4x800m Recap

by Jarrett Felix

Heat 1
As has been mentioned, this was a big chance for Bishop Shanahan to get some points on the board early and set the tone for a run at the state championship. However, the Shanahan boys decided not to run their star 800 runner and future state champ, Josh Hoey, on the relay. Instead, it was freshman Jonah Hoey who took those honors. Now it's a very bold move to lead off a freshman at the state championship, but it paid off as Jonah split about 1:59.8 and handed off in the lead group. Leading the way was Dennis Manyeah of Penn Wood, who has been a stable as the lead off leg for Penn Wood each of the past three seasons. Also in the top group was what looked to be Sam Owori of Seneca Valley. Owori, just a sophomore, appeared to also run under 2 minutes and set up SV at the front of the field.

The big movers on the second leg were CR South. One of my favorite teams on paper entering the meet, South's second leg (don't know who it was) ran a beautiful race to bring the team from mid pack all the way through to a strong lead. I estimated the split in the low 1:56s from my vantage point in the video. Whoever that was, it was a big time split.

Although South had an advantage, their opposition fought back on the third leg. Still in the lead group were Penn Wood, North Penn, Seneca Valley and Bishop Shanahan. They jockeyed through to the anchors in a pretty tight pack. CR South still held the edge on the final exchange, but the always dangerous North Penn squad was lurking nearby. Shanahan got the baton in 5th.

North Penn moved up into the lead on lap one of the anchor leg, I'm assuming Daniel Santiago was the man doing the carry, but shortly after BS's Logan Yoquinto made a strong bid for the lead. From here, Yoquinto powered around the track and opened up an advantage. He stopped the clock right about 8 minutes and split around 1:56 anchor carry. I believe this was Logan's first race since he suffered an injury at the last chance meet that required him to leave the meet in an ambulance. North Penn fought well and came up about a second behind in 8:01. Historically speaking, both those times are medal worthy every year. However, with the 4x8 first in the order and two heats of talented relays, trends were in jeopardy.

Heat 2
The boys from Carlisle were looking for their own statement race to set the tone for the day. Both Sam and Noah Affolder were featured on the for the Herd along with what appeared to be Jack Wisner (2nd leg) and Isaac Kole (3rd leg). Those four runners all finished in the top 40 at this past year's XC state championships.

But Germantown Friends came in on a mission. Having scratched from the individuals, Nick Dahl put everything he could into his lead off carry. For the second straight year, Dahl led off the 4x8 and went to the front, ready to hammer the pace. Sam Affolder of Carlisle was the best bet to give chase with CB West, CB East, State College and Abington all also in the picture. Dahl handed off around 1:54 in the lead with Affolder roughly a second back. The next pack appeared to come through in a bunch around 1:57.

With the lead, GFS's second leg went to work on trying to hold the advantage. Meanwhile, Carlisle's #2, Jack Wisner, sat back a bit. Similar to the way his brother races, it appears Jack likes to run an even, steady pace. However, that strategy made things tricky as the field pushed valiantly to try and get back to the lead. Most notably, CB West's second leg made an impressive surge. Ultimately, Wisner surged at the perfect time and executed with a great kick to run around 1:57 high by my watch and give his team the lead.

From here, Isaac Kole had the lonely job of hammering the pace from the lead. CB West and GFS were in contention for second, but Carlisle had a clear advantage. Kole didn't settle in and did his best to keep the pace honest and open up a lead to give Noah Affolder some cushion at the front and allow him to save some energy. However, GFS's 3rd leg was ready for the challenge. He split about 1:56 to move GFS into contention and Jonnie Plass started his anchor leg by shooting to the front.

Meanwhile, back in the pack it apeared that Joey Feffer from State College made a really nice surge to put his squad in contention with CB West. Those two teams had separated a bit from Pennsbury, CB East and Abington.

Back to the top group. Jonnie Plass fearlessly shot out to a fast start against Noah, making things a little tricky for the super star from Carlisle. However, Noah was able to settle into the pace and take over on the second lap. From here, Noah glided along and broke away from Plass with a strong close. The race in hand, Noah was able to look around on the final straightaway and coast in across the line in roughly a 1:54 split. Plass ran around 1:55 high by my watch and put up a great fight in his own right.

Even with the easing, Carlisle was able to run 7:45.86, the 2nd fastest time in meet history. GFS's 7:47 ranks in the top 4 for the meet, with only 2011 being better. In the fight for 3rd, Jake Claricurzio of CB West and Nick Feffer of State College went all the way to the line, both runners sprinting like mad men on the final straightaway. In the end, Claricurzio was just barely able to out lean Feffer 7:51.22 to 7:51.31.

If you go back and look, this is the third straight state championship anchor that Claricurzio has ended on a photofinish. Last year, he had two incredibly tight finishes with Abington's Keion Broadus (Jake won indoors, Broadus outdoors). Now he gets another tight one with Feffer. These two may see each other again outdoors with a lot more pressure surrounding them as GFS will be back in the independent league and Carlisle will potentially invest more in the individual events like the 3200, which comes before the 4x8 at Shippensburg.

5 Biggest Takeaways
I gave some flash takeaways on the meet in general, but having actually watched the two heats now, I've got a bit more to say.

#1 - Carlisle could have had the state record if that was the goal. Obviously, they were after the much more coveted team title so Noah slowed up, but seeing as they were just 0.8 second away from the record and Noah very noticeably eased up to save energy, this 7:45.86 is even more impressive than I initially thought. And of course, we have to give credit to Wisner and Kole who provided splits well under 2 minutes and both handed off in first place during their legs, handling high pressure situations well. How fast could these guys run in a pushed race this spring? We may never find out as the DMR is a much bigger draw, but all the makings of a great team.

#2 - The 4x8 continues to get faster. This year it took 8:00.72 to medal. That's crazy for the indoor state meet, but the new order and the fact that there are two heats now have made this race really exciting. I mean, 7:51 ended up 4th this year. That's pretty unprecedented as well. Worth noting, under last year's qualifying system, Shanahan would not have made the 4x8. But with the expansion to 16, they get in and get 6th. Maybe a sign to pump this thing up to 20 next year? I would love to see it.

#3 - Although there were two relatively new 4x8 squads at the top (has district 3 ever had the 4x8 indoor state champs before?), the traditional powerhouses still peppered the top. 3rd, 4th, 5th, 8th and 9th were all state champions during the past decade of running. Regardless of what these programs graduate, they always seem to pull together the pieces to put together a strong relay.

#4 - Mike Kolor and Jake Brophy were two of the biggest names around last year. However, without their star runners, both programs still pulled out phenomenal performances. Seneca Valley finished 10th overall in 8:04, a strong showing for them although they were probably hoping to get in the medals. Then CB East finished 7th overall in 8 flat. That's one of their fastest times in school history and a 9 second improvement on their time from meet of champions.

#5 - Outdoors is going to be really interesting. How many of these teams will actually want to load up a 4x8? I'd be surprised if Carlisle does it again as the 32-4x8 double seems tricky (although is there anything Noah Affolder can't do?) and I think priorities may end up being different. GFS moves back to the independent league after this as well. So your top teams are gone.

CB West will almost certainly load up. As with State College, Pennsbury, CB East, Abington and North Penn. Shanahan could have a really good team if they had Josh Hoey to the picture and remove their slowest leg (we are talking at least a 10 second swing based on times run this weekend). And they may need the extra 4x8 points this spring when the event schedule gets switched up.

Personally, I still really like what I saw from CR South. They've got strong upside. CR North could switch their focus from DMR to 4x8 come spring (or maybe individual events will be the focus). Lots of good teams to contend, but remember a maximum of just 8 can come out of District One. That District had 9 of the 17 state qualifiers this winter and the first six teams to miss out as well.

Also never count out Cumberland Valley. Always a 4x8 powerhouse to keep an eye on.