The Conductor Speaks: Week Three (Part One)

by Jarrett Felix

It seems like two-parters may end up becoming the norm. I think it's probably better than one really large post. Hope you kids enjoy.

Big Spring

Holy moly, Nathan Henderson is fit. 15:29 at Big Spring is madness. He ran 15:38 there last year to win the district and I thought that was madness. Assuming there haven’t been any big course changes worth noting, those times are way faster than anyone used to run at this lay out before the district meet was moved there. Even Zach Lefever’s 15:43 is incredibly fast for that course, but it will be overshadowed by Henderson’s excellence. I believe Nate is racing the Carlisle Invitational next which means he will go toe to toe with the Affolder duo on their new home course. I’ve said it before on this site and I’ll say it again. Assuming the weather is decent, I think the Carlisle Championship will be won under 15:10, and maybe even sub 15. Heck, I’ll be bold and say definitely sub 15 just for the fun of it. That would be a huge course record, but if Noah and Nate are getting after it, it’s definitely in play.

Lefever is a stud and it’s a real shame he didn’t get to run the state meet last fall. He likely would have been a state medalist. Zach should contend for a top 5 spot at states which could potentially give the district as many as 4 top 5 finishers in the AAA state championship. For some perspective, there have been just 3 top 5 District 3 runners in the AAA championships total since 2006. In 2005, the district had state champ Craig Miller as well as 3^rd place finisher sophomore Vince McNally and 6^th place finisher Curtis Bixler. Over the same span, the ever dominate District One took 4 of the top 5 spots in 2006 and 2007 but hasn’t done it since the PCL joined the equation.

By the way, 3^rd place finisher Kyler Shea, who also dipped under 16 minutes, is no slouch in his own right. Shea helped his Lower Dauphin team win the title with a 3-4-5 finish in the standings. That’s no joke. However, Cedar Crest made a nice run at them as they finish just 27 points back thanks to a tight spread. LD’s 4^th and 5^th runners were 36^th and 44^th so they will want to narrow the gap a bit to their front runners, but it’s also worth noting said front runners are really strong. So most team’s 4^th and 5^th guys wouldn’t be close. However, LD has had this type of big three before and still missed out on states, so they will need to exercise some demons in 2016.

Heck of a day by Manheim Central. They scored 124 points and ended up third, but it’s worth noting they did take 7-9-12-14 for their top 4, led by the excellent 800m runner Cole Sunderland. Their #5 was 82^nd which dropped them down the standings, but there is plenty of time left in the season to make moves. Also intriguing to me was JP McCaskey. They have Nate out front so almost every meet they enter will be a 4 v. 5 which helps at the big invites. They had a bit of a drop off at #4 and #5, but they took the top 2 spots overall in the JV race from a pair of sophomores. Erik Jengling ran 17:29 and smashed the field in the process. That would put him right in their pack behind Henderson and save them a lot of points.

Also impressing me individually in this one beyond the guys I mentioned, were runners like Nathan Kaplon of Central Dauphin (10^th overall) and Evan Dorenkamp (sophomore from Manheim Township also placed top 10). Patrick Jacobson (6^th overall) had a terrific track season, runs at a great program and is a big sleeper looking ahead. Dallastown has had two district champs and two district medalists in recent years.

It looks like the AA landscape in District 3 is going to be pretty wide open. Without powerhouses York Suburban and Wyomissing, the meet looked vastly different than last year’s district championship. The top 7 individuals from a year ago all graduated and the top 4 returners all ran for YS or YO. So you are looking the top 18 from a year ago out of the picture. That opened the door for a surprise and Donegal’s Silas Buckwalter was up for the challenge. He finished first in the AA race over East Pennsboro’s Tyler Brighton (26^th at last year’s district meet). Buckwalter was outside the top 60 at districts a year ago, but cut over a minute off his time to get the win. He also helped Donegal finish 2^nd in the team standings, a big improvement on their 17^th place finish at districts a year ago. Boiling Springs picked up the win in the team competition after finishing as the third and final qualifying team at districts a year ago.

In A, defending state champions Camp Hill picked up the title behind a runaway victory from Ian Gabig. He ran 16:44 in a deeper field than that of AA to pick up gold. He helped pull Caleb Sneller under 17 as well. Last year Gabig was the 4^th and final member of the sub 17 club at districts and all 4 of those members finished in the top 26 at the next week’s state championships at Hershey. Evan Schlossler ran 17:02 and Morgan Morrison ran 17:18, both strong improvements on their marks at last year’s championships. All 4 guys will be medal threats with Gabig continuing to lurk as a top 5 guy who may even have a shot at the individual title if things break right. In my eyes, no A guy has really taken the reigns on the individual title. We will see what happens this coming weekend at Foundation if all the big names toe the line as expected.

Boardman

As usual, I was keeping an eye on the North Allegheny Tigers in this one. And I have to say, over the course of 11 seasons, I’m not sure I’ve seen a team quite like this. The Tigers put together a 9 second spread at this meet, yet again showcasing a tight pack, and they did it with an ever rotating top 5-7. Jacob Greco led the way in 17:09 this week and TJ Robinson held the #5 spot. However, the Tigers #1 runner was just 33^rd in the team standings and then dropped them to 4^th overall at the meet. Pittsburgh Central Catholic put 3 runners in front of NA’s #1 as Joe Gatti, Tucker Helms and Sam Gatti finished 20^th, 29^th and 32^nd in team scoring (shout out to Pitts CC who won’t let Mount Lebanon and Seneca Valley run away with anything this year).

