice preview of the District 12 championships with many top schools overlapping between meets. O’Hara, who had just dropped strong marks at DELCOs, continued to roll with a 1:56.24 from Justin Jones and mile PRs for Rob Morro and Ryan James (4:21 and 4:22). They also clocked an 8:09 4x800 for the win. It’s still unclear if they have any interest in chasing the 4x8 or if they will go all in on the individual events instead. Morro and James are state medal contenders in the 3200 if things break right and Justin Jones will be locked in a very competitive battle for the district championship in the 800. However, if they decide to load up on the 4x8, they have at least 2 sub 2 minute 800 legs ready and waiting, plus a few other strong pieces. They could certainly crack 8 minutes and compete for a state medal at Shippensburg.

The same questions are likely swirling in the LaSalle locker room. LaSalle has an abundance of riches in the distance events (don’t they always?) and some of those gems looked pretty good at PCLs. Most notably, Patrick Grant dropped a 4:20.37 for a full mile to take gold in the event. It was an impressive bounce back from his run at Henderson, giving him 1:56 and 4:20y marks on the year. Evan Addison, who likely was hoping for a bit faster in the mile, doubled back from an open 800 PR of 1:58.08 and Frank Livolsi continues to roll in the longer distances, winning the 32 in 9:33. The pieces are there for a sub 8 minute clocking in the relay, but that may not be the puzzle they decide to build.

The race of the day, in my opinion, was definitely the 800. And that race was not won by anyone from LaSalle or O’Hara, but rather sophomore Kamil Jihad of Neumann Goretti. The sophomore clocked a blistering time of 1:54.89 defeating an impressive field that included last year’s district champion Stephen McClellan (4^th in 1:56.60) and the DELCO champion Dave Whitfield (1:56.26 for 3^rd). How fast can Jihad go? And how will he contend among the state’s elite out at Shippensburg? As just a sophomore? Only time will tell, but he does have a ton of state experience already considering he ran 1:55 as a freshman last year at Chester and has competed in the last two indoor state 800 finals (plus a 400 state final).

I’ve got a little extra time so I’ll drop in my quick take on the AAA District 2 Championships. D2 AA and D11 AAA are kicking off as I type this, so you can expect some recaps on those events in the coming days. Shout out to Lakeland, Parkland and Emmaus on their 4x8 runs so far.

District 2

Matt Kravitz has decided to pursue the 3200 over the 1600 (the event he competed in last year, grabbing a state medal). Kravitz has already cracked 9:20 twice this season (including this recent performance at districts) and in both races he has completely dominated the field. With some competition at states, Kravitz could cut off a lot of time and that would put him right in the mix with the pre-race favorites. Maybe, considering his mile ability, he could have that extra gear at the end of the race to surprise for gold.

One of the races of the day must have been the 1600m. Based on the splits posted online, Franco Balbuena was buried in the field with a lap to go (somewhere around 7^th) before posting a 60 second final lap to pull all the way into first place at the finish line! It was an important surge as only the winner was guaranteed a spot on the line at Shippensburg next weekend. Congrats to Franco on the epic kick!

I know the 400 isn’t really my thing, but be sure to check out Richard Ray from Wyoming Valley West next weekend at states. He ran a 49 for the victory in the open quarter and came back to add an absurd 47.98 anchor leg on his team’s come from behind state qualifying 4x4. This junior should be fun to watch on the big stage.