By Jarrett
Felix
There
are sure to be plenty of fantastic runs at the upcoming PTFCA Indoor State
Championship this weekend. Some runners are attempting herculean doubles,
triples or maybe even quadruples to help their team chase a title. Therefore, I
thought I would take a quick moment to look back at some of the greatest
doubles from the last decade of state meet’s past. Let’s check it out.
Jason Weller, Boyertown 2007
Jason
Weller was always fearless and, at the 2007 indoor state championship, he put
that trait on full display. First, he went toe to toe with defending state
champion Paul Springer in the mile. The two rivals dueled to a very fast mark,
as Springer ran a then meet record of 4:12.61 and Weller took second in
4:15.14. But Jason wanted a gold medal. On the double, Weller ran a blistering
8:26.21 for 3k, the second fastest 3k in state history on the indoor oval. He
won his race by 13 seconds. Running on empty after two herculean efforts, the
Boyertown senior finished off his day with a 7th place DMR, where he
ran the anchor leg. It ended a stretch of nearly 4 miles of racing.
Tom Mallon, CB South 2009
When
Tom Mallon was a senior in high school, he tripled Mile-800-DMR anchor for a
very busy indoor state championship that resulted in a gold, a 4th
and a 5th place medal. But I’d argue his junior year double was even
better. To start his day, Tom did battle with Upper Dublin’s Mike Palmisano in
the 800. Having only run 1:57 so far that indoor season, Tom still hadn’t shown
flashes of the potential he indicated won he ran 1:52 outdoors as a sophomore.
But in the high pressure moment of the state championship, Mallon rolled around
the track and sprinted home with a big kick over the final 200 meters to drop a
1:51.79. At the time, Mallon’s time was a state record and one of the 12
fastest indoor times ever. It seems crazy to think that now considering the
assault we’ve had on the all-time list in this event, but back in ’09 this time
was even crazier than he already sounds. And, to reiterate, the kid was a
junior.
For an
encore, Mallon doubled back in the 4x800. CB South was the favorite, but they
had to deal with a hungry North Penn squad that was two time defending
champions. After three legs right around 1:59, Mallon took the stick and took
over the race. He carried home in 1:52 to clinch the victory over North Penn
and break the race open. He stopped the clock at 7:49.01, just 0.02 off the
then meet record North Penn had set the year before.
Matt Gilmore, Cheltenham 2011
Look, I
don’t normally talk about sprinting and, naturally, this was supposed to be a
distance focused post. But Matt Gilmore’s 2011 state championship is one for the
ages. The Cheltenham senior had been a part of a legendary 4x4 in 2010, but his
two main partners in crime graduated in June, leaving him alone with a team
title to defend. After a rocky season, Gilmore came into the state championship
a little dinged up. However, he opted to try a difficult quadruple on race day.
Gilmore
started with a 49.23 which won the fast heat by just 0.21 and was faster than
the next fastest heat by just 0.06. That was huge as the 2nd and 3rd
place finishers were his team title rivals from Abington. This race warmed
Gilmore up as he then transitioned to the 200 meters, running 21.89 to pick up
the gold in impressive fashion. There was little time to rest as he then ran on
the state championship 4x2, defeating Strath Haven. Finally, his day ended with
a 4x4 to decide the state championship. His counterparts, Abington, were state
record holders in the 4x4 with a 3:16 seed, while Cheltenham came in at just
3:23. Ultimately, Gilmore came up just short of the title, but he pulled his
squad to a 3:19.18 and within 0.38 seconds of a 4th gold.
Keep in
mind this came a year after Gilmore ran 48.9-21.9-4x2 gold-4x4 gold as a junior
for his original absurd quadruple. What a runner.
Wade Endress, Altoona 2011
Wade
Endress had a certain magic about him on the PSU track. As a junior, Endress
finished 3rd in the mile behind superstar Toms Kehl and Mallon. Then
he came within inches of a dramatic upset in the DMR, just barely being edged
by Will Kellar of Henderson. So what did Wade have on tap for his senior year?
Well it
started with the mile. Wade came in with a 4:20 seed, putting him right in line
with the other top seeds. But on race day, Wade turned it up to another gear. He
raced to a 4:13.34, surviving a terrific mid race surge from Nate McClafferty
and bringing home the gold in one of the fastest times in meet history.
However, he wasn’t done. A short while later, Wade took the track in the 800.
He was up against defending state champ Luke Lefebure and future outdoor state
champ Hong Cho, but it was Abington’s Kyle Moran who charged to the front
early. Wade hung on as best he could before blasting off again on the final
lap. When he hit the line, it was revealed that Endress had clocked a 1:51.73
to break Tom Mallon’s meet and state record. For added fun, Wade contributed a
49 split on Altoon’s 3:29 4x4. That was good enough for 14th.
Ned Willig, Great Valley 2012
Ned was
already a newly crowned state record holder in the 800 meters from his run at
Yale. But after a tough loss at Millrose and a disappointing set of runs in the
previous state championships for the DMR, he had a lot to prove on State
Championship Saturday. It started with a strong, poised victory in the mile. He
ran 4:15.66 to defeat future champs Tom Coyle and Jack Huemmler for Ned’s first
ever title. But then he had some history to make.
In the
DMR, Ned took the baton on the lead off leg. In a relatively unprecedented
move, Great Valley opted to lead off their super star rather than run him on
the anchor leg as was conventional wisdom. After a tune up at the Meet of
Champs, Ned hit the track again and split right about 3 flat for the 1200 to blow
the race open. It’s the fastest 1200 split in state meet history (possibly
state history). Although HG Prep made a good run at GV’s anchor leg, the
Patriots ultimately held on for the title, giving Ned his second gold of the day.
Sam Ritz, Germantown Academy 2015
The 2015
season had been the year of Sam Ritz. He had clocked a state record for the
mile at Boston and run 1:52 for 800 meters. But still, there were doubters.
Like me. And we were stupid.
He
entered the mile hoping to drop a fast time. And he did just that, defeating
Kevin James of Cardinal O’Hara, Ritz ran a time of 4:09.56 to win state gold
and thrash the state meet record previously held by Paul Springer (you know,
the guy at the top of the post). That right there would have been enough to put
Ritz in the all-time great category. But Sam lined up next for the 800 meters,
prepared to battling our greatest 800 runner of all time, John Lewis, on tired
legs. Ritz gave it everything he had and, although he finished 3rd,
clocked the fastest ever 3rd place finish in state meet history. His
final time, 1:51.79, equaled the mark Tom Mallon had run back in 2009. Just six
years earlier, he would have had a second state record. But in 2015, he found
himself stunningly tied for 7th in state history.
The
state 800 has really seen quite the remix, starting with Mallon in 2009.
Mallon
1:51.79 2009
Endress
1:51.73 2011
Willig
1:51.10 2012
Francis
1:50.55 2014
Wiseman
1:51.36 2014
Lewis
1:50.57 2015
Graca
1:50.86 2015
Ritz
1:51.79 2015
Peretta
1:50.58 2016
Before
Mallon, no one had ever broken 1:52 from Pennsylvania.
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