Indoor Recap: Week 2

By Jarrett Felix

With the TFCAofGP Meet out of the picture, there weren’t a ton of weekly results to flip through, but there were certainly some noteworthy performances. You could argue which performance was biggest, but in my mind the best PA race of the weekend came at the Bishop Loughlin Games in the 600 meters. Three PA runners clocked the fastest 3 600s of the meet, each winning a different heat. Kamil Jihad, a junior who ran 1:52 last season, clocked a 1:23.77 to defeat Aidin Hendriks of Egg Harbor in the fastest section. However, Bishop Shanahan’s Logan Yoquinto and St. Joe’s Prep’s Robert Dupell each produced faster times running 1:23.76 and 1:21.91 respectively. Jihad’s margin of victory was 0.32 seconds, Yoquinto’s was 1.90 and Dupell’s was 6.03.

Also competing in the “Red” section of the 600 was SJP’s Calvin Willie who clocked a 1:28.04. He finished 3^rd in his section.

For comparison, the fastest PA mark at last year’s meet was Dennis Manyeah of Penn Wood. He clocked a 1:22.08. A few weeks later, he and Seneca Valley’s Mike Kolor each ran in the low 1:56s for 800. Manyeah finished his outdoor season last spring with a 1:53 at Henderson. Haneef Hardy, the eventual indoor 800 state champ in 2012, opened his season at this meet running 1:21.86. Penn Wood’s Jonathan Stiles, mainly a 400 runner with little to no 800 records on file, ran 1:23.26. He ran in the 48s during the spring. In what might be the state record, Khaliff Featherstone ran 1:20.84 at this meet at the start of his senior season. Featherstone had been a 46/1:52 guy in terms of relay splits in prior years and won the 400 state title indoors and out his senior season.

Projecting the 600 is tricky business. The event certainly favors the 400-800 types. All the same, I think Dupell’s time is phenomenal and suddenly makes the SJP boys a very interesting 4x800 sleeper pick. Dupell’s milesplit 800 best is 1:59.36 from last spring, but this time indicates he could potentially split something a whole lot faster in 2017. He’s got the speed (50.15 open last year), but he also clearly has the drive to give the longer distance a shot. Plus he won his section by 6 plus seconds based on the results given. That’s wild. A relay carry in the 1:55s doesn’t seem too outlandish.

The school also boasts Stephen McClellan who ran 1:54 as a sophomore and 1:53 as a junior last spring. That time puts him among the top returners in the state and would make him a dangerous piece of any relay. Another big talent on the roster is Miles Green. Green is entering his junior season with open PRs of 48.19 for 400 and 52.81 for the 400 hurdles. That 400 hurdle time speaks to his strength to potentially move up. Green has at least dabbled in the 800 in the past, but has focused more on the quarter in high school as SJP has had a sub 3:20 squad as of late (and with Dupell, Green and McClellan on the roster could do it again). It will be interesting to see if Green tries the 8 at all this indoor season to help round out the 4x8 rotation.

Calvin Willie (who just opened with a 1:28) and Joey Console (2:04 open last year) could potentially be in the mix to round out the relay. With three guys who have potential to be well under 2 minutes, a 2 flat type could get the job done in a state title race.

Jihad and Yoquinto have more 800 experience than Dupell at this point. I’ve already said Jihad is my early pick for indoor 800 gold and his victory, while perhaps not the fastest time, was not discouraging to me. He raced the mile and the 3k last weekend so to come swing all the way down to the 600 and pick up a victory was very impressive. As for Yoquinto, he’s putting people on notice this season. He already picked up a 2 flat 800 victory at Ursinus (PA #1?) and now drops a 1:23 600 PR. Keep in mind, he’s also a junior.

Logan’s new teammate, Josh Hoey, got his indoor season off to a great start at the Armory where he qualified for the Millrose Games, keeping PA’s streak alive in the event. Hoey, who shut his XC season down early, left little doubt about his fitness heading onto the track with a 4:17.63 easy victory. His final 400 was covered in about 59 seconds with a final 800 meters at around 2:03. Keep in mind that would put him in the top 5 or so PA runners for 800 meters.

It’s a big statement for Hoey especially as news breaks that Carlisle’s super star Noah Affolder will be continuing his XC season in Scotland at the Edinburgh Games (shout out to Noah on this awesome honor). Josh will have a big head start for this indoor season of the two are going to face off at the one mile distance.

But just behind Hoey, was a very strong showing from another PA junior in Tristan Forsythe. The Winchester Thurston stand out dropped a 4:20.40 PR in the mile with a big negative split of his own. His last 800 was covered in about 2:05 and he was the only one who could hang with Hoey once the pace picked up. Forsythe, who medaled last year in the mile, extended his XC season all the way through to the NXN Regionals (where he had a very strong showing, placing in the top 15 overall). Still hungry after his XC defeat, Forsythe looks like he is ready to make another mini-leap in the mile, an event that he has consistently progressed in since his impressive freshman campaign.

In other Hoey news, freshman Jonah Hoey opened his indoor season at the Bishop Loughlin Games in the mile. He ran a 4:36.97 in his opener in the event. Jonah, Logan, and Josh plus one of their 2 elite 400 guys, could make for a fun DMR at some point this indoor season. Another freshman, Carlos Shultz of Conestoga, made his presence felt at the same meet with a 3^rd place finish in the 2 mile. Shultz dropped a 9:48.40 in his debut. Shultz is fresh off an XC season where he broke 16 minutes and finished in the top 30 at states, the first freshman to pull both of those off since Jake Brophy.

Moving to the flat track, races were held this weekend at Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson. At F&M, Ephrata’s 4^th place finisher at XC states, Zach Lefever, picked up a tight 1600 win alongside teammate Tanyon Loose (4:53-4:55). Andrew Foster in the 3k and Alex Morales in the 800 helped complete the Ephrata distance sweep with times of 9:32 and 2:09. At Dickinson, Penn Trafford’s Nick Wagner continues to travel all over to get after a fast time. He won the 800 going away with a mark of 2:03.78.

A few early week meets produced notable results as well. At State College, the defending state champions are starting to piece together their title defense squad. Nick Feffer led the way, winning both the 800 and the Mile with times of 4:44.8 and 2:01.8. Behind him in the 800, Joey Feffer (2:02.3), Chris DiPerna (2:05.3) and Thomas Branstetter (2:11.0) combined for 4 of the first 5 spots. Owen Isham (top 50 finisher in XC as a soph) was runner-up to Nick in the mile, running under 4:50. SC also returns Owen Wing who split 1:56 last year and was the lead off man on the team’s title runs.

State College is looking for an unheard of 4^th straight season with a 4x8 best of 7:41 or faster when we hit the spring.

Wrapping up the mid-week action, Xavier Friel of the Hill School claimed victories at his home invite in both the mile (4:43.62) and the 800 (2:08.77). Episcopal won a hotly contested 4x8 with an 8:33.02, beating out Southern Lehigh by just 0.41. At the Delco Winter Meet, Jarnail Dhillon of Upper Darby dropped a 2:04.36 to dominate the open 800. He won the race by almost 10 seconds over Luke Dixon of Radnor. Dixon’s teammate, sub 2 800 man Peter Cooke, had an even bigger margin of victory in the mile with a 4:41.66.