Recap Machine Still Operating

by Jarrett Felix

Yale Track Classic

Day One

The relays are heating up here in Pennsylvania as a few more of our top programs tried their hand at the DMR. DT West dropped a 10:40.60 to defeat state medalists West Chester Henderson (10:46) and early state contenders Holy Ghost Prep (10:53). West’s relay wasn’t listed so I can only speculate on the line up, but I think this team has a nice construct of front legs. If things break perfectly for them, they could theoretically pull off an upset similar to O’Hara. They have Ryan Barton, who ran an excellent 1200 leg at last year’s state meet, as well as Chase Seymanyk who is a strong 800 runner.

DT West also dropped a strong 4x8 on Day One. I’m assuming they ran without any members of their DMR and they still dropped an 8:27.59 for 2^nd in their race. That mark would put them in state qualifying position as things currently stand. If they decide to stack a 4x8 in the coming weeks, they could certainly dip under 8:20.

Henderson and HG Prep are both currently in state qualifying position thanks to their best marks of the season this year. However, there should be plenty of jockeying in the top 12 throughout the stretch run. Should be fun to see what each team does to continue to improve over the coming month.

Of course the 4x8 that will grab headlines from this meet is Germantown Friends. Continuing their battle with Carlisle for state #1 status, GFS ran an 8:01.51 to win their section of the 4x8 by about 5 seconds. The battle between GFS and Carlisle is shaping up to be really fun as both teams have been throwing strong punches here in January. Currently, Carlisle is #1 in both distance relays and GFS is #2. That being said, I can still see a situation where GFS skips the 4x8 to either go fresh DMR or give Dahl a chance at an individual race (which would probably be the mile, assuming he qualifies).

Day Two

Speaking of Nick Dahl, the GFS senior dropped a very fast 8:30.62 to finish a hard fought second to Dalton Hengst of Maryland who ran 8:28. That time is no joke for Dahl who moves into a clear PA #1 spot in the event and, as of this moment, a heavy favorite for the state title if he chooses to get after it. This also makes Dahl one of PA’s fastest ever indoor 3k runners. Up until Craig Miller came along in 2006, this would have been a state record. Indoor has really taken off in PA since about that time (just look at our 800 runners), but the list of sub 8:30 3k guys is still only includes Craig Miller, Jason Weller and Max Norris. That’s just three guys assuming I didn’t forget anyone (which it feels like I may have). Note that doesn’t include any 2 mile to 3k conversions.

Behind Dahl, it appears Pa’s fastest runners were Jack Downing (9:08) and Shaun Bullock (9:09). These two both likely competed in the DMR the night before as well, making their legs a little extra tired.

At 800 meters, Wyomissing’s Joe Cullen was the star. The junior dropped a 1:56.76 to win section 3 of the event and take 3^rd place overall. Cullen was the top man in his heat by roughly 2 and half seconds. The time puts him 4^th on the PA performance list, just behind Nick Wagner. Note that the top two runners on this list, Noah Affolder and Josh Hoey, may or may not focus attention on this event. Affolder has been a 2-miler for the most part and seems more likely to pick the mile and a relay than the 800. Josh will almost certainly race the mile where he was state runner up last year. He could still be a factor for 800 individual gold on the double.

Cullen led the way as PA’s only sub 2 runner. Next in the standings for PA was Brett Zatlin of GV (2:00.13) and then Samuel Huslin of HG Prep (2:00.88). Currently, I’ve got Zatlin projected as the 22^nd guy by time this year and, as of this second, no one ahead of him is projected to be a scratch. The 2016 cut off was 2:00.15 in this event and the 2015 cut off was 2:02.54 (fluke circumstances that I won’t get into now).

Last of the individual events we have to cover from this one is the mile. Ryan Barton led all PA runners with a time of 4:30.62. Barton, who finished just outside the medals last indoors, is an underrated miler who has been somewhat in the shadows of faster teammates each of the past two seasons. Now he steps into the #1 role. I expect him to be a factor for his first individual state medal.

Douglas W. Wesner (@ Kutztown)

J.P. McCaskey’s state runner-up from XC, Nate Henderson, returned to the track this weekend and led his team to a strong win in the DMR. JP ran 11:08.41 to win by about 10 seconds over Spring Ford. The time is outside the state qualifying picture as of now, but this squad could be interesting if they load up on a faster track. Caleb Sneller as a 1200 leg is a strong piece and, of course, Nate Henderson’s 4:14 PR for 1600 meters could work wonders. Spring Ford put up a solid fight against their opponents and continues to be a deep program with a lot of strong runners.

