by Jarrett Felix
I may
provide some predictions for the district one meet once I take a look at a full
qualifiers list, but for now I’ll just highlight some of the action from
leagues and what that could mean for the upcoming championships at Coatesville.
District 3 and Miscellaneous still to come. Shout out to those competing at
District 2 right now as well!
District One
3200m
Jake
Brophy made a big statement about his fitness this weekend. Choosing to focus
on just one event, the reigning XC and indoor state champ dropped a 9:15.39 for
an impressive meet record. He also won by roughly 14 seconds over Brian Mass of
CB West (who had an awesome race for 2nd). Although Brophy has a
variety of up and coming competition in the state’s other districts, he still
has a bit of a stranglehold on favorite status in D1. And he reminded us all of
that this weekend.
Outside
of Brophy, there were not a ton of jaw dropping marks in the 32, however we did
some intriguing performances. Unionville, who has produced 3 state champions
over 3200m since 2006, seems to have their next great runner in Kent Hall.
Although Hall isn’t quite at 9 flat pace, he did run 4:23 and 9:42 at
Ches-monts for a pair of runaway gold medals. Sophomore sensation Rusty Kujdych
dropped a strong 9:35 for the victory at his league championship, pulling away
from CRN’s duo by roughly 16 seconds. And Spring Ford Senior John Conner may
have had the most impressive meet of all, winning the 3200 in 9:42.02 and
adding a 3rd place finish in the 1600 and a close 5th in
the 8. Spring Ford also ran 8:11.88, possibly with Conner. The Rams took 4 of
the top 6 spots in the 3200 with 3 sophs filling in the spots behind Conner
(McKenna, Smith and Ainscoe). Watch out for this team next cross season.
4x800m
It was
an interesting weekend for the 4x8 as the favorites dropped some fast marks
while some sleepers put in work as well. In the Suburban One League, we saw
District One’s top team continue to excel. CB West ran 7:46.70 for the victory
over Pennridge (7:49.82). Both teams are faster than they were this time last
year and have an estimated 5 or so guys under 2 minutes. West’s #2 man, Jake
Claricurzio, also had a big individual performance, pushing Tucker Desko all
the way to the line in the 800 with a 1:55.22 PR to Desko’s 1:55.19. Desko was,
admittedly, on the double from the 1600 in which he defeated West’s #1 Rock
Fortna 4:19 to 4:20.
In the
National Division, Abington, West’s long time rival, won with a 7:52 time. It’s
Abington’s best time thus far this outdoor season. Worth noting, CR North was
disqualified from this race, but apparently ran a 7:52 of their own to finish
right with Abington. CB East and CB South were also disqualified in the
Continental 4x8. I don’t know what East’s time was, but it will be interesting
to see if missing the shot at a fast 4x8 time could influence Brophy’s decision
looking ahead. Although CRN didn’t technically drop a massive season best as a
relay, it’s clear this team is clicking at the right time. After an impressive
showing at Penn Relays, CRN went toe to toe with Abington again and then
followed it up with a 1-2-3 sweep in the 1600. They also picked up the gold in
the 800 as Bryan Keller left with a pair of individual golds.
The
American Division supplemented the sleeper category for districts as
Wissahickon showed some strong upset, winning the 4x8 in 8:06.98 and adding the
top 2 spots in the 800: 1:57.06 from Chris Cameron and 1:58.37 from Andy
Harman. I’m not sure if this team has any interest in the 4x8 long term, but
they ran away from a strong UD relay in the relay this weekend and also got a
solid individual 1600 performance from Lukas Marcelis.
Joining
the sleeper party were Pioneer League Champs Perk Valley (8:03.79) and Chesmont
runner ups Rustin (8:03.73). Rustin pushed Bishop Shanahan, a solid sub 8
minute squad, to the line on race day and have Jack Carmody and Brandon Hontz
(1:58 for 2nd in the open 8) to lead the way. They’ve also got a
little extra experience in their back pocket from strong efforts at districts a
year ago and state championship trips in XC. Perk Valley took 3-4 in the open
800 after their victory and have a very realistic shot at breaking 8 minutes at
Coatesville.
We
haven’t seen anything jaw dropping on a relay from West Chester Henderson, but
the always dangerous program did have 8 guys between 1:24.65 and 1:29.51 for
600 meters at their recent invitational. Led by Kavond Jones, Spencer Smucker
and Josh Richard, Henderson could potentially throw together a well-balanced
team with multiple sub 2 minute legs. They have terrific footspeed on this
roster, having won the 4x4 recently at Ches-monts with a 3:22.
Lastly,
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the defending champions. Pennsbury is gaining
steam at the right time and, although they still have a ways to go to get into
state qualifying position, Pennsbury did get a killer performance from Eric
Kersten in the open 800, winning the slow section and running a big season’s
best at 2 flat. Kersten is the last tie to Pennsbury’s state championship squad
last year and ran 1:55ish on the lead off leg of the team’s 7:38.
