A Lotta Weekend Recap: And This Is Just Friday!

by Jarrett Felix

Butler Invitational

Well, we’ve been speculating for weeks, but now we finally got to see it. Brookville’s Ryan Thrush, the defending AA 400 meter state champion, gave his first honest, fresh effort in the 800 meters in the 2017 spring season. And it worked out pretty well. Thrush stopped the clock at 1:50.89, a nearly 2 second PR, and put himself in the top 20 or so in the entire history of Pennsylvania two lappers. Only Elias Graca, Sam Bair and Domenic Perretta rank ahead of him from outside the District One/Independent league list. Only Graca and Shaler’s Bair ran their best time of the season prior to May, which means Thrush is probably not done running fast. Perhaps a jaw dropping time like this will make him reconsider the 400-800 double and he will go after Perretta’s state meet record (that is only a year old by the way).

Also running very quick in this field was Isaiah Bailey of Penn Hills (1:55.49) and Matt Busche of Franklin Regional (1:55.69). Bailey is a pretty established 800 guy, but Busche wasn’t on my radar as a medal contender until this one. He also likely had a big split on the 7:59 4x800 that FR ran earlier in the day, making his time that much more impressive.

If it wasn’t for Thrush thrashing the record books, Quaker Valley’s Zach Skolnekovich would like have stolen the show. Another AA competitor to watch this spring, Skolnekovich rolled to a 4:16 in the 1600 and a 9:18 in the 3200, winning double gold. The 1600 was a shiny new PR and he defeated a loaded field to get it. Noah Beveridge and Sam Owori both ran under 4:20 for the first time as 10 total runners cracked 4:30. Owori’s teammate, Seth Ketler, was 5^th and ran 4:24 to give Seneca Valley two sophomores right around the state qualifying standard before the calendar flips to May.

In the 3200, Skolnekovich won by nearly 20 seconds, defeating Casey Conboy of Baldwin (9:36) and Cameron Binda of Greensburg Salem (9:37). Amadou Diallo of Allerdice and Matt O’Neill of Norwin were also under 9:40 with Trey Razanauskus of Seneca Valley close behind at 9:40.04. A total of 15 runners busted under 10 minutes in this one. Skol is clearly in monster shape and ready to show down in what will likely be an epic rematch against Bumgarner at the AA state championship. With Noah Affolder out of the picture, it’s arguably that Skolnekovich is the best long distance guy PA has to offer as the mid-distance stand outs grab headlines early. Meanwhile, the AAA state qualifying picture is cloudy at best right now. The 3200 crop is shaping up nicely despite the fact that the WPIAL graduated the 2^nd through 5^th place finishers at states from a year ago.

And, oh by the way, AA isn’t done nabbing the introductory sentences of this meet recap. The boys of Seneca, who just last year dominated the outdoor 4x800 among small schools, rolled to an even faster time than they finished the year in 2016. Seneca ran 7:49.05 to defeat a very game Greensburg Salem squad who ran a massive best of 7:51.29. I would love to see the splits turned in by both of these teams. These kind of marks are no joke prior to Penn Relays. If Seneca can get some decent competition at states, they could make a push for a meet record. And heck, they’ve got a real chance to make noise at the Penn Relays, where they will come in as arguably PA’s best hope at a COA appearance (although I think I’d bet on CB West first if I had to).

Greensburg Salem now becomes a favorite for the WPIAL title and a contender for the state title in AAA. These kids, who were AA during XC, are moving up to face the big boys with a balanced attack that includes a strong 1-2 punch in Frankie King and Dylan Binda along with strength guys like Mark Brown and Cameron Binda. With the emergence of GS, District 7 looks really fun this year. North Allegheny returns all 4 guys from a state medal winning squad a year ago, Franklin Regional is already sub 8 minutes, the boys from Seneca Valley are looking incredibly formidable and you can never underestimate a program like Mount Lebanon who already has a sub 2 in the books for 2017. Maybe throw South Fayette in there as well and you are looking at one of the deepest WPIAL 3200 relay fields in recent memory.

Warrior Invitational

Remember that time I picked against Nate Henderson for the upcoming Penn Relays 3k? Well, maybe I should have waited a few extra hours to post up that one. Nate toed the line at WC Henderson ready to attack his 4:14 personal best and executed to the tune of 4:11.13. That mark not only blasted his old PR, but it also helped him defeat indoor state runner-up Liam Conway of Owen J Roberts, who ran a new PR himself in 4:13.45. Henderson (the runner, not the team), is already the favorite to win the outdoor 3200 at states after his indoor performance, but now he makes an interesting statement about his speed. Could he try the 3200-1600 double at states?

Also dropping big times were Hudson Delisle (the 1:54 800 runner now adds a 4:18 PR to his resume), Liam Galligan (building back up toward the remarkable fitness he showed last spring with a 4:19) and Ryan Barton (always a contender, runs 4:21 and adds to an impressively long list of SQS topping marks). 12 guys broke 4:28 in this one.

After losing out to Henderson in the 16, Conway didn’t have to wait long for a chance at redemption. Going up against a fresh 1-2 punch from Germantown Friends in Nick Dahl and Jonnie Plass, Conway picked up the victory 1:53.74 to a pair of 1:54s. That was his second PR of the day. Remember, Conway medaled in both the 1600 and the 800 this past indoors and has made the double seem routine in the past couple months. Makes it interesting to think what he could do in a fresh effort at 800 meters. Would he better off pursuing that event at states than the 16? I think not, but maybe something to consider depending on what Josh Hoey aims for in the coming weeks.

