Let's Put A Cap On It

By Jarrett Felix

TFCAofGP Meet #8

Division I

Things have been a little slow lately in the Greater Philly meets, but with the switch back to Lehigh this weekend (plus, I think people could double and may have been able to wear spikes?), things heated up in a hurry.

First of all, if you are an 800 runner this year, I apologize. Because it’s going to be crazy at the top. The SQG list got even longer this week as the Division I race featured 6 runners who hit the standard and an impressive 13 runners under the 2:05 meet of champions qualifying standard. Junior Jake Claricurzio picked up the big time win with a very strong 1:57.35. Just behind him was another stand out in Hudson Delisle of Quakertown. Both these guys are medal contenders on paper in this event, although Claricurzio will be interesting to watch as CB West currently has two relays in qualifying position. I’m hoping to see the yellow jacket in his first major open 800.

CB East added another impressive open performance with Ata Shahideh dropping a 1:58.09 to pair with Marc Motter’s 1:57. That’s two top tier 800 talents. As of now, they’ve yet to dip below 8:10 in the 4x8, but they also haven’t given it a true go in a while. Should be interesting to see how they attack the relay and then what they want to do with these two individuals in the 800. Are they going to scratch? They have the DMR and a very strong 4x4 looming later in the schedule.

Calvin Willie of St Joe’s had one of the most interesting results of the day, running 2:00.43 for 6^th. The time was not only an SQG for Willie (although, I think that will likely end up outside the accepted qualifiers), but it bolstered a strong 4x8 contingent from St. Joe’s Prep. Remember, they have Stephen McClellan in house (he’s run 1:53 outdoors), Miles Green (he’s run 2:04ish indoors, but also under 50 seconds in the quarter) and Robert Dupell (sub 2 in the 8, really fast 600 at 1:22ish). In theory, that relay could get down near 8 minutes outdoors and go well under outdoors if they decide they want it. No clue if they do as they haven’t truly pursued it so far this year. I would just say stay tuned.

Also worth noting, CR South’s Thayne George dropped a 2:03.27. This their third excellent performer in the 800 as Evan Kutney and Collin Ochs have already both posted terrific marks. Their 4x8 is another sleeper you can’t count out.

In the mile, Sean Brown of Roman Catholic picked up the win in 4:31.31, also a SQG time. He defeated Colin Mihalak of Coatesville who runs a second straight impressive mile with his 4:32 (ran 4:30 in NY last weekend). Brown is a really good runner within the PCL who has a knack for the mile. He may need to run a bit faster than this to ultimately punch his ticket for states, but he could be a slow heat sleeper like Sean Sullivan was a year ago. Worth noting, Jed Scratchard of Pennsbury was DQed for interference. He likely was up near the front of this one as his PRs from this winter are sub 1:58 and sub 4:30.

Marc Motter extended his range very well up to the mile, running 4:36.89 and North Penn’s Colin Grace had a strong day as well dipping under 4:40. Motter’s 1200 chops for a DMR run are looking pretty good while Grace could end up in a similar role for North Penn if they decide to attack the relay one more time before season’s end. They had a top placing 800 man in Santiago (already sub 2 in the open this year) and a huge breakthrough in the 3k.

Let’s jump straight to that 3k. Connor McMenamin of Souderton came ready to play as the senior debuted in the event for the first time this winter. He ran an 8:55.70 for a new indoor PR and a big win. His time let 3 others under 9 minutes and 10 others under the 9:20 meet of champs qualifying time. I thought McMenamin had this kind of ability (he ran under 9:20 for 3200 at the end of XC) and I think he’s still got room to drop a decent chunk more. However, the guys behind him really impressed me with some big PRs.

Sean Rahill and Ben Bunch had been running solid in the 3k, but were struggling to even break 9:10. However both guys were running at the front of their races and putting in strong, competitive efforts. They kept that same winning attitude headed into this race and were rewarded with big PRs at 8:57.30 and 8:58.72 respectively. This could be the first results in a potential run on the 3k.