One of my favorite teams to watch run early in the season has been Bensalem. The mid-distance powerhouse is looking very formidable after a brief stint away from the top of the state. Aqeel Bacchus rolled to a 2:00.04, a very impressive mark on this track that puts him 14^th in the state (with conversions). His teammate, Isaiah Thomas rallied back from the all-star snub and dropped a 2:04.27 to finish 3^rd. Bensalem has also already run sub 8:20 for 4x8 in a winning effort.

Dan Uhranowsky from Abington Heights ran a sneaky good 4:37 to win the 1600 against a solid field. He defeated Shane Ainscoe of Spring Ford (3^rd), a state qualifier in XC, Michael Geiger of Parkland, a top 50 finisher in XC and AA state medalist Jacob Pasake of Western Wayne. Jake Underwood of Wilson defeated district rival Nate Kaplon as well as Pasake to win the 3k in 9:24.21.

New Balance Games

Avery Lederer added his name to the sub 9 minute club in the invitational 2 mile. The Penncrest junior, who had a terrific breakout XC campaign, dropped a 9:35.08 with a 31 second final lap to finish 2^nd in the strong field. The time, by PTFCA conversions, will convert to 8:57.0. That could be right around the bubble for state qualifying as 8:56.13 was the last time in last year but 8:59.14 was the last time in 2015. Lederer moves into position to compete for a medal with a tight back of runners in the 8:55-9:00 range.

Ethan Bernstein of Saucon Valley was the next best PA runner in the field. The District 11 junior ran 9:54.45 for the full two mile distance.

Penn Wood’s Dennis Manyeah returned to perhaps his best event and came away with the victory. The Penn Wood senior has been relative quiet in the 800, but smoked a 1:23.58 for the victory in this event. In the process, he defeated Robert Dupell from St. Joe’s Prep, the current state leader in the event. Easton Area’s Stephen Kraus also added an impressive 1:25.59 from the 3^rd heat. His victory put him in 6^th overall.

In the mile, Seth Slavin added another strong performance to his long list of early season achievements. He ran 4:28.25 for the full mile, right in line with his performance at Ocean Breeze a few weeks back. Owen Ritz of GA posted his best mile mark of the season, running 4:33 and moving into the state qualifying picture. He ran low 4:20s last year at the Abington Invite in the spring.

Coatesville finished 6^th in the 4x800 with a time of 8:33. They had a 2:02.89 lead off split as well, so keep an eye out for an individual to step up from this squad. If it’s not one of their top two 3k guys, that would be huge for their DMR chances. Bishop Shanahan won the sprint medley relay with a time of 3:35.06. Their anchor leg ran 1:59.1 on the final carry. If that was Yoquinto, I believe it’s his first sub 2 performance of the year. If that was Hoey, this team could potentially drop to an even faster SMR time and maybe make noise at the national meet. Cheltenham holds the state record from 2015. For reference, they ran 3:26.11 at this meet. A few other top teams were Hatboro Horsham (2:04 anchor) and Bonner (2:01 anchor to win the heat).

TFCAofGP #6

Division I

It’s a tough time of year for the TFCAofGP. Some talent is being pulled away for big time invitationals. The TFCAofGP has already had 5+ meetings. And the kids are waking up super early to go race at Glenn Mills. So it can be tough to drop anything super-fast. But we still saw plenty of noteworthy performances.

In the 800, Erik McCallion of Haverford picked up a strong win with a time of 2:05.05. He pairs with James Abrahams to make a nice one to punch for Haverford. CB West’s Brian Baker took gold in the mile. He ran 4:45.93 to earn gold over XC top 50 finisher Evan Hutton of William Tennent (4:49). Baker’s teammate, Ben Bunch, ran 9:16 to finish second in the 3k to, go figure, Hutton’s teammate Sean Rahill who ran 9:15. Those are quite solid marks for both guys.

In the relays, DT East grabbed gold in the 4x800, running 8:33.51. They’ve also run 8:31 on a bit faster surface on January 7^th. Upper Darby ran 8:34.44 to take a tight second. Darby is a team that historically comes on at the end of the season and finds a way to get into states for the 4x8. Both of these schools will be lurking late in the year, especially considering the field was expanded to 16 teams.

CB West took the 4x4 victory over LaSalle with a time of 3:33 to the Explorer’s 3:35. CR South was also in the mix with a 3:36. Worth noting as well, Upper Dublin had their 3^rd different 400 runner under the SQG. This time it was Brandon Vargas-Bines who ran 51.67 for gold. That time was less than a second away from Matt Gilmore’s (400 state champ) meeting record.

