A Relay Preview

By Jarrett Felix

You can say what you like about the team state titles they hand out on the track (we had a fun one last year), but the real team aspect of track comes from the relays. Indoors we’ve got the 4x800 and the DMR and teams can run both. So that opens up the door for all sorts of team related fun. So far, there hasn’t been much to talk about on the relay scene, but that doesn’t mean I can’t string together a post on it. Here’s a little high level relay preview to whet your appetite for what is to come.

The XC Powerhouses

During this past cross country season the conversation circulated mainly around Council Rock North and Carlisle, the two top teams in the AAA standings. Carlisle obviously jumps off the page when you look at their returners. Noah Affolder, the reigning PA state champ, has run 4:07 for a full mile and 8:48 for 3200. He’s also run 1:56 for 800. His little brother Sam ran 4:20y and 1:57 a year ago. Those two were 1-2 at Footlocker Northeast Regionals. However, it’s worth noting that Noah’s cross country season still isn’t done yet so who knows how much of him we see this winter.

Carlisle also has Isaac Kole (1:59-4:27-9:33 last outdoors) and Jack Wisner (2 flat outdoors as a frosh) who are fresh off very strong cross country seasons. Both were on the Carlisle 4x8 that ran 7:52 and made the state finals last spring. Even without Noah, a Sam-Isaac-Jack DMR could be pretty potent.

As for the champs, CR North will have their own strong squad to boast about. They placed 4 runners in the top 26 at states and that same four some could do some damage on the track. Bryan Keller was awesome last year, running 1:55 for 800 and providing consistent lead off legs for North’s state medal winning relay. Sam Early, the 25^th finisher from states, was sub 2 as a sophomore last spring. Ryan Campbell will be the x-factor as he looks to continue his excellent junior season by cutting lots of time of his 4:26 1600 best. Campbell was an impressive 7^th at this year’s state championships as a junior. His brother, who placed in the same spot as a junior, ran 4:14 for 1600 later that spring. No pressure.

The Traditional 4x8 Powerhouses

This is a big list actually. At the top you’ve got State College who has been outdoor state medalists for the past 5 years and counting. Over the past three seasons they have run 7:41.99, 7:41.50 and 7:37.25. That last one is the third fastest 4x8 the state has ever seen. They lose mile champ Alex Milligan and Anthony Degleris from last year’s squad plus they will apparently be without lead-off man Owen Wing this year due to mono. That leaves only Nick Feffer who, admittedly, is a nice piece to build around. He ran 1:53.50 last year for 4^th in the 8 after he broke open the 4x8 with a 1:52 relay split. This past XC season he was 11^th at states. They also have a 48 second quarter miler returning in Noah Woods who could potentially dabble in a DMR.

Also among the traditional powerhouses is North Penn, Pennridge, CB West and Abington who were perhaps unsurprisingly 5^th-2^nd behind State College at last year’s outdoor state championship in the 4x8. Let’s start with North Penn, a school that has clocked at least 13 sub 7:47 times and racked up 5 straight titles in this indoor event from 1998 to 2002 and then 4 more for good measure from 2005 to 2008 (they were 2^nd in 2009 to the now outdoor state record holding CB South squad). They lose their ace in Dante Watson, but they do return Dan Santiago (1:56ish split last spring) and Brendan O’Toole (sub 4:30 miler last spring, state qualifier during XC).

Pennridge is a machine. In 2012, they were the indoor state champions in this event and then took 3^rd outdoors. In 2014, they were the district one champs behind anchor Joey Logue. Then a year later, they ran even faster, dropping an unthinkable 7:40. The breakout star from that relay was Tucker Desko who looked like a key piece heading into an outdoor rematch with State College, but a Desko injury meant the team’s best runner was not on the squad that competed in finals. Even without Desko, Pennridge still posted a 7:45 with a freshman (Matt Eissler) splitting around 1:55 and junior Austin Howell clocking about 1:53. Those two are the building blocks for this year along with the other Eissler twin Luke. Pennridge has a knack for churning out sub 3:20 sub 7:50 relays in recent years so I refuse to count them out.

CB West and Abington have a fun little rivalry. It goes back to the 2010 when Abington grabbed the indoor state title and most recently the two teams were separated by less than a hundredth of a second at outdoor states. Both teams are losing arguably their best runners in Keion Broadus and Rock Fortna, but they have interesting juniors ready to take their place. Jake Claricurzio of CB West ran a 1:53 split last spring and stepped up in the clutch as West’s anchor. Cameron Mitchell of Abington split 1:55 last year and delivered one of the most important legs to keep things close out front. CB West also returns three runners who have been at 2 flat or faster for the open 8 in Alec Hofer, Luke Fehrman Teagan Fortna.

