So unsurprisingly, I've seen all the indoor state championship results (looked like a fantastic meet as always). Unfortunately, I haven't seen the actual races just yet. I gave it a shot, but it looked like you needed a full on flotrack account to watch things rather than the simple milesplit account. I would have paid $5, probably even $10+, to check this one out for a one time fee, but wasn't willing to go up over $100. Hopefully, I can track down some videos at some point for a cheaper cost and be able to give a bit deeper analysis.
In the meantime, if you guys out there could provide some insights on how the races themselves played out, who ran on what relays, any splits ... all that good stuff. I think it would not only be helpful for me, but very interesting to the readers who were not able to catch the meet live or online.
Now, with all that said, I do of course have a few quick takes for the readers out there who like to hear what I have to say (I think there's like 4 of you and the rest of the bunch are just here for the comments. It's cool guys, I'm not offended).
1) Noah Affolder is, in fact, some type of alien. Again, I haven't seen the videos, but I have to imagine he was on both state championship relays and also added a mile state championship and an 800 state championship. If a couple things go Carlisle's way, they somehow pull this one out with almost exclusively distance running. Hopefully, these kids have something left in the tank for Nationals where they've got a nice shot at that DMR record.
2) Shanahan earned this title. Carlisle gave them a heck of a run, but BS pulled out some clutch runs. I think the 4x8 scoring at the start of the meet was big. Did Hoey run on this relay or did they pull that out without him? Either way, that was a clutch result that got them 3 extra points in distance. Then, Josh Hoey pulled out the win over Noah in the open 8, another key 4 point swing. The 4x2 (by 0.01) and 4x4 plus Alleyne winning the 400 by 0.03 show you that every hundreth really matters out there.
By the way, Hoey's time was really fast. 1:52.21 is pretty darn good (a shade faster than Perretta ran last year) and, according to the all-time list I keep is just inside the top 50 in state history. Noah's awesome day should be point #1, but Josh is an incredible talent in his own right. Who is back next year by the way.
3) Pumped to see Nate Henderson, along with Josh Hoey, get their first individual state titles. With the arrival of the Affolder boys, it looked like these two may never get the chance to win state gold. However, when the window opened, both kids fearlessly took advantage. Nate picked up a strong 2.5 second victory in the 3k for his well deserved gold. He joins Jake Brophy, Max Norris and Dustin Wilson as the only Footlocker Finalists to win state 3k gold over the last 12 seasons.
4) Let's show some love for GFS. The independent league school decided to go all in both relays and left the meet with two silvers. I was really rooting for these guys to win as they clearly made some individual sacrifices for team glory and I would have liked to see them rewarded. Their 4x8 squad ran 7:47 which would almost any year (only 2011 was faster than Carlisle's win today). They also ran excellent 10:21.64, which would have won the DMR each of the previous 3 seasons and 5 of the last 6. Nick Dahl has now passed on the individual events 3 straight seasons (he would have been one of the big favorites in the mile and 3k this year and last year) to try and help his teammates do something they will remember forever. I'm sure they were hoping for just a little bit more, but to get two silvers, run two excellent times and push perhaps PA's greatest ever relays to record and near record times? That's probably going to be a lifelong memory in it's own right.
And by the way, I doubt it was in Carlisle's plans to have to run 7:45 to start out the day. It didn't look like it had much of an effect on Noah, but Sam apparently dropped out of the mile individually trying to double back from the relay. That was another swing that effected this compelling state title race.
5) Earlier, I tweeted that Liam Conway had a "heck of a day". He finished a tight second in the mile and doubled back to run 1:55 and medal in the 800 as well. All this for a kid who had never medaled at a state championship before today and was injured at the end of last cross country season. That's a cool redemption story for sure and also goes to show you that experience and age can play a role.
Some other guys in the "heck of a day" club today:
Sean Brown pulled out a strong 8th place showing in the mile, running a second straight season best (and large season bests) to win the slow heat and get some hardware. He went from being left out of the state meet to state medalist in basically two weeks. That's clutch running with your back against the wall.
