PIAA 1600m Recap

by Jarrett Felix

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With all due respect to the other excellent performers in this race, it's hard to argue this was not an example of Domenic Perretta's dominance in this event the past three years. Many are on the train that thinks Perretta is a better 800 runner than miler (I'm very on the fence about this personally), but he has now grabbed 3 state titles in the 1600 and made each look quite easy. Once he turned it up a notch, he glided away on the final straightaway. If not for a late surge from Matt Murray, Perretta may not even have cracked 4:20 as he clearly had his mind set on that 800 later in day. I'm planning to touch more on Dom later (most likely in a couple posts) so for now, I will just say congrats to Domenic on a terrific three peat.

Matt Murray had one heck of a weekend. He ran 4:24 in prelims to indicate he was a top contender for this event and then put on a brilliant finishing kick to run 4:19 for the silver. Coming into the meet, I don't think he had run faster than 4:30 yet this season. Cooper Leslie continued his string of strong doubles, running a 1:53 800 split and then coming back for third in this event, at 4:21. With fresh legs, I think it would have at least been interesting to see Leslie go up against Perretta and maybe push him a bit more to the line. He's got good speed and strength, but he's barely had any chances at a fresh 1600 all season due to the 4x8. The heat made doubling tough on everyone for sure, but we saw some strong 4x8-16 double performances in this meet. Riley Lamison of Beaver Area also pulled off the double, placing 8th in this race after running on Beaver's 8:02 4x8.

Hunter Crawley of Williamsport, Tristan Forsythe of Winchester Thurston and Jarrett Boyd of Freedom will be the top 3 returners for next year's race. Crawley came up with a strong surge down the back stretch in this race and helped push Murray on to his final sprint. That move helped push Crawley down to 4:23 and the 4th place medal. Things get a lot more open in this event next year now that the heavy favorite of the past two-three seasons has graduated. So we could see an injection of a few more 2 mile types moving down or 800 types moving up.

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As one commenter already mentioned, this race could have been the biggest surprise of the day. Most predictors for this event were going with either Hoey or Kolor, but only our own Sean Collins had confidence in Alex Milligan to pull out the victory. The 4x8-16 double is a brutal one. There's very little rest and you are moving up in distance for your second race, which I think makes things extra difficult. Milligan did have the luxury of running the 4x8 with a massive lead and, although I doubt he was saving anything for the open event (he ran a PR around 1:52.30), it's hard to push yourself to your limits when running by yourself. That opened the door for something special in his second race.

Milligan went straight to the back early, just trying to stay relaxed and then began to pick guys off as the race continued. The pace was quicker than average early (thanks to Liam Galligan running out to a decisive advantage), but it wasn't back breaking for the top tier of runners and, even in the heat, they really got moving on the last lap. It was crazy impressive that Milligan had the extra gear for a nearly 7 second PR while on the double. But it was one of the most clutch performances we've seen in recent history, given the team title implications of his race. I have to imagine his victory really fired up his teammates and gave them a little extra confidence that they could win this thing.

Some have commented how Milligan's results remind them of Sam Webb last year (one of the best doublers in recent history) who ran 1:53-4:12. To me, it took me back to 2009 when my teammate Mike Palmisano split 1:51.9 and then ran 4:13 to win the 1600 state championship. Similar to this race, there was a runner who took things out hard at the start that no one followed. Meanwhile, Mike sat in the back and gradually moved through the field before dropping the hammer and taking gold.

And Milligan beat strong showings from the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. As you can see in the results, these three were a step above the rest of the field and Mike Kolor and Josh Hoey both finished in the low 4:11s, two of their best performances ever. The silver medal for Kolor is also his highest ever finish at a state championships. The top three runners in this race all finished faster than Jaxson Hoey's gold medal winning time in 2015 and Zach Brehm's winning time in 2014.

Springfield DELCO's Liam Galligan ran a gutsy race, taking on the pace early and showing some real struggle on his face. But he was rewarded for his hard work as he stayed clear of the pack that didn't follow early and grabbed 4th overall in a new PR of 4:15.03. Galligan has now medaled at the last 3 state championships and has become one of the most consistent big meet performers in the state. Indoors, he earned his medal by throwing down a furious kick on the last lap, but he showed his versatility this outdoors with a front-running effort. I'm really impressed by the year this guy had and look forward to him racing next year.

Upper Merion's Noah Falasco peaked at the perfect time this season. Top guys in the program before him like Austin Cooper and Christian Sanders (shout to Sanders for making nationals for LaSalle this year) couldn't find their niche outdoors and navigate to a spring medal. But Falasco, after a big breakthrough during indoors, hit his stride at the perfect time. He ran a PR of 4:16.64 after running a PR at the district meet to qualify for the state meet.

North Allegheny's Jacob Stupak was one of a variety of NA medalists on race day and finished with a PR in his own right, just behind Falasco for 6th. It's his second straight medal at this distance. Junior Eric Kennedy of Kiski rounded out the medals in 8th place, giving the WPIAL a 3rd medalist. He will be the #3 returner for next year's state championship in this event.

It's been a terrific year for Brian Delany of Manheim Township. After some struggles during the fall, Delany came to the outdoor season with some serious fire. Although he finished in the dreaded 9th place position, he has a ton to be proud of. Delany left the meet with a PR at 4:18.92 with one of the best finishes at a state championship for MT since the Miller twins.

Lastly, I have to give a shout out to Henry Sappey. I really didn't think he had the raw speed to match up in this 1600 and wasn't even completely convinced he'd make it to finals. But Sappey ended up 7th in the final, running a very strong 4:17 and scoring critical points for DT West. This came on the heels of Sappey's medal winning performance indoors in the 3k and, of course, his phenomenal 6th place finish at the state championships in XC. Sappey's a consistent and clutch runner who proved me wrong a couple times this year by showing up in the big moments.