Crunch Time

by Jarrett Felix

TSTCA

Believe it or not the TSTCA has had 4 meets this year. Plus the west coast has popped up more than once at places like Youngstown and Spire. Smaller schools like Greensburg Salem have even gotten the attention of some east coast commenters. Things are going alright for the region. So let’s give their meet the first spot among the recaps (yes, we did technically already recap two meets and college stuff, but the first spot in this recap still applies).

Isaiah Bailey of Penn Hills dropped his season best down to 1:58.72 as the senior rolled to a 3.5 second victory over Mt. Lebanon’s Bryce Brandenstein. Bailey is a dangerous name should he make it to the state meet. He’s run 1:54 outdoors and 1:56 indoors. Grant Sharp of Indiana Area was 3^rd in 2:02. He is part of a sneaky good core of runners from the AA XC program.

A XC State Champ Noah Curtin of Mercyhurst Prep picked up another gold medal to throw in the trophy case with his 4:35 victory in the mile. He defeated AAA medalist Amadou Diallo of Allerdice who ran 4:36. In total, five runners cracked 4:40. I can’t tell you how qualifying for the TSTCA Championship meet works, but considering some of the talent milers who are currently bubble guys for states, we could see a couple pretty fast sections and a few sub 4:30 times to add to the total (a rapidly increasing total).

Diallo was also 2^nd in the 3k, leaving with two silvers. His time of 9:25 was just ahead of fellow state medalist Casey Conboy, who clocked 9:29. Winning the race, was South Fayette Senior Aaron Pfeil, who ran 9:03. The South Fayette 1-2 punch is pretty spectacular with Pfeil and Snodgrass both running really well so far indoors. I’m hoping Pfeil gets a bit more push at the TSTCA Championships if he gears up for the 3k again. It’s unclear who could be there, but maybe Noah Beveridge will look to better his personal best. Pfeil has also run 4:33 in the mile and could choose that event for his SQG quest.

Seneca Valley, who just a year ago was an all-state DMR squad, hit the relays hard this weekend. The reigning WPIAL XC champs won both the 4x8 and the DMR at Edinboro, clocking times of 8:15.14 and 10:52.72. Right now, that puts SV in 14^th for the 4x8 and 13^th for the DMR when you factor in conversions (don’t even get me started on Edinboro’s conversions). This team definitely deserves a spot on the line at states, if for no other reason than to truly represent the “state” as our lone western team. We will see what the strategy becomes for this school in the final week of the season. Sam Owori, the sophomore sensation who led the team during XC, is currently ranked 30^th in the mile. I think he gets into states as things stand without much trouble (looks like potentially a ton of scratches), but they may want to make sure with another fast race.

PCLs

The Catholic League is always good for a display of elite distance running. This year was no exception. To start of the day, the boys from Father Judge picked up a strong DMR victory over LaSalle. The LaSalle boys looked to be running a “B” squad, but, in case you forgot, their “B” squad is chock full of sub 4:40 guys. With the victory, and conversions, Father Judge moved to #18 in the state rankings. Shout out to this team for a job well done. Let’s see if they can double down on this strong showing with another nice mark in the finale at Lehigh.

In the mile, LaSalle’s Evan Addison continued his hot streak with a win over the O’Hara three headed monster of James, Inglis and James. Obviously the Affolders are imposing figures in the mile, but Addison has been phenomenal in that event this year. I think he could hold his own in the final and run a nice PR for himself, but he may wish to just flip over to the relays and help his team chase hardware. I think their DMR could be really good.

As for O’Hara, I think we can bet a good amount that we see these boys attack the DMR next weekend. The two time defending champs have run a fast DMR at MoCs for at least the past three years and they need an SQG still. If they don’t get it (maybe a fall, a DQ, or an off day), then they become interesting medal contenders. They are all at 4:28 or faster by season best and Inglis and Ryan James have both dipped under 9 minutes for 3k. Patrick’s 4:28 this weekend for 4^th moved him up to 23^rd overall on the state list before scratches.

Anthony Harper of Bonner picks up the 6^th place finish with a time of 4:37. He also doubled back in 9:10 for the 3k. I believe both marks are pretty strong season bests. Harper is coming on like wildfire in the past few weeks and, although he’s probably a long shot for states as things currently stand, he could maybe duplicate his teammate Dave Whitfield’s meteoric rise on the track in the spring.

Speaking of Dave, he was part of a loaded 400 meters that included a couple distance guys. Miles Green of St. Joe’s Prep picked up a big win in 49.3 (state title favorite in the event now I would think?). Kamil Jihad took 2^nd in 50.9, Rob Dupell 3^rd in 50.96 and Whitfield 4^th in 51.80. Those are all flat track season bests for three guys who are already sub 2 in the 800 this indoors.

Jihad pulled out a crazy double for the second year in a row as he doubled back to win the 800 over Evan Addison 2:00.3 to 2:01.5. Calvin Willie of SJ Prep was 3^rd just ahead of his teammate Dupell who pulled out his own impressive double. That 4-8 double is really tricky. Big run also came from Mac Costonis of LaSalle. He ran 2:02 to win his heat. That’s the projected 800 leg on a LaSalle DMR with Price and Addison running the two longer legs.

Ryan James doubled back from his runner up finish in the mile to win the 3k title as O’Hara took 1-2-5 in this one. David Kennedy of LaSalle was the top Explorer with a nice 23 second improvement on his seed time (he ran 9:11 for 4^th).

Milesplit Showcase

The Spire track, by all accounts, is a truly great one. Heck, it’s at the GaREAT Sports center or something like that. And the times that rolled in from Sunday’s showcase meet backed that up.

In a week where the top of the mile standings was rewritten, it’s probably easy to miss Phoenix Myers of Seneca in the results. The District 10 senior dropped a blistering 4:18.96 1600m PR to win his section of the showcase and place 4^th overall. With the conversion, Myers moves into the top 7 for the upcoming state championship. Behind him, Eric Kennedy ran a huge season best of his own, clocking 4:23. That should get Kennedy comfortably into states (bubble for the hot heat) and he won’t have to miss out by a spot the way he did a year ago. Great redemption moment for Eric who, by the way, is definitely a medal contender at PSU.

This meet was so deep some top performers got buried in the results. For example, Sam Snodgrass of South Fayette clocked an excellent 4:26.46 for 1600 and finished 20^th overall. That’s well under the SQG. Mark Brown of Greensburg Salem was 21^st with a 4:27.13, also well under the SQG. Brown’s GS teammates were 17^th and 21^st in the 800 but still clocked 1:59.11 and 1:59.55. Those times are both improvements for a couple bubble contenders for the state championship in Frankie King and Dylan Binda.

It’s been said by a wise commenter but Brown-Binda-King-Binda or some combination along those lines would look real good in a DMR or 4x8 …

If not for the Millrose Games, the performance of the weekend would likely have come from this meet. Waynesburg Central’s XC State Champion Ben Bumgarner took advantage of the fast race and blazed to a new PR of 9:16.14 for 3^rd overall in a loaded field. The time puts Bumgarner at #2 in the state standings for the event, behind only Nick Dahl who, by all accounts, will be a scratch. I floated out Bumgarner’s name as a state title contender in this event and, with the Affolders tentatively looking like passes, he will probably be the #1 seed at states with Nate Henderson and Rusty Kujdych nipping at his heels. That would be a thrilling race if we get to see it. I think Bumgarner’s time reminds me a lot of Jeff Kirshenbaum’s 2 mile at Ocean Breeze a year ago about this same time. Kirsh ended up in the mid to high 8:30s at states if memory serves. He was 4^th overall behind Hock, Brophy and Henderson.

Carnival

Sometimes running isn’t about flashy times, it’s just about going out, running hard and picking up victories. That’s been the story of Brandon Hontz this year. He’s “only” #9 in the state for the mile and #19 for the 800, but the kid has been fantastic so far this year. At the carnival, he picked up a big win in the mile, running 4:23 and then came back to drop a clutch anchor leg for West Chester Rustin en route to a 10:49 DMR (and another gold). That might be enough to help them sneak into the state championships, but I’m guessing, assuming they are qualified, they run it back at MoCs. I think you can bet on something like 10 teams under 11 at MoCs.

Hontz’s mile victory came against Wyomissing’s Joe Cullen and Souderton’s Connor McMenamin, both of which ran 4:26. Cullen is a 1:56 800 runner who has emerged as an early medal contender in that event. McMenamin was a state medalist last year in the mile and is a real sleeper for the 3k in a couple months. I was impressed with the times from both runners who were likely doing a bit of under/over distance training this week as I expect their main events at states to not be the mile.

Awesome race from freshman Garrett Baublitz who dropped a 4:34.08 in this race. That’s a monster time from the freshman who, quite frankly, I didn’t even know was from PA until I looked it up. He attends Juniata. By the way, Garrett also doubled back in 2:03.1 for the 800.

In the 800, Owen J Robert’s stand out Liam Conway toppled a field of experienced 800 runners. He ran 1:59 to defeat Austin Padmore and Derin Klick who hold outdoor PRs at 1:56.1 and 1:53. Conway has a ton of track ability, having run elite marks from 800 through 3200 in his career. Last year, he ran the 3k at states, but this year it appears he will try the mile-800 double. Great range on this junior.

Worth noting, one of Carlisle’s relay pieces, Isaac Kole, dropped a 2:02 for 4^th overall. Kole has also run low 4:30s this year for the mile. And, hey, don’t look now, but Abington Heights has a pretty killer 1-2 punch. The district 2 XC champions boasted a 4:33 mile from Kyle Burke and a 2:02 800 from Dan Uhranowsky. Both juniors.

The race of the day at this meet was the 3,000 meters. The state’s top returner in the event, Nate Henderson, had no problems winning this race for the second straight year. The JP McCaskey senior ran 8:43.79 to pick up the victory over his league rival Zach Lefever, who ran a big PR in his own right with an 8:51. Despite Bumgarner’s impressive mark, I think many will argue Henderson is the favorite for state gold in the 3k as things currently stand. This time was very fast, one of the fastest times outside of Paul Springer’s absurd 8:32.07 a few years back I have to imagine. Henderson was 2^nd in XC this year behind Affolder despite a terrific season. Would be nice to see him get a title on the track, but he’s got plenty of company who will make him work for it.

Also running strong in the 3k was Set Slavin from Pleasant Valley, who clocked an 8:53. Slavin’s been running mostly 2 miles/3200s, but all of those times fall in line with marks in the low 8:50s. He looks very sharp and consistent heading into states. And the freshman, Carlos Shultz, also dipped under 9 minutes. Conestoga’s young phenom bettered his PR to put himself right on the bubble for states when factoring in scratches. I currently have him positioned as the first man out, but those scratches aren’t set in stone.