Hudson Delisle was in the middle section of the 800, but that didn't stop him from getting after it. The Quakertown junior ran 1:54.99 and put serious pressure on the fast heat. Ultimately, that time ended up being good for 3rd overall in the race. He also bested his old training partner Brett Wolfinger's best indoor time and finish at states.
Matt Scarpill of CB South had a heck of a day in the 3k. Much like Brown, he went from out of the meet to state medalist in a two week stretch. But his two week stretch came in the meet's most grueling event. He made the bold decision to scratch the mile for the 3k and it paid off with a big PR under 8:50 and a state medal for the trophy case.
Also in this race, Aaron Pfeil came less than a hundredth of a second from a medal with a sub 8:50 clocking. I was worried about this kid since he was running his 3rd straight 3k, but he proved that he could handle the work and nearly stole a medal. South Fayette having an excellent 2016-2017 year. Shout out to that squad.
And lastly, to State College. Carlisle took 1-1, GFS took 2-2 and State College took 4-3 in the relays at this meet. The story line will probably be those first two teams but the Little Lions (a team I don't think I even picked to medal) ran 7:51 and then added a 10:22 in the DMR to beat a pair of fresh squads. This outdoor season, SC will be going for an absurd 4th straight season at 7:41 or faster in the 4x8! I'm fairly certain no one has ever done 3.
Not having a "heck of a day"? Etrain in the prediction contest. I got 4th in the top 5 contest and 4th in the top 8 contest out of 10 entries and 4 entries (so yes, I got last) respectively. So shout out to all those who bested me. I'll release those scores a little later on. Congrats to DK who, according to my math, won the Top 5 contest and to Claig x Claig, who took home the Top 8 contest.
Thank you to everyone for playing!
And that's all I've got for now. I'm off to bug people for splits, search for race videos and try and get some names to go with these relay results! Again, if you've got anything to help out the people with, feel free to throw it up!
Stay classy my friends.
-train
The monthly plan was $20, you just have to cancel it immediately or they’ll keep hitting your credit card for $20 every month. They make it seem like you’re paying for one month but they really screw you over. If you bought it just for this meet, cancel immediately. It was better when the PA TV network carried it for free.
ReplyDeleteYes, Noah Affolder may be an alien, the guy ran like a 4:20 anchor in the DMR and looked like he was jogging, watching the clock and smiling the whole time. This after a 800-mile-800 earlier. Those guys can definitely break 10:00 if they go after it.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what happened to Sam in the mile but he came back in the DMR with what the announcers said was a 3:02 1200, out in 27, and looking smooth the whole way. Nice to see him bounce back from the mile and even better to know that even if he finished 2nd in that mile it wouldn’t have mattered in the team championship as Shanahan just had too much.
Big win for N Henderson in the 3000 leading the whole way. So many 3000 and 3200's over the years have a top guy set the pace only to be outkicked in the end but Henderson pulled it off for the gold.
- RJJL
A couple of comments/splits:
ReplyDelete4 x 8-Dahl 1:54 Sam 1:55
GFS 2:00ish 1:59ish
GFS 1:56 1:56ish
Plass-1:56(out fast) Noah-1:54-looked easy
Mile Noah controlled the race. 2:11 then from 1000-1400, he ran 60.4 Looked very controlled. Conway closed really well for 2nd. Sam looked a little rough and dropped out at about the 800.
800-Noah 25.5, 53.8, 1:20.5 had about 10 meters on Josh at 600. Looked like he just went out a little fast. Josh rolled in the last 75. Heat 1 and 2 were both out fast.
3k Henderson led the whole way mostly 35s through the 1600(4:39.1) and then he just kept dialing it down. Rusty hung tough but could close with him.
DMR-Everyone is thinking-what are these guys going to have left. Sam just broke the race open-57,1:59 3:01. It was over. the middle legs ran solid. Noah ran 4:19-4:20 looking at his coaches every lap. Unreal quad for him. I was really impressed by Kole and Wisner. They ran 2 tough races. As e-train said, hopefully they recover and break the National record in 2 weeks.
