Millrose Sets The Stage

By Jarrett Felix

The Millrose Games is always an exciting and prestigious event, but this year's event may have had huge implications on the state championship landscape. 

For starters, we saw 3 of the potential 4x800 state contenders cement their spot among the elite with sub 8 marks. Leading the way was Germantown Friends, who posted 4 sub 2 minute legs with a 1:56 anchor carry for a total of 7:54. They not only had a balanced line up, I'd say they also had room to drop a few more seconds on a perfect day. I'd say GFS (assuming they run a full A squad) and CB West are the favorites as things current stand. West ran a pretty convincing flat track 8:05 that impressed me a bit less than GFS but still got my attention. 

Pennsbury and State College, the two schools that have combined for the last 3 indoor state titles, were also in attendance at the Millrose Games and both finished easily sub 8 minutes. While neither team was able to beat GFS, they each cut a ton of time off their previous season bests. State College's anchor leg, Nick Feffer, ran a 1:53.7 split which, to the best of my knowledge, is the fastest 800 any PA athlete has clocked all season. Amazingly, a 1:53 split didn't make up a ton of ground in this stacked field. It's worth noting that SC had a 2:06 lead off and then a 1:59 and 1:58 to follow before their anchor. I didn't get to the meet in time to see this race, but given the PRs involved, I'd say SC has the chance to improve on that 2:06 mark. They've had 4 guys at 2:03 or faster if memory serves. SC's final time was 7:58.55.

Pennsbury has a real nice army of legs to throw at you. They had a medal winning 800 runner at the carnival (Linares) and still threw down 4 2 flat or faster legs. That added up to 7:57.11. Certainly, you have to like Pennsbury's depth (they had a similar 5 man rotation in 2015 when they were state champs), but their lead off leg made a big difference and could be a decisive advantage down the stretch. I'm assuming Eric Kersten runs lead for PB and he's been in some big races in that spot before. He was the lead off runner on the 2015 indoor and outdoor state championship squad as well as at the Penn Relays. As just a sophomore. Kid can handle the stage. Whoever ran lead off, their final split was 1:58.06 and they handed off in 1st place. Pennsbury also got a 1:57 anchor leg. There's multiple scenarios that end with a Falcon state title.

Of course all this 4x8 speculation could potentially be turned upside down by the decisions surrounding one school. Or perhaps more accurately, the decisions surrounding one family. 

I was on site for the high school boys mile and it was quite the sight to behold. Noah Affolder went straight to the front of the race, hammered the pace and never looked back. The kid looked incredibly smooth and, although a few big kickers at the end made things interesting for a second, he held tough to his splits and dropped a new state record of 4:07.24. Perhaps that's a preview of what sort of record setting solo performance he could drop at the end of a DMR in the future.

I believe Affolder's win is the first Millrose victory for a PA athlete since Jason Weller won back in 2007. It's also the 4th fastest performance ever behind Vandegrift, Lowry and Miller. 

But Noah wasn't the only Affolder to make noise. His brother Sam, just a sophomore, finished 5th in this race with a very quick 4:13.45. That very well might be a PA sophomore class record for indoor track, although I can't tell you that for sure. It is PA #3 and, assuming that Hoey is still going to scratch the mile in favor of the 8, would make a Sam-Noah punch in the mile the odds on favorite for 18 points.

Not to be overlooked in this one was Winchester Thurston junior Tristan Forsythe. Last year's 7th place finisher from the indoor state meet dropped an awesome PR for himself, cutting over 3 seconds off his best with a 4:17.1. Tristan ran a smart race, picking up steam the second half, but was just in a loaded field overall. Forsythe has entered into the competition for a top 3 spot at states and, depending on how scratches unfold, maybe more.

Personally, I think the combined effect of performances of the Affolders and the strong 4x8 showing from GFS could set the stage for a Dahl scratch in the mile and an honest attempt at double relay hold. As for Carlisle, they clearly have the talent to do big things in a 4x8, but as others have said, 18 points in the mile would be huge for a team title chase. Is a 4x8, mile, 8, DMR quadruple in play for one of these guys? Maybe a mile-8-DMR seems more likely. Others will say 3k, but they've gotta qualify next week if they want it. Then you are staring at perhaps a mile-3k-DMR triple.

Ironically, the last person I can remember trying the mile-3k-DMR triple was the aforementioned Jason Weller. 

More recap action to come tomorrow ...