1600m/800m
It’s
unclear which events certain guys will chase at districts this year. My
tentative guess is that Desko will go after the open 8 as opposed to the open
16 (easier double with the 4x8 and arguably his better event). I’d also wager
Sean McGinnis, who had quite the match-up with Liam Conway this weekend, will
be thinking 800 over 16. McGinnis ran 4:18 for silver and then doubled back
with a 1:58 victory while Conway ran 4:16-1:59. I think both McGinnis and Desko
will be state qualifiers and atop the list of medal contenders for district one
in the event. Both runners have had terrific seasons and should be hard to stop
down the stretch.
Like
both of these athletes, Owen J Roberts sophomore Liam Conway has a ton of range
and, therefore, a ton of options for districts this coming weekend. I’m think
Conway goes with the 16 over the 8 and the 32 (1:54 and low 9:20s, but 4:15 for
16). Outside of the Hoeys, few runners have been as consistently strong at the
mile this season in district one (and quite frankly the state in general). Plus
this most recent victory over a strong finisher like McGinnis should give him a
little extra confidence in his mile fitness.
We may
see Rock Fortna in the 1600 this coming weekend. He raced the 4x8-16 double
last year at districts (it’s really hard) and I’d imagine the plan will be to
give him another shot at it. It’s probably his better event and it also seems
like West will throw 3 other guys in the open 8 (Claricurzio, Zerweck and
McIlhinney perhaps?). Of course, West may also push all their chips into the
pot for the 4x8 to maximize their odds of beating State College (who will
likely be doubling a ton of guys in hopes of challenging DT West for the state
title).
James
Abrahams and Liam Galligan will both be factors in whatever event they choose.
Galligan is an indoor state medalist in the mile and an XC medalist who just
pulled out double gold at Central Leagues. He’s a strong contender for a top 3
spot in the 16. Abrahams has great speed with 1:56 ability, but could also run
low 4:20s in the 16 as he proved against the O’Hara boys at DELCOs. I’m
thinking he throws his hat in the ring at 1600, but it’s hard to say for sure
which event is more open to grabbing a state qualifying spot.
Despite
all the fast times the past couple weeks, one of the most intriguing
developments so far has been the emergence of DT West’s “other” monster
sophomore Chase Semanyk. Semanyk came out of nowhere in recent weeks to become
the surprise Ches-mont champion at 800 and followed it up with a 1:24.15
victory in the 600m at the Warrior Inviational. While he’s only sitting at a
1:58 PR, it apparently came off a negative split at leagues and his momentum is
outstanding heading into districts. We’ll see if he gets tied up in the 4x8 at
all (can you imagine if DT West suddenly threw us for a huge curve ball going
in on the 4x8), but I think he could be a 1:55 guy by the end of next weekend,
depending on how he handles the spotlight.
Quakertown’s
duo of Brett Wolfinger and Hudson Delisle dropped 1:55.39 and 1:56.44 times at
leagues, pushing them up the standings in the district. Delisle is just a
sophomore (with strong mile chops as well) and Wolfinger is an indoor state
medalist for the 800 who has only gotten stronger in recent weeks.
Shout Outs
Here’s
some performances I wanted to highlight even if they didn’t necessarily flow in
the initial body of the post. Joseph Cardie of Springfield DELCO. He’s had a
terrific season alongside Galligan and dropped a 4:27-9:53 double at Central
League’s for the bronze-silver double.
Ben
Ryherd continues a terrific season as well with a 4:28 run at Ches-monts for
third. We will likely see Ryherd in the 3200 (Barton-Hoey-Hoey would take up
the 3 spots in the 1600, and yes there is a max 3 per team which makes
literally no sense to me) which I think is a good thing as he could maybe even
surprise and sneak into the top 8. I could see him running in the high 9:20s
and jumping in with that crowded pack around that zone.
Big run
by freshman Matt Eissler from Pennridge. He finished 3rd in the 1600
with a 4:27.28 and then added a 1:58.98 mark in the open 800 on the double
(likely 3rd race of the weekend counting the 4x8). Crazy to see
freshman doing such big things for the second year in a row. It’s going to be a
crazy couple years for PA in the future with all this talent in the freshman
and sophomore class.
Guess I
won’t be having my third retirement anytime soon. Or if I do, I’ll probably be
un-retiring real quick.
WCH 4x800 might surprise, they've got at least 7:55 potential. Rustin is another sleeper, they have a shot at states with a top 8 SQS performance and it seems within their range.
ReplyDeleteWill you be doing a college recap for all the conference championships?
ReplyDeleteI actually just finished a recap last night which you can find in the NCAA section! If I have time tonight, I'll look around for more results and some PA alumni.
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