4 x 2-CV won but was DQd.
Tough break for Bumgarner. Tripped up and fell around 800. Dont think could have won it but lost at least 5 seconds.
ReplyDeleteMy top takeaways from each race:
ReplyDelete4x800 – Shanahan. These guys picked up points in a very competitive race and set the team up for the day.
Mile - Conway ran great, but it was funny to see him throw his arms up like he won, considering Affolder made it a race for 2nd.
800 – Hoey is an incredible talent who doesn’t miss an opportunity to excel when sitting on a vulnerable leader.
3000 – Rusty and Henderson just killed it, hopefully they have a rematch at the WCH meet in May.
DMR – O’Hara always comes up big here.
4x400 – Hoey went 50 flat and sealed the deal.
I don't think anyone in PA can beat Affolder at any distance 800-3200 straight up.
ReplyDelete4x8:
ReplyDeleteHoey was NOT on the 4x8. Or should I say, Josh wasn't. Jonah led off with about a 1:59.8. Incredible race for him. Plass went out hard on the anchor to make Noah work, but he just wasn't good enough to hang.
Mile:
For the first 1100, it was packed just like 2016, but a 61 3rd 400 is what blew this race open. With around 500 to go, Noah pulled away. He was so far ahead it was hard to see the action behind. Conway just kinda rolled into the camera shot out of nowhere on the final straightaway. He's got the closing speed for a 4:10 type time come May.
800:
This was just kind of a weird race. The times were so scattered between the races since all the seed times were so close together. Affolder going on in a 1:21 ish 600 was just absurd. Hoey catching him was Noah's only vulnerability all day. Times were in general slower than I anticipated. Great run for Delisle taking 3rd from the middle heat. The guys all sat and kicked and Delisle went by all of em with 150 to go. Good bounce back race for Wagner after he struggled in the late season.
3000:
Surprised it wasn't mentioned already, but Bumgarner took a NASTY pretty early on in the race. I think he had the talent to contend, but just couldn't get back in the groove. Henderson and Kujdych separated cleanly at the mile, and the gap remained the same for the rest of the race as Lefever kept the chase pack at an honest pace. It looked like Kujdych was gonna overtake Henderson with 400 to go but I think Henderson flat out wanted this one more than anyone else. Expected a little more from Beveridge, as Rusty shined as the top returner for next year. A Kujdych, Beveridge, Lederer type race next year could be very exciting.
DMR:
From the gun. Sam's 3:02 after casually going out in 1:59 is ridiculous. It was hard to tell what was going on for most of the race because of Carlisle's massive lead. P James was the only one to try and go with Sam on the 1200, and it looks like R James could've had a really nice anchor split, as well as Addison. As usual, Dahl reeled in everyone he possibly could.
It's a shame the cameras in the DMR focused on Affolder cruising to victory because it was a heck of a race for 2nd with 5 teams bunched up and under 10:25. The Penn Relays DMR should be awesome this year.
DeleteThats gotta be the deepest DMR ever
DeleteAll the excitement on the DMR was the anchor mile. Dahl gradually reeled everybody in but all the anchors ran great.
DeleteThere's probably 100 runners in the state going sub 2:00 800 in outdoor.
ReplyDeleteI was going to offer to take splits for other teams from the race videos, but it seems like FloTrack decided only Carlisle was worth looking at. Even when they were far and away, the camera didn't pan even a little to the battles for 2nd and 3rd in the relays. They didn't even stay on the exchange zone for other teams. Disappointing.
ReplyDeleteThe anchor for the Shanahan 4x800 was Logan Yoquinto.
ReplyDeleteThe Shanahan 4x400 was a real team effort with all 4 legs doing work. Keegan Hughes did an excellent job on the lead off leg, both Yoquinto & Hooey ran 50 flats and Nate Alleyne ran an amazing anchor leg for the win.
The top 6 teams were top 10 in the nation in the DMR, shame FloTrack didn't show the competitive part of the race. Hopefully some other film on YouTube pops up.
ReplyDelete