The other big sub 9 runner was Brendan O’Toole of North Penn. The junior has focused mostly on the mile this year, but he jumped back in the 3k at the right time. O’Toole dropped a big season best with his 8:58.10 time and joined the sub 9 troop. This could mean O’Toole is sitting on a nice drop in the mile, but it could also signal an event change for the XC state qualifier.

State medalist from XC Eric Kersten dropped a strong 9 flat, Stephen Paul of LaSalle had a big drop down to 9:04 and Tyler Rollins of DT West had a really run with his 9:10.19.

Speaking of LaSalle and DT West, those two schools were the 1-2 punch in the 4x8 this weekend. Of course LaSalle was quite a bit ahead as they set a meet record with an 8:06.05 mark to win by some 20 seconds. The Explorers had been sitting on a big mark with guys like Evan Addison and Brendan Price having terrific starts and they did not fail to deliver when they got the chance. This time puts them right in line with that top tier of performers. I honestly couldn’t tell you right now who the winner of this event is going to be. It’s loaded with strong teams, but those teams are all very comparable on paper, especially if Carlisle and GFS are leaving guys out for individual events.

The reigning XC state champions made a big statement in the DMR. In an event which has been all Carlisle and GFS so far this season, CRN pushed their name at least into the conversation as they rolled to a 10:38.19 victory over CB West (who was also under 11 in 10:56). North has a very strong team on paper with milers Early and Keller as well as 2 miler Campbell. I think this is a team that could be in the low 10:20s at states and maybe a sleeper to pull off an O’Hara type steal of state championship gold if doubling teams don’t come to play. Keller, Welde and Early could give Campbell a solid lead and the 7^th place finisher from XC states can hold his own in the strength conversation.

Upper Dublin ended up winning the 4x4 in a time of 3:29 in a tightly contested race. UD has 3 guys under the SQG in the 400 and although they don’t have any super star in the event, they have had guys who have won events in the open 4. Is there a dominant team in the 4x4 right now? I wouldn’t necessarily say so, but there are a ton of great teams with Glen Mills, Abington, Bishop Shanahan, Pennridge, CB East, Upper Dublin, Wissahickon, St. Joe’s Prep and more. This could be an unreal end of meet experience, but Upper Dublin is going to have lower their seed time if they want to get in the fast heat. It’s going to be one heck of an end to the meet. Terrance Laird of Coatesville in his last race of the day? Don’t sleep on that either.

Division II

Dave Whitfield of Bonner, fresh off his first indoor sub 2, runs a 2 flat for an easy victory at this meet. Whitfield is picking up steam at just the right time. Don’t forget, this kid caught absolute fire at the end of the spring, running a 1:53 low to win the District 12 championships. He’s running the best we’ve ever seen from him during the winter time and, although he’s not super high on the state leader board, he’s a name that is looking increasing dangerous as a medal contender.

In relay speculation news, Lower Merion sophomore Diarmid Rae dropped a strong 2:04.48 for 5^th. In our The Commit piece with Matt D’Aquila (check it out if you haven’t already), he mentioned that LM wants to pursue both relays at the upcoming state championships. Rae could go with McFadden (low 2:03s I believe), D’Aquila (strong mile and 2 mile marks) and Neckowicz (mid to low 4:30s for the mile) to make an interesting line up. Remember, 16 teams qualify this year in the 4x8 so, unlike year’s past, you may be able to get in with an 8:16ish type mark. The previous two seasons it took 8:12 (and in 2015 it took 8:12 despite the fact that schools had to pick between the relays).

Excellent mile performances by Matt Peshek of New Hope and Saabir YasinSpann of Overbrook, both of whom ran 4:36s to take the top 2 spots in this one. I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I’ve ever written down either of these guys names in a post before, but those times are no joke for indoors. If they can cut a few mores seconds they are right there with the projected mile cut off. Peter Borger of Malvern Prep and Ben Hoyer of Wissahickon were also under 4:40 on race day.

Bonner picked up a second distance gold behind Anthony Harper in the 3k. The XC state medalist dropped a 9:15.47 to win over Wissahickon’s Matt Maiale who ran 9:16.09. This was a strong result for Harper who, like Whitfield, is gaining steam at the right time. By the way, Maiale is having one heck of a season. He’s been consistently dropping big chunks of time every week. I’m telling you, keep Wissahickon in the back of your mind to make noise in a variety of events. I like what I’m seeing from that squad right now.

Not to be outdone by their PCL rivals, Cardinal O’Hara opted to attack the 4x8. They ran 8:13.48 to defeat Radnor, who dropped an SQG time of 8:19.50. O’Hara, who had 3 sub 4:30 milers last weekend at Ocean Breeze, is the two time defending champions in the DMR. But as of right now, they aren’t in a qualifying position for that event. This 8:13 indicates to me, they are ready to go after a strong DMR time and maybe make one more little run at an upset.

Wyomissing Team Challenge

We talked a tiny bit about Ephrata’s pieces last weekend, but they showed exactly what those pieces look like together this weekend. At Kutztown, the District 3 squad dropped an 8:21.04 to win the 4x8 relay and defeat JP McCaskey (8:25.91). It’s unclear of that time will be fast enough to get into states (probably not as stands), but I think Ephrata has a chance to be a really good sleeper in the event. Sub 9 3k runner Zach Lefever was listed on anchor duty.

Boyertown’s Dominic Derafelo, who ran under 9:10 for 3k at Lehigh, dropped a 4:32.67 for 1600 to win a hotly contested mile this weekend. He bested a strong group of District 3 runners led by sub 4:20 man Jesse Cruise (4:34.02) and the Cumberland Valley duo of Higgins (4:34.70) and Soliman (4:42.50). Soliman ended up coming back to win the 800 in 2:02, defeating Cruise and Josh Endy of Boyertown. I’m looking forward to Boyertown taking another shot at a sub 11 DMR.

Cumberland Valley took the W in the 4x400, running 3:33.28. The won the race by some 7 seconds. The duo of Higgins and Soliman were both listed on this relay as well. I know I say this every time, but I just want to pound it into everyone’s heads in case in means something come end of winter/early spring. CV knows how to coach up the mid-distance talent. They should be contenders in the 4x8 at some point. They aren’t quite 2012-2013 level, but they will be in the mix.

SPIRE #3

Ryan Thrush of Brookville continues to make me excited about a potential Thrush v Hoey (v Affolder?) battle at the state championship. Thrush dropped a big season best with a 1:54.43 victory against out of state competition. That makes Thrush #1 on the state leaderboard (#2 if you count conversions). He’s also one of the best by overall PR, having run 1:52 last spring. He’s run 48 for 400 from scratch, a speed component I’m not sure Hoey or Affolder could realistically hope to match (although they have the strength factor with their mile times). Thrush also defeated one of the early state favorites in Nick Wagner head to head last weekend.

But that won’t matter much if he decides to pursue the ultra-difficult 400-800 double at states. I don’t think he can overcome that hurdle and be a contender for the title.

Frankie King and Dylan Binda of Greensburg Salem both dipped under the SQG extending an already long list with their times of 1:59.84 and 2:00.02. Their GS teammates Mark Brown and Cameron Binda took 5^th and 8^th in the 1600 as well. Mark Brown ran 4:31.58 from Heat 5. To give you context, the next fastest runner in his heat was at 5:18. It doesn’t appear like Salem has much interest in pursuing a relay this indoors, but they have the pieces if they want to. Outdoors may be a better bet.

Earlier in the week out in Ohio, Derek Jones of Cathedral Prep hopped on the Spire track and dropped a 1:57.92 to bolster his state qualifying standard. It’s Jones’s second trip under 2 minutes this season and a big drop from his previous season best. The 800 is crowded …

Armory Track Invitational

Penn Wood jumped into the sub 8:10 club this weekend with their best 4x8 performance of the year. Using their signature strategy, the Penn Wood boys led off their star Dennis Manyeah, who rolled a 1:57.99 split. From there, the rest of the line-up was able to hold serve and drop an 8:08.31 with 2:01, 2:04, 2:04 splits on the back end. They defeated Abington who ran close to straight splits with three 2:02s and a 2 flat. Worth noting, Abington has two sub 50 relay carriers on the 4x4 and both of those guys were listed on the 4x8 as well.