PA Alumni Report - October

So much for this being a weekly update. Sorry it’s been so long guys. I really did intend to do this every week. Then I blinked and missed 3 weeks. Anyway, it’s been a pretty great month for PA Alumni so far, and with conference meets right around the corner it’s only going to get better.

Chile Pepper Classic – 10/1/2016

The month of October got off to a pretty hot start when Villanova traveled down to Arkansas for the Chile Pepper Classic. They were led by a huge performance from Andrew Marston who finished 7^th in 23:50. Is that course crazy fast? Yes. Vincent Kiprop scared sub 23 running 23:03 to win the race. But even so, this was a phenomenal performance from Marston. He's developing into a legitimate All-Region and potentially All-American contender if he keeps progressing like he has so far. Behind Marston was the second half of the fastest room at Villanova as Casey Comber finished 26^th in 24:23. Comber has been incredibly consistent this year and is set up perfectly to have a great end to his season.

Paul Short Gold Race – 10/1/2016

Brendan Shearn and the PA gang showed up in a big way here to defend home turf. Shearn led the charge running 24:00 to finish as Penn’s 2^nd man and 17^th overall. He’s been a force for Penn this year teaming up with Nick Tuck to form a potent 1-2 punch that can compete with anyone in the Ivy League. Behind Shearn, Ernie Pitone led the Widener team finishing 24^th in 24:08. Pitone has been a D3 All-American in each of the last 3 seasons (xc, indoor track, outdoor track) and will be looking to improve on his 15^th place finish at nationals last year. I think he has a legitimate shot at a top 5 spot, if not better, based on how he’s looked so far this year. Right behind Pitone, Dom DeLuca ran 24:09 to lead the Cornell charge. He had a tough first few meets this year so it’s good to see him getting back on track. Jake Brophy rounded out the PA Alumni in the top 50 finishing 49^th in 24:24. He’s adjusted to the college scene really well so far which is great to see. He’s on track to follow the Marston, Comber, and James model of following up good freshmen campaigns with huge sophomore years, so he'll definitely be one to keep an eye on moving forward.

Brown Race

Jaryd Flank finished 4^th overall in 24:47 as he looks to repeat his trip to xc nationals last year and hopefully redeem himself with an All-American finish. I think he should realistically be looking for a top 20-25 finish there. Behind Flank the Shippensburg duo of Kieran Sutton and Alex Balla finished 14^th and 23^rd respectively to lead the top 25 ranked Red Raiders. Sutton’s been working his way back from injury so this was a good step for him as he looks to earn his first career xc All-American honor. Balla has been running well consistently so far this season and will be a crucial piece for Shippensburg if they want to have a top 10 showing at nationals.  

Wisconsin (Nuttycombe) Invite – 10/14/2016

Brendan Shearn backed up his impressive Paul Short showing with a 46^th place finish in 24:33 on a very tough Wisconsin course to lead the Penn men. Over the past two years Shearn has always run best when the lights are brightest, and he showed that once again here. He’ll be ready to go at Heps and regionals. In the open race Kevin James and Griff Molino impressed for Syracuse yet again. I was actually surprised not to see Kevin James in the big race after his impressive start to the season. We’ll see if his 25:02 was enough to work his way back into the top 7 for conference and regionals. Behind James, Molino had probably his best race of the season running 25:10. He’s been very impressive this year as a true freshman adjusting to another 3k of racing and I’m sure big things will continue coming from him.

Penn State National Open – 10/14/2016 (8.4k)

Once again PA showed up and showed out to defend home turf. Colin Abert led the charge finishing 12^th overall, just ahead of Andrew Marston. Penn State's course is tough and a bit longer than 8k, so you have to look at who Abert beat to get an idea of just how well he ran. We’ve already talked about how well Marston is running this year, but Abert also beat some guy named Craig Engels who was 4^th in both the 1500 and 800 at the trials this summer. Marston also ran quite well finishing 13^th in a solid field and backing up his scorching run at the Chile Pepper Festival. Not too far behind Marston was Rico Galassi who finished 16^th. He’s been flying under the radar but this race showed he probably shouldn’t be any more. Behind Galassi was the finish of the day as 3 PA alumni crossed the line within .3 seconds of each other. Jaskowak got the better of Lauer and Comber as they finished in that order in 21^st, 22^nd, and 23^rd. Comber and Jaskowak continued strong seasons and Lauer had quite possibly the best race of his college career. He’s part of a young group at Pitt that has started to really turn that program around. Another member of that young group is Nick Wolk, who finished in 34^th. He’s done a good job this year adjusting to the college scene and is going to be a key part of the Pitt resurgence moving forward. Finally Aaron Gebhart finished in 39^th for Charlotte as their second runner. He’s had a good year after not running xc last year due to an injury I believe. Hopefully he’s able to keep progressing. He always had his best stuff at the end of the year in High School so I'm sure the best is yet to come for him.

As always, let me know what I missed and what I can do better.