The Conductor Speaks: Week Three (Part Two)

by Jarrett Felix

George School

Nick Dahl throw down a massive victory in his invitational 5k debut to win by nearly a minute over low 4:20s miler Owen Ritz. Dahl is the defending champ at this meet and won last year’s edition in just 16:02. His 15:23, as far as I can tell, is a massive course record and the first trip ever under 16 the course has seen. Owen Ritz’s time of 16:20 is no joke either and puts him in league with some ET Top 50 types in past years like Brian Arita, Rob Moser and Rahi Shah. Ryan O’Donnell, another independent leaguer, ran 16:36 to finish 3^rd.

So basically, Dahl, the defending independent champ, is looking really fit in the early going. He won’t race the PIAA at districts or states as GFS (who won the title going away with 5 in the top 12) is in the independent league. We really won’t see him against the top PA guys when everyone is peaking until NXN regionals. I’m hoping we see him and GFS trip pack to Paul Short (they raced in 2014, but not 2015) as Dahl could run something near 15 flat given his speed and talent (and the potential strong competition of guys like Liam Galligan).

Altoona

Somerset 1-2 again Mazzariello (Jr) Cejay Walker (So)

Altoona wins team title at home invite

Altoona held serve at their home invite, picking up the invitational team title. But Somerset stole the show out front as their dynamic duo continues to roll. District 5’s Dominic Mazzariello and Cejay Walker took 1-2 in this one. The junior and sophomore have been phenomenal so far this season, rolling at some smaller invitationals. Can these guys continue the medal streak the small district had when Will Kachman was around?

Harrier Invite

Top 20 boys: Liam Conway 9:43, Connor McMenamin 10:07

Spring Ford with 3^rd, 5^th, 6^th (Pat Power FTW), 10^th, 13^th (Joey Power, So FTW)

Spring Ford takes 1-2 in 3 and 4 race and 1-2 in 5-6-7 race (Joseph Power and Milan Sharma)

Boyertown and North Penn both each have intriguing packs Dominic Derafelo 10:18 for 4^th in fast race for Boyertown, North Penn 5 of Top 20 times

Don’t sleep on Joe Breen of Souderton

So this was an interesting little meet. It looks like the varsity boys were separated into three different races depending on who the team’s saw as their #1-2, their #3-4 and their #5-6-7. So that meant a deep team like Spring Ford was going to be dominate in the back half of the race. SF took 1-2 in both the 3-4 and the 5-6-7 races behind wins from a couple of guys with the last name Power. I guess I can bring back the Power Rangers team name for these guys (I’m really on a roll with making up team names in case you haven’t noticed). Patrick Power looked great with a 10:26 victory in his section while sophomore Joseph Power also produced a top 20 time when he won his section. Considering the strong race from Milan Sharma at the #6 spot, I really like Spring Ford’s depth and completeness on the roster. They aren’t going to get buried in big meets.

But how did the front running do? Well Jacob McKenna led the way with a 3^rd place finish in the fast section behind only studs Liam Conway and Connor McMenamin. Zach Smith was the 5^th fastest on the day as Boyertown’s Dominic Derafelo took 4^th. Overall, SF finished with the #3, 5, 6, 10 and 13 times across the 3 races. Boyertown showed some real strength with 4 top 20 performances and North Penn was just behind with 5 top 20 performances (but a bit less front running). Both of these teams will make the race to round out the top 10 interesting and could potentially sneak into the top 5 discussion in the district.

Individually, Liam Conway made an impressive statement defeating Connor McMenamin by 24 seconds over the 2-mile distance. McMenamin is a proven stud who was fresh off a top 6 finish at the always competitive PTXC, so this win from Conway really says a lot about his fitness. The junior had a terrific track season and the momentum has carried through. I believe Owen J will be at Foundation which should give Conway a chance to revisit the Hershey hills and show, like he did at Centaur, that he’s got the strength and the speed to be a force at states.

Bradford

Although I anointed Winchester Thurston the early “A” team title favorites, I have to admit that I really like what I’ve seen from Elk County Catholic. At the Bradford Invitaitonal, the ECC boys took 1-3-4-6-7 for a dominant win. They had freshman at the 4-5 spots, but their first three are tough, proven studs at the state level. Zach Wortman looks phenomenal so far this season and he ran away with the individual title. A is pretty loaded individually, but he’s still a top 10 contender this year.

Smethport sophomore Christian Tanner, who finished 2^nd, also looked strong, following up his top 20 finish at McDowell to start the year. Tanner was 12^th at last year’s District 9 championships (A) as a freshman alongside fellow frosh Darion Gregory who was 11^th. Gregory finished 8^th in the Bradford Invite. Gregory was 51^st at Hershey in his first trip last year so he’s a talented training partner for Tanner. Both guys could push each other into sleeper position in the District and state.

Oberod

Unionville sophomore James Conway (17:29), Henderson sophomore Calvin Pash (17:39), Unionville frosh Cole Walker (17:48) were 4^th-7^th-8^th and PA top 3. Unionville 2^nd overall with 51, Henderson 3^rd overall with 55

Unionville 5 in the top 15

The Ches-mont continues to look wild. In a tight battle at the Oberod Invitational, Unionville beat out rivals Henderson 51 to 55. Unionville was led by a sophomore (James Conway who finished 4^th overall) and a freshman (Cole Walker who finished 8^th) and put 5 runners in the top 15. Henderson was also led by a sophomore, up and coming Calvin Pash (7^th). WCH didn’t have Smucker in the lineup (he was also MIA in their recent dual meet) so hopefully he doesn’t have too serious of an injury. Unionville now makes a compelling case to be included in the battle for 2^nd in the league (it looks like DT West is the top dog given their early results).