For Dahl and Plass a 1:54.08-1:54.20 finish is spectacular. That’s PRs for both men and it sets them up great for Penn. Their teammate Colin Riley also added a strong mark with a 1:57.44. Those three will make up the GFS DMR squad that is hoping to bring the wheel back to Pennsylvania at the Penn Relays. The back half of this relay is going to be monster with Plass and Dahl looking really fit. I like this squad, especially considering they should be extra hungry after a pair of silvers indoors.

Jarnail Dhillon of Upper Darby and Austin Maxwell of Kennett both ran well in this race with times of 1:56.10 and 1:57.39 respectively. I remember Dhillon flashed some serious wheels indoors, but 1:56.10 is flying. For Maxwell, he could be dangerous in either the 800 or the 1600 down the stretch. The guy has a lot of talent.

Speaking of Hoeys (if you skipped two paragraphs this will make sense), Jonah Hoey announced to everyone that he is also a name to watch this spring. The freshman ran 1:57.86 to win his section of the 800 meters. Keep in mind Shanahan is entered in the 4x800 at Penn Relays and now has Jonah at 1:57 and Logan Yoquinto at 1:55 from indoors. Those two will be key pieces alongside 400 runner Keegan Hughes who is expected to move up. Even without Josh, this team has an outside shot at the COA. With Josh, maybe they could make a run at a state title outdoors. We will see if it seems in the cards, but my guess is individual events will be most important for a team looking to score as many points as possible.

Speaking of stud freshman, how about the match up in the 3200? Cole Walker of Unionville turned heads with a monster 9:40.44 to win the deuce over Tyler Rollins and fellow freshman phenome Carlos Shultz. Shultz was the top freshman during XC, breaking 16 minutes and placing in the top 30 at states, but Walker managed to barely edge him out in a really fun field. In total 12 runners bested the 10 minute barrier in this one, including 3 guys from DT West, 2 from Conestoga and 2 from Owen J Roberts.

By the way Cole Walker combined with perhaps the district’s best sophomore during XC, James Conway, makes Unionville a fun watch looking ahead to the fall. And, yeah, it’s only April, but we can have fun can’t we?

ASD Invite

Out in District 11 country, the ASD Invite took place just a few steps from my old stomping grounds at Muhlenberg. One of the brightest stars of the night was actually outside of the district as Connor McMenamin of Souderton raced to a new spring track personal best in 9:23.73. That mark was good enough to defeat a strong field of 6 sub 10 minute runners, including a pair of juniors from Southern Lehigh at 9:39 (shout to Southern Lehigh) and two Pleasant Valley boys not named Slavin.

The other big winner was Parkland. The D11 powerhouse won the 4x800 with a time of 8:09 and also picked up 1600 gold behind reigning district champ Sam Morgan. Junior Jacob Ringer and sophomore Riley Williamson ran 2 flat and 2:01 in the 800 for 2^nd and 4^th. Keep in mind, Morgan is a junior as well, so this core could build up into a contender by next spring.

Jack Armstrong

Although we unfortunately didn’t get to see this one through all the way to the end, the Jack Armstrong Invite was still a great event. In the 1600, Sean Brown picked up where he left off indoors and dropped a very nice 4:20.58 to win the event by nearly 4 seconds. Second place, dropping a nice PR after his unreal kick a week ago, was CRN’s Ethan Koza in 4:24. Koza is, it appears, the odd man out for the CRN DMR. So that should show you how good that team could be in Philly.

Lock Haven

If you’ve made it to this part of the post, I know you are a die-hard fan so I’m going to reward you with some small school nuggets that will really help you look cool at the next party you attend. First off all, do you remember Brenden Miller? Well, you should. The District 3 A champ during XC rolled to two big marks at Lock Haven, one in the steeple (6:40 for the win) and the other in the 3200 (9:40.83 for a tight 2^nd). Honestly, this kid was the biggest surprise of district week for me and I think he has the chance to surprise some people again down the stretch of the season.

That 3200 was won by Quinn Serfass of Loyalsock, another big name to watch, by less than 2 tenths of a second. Casey Ellis of NE Bradford (XC State Medalist) and Isaac Davis of Jersey Shore (I hope by now you’ve heard of him) were also under 10 minutes in this one.

But now for your trivia question of the day. Who is the top returner from the AA 1600 at states last spring? My guess would have been Tristan Forsythe of Winchester Thurston, but the correct answer is actually Hunter Crawley of South Williamsport. Crawley was a top 10 guy in cross two seasons ago and then a top flight medalist in the 1600 last spring. However, his XC season didn’t end the way he had hoped and, like a lot of small schoolers, Crawley was quiet during indoors. But Hunter crawled back into the spotlight at this meet with a 4:26.09 for a big victory over Serfass (over 6 seconds).

East Stroudsburg

Abington Heights has really thrown down some under the radar marks in the past two track seasons. Their 1-2 punch of Kyle Burke and Dan Uhranowsky helped get this school to states during XC and is off to a hot start on the outdoor oval. Burke and Uhranowsky took 1-2 in the 1600, both dipping under 4:30 and Burke also added a 9:41 for 3200. They aren’t mind blowingly fast, but they are the kinda times that ought to get you on people’s radar. Don’t forget, a year ago Matt Kravitz won the 3200 state title to rep District 2 in AAA.

Twin Valley Invitational

Manheim Central surprised a lot of people this fall when they qualified for states out of a deep District 3. Don’t let them sneak up on you again! Cole Sunderland dropped a very strong double gold to get his spring going with wins in the 1600 (4:26) and 800 (1:59). Sunderland was a state finalist last year in the two lapper and has run 1:55.