The Ches-mont

Perhaps the states’ best pound for pound distance conference, the Ches-mont is rallying forces for another run at a relay title. Henderson has won 3 DMR state titles since 2007 and returns a state medal winning crew from a year ago. Spencer Smucker, a three-time XC medalist, is coming off his best season yet. He ran 4:23 for a full mile at the end of last spring when he was fully healthy and he has also run 1:25 for 600 meters. In fact, at a meet last spring, Henderson had 8 guys under 1:30 for 600, all of which are back this season. Pay particular attention to 400 runner Kavond Jones who ran 50.11 in the open quarter last spring and 1:24 for 600 as a sophomore.

DT West, the defending team state champs, lost a lot of fire power from last year’s squad either to graduations or transfers, but they are still the same squad that finished 3^rd at XC states and nearly stole a state medal in the DMR without arguably their best 4 runners. They bring back sub 4:20 guy Ryan Barton and one of last year’s break out 800 stars is Chase Seymank. The Whippets have a crop of younger guys who are hoping to break out around Chase as sub 2 800 pieces.

Bishop Shanahan is a team I briefly discussed in my last recap. They’ve got two 48 guys, a 4:11 miler and a 1:23 600 runner smack in the middle of a junior jump. I’m sure they will put something fun together. And don’t forget about the reigning XC Ches-mont champs from West Chester Rustin who are the current state leaders in this event behind sub 4:20 miler Brandon Hontz.

The PCL

For those of you playing along at home, O’Hara has now won two DMR titles in a row. LaSalle won in 2013 and 2008 giving the league 4 of the past 9 titles in the event, outpacing the Ches-mont and the SOL American conference (those are the only three conferences in the 10 year history to win). O’Hara looks depleted with graduations by Rob Morro and Justin Jones who were critical in breaking things open for Ryan James. But O’Hara has looked crippled by graduations before. Dan Savage and Ernie Pitone. Then Jim Belfatto and Nick Smart. Then Kevin James. They’ve compiled a state record, a national title and 2 state titles in those seasons. They still have Ryan James (4:22 miler) and Patrick James (4:25 miler) plus Gavin Inglis who shined during XC. O’Hara made the state finals outdoors in the 4x8 last year as well.

That being said, I do think the PCL team to watch is LaSalle. Evan Addison finished off his 2016 with a 4:17 full mile and an approximate 1:55 split on the team’s medal winning 4x8. He’s got a little extra something to prove after a disappointing XC finish and could come out of the gates storming like LaSalle’s now sub-4 alumnus Tom Coyle. The team also has Brendan Price and Mac Costinis returning from their relay, with Price boasting a personal best under 2 minutes for 800. Unsurprisingly, LaSalle has a huge crop of talent to pull from.

And the big x-factor will be St. Joe’s Prep. I outlined their 4x8 potential in my weekly recap and it’s something to get excited about.

The Outsiders

I’m not sure the outsiders is the best name for this last tier, but, seeing as it’s the last one I’m going to do, it’s all I’ve got to label the squads left that I want to talk about. First of all you have GFS. Yes they are not your traditional “outsiders” but they are an independent league school who doesn’t compete against the majority of the state’s best programs 2 out of 3 seasons a year. GFS also might be the best distance program to hold 0 DMR state titles since it was added in 2007. They ran 10:03 last spring and were 2^nd indoors. This year, they return Jonnie Plass (1:57 open, 1:55 split) and a nice core of 800 guys, but more importantly they return Nick Dahl. Dahl split a 4:08 last outdoors at nationals and ran 9:02 for 3200 last spring. He has also clocked a 1:54.20 in the open 8. Kid can do it all.

District 7 is still waiting for their first distance relay title on an indoor oval this century. The school to do it might be North Allegheny. Very quietly, the Tigers had an outstanding outdoor state meet. They had medalists in the mile and 3200, the 200 and 300 hurdles and … the 4x8. That 4x8 one is the key as they return all 4 of those kids this year. Bobby Lutz has run under 2 minutes from scratch, Zach Ehling has clocked a 1:56.14 and Caleb Schaelchin split about a 1:55 last year. They’ve got sub 7:50 kind of talent on paper.

The last one is a true outsider program. Ever heard of Seneca? Well you should write the name down. The single A school from District 10 dominated the outdoor state championships last year with a quartet of juniors. The leaders of the pack were the Myers twins who split 1:53 and 1:56 at states, but the team also got a key contribution from Adam Hanes who ran a 1:56 of his own. Seneca doesn’t have much of a track record for competing indoors, but if they do toe the line, the AAA teams will likely be surprised to see just how good this small school can be.