Shippensburg Invitational
Yes,
this warrants a good old fashioned subsections within the meet style recap. I’m
assuming that the order for this one is the same as the state championship so
if I’m wrong I apologize now.
AAA
We
start with the 3200. Sam Affolder of Carlisle rolled to a 9:25 and the gold in
a strong showing for his first time on the future state track. Amazing that a
9:25 performance from a sophomore seems like he was just taking it easy and
trying to get the win, but that’s kinda how it somehow feels.
The big
performance that caught my attention was that of Mitchell Etter. Etter ran a
9:27 for State College and finished not far behind Affolder and ahead of a host
of other talented dudes including XC state medalists like Zardecki, Cassel and
Norton. 9:27 is in the same league as guys like Alex Milligan and Will Cather
ran at this meet in recent years which is pretty legit company for an SC kid.
The guy flashed some talent in XC but an injury kept him out of the important
stuff. Now the talent is resurfacing and you gotta wonder if he’s just scratching
the surface of this one.
In
total, 12 guys cracked 10 minutes including 3 guys from Lower Dauphin. The last
of those 3 was another in the talented distance class of 2020, Mark Walsh. The
fastest of those 3 was 4th place finisher Kyler Shea who clocked
9:35. Shea has been a monster in XC but hasn’t managed to leave a state meet
with a medal. He has a ton of talent and I’m hoping he puts it together to get
on the podium. He’s got excellent training partners for strength and speed this
spring.
Yes,
that was a subtle set up for a transition! Good catch! The Lower Dauphin 4x8
didn’t take down the gold this past weekend, but they did run an 8:00.18 and
mix it up with the likes of Carlisle (7:59 FTW) and Cumberland Valley (8:04).
The win for Carlisle came in the middle of a very busy schedule for a team
hoping for district and state titles and again seems like just enough to claim
gold. So the story here is 2nd place as Lower Dauphin tries to
emerge as a contender in the 3200 relay. District 3 will have lots of quality
teams involved, but LD did qualify for states a year ago and has a similar
group of studs manning the baton for the repeat attempt.
The
1600 was an epic finish as Carlisle’s Isaac Kole helped the Herd grab yet
another gold. I don’t know for sure, but Kole may have been doubling off the 4x8
(he’s not listed though) which would make this win even more impressive. But as
it stands, Kole outduels speedster and Mid Penn rival Nick Feffer of SC to the line
with both guys running new PRs of 4:18. This is just another reminder that Kole
has been underrated big time this year. He has been buried a bit behind the
Affolders, but the kid was top 15 in states for XC, soloed a quality 800 leg on
a pair of record setting DMRs and now is a 4:18 1600 guy who finds himself as a
medal contender in the event. Looks like a more than capable 1200 leg at the
Penn Relays as Carlisle likely reshuffles the deck for a run at a wheel.
How
about Tyler Wirth from Wallenpaupack? 4:19.04! Where did this guy come from? The
sophomore ran 4:50 indoors and now opens up in 4:19 outdoors? Wow, that’s
pretty wild. Keep an eye out for this kid as he may be the next surprise
superstar of the outdoor state championships.
Ultimately
this field ended up looking pretty deep as well with Patrick Jacobson, Owen
Wing and Morgan Cupp all running under the SQS and I believe all PRing.
Jacobson becomes the 4th different Dallastown runner to clock 4:20
or faster in the 1600 over the past decade, putting the school on an exclusive
list.
And
finally we have the 800 meters. Derin Klick of Lebanon, who ran 1:53 at states
a year ago, handed Nick Feffer his second silver medal of the day as he
outdueled the SC senior 1:56.22 to 1:56.82. These are two of the top returners
from outdoor states a year ago so it’s no surprise they rose to the top of this
field. However, this has to be a big confidence booster for Klick who, although
qualifying for states indoors, was a mid pack type guy. Considering his speed
boost he put in down the stretch last year, expect the time to fall off this
kid pretty easily down the stretch.
Behind
Feffer, the rest of State College’s 4x8 posted marks that should make the team
feel good about their COA odds. Owen Wing ran 1:58 on the double, Joey Feffer
clocked 1:58 and Chris DiPerna closed things out with a 2 flat. Those times
right there add up to easily sub 8 minutes and could dip down even further with
a running start. SC made the COA in both 2014 and 2016 and is riding a streak
of 3 straight seasons at 7:41 or faster and an outdoor state medal streak that
dates back to 2012.
Lower
Dauphin had 3 guys at 2:01 or faster, none of which were XC state medalist Jared
Giannascoli who might be their best leg. That being said, none of their guys
cracked 2 minutes in the open 8. If they want to make the leap, they will need
a superstar to develop, but the fact that they have no weak