Indoor Preview 2017: What Will District 3 Give Us?

By Jarrett Felix

This past cross country season, District 3 announced their arrival among the AAA ranks as potentially the district to beat in 2016-17. They finished off their first state meet with the top four finishers overall and three Footlocker Finalists. But as we turn our eyes to the indoor track season, it’s unclear how the district will maintain their dominance. Or if they even care.

We start with Carlisle. The Herd placed 2^nd during the fall with four runners in the top 40 overall, including 3 in the top 15. Their top two runners, the Affolders, both qualified for Footlocker Nationals. It’s not hard to imagine a situation where Carlisle is a pursuing a DMR national title in 2017. But it’s worth noting that up until a few years ago, Carlisle’s indoor antics were limited at best. Even in years where they have had top flight talent like Kyle Hurston (Class of ’09) and Zach Brehm (Class of ’15) the team didn’t actually race anyone at indoor states, even if they had qualifying times. It wasn’t until Matt Wisner jumped into the PTFCA meet in 2015 that they had anyone take a stab at it. And that Wisner experience worked out pretty well. He won his heat, dropping a massive 1:54 PR as a junior. From there, Carlisle expanded their winter season a little more and ultimately signed up Wisner and a DMR for the state finals in 2016.

In 2017, I would have to expect that things will only continue to expand at Carlisle. It wouldn’t surprise me to see them make a few more appearances at the Armory this season. The Affolders have already raced in New York three times since their move to PA (McQuaid, Manhattan and Regionals). I’d be very surprised to see Carlisle not at least dabble with a DMR considering their weapons. What they chose to do at states is anyone’s guess, but I think most would agree Carlisle will at least be there competing. That’s more than we used to be able to say about their interests for the winter.

The thing is, there’s not a ton of meets for the District 3 guys to qualify at. Unlike the Philly Area kids or even the Western PA kids, there isn’t really a league that offers organized meets or an organized championships. So unless you want to hop in on the State College Invitationals (have to imagine those will continue to grow in popularity) you really have to pick your spots and, more importantly, be ready to perform near your best when you pick those spots.

This fall’s XC runner-up Nate Henderson was one of those runners who knew how to do just that. He ran an excellent race at the PTFCA Carnival at Lehigh and then, at states, took full advantage of his opportunity, finishing 3^rd overall and pushing Brophy and Hockenbury in the process. But Henderson, one of the few District 3 guys to excel during indoors, will be coming off Footlocker Nationals this year and who knows when he will start his racing. You need to be very precise in your preparations to time things right. Ephrata’s Zach Lefever, who was 4^th at states, just missed out on 3k qualifying this past winter but was a state medalist in the spring when he got his chance.

Because it’s really about qualifying for the D3 guys. If they get to the state meet, they tend to be some of the biggest surprises of the meet in terms of big PRs. The State College track is very fast (I think it might even be faster than the precious Armory to quote Bane) and the competition at states is, obviously, top notch. That’s more than a lot of D3 guys can boast during the regular season. But you have to get into the meet to compete and, without the safety net of an absolute qualifying time, you need to be racing somewhat frequency and with guys who can push you. That’s a luxury many outside of Philly can’t boast.

Perhaps as a result, there’s a lot of District 3 programs that barely run indoor races at all. Mechanicsburg, one qualified for states as a team and had two guys in the top 50 on my XC rankings, is one example that jumps to mind immediately. They have no milesplit lodged distance results from indoor 2016. District 3’s other surprise state qualifiers, Manheim Central, also don’t have much of an indoor campaign. They have a 1:55 guy in Cole Sunderland, but we probably won’t hear from him until April. The jury is still out on a team like Lower Dauphin. They were DMR state medalists a few years back, but this past indoors Jared Giannascoli, Colton Cassell and Kyler Shea posted no indoor marks. Those three all finished in my top 50 rankings this season as well.

In terms of state championships, the last indoor state gold (on the distance side) that went to a member of D3 was in 2006 when Craig Miller ran his 8:22 state record. In the same meet, Aaron Kauffman of Red Land won the 800 meters, ironically coming out of one of the slower sections to steal the race. So there’s definitely been a bit of a drought. While we’ve been waiting for that next indoor title out of District 3, that area has produced 13 state champions across both divisions in the 4 outdoor distance events.