The pack is brilliant right now, but it’s going to have to move up the field if they are going to stay near the top of the standings. So I’m very much looking forward to the Tigers upcoming trip to Hershey, especially considering how strong O’Hara looked this past weekend (and LaSalle too if they make the trip again).

Individually, Mark Provenzo had far and away the fastest time of the D1 WPIAL boys as he ran 16:27 which was followed by Diallo’s 16:54. However, in the D2 race, Ben Bumgarner made his season debut in a big week, dropping a 16:18 to win his section. I was a little worried about Bumgarner’s absence at RWB, but he’s clearly healthy and fit and could potentially serve as a very interesting match up to Zach Skolnekovich come championship season (something I didn’t think was likely at all last week at this time). Keep an eye on Ben who should make a strong jump up the rankings considering Provenzo is a top 10-15 guy these days.

Briarwood

Well, in a highly anticipated match up, the PCL’s top two teams made their 2016 invitation debut in a heated battle for the Briarwood title. When the final points were tallied, O’Hara defeated out of state Indian Valley and LaSalle by a slim margin thanks in large part to a 2-4-6 finish. Ryan James led the way in 2^nd overall, running solid over the hills, but the talk of the meet afterwards was Gavin Inglis and Patrick James who both cracked the top 6 overall and helped O’Hara but 3 in front of LaSalle and CRN’s #1 runners.

Coming into the year, Ryan James seemed like the only front runner on paper for the Wolverines, but considering they have had at least two state medalists every year since 2011 (with 3 medalists in 2012 and 2014) it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see Inglis and Patrick James continue this hot streak through to November. The spread back to the 4-5 spot was perhaps a bit large, but they have experience in those spots, including Billy Donovan who has raced on the big stage at states the last two years (finished as their #3 in Hershey last year).

But despite the front running bonanza, LaSalle really made O’Hara work for the title. They finished with 76 points (5 back of O’Hara) and the Army was in full force as they placed 5 in the top 24 team scorers. Stephen Paul (top 50 finisher last year) led the way in 8^th overall and was their only sub 17 finisher. The spread for the Army was a bit larger than normal (52 seconds), but the makings of a strong pack are there on paper and that top 3 looks very capable.

But the big story with LaSalle may have been what happened outside of the varsity race. In the 3 JV races (JV “A”, JV “B”, Freshman), the Army absolutely dominated. LaSalle took the first five spots in JV race “A”, had a runaway 18:18 winner in JV race “B” form David Kennedy (also Mac Costinis took 2^nd in that one), and then took the top 4 freshman spots for good measure.

There’s a lot of potential here for guys to continue to develop into scorers. Maybe that will help tighten that spread and make LaSalle a better match up for O’Hara.

Council Rock North was the 3^rd PA school, finishing well back of O’Hara and LaSalle. That being said, two of their top 5 guys didn’t make it to the finish line on Saturday for one reason or another. The reason, of course, matters (injuries would be trouble), but it’s hard to read too much into the team performance here. I’d imagine, based on past performances, a healthy Hass and Koza are both in the top 20ish overall which puts North right in the mix with O’Hara and LaSalle. But they weren’t and they may not be healthy going forward. However, it’s way too early to be stressing much. North was 5^th at this meet a year ago and was 5^th at states. So, like I said before, I’ll check in on this team again in a month.

CB West made their debut for invites and finished next for PA schools, just ahead of a strong William Tennent squad (who was led by a really strong 5^th place finish from Evan Hutton). West has a ton of pieces and it looks like they will have a pretty variable top 5 (even top 7). Brian Mass led the way with Michael Samson the surprise #2 in 18^th. West has been 6^th and 3^rd the past two years at states, but as of now still has to figure out their identity in an ever increasing district one talent pool. Worth noting, Tennent was 14 points back of West with 3 top 25 finishers and had sophomore Miles Hutton take 8^th in the JV race.

The individual battle was truly thrilling as the top 3 runners distanced the field by a wide margin. The only guys under 16:40 were the top 3 who ran 16:06, 16:15 and 16:16. Three returning state medalists from last fall, Liam Galligan, Ryan James and Rusty Kujdych, took the top 3 spots. Galligan picked up a second straight monster win and puts himself in elite company for winning at this historic meet. Last year, his team raced at Foundation and Paul Short, which would likely give him a chance to make yet another statement in two excellent meets with very different course lay outs. I’d imagine O’Hara will be at Foundation as well giving James a chance for a rematch while we may see Kujdych and Neshaminy at Paul Short. Stay tuned.

We didn’t get the chance to see CB East match up head to head with some of PA’s top 10 teams, but they did put on an impressive win in the Division I race. They scored just 40 points and had top 5 finishes from Endres (2^nd) and Schulz (4^th). In a slower race, they averaged 17:31 which was about the same average as CR North. LaSalle averaged 17:16. Only James Abrahams cracked 17 minutes in this race as the Haverford stand out pulled away nicely against Endres and Troemel from Abington.

I really liked the run from Twin Valley. They finished 2^nd overall and showed signs of a nice pack. This program has qualified for states twice in the past 3 seasons and nearly stunned me to do it again last year. They are very well coached and know how to put together a strong pack. Even with a ton of graduations yet again, they find guys who can compete for top spots in the district. This year Matt Coakley and Dylan Servis look set to lead the charge.

In Division II, Peter Borger, a junior from Malvern Prep, really impressed me with his 17 flat clocking for 2^nd overall. Watch out for him as a top 5 contender in the independent league this year if that continues. He bested Callahan Lennon of HG Prep (3^rd) and Anthony Harper of Bonner (4^th) who both appear to be AA medal contenders and champs in their respective districts.