Division II

In a battle of District 12 800 champions, Kamil Jihad and Dave Whitfield went head to head at 400 meters this weekend. Jihad got the narrow victory, running 52.76 to Whitfield’s 52.89. I believe this keeps Jihad’s undefeated streak at 800 and down this winter, but I think Whitfield should feel good about giving the 1:52 runner a scare. Meanwhile another fast 800 runner, Cameron Christopher, took 3^rd overall in 53.40.

Speaking of fast 800 runners, Brandon Hontz dropped a big win in the open 8 with a time of 2:00.06. That mark was over 5 seconds better than Billy Hallinan of Interboro who left with the silver. It also marked Hontz’s 3^rd straight open 8 at 2 flat or faster. Very few runners, if any, have been that consistently fast so far.

In the mile, Westley Wedell got the victory while Jeffrey Love of George School took the 3k gold. Wedell has had a very consistent indoor season so far, racing toward the front of some nice fields. I think Wedell could be a candidate for a big drop in the stretch run of the season. Twin Valley made a case for their 4x8 squad with a strong 8:34 gold medal victory. They defeated Episcopal Academy and WC East.

Youngstown #2

With no TSTCA obligations, the top western schools flocked to Youngstown to chase some fast marks on a fast track. One of the big names in attendance was Brookville’s Ryan Thrush. He dipped into the 49s for the first time with a 49.56 gold. He also ran 23.12 in the 200 meters, winning his heat. As far as I can tell, he still hasn’t hopped in the shot put. Thrush now looks assured qualifying spots in both the 400 and the 800 at states. He could be argued as a favorite in either event.

Penn Hills Senior Isaiah Bailey put his energies into a fresh 800 and it paid off. The WPIAL stand out dropped a 1:59.46 to win the race and join the ever increasing list of sub 2 runners. Keep in mind Bailey’s outdoor PR is 1:54 and another Bailey was state champ from PH back in 2012.

Don’t look now, but Greensburg Salem is putting together some nice times on the track. After a breakthrough XC season, the team has already had impressive results from Mark Brown and Cameron Binda at the longer distances. But now senior Frankie King has added a 2:00.80 mark for 4^th. His teammate Dylan Binda won his section of the 800 in 2:03.79. Zach Case of Hampton was also a heat winner in 2:03.

XC state champ Ben Bumgarner, who has already run under the SQG for 3k, now gets under for 1600 meters. Bumgarner picked up the 1600 in victory in 4:26.33. Bumgarner ran in the mile a year ago, but may opt for a fresh 3k at states this year depending on how he feels he stacks up. Factoring in conversions, this mark puts Ben at #11 on the state qualifying list.

I thought Bumgarner had a time like that in him, but Seneca Valley’s Sam Owori really impressed me with his 4:27.21. The sophomore was fantastic during XC, leading SV to a district title, and now looks like he is ready to take it up another notch. He finished 2^nd overall in this meet and is top 15 on the state performance list with conversions. His teammate, also a sophomore, Seth Ketler ran 4:38.69 for 9^th. South Fayette’s Sam Snodgrass was another top PA finisher, taking 4^th in 4:31. His teammate, Aaron Pfeil, was out top finisher in the 3200. Pfeil ran 9:46 and placed 2^nd.

State College Invite

800 University looks ready to get in the 4x8 state title conversation. The SC boys took 1-3-4-5 on home turf, led by Nick Feffer. The times (all hand times) were 1:58.9-2:01.4-2:02.5-2:03.5 which adds up to 8:06.3. So far, just five teams have run under 8:10. The big news was also a return to the line-up for Owen Wing, who led off the state title teams last year.

Seth Phillips of Mifflin County ran a strong 1:59.4 to dip under 2 minutes for the first time this season. His teammate Chase Macknair won the mile in 4:45.

Individually, Feffer sits in 12^th on the state performance list with conversations. That likely won’t get him into the fast heat (they take just 8). Feffer is the top returner from outdoor states where he dropped a 1:53.50 in his second race of the day. Kamil Jihad, the top returner from AA, is also sitting outside the top heat right now (he sits in the 3^rd heat technically). There’s still plenty of time for those guys to drop something fast (especially for Jihad who runs in the TFCAofGP), but it’s something to keep an eye on. Could make the state meet more interesting. A distance event has not been won from the slow heat since Luke Lefebure pulled off the stunner in 2010.