Mile Recap

Heat 1
With nothing to lose, the runners in Heat 1 bolted out to try and make it into the medal picture. One of the pioneers in this chase was Springfield Delco's Joseph Cardie who did a lot of work out front. After a little bit of jostling, Colin Mihalak of Coatesville worked his way into prime chase position, but in the final stages of the race, it was all Cardie.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Roman Catholic's Sean Brown came flying into view. I was watching milesplit's video, knowing that Brown wins the heat, and starting to think I somehow read things wrong. I'm not sure he came into view until the last 30 meters or so and then he flew down the straightaway and pulled out a victory.

That kick ended up being hugely important as the Brown-Cardie duel decided the 8th and final medal spot on race day. Cardie definitely deserves a lot of credit for taking on the work here and nearly hanging on. But Brown leaves with the hardware for finding that one extra gear. A great reminder of what states is all about. Pushing the limits and bringing out the best of one another.

Heat 2
In Heat 2, we unsurprisingly saw a bit of a tactics on display early. There was some jockeying for position out front, but Noah Affolder was mostly able to control the race. He brought the race through in about 2:11-2:12 before really cranking things up. His brother Sam, who the team was hoping to sneak a couple more points out of, dropped out mid-race. It seemed like he started the race with the intention of finishing, but the effects of the 4x8 may have still been in his legs.

On the third quarter, Noah significantly dropped the pace. Forsythe and Addison covered the move well, keeping the pressure on the Carlisle senior and pushing through a difficult surge in the race. However, that surge (about a 61-62 second 400) was tough to maintain. As Noah started to pull away, guys like Liam Conway and James Abrahams made up ground on the fourth 400, dropping pace a bit more evenly on their final splits. That ended up being most beneficial to Conway who surged by Forsythe and Addison at the race's conclusion to take 2nd overall.

The final standings put Noah just 4 tenths of a second ahead of the field, but he was well clear with 50 meters to go and, once again, doing quite a bit of looking around and energy conserving on the final straightaway. That being said, the guys behind him all ran phenomenal races. Those mile times convert to PRs indoors and out for Conway, Forsythe, Addison and Abrahams.

5 Biggest Takeaways
#1 - A 4:07 miler is going to be tough to beat at all times. Noah had a PR that was some 10 seconds better than anyone else who finished the race this weekend before it began. That kind of deficit was going to be tough to make up. Maybe that's why the race for second was so exciting to these guys. Noah almost feels like he's in a different league.

#2 - Four of the top 7 runners in this race were juniors. That doesn't even account for sophomore Sam Affolder who was one of the favorites coming in but had a DNF.

#3 - Watch for Jacob Shulte of Bishop McCort this outdoor season. I believe he will race in AA on the 400 meter oval. Shulte had a big race last weekend just to sneak into this field and then, thanks in part to a strong finishing kick, finished in the top 10 overall in the state. I'd imagine for a school like Bishop McCort, with little indoor track history to speak of, the focus will be more on the spring and that could mean big drops for a confident looking Shulte.

#4 - We learned the 4x8-Mile double under this new schedule won't be a cake walk. Although Noah made it look easy, his brother Sam was apparently still feeling that hard 800 in his legs. I believe Sam Owori of Seneca Valley also tried the 4x8-Mile double and, although he had an admirable race and put himself in the front earlier, he faded a bit to a 4:32. Of course, those two guys are both just sophomores and Noah is a senior. So maybe I've overplaying the difficulty of this one.

#5 - Let's look at outdoors again. Noah and Sam will continue to be factors on the state championship landscape, but it's still not obvious what their outdoor schedule will be. The 3200-4x8-1600 triple? that would be another absurd multi-race performance to add to Noah's increasingly legendary resume. Along with the Affolders, we have Josh Hoey, the reigning 800 meter state champ who has run sub 4:10 for the mile already. Will Liam Galligan be back this spring? He and teammate Joseph Cardie could make a great set of training partners as they push for a seat in the state 1600 meter final. Galligan ran about 4:15 last spring when at full strength and was a 2016 indoor state medalist.

Tristan Forsythe is the clear AA favorite as things currently stand, however, we could see someone like Ben Bumgarner or Zach Skolnekovich potentially try their hand in this shorter event if they are feeling confident. Phoenix Myers of Seneca is another name that could be interesting in the AA landscape.