(Last) Chance The (W)Rapper (Up)

By Jarrett Felix

The TFCAofGP Last Chance meet was held last night and, by all accounts, it was madness. There’s lots of guys trying to get those SQGs or Meet of Champs qualifiers and they had to fight for their space in a big way. Word on the ground is the 800 had two restarts and some serious injuries (plus a uniform violation). I’m hoping everyone is OK and there are no injuries to deal with as these kids try to see the fruits of their labor in the coming weeks.

But let’s talk about the results we did see. Penn Wood’s Dennis Manyeah defeated a strong 800 rival in Peter Cooke by just 8 hundreths of a second, running 1:59.12. Just behind those two was CRN’s Bryan Keller, who dipped under 2 for the first time this indoor season. With the result, we know have 43 guys at the SQG with a few more big meets still outstanding. For Keller, that probably won’t impact the state qualifying picture much, as I expect him to go DMR (their squad looks real good in that category right now), but for Manyeah this could be a sign of big things to come. Never afraid of a fast pace, Manyeah knows how to front run and make it hard for people to pass him. He’s run 1:53 outdoors and 1:56 indoors in the past.

Props to Javier Linares of Pennsbury. I’ve talked about him before, I know, but he finished 4^th overall and won his section of the four lapper with a 2:01.10. He has the fastest time in the state this season that was not an SQG and is arguably Pennsbury’s 3^rd or 4^th best 800 guy. That could mean big things for their 4x8 charge in the coming weeks (starting with Millrose in a couple hours). Speaking of guys who are a little farther down their team’s depth charts, Carter Laatsch, the sophomore from CB West, ran 2:05.14 for 9^th overall. I believe Laatsch is not even in CBW’s top 4 800 guys, but he is still brushing right up against the MOC standard and placing top 10 in a loaded field.

In the mile, CB South’s Matt Scarpill threw down a big victory in 4:26.94. Scarpill, who made the fast heat a year ago, is now on the bubble to do it again. The miler is coming off his best, most consistent season of XC and has been gradually dropping time from week to week in 2017. He beat a very strong runner in Ryan Campbell, who posted a big season best of his own with a 4:28, and Lower Merion’s Matt D’Aquila, who ran 4:30.

Central League rival Avery Lederer finished just a tick off D’Aquila, but the junior won his heat by some 7 seconds over Westley Wedell and Matt Peshek. Lederer and D’Aquila are now within half a second of one another in the mile rankings and within 0.06 of each other in the 3k state rankings. Would be fun to see those two head to head sometime.

Shout out to Kyle Kutney, another guy who may only be the 5^th fastest guy on his 800 depth chart at CR South, but is producing big results anyway. The sophomore ran 4:44 and took 1^st in his heat. Right behind him? South teammate Gavin Ricchini! CRN has rightly been the talk of the state, but CRS has quietly assembled a strong, talented squad. A lot of which are underclassmen.

Last week, CB West’s Ben Bunch became the top runner in his school, dropping an impressive PB of 8:58 in the 3k. This week, Brian Mass, who qualified for states last year in the 3200 with a 9:21ish time, had a response. Mass dropped an 8:59.68 for the victory over Bunch and fellow Central Bucks rival Will Schulz (who had a fantastic 9:03 PR in 2^nd). Peter Borger of Malvern Prep was also among the top performers with a 9:08. Mass’s time, while under the SQG, is right around my projected bubble in the event with a big 3k at the Carnival still to come. So we may see Mass (and most of the top finishers in this field) coming back next weekend at Meet of Champs to take another shot at states. Of course, CB West also has a strong DMR that maybe Bunch or Mass will be featured on were they to hold on to their state qualifying spot.

Speaking of the DMR, Central Bucks East picked up the win in that one, running away from the field by nearly 10 seconds. East’s time, 10:51.78, will be a slight improvement on their seed team for the state championship. However, their 4x8 team is now on the outside looking in for the state qualifying picture at #17 (that assumes no scratches or field size increases). So although CB East looked pretty dominant in their win this weekend in the DMR, considering the meet order at Meet of  Champs, they may have to skip running a fast DMR to keep a fresh 4x8 that can run all out and get a spot not just in the state meet, but also the fast heat. Or maybe they like their DMR odds better than the 4x8 odds? That’s one of many compelling story lines to keep an eye on.

Will Quakertown put together a DMR for MoC? They have a baller anchor in Hudson Delisle and clearly have some other talent, given their 11 flat run. They’d have to drop some time to make states, but it’s not impossible in a bit more competitive field and with better days from one or two guys.

The 4x8 was perhaps the race of the day as a total of 6 teams hit the SQG, including Methacton who did it from Heat #1 of 2. That now brings the running total for SQG’s up to 22 in PA, meaning that, most likely, not everybody who wants in is getting in. But enough about that, let’s talk about the actual results.

Obviously, CB West’s victory was impressive. They crushed the meet record and ran 8:05.34 to pick up the gold. That’s an awesome time for this meet and makes me think they could be low 7:50s at states. That may be enough to win the whole thing (but we will see what their rivals do at Millrose). West’s squad is fairly young though if memory serves so we will see if their guys are ready for the moment.

North Penn, the always dangerous 4x8 squad, dropped a new season best for themselves with an 8:13.99. Once again, they look like they will make it through to states and be medal contenders (if they choose to go for it). But more interesting to me was the result of CR South. We hadn’t seen them really attack this event yet, but when they did it turned out pretty well as they dropped an 8:14.40 to take 3^rd just behind North Penn. Those two schools back in 2010 (shout out to Dan Beck) finished in the top 2 spots of the slow heat at states and took, I believe, 8^th and 9^th overall for the 4x8 that season. This year, it looks like these programs could be the top two in the slow heat again as they sit at #10 and #11.

Boyertown gets a big result behind an 8:17.11. I still want to see this team in a fast DMR (we’ll see it at MoCs I have to imagine), but this mark was huge for them as they now have to be feeling confident and excited. They are at #13 right now. The state will take 16 teams this year (and I think there is a chance for more). Wissahickon, likely riding a great split from 1:57 man Cam Christopher, dropped under the SQG with an 8:19.97. The Trojans had two 1:56 runners last year and seemingly have at least one stud a year in this middle distances. They sit at #16 as of this moment.

William Tennent just missed out on an SQG, running 8:22.79, but keep in mind they have two near 2 flat performers in Kraus and Craig. Plus they had a couple solid dudes in the 3k that maybe could run a good 800? (Rahill and Hutton). So maybe they retool the line up and take another shot at 8:17? A storyline to watch I’d expect.

Well that’s all for now. I’m off to catch a train into NYC. Enjoy the day.