Chapter 7: Round Two
After a
very memorable 2006 XC State Championships, the track world was quite excited
for another Paul Springer vs. Jason Weller duel.
The
early season headlines belonged to Weller. First, he used his cross fitness to
get a state qualifying mark in the 3k: blazing a state leading 8:39.8. Fresh
off his first career state championship, the distance oriented Weller used
indoors to improve his speed. His 4:17 at the Montgomery Meet in Maryland, made
him a surprise qualifier for the legendary Millrose Mile at Madison Square
Garden. But Weller wasn’t done there, he surprised the talented field up in New
York with a dominating 4:15.81 for the win. This was a huge statement race for
Weller, who ran a massive PR on a short, confusing track[1].
Shortly
after, Springer made his response. At the PTFCA Carnival, held in Lehigh
University’s fieldhouse, Paul Springer torched Weller in the 3,000 meters,
winning in a track record time of 8:32.07. Weller was a distant second in 8:45,
an impressive time of his own after pulling double duty on the Boyertown DMR.
Springer’s mark broke his own record by over 11 seconds and sparked questions about
an assault on Craig Miller’s recently clocked 8:22.65 state record, a mark that,
ironically, Weller had pointed to as an end of season goal after Millrose.
Despite
the results from Hershey, Springer was a clear favorite to take the record at
Penn State. Springer’s mark absolutely crushes all other flat track marks in
recent history. His resume was undeniable. He had run 9:01 last spring to take
the outdoor 3200 state title, ran 14:47 for a course record at Lehigh and
handled Weller dramatically in their first major indoor duel. On flat surfaces,
it appeared that Springer was unstoppable. However, Weller fans pointed to his
incredible upsets at states and MSG as evidence that you could never count out
the clutch factor.
But
when the performance list for the 2007 PTFCA State Championship was released,
the enthusiasts learned that it would not be a Springer v. Weller battle for
the state 3k record, but instead a clash in the mile. Springer, the 2006 Indoor
State Champion in the mile, felt content with his 8:32 from Lehigh and opted
instead to defend his Mile title and try his hand at 800 meters[2]. Meanwhile, Weller decided
that he would try one of the most difficult triples in the sport choosing to
run the Mile, 3,000 meters and anchor Boyertown’s title contending distance
medley relay.
The hype
around the meet changed entirely as people now pointed to the mile state meet
record of 4:13.98 set by Sean Duffy of Cardinal O’Hara in 2001 as the record
most likely to be broken. In fact, without Springer in the 3000, it appeared
Weller could coast to a state title and save his energy for the much anticipated
DMR rather than pursue Miller’s incredibly impressive state record.
At the
time, the mile was the first distance event of the day at Penn State University
during the indoor state championships and so a slew of eager fans gathered
around the first turn to watch the battle for state gold unfold. Beyond the
Weller-Springer drama, the mile also had a contingent of western forces in
Lucas Zarzeczny, the AA State Cross Country Champion, and TJ Hobart, an up and
coming sophomore from Baldwin who had already run 4:21 that winter and was
slotted as the second seed. Chris Aldrich, the top junior in AAA for cross
country, and Vince McNally, who finished just behind Aldrich, were also entered
in the fast heat. Both men were returning finalists from the previous year’s
outdoor states 1600 meters. In fact, McNally, Zarzeczny and Aldrich had been 2nd,
3rd and 4th in the 1600m at Shippensburg the previous
spring[3].
Despite
the hype, the race dawdled in the early stages. With all the firepower looming,
everyone was tentative to make a serious charge to the front, so the task fell
to Weller to control the early pace. A first 400m around 66 was a bit of a
crushing blow to the fans who had pulled up a seat, hoping to catch a piece of
history[4]. Springer took control for
the second quarter, dropping the pace slightly, but far from hammering. At roughly
1000 meters, Lucas Zarzeczny intervened and made a surge to try and get things
moving. Springer covered it with Weller pacing off him in third. The split at
three quarters was about 3:12 after the surge, meaning a record could only be
achieved with a 60 second final lap. But when Springer came by his coach, he
smiled at him.
The
defending champion dropped the hammer over the final lap and a half, chancing a
look at the clock with 40m to go and powering himself across the line in a new
meet record time of 4:12.61. Weller was unable to hang with Springer’s
blistering closing speed and had to settle for silver in a new PR of 4:15.14.
Zarzeczny held on impressively for third in 4:16.32.
It was
a phenomenal race to start the day, three of the fastest times in meet history
had been clocked, despite moderate early fractions. The question became, what
would Springer and Weller do for encores?
First
came Springer, who ran in the slower heat of the 800m and ran a PR of 1:57.59
but was buried in a field that included in a slew of past and future state
champions[5]. This meant that Weller,
with two events remaining and a silver already on his resume, had a chance at
athlete of the meet honors if he could give the 3k state record a real run for
the money.
The 3k
wasn’t quite the loaded field the Mile or 800 was, but it did feature some top
notch talent including cross country state medalists Scott VanKooten, Sean
Ward, Rob Speare and Mark Dennin, all of whom placed in the top 14 the previous
fall at Hershey. VanKooten, known for his front running style, gave Weller some
serious push for the first half of the 3k. Any plans Weller had of taking an
easy victory were erased when the duo hit the 1600 split in just south of 4:30,
roughly 8:26 pace for 3k. After hearing the split, Weller decided the record
was within reach. He tried valiantly to drop his pace to the necessary speed,
but as VanKooten dropped off it became purely a race between himself and the
clock. The 4:15 already in his legs, he still managed to close in about 30
seconds for the final lap, finishing in 8:26.21. Weller’s mark is the second
fastest time in PA indoor history for 3000 meters. VanKooten took silver in
8:39.33.
Springer
left Happy Valley with a state gold, a state meet record and a little revenge
against his cross country rival. Weller left with athlete of the meet honors,
three medals, including a gold and a silver, a pair of PRs and a #2 all-time
mark.
And
both men had a few surprises still left up their sleeves.
[1] They put a track in a basketball
gym. It was bound to be tricky to navigate, but man it seemed like an awesome race.
[2] Still kinda weird to me that he
decided to the 16-8 double when the 3k was his best event. And then he ran the
5k at Nationals. Dude was all over the place.
[3] Aldrich’s run was particularly
impressive because he was doubling off a reported 1:55 split on Henderson’s
4x8. Keep in mind that McNally and Aldrich were both just sophomores that
season.
[4] This is a split I saw online as I
wasn’t at the race. I’ve watched a video, however, and I think this may be a
440 split rather than a true 400m. This is one of my biggest pet peeves in the
world. The traditional 200m and 400m splits for a mile are not at the finish
line, they are the starting line, which is a roughly 2 second difference. The
difference between a 31 first 200m and a 33 is HUGE (4:08 vs. 4:24, state
record vs barely state qualifying). It annoys the crap out of me when people
get this wrong.
[5] I could have written a whole other chapter on the
drama around this race. The build-up was fantastic. A few weeks out at the
Glenn Mills Invite, a rubber track that might be the slowest surface I’ve ever
run on, Chris Ferry of West Chester Henderson dropped an unreal 1:55. However,
controversy brewed around the fact that Ferry was towed through the first few
laps by his teammate, Chris Aldrich, who many around the state thought was an
“unfair rabbit”. Then at the PTFCA Carnival, a stacked field that included
Khaliff Featherstone, Andrew Rotz and Andrew Lobb, who all boasted PRs of 1:52
or better, jostled and fought for position, leading to a surprise victory from
North Penn’s Steve Franks.
In
the end, Jamar Jones (the reigning AA state champion) won the final in 1:53.80
over Andrew Rotz (1:54.06) and Elliot Rhodes (1:54.53). The field featured 7
past or future state champions.
No comments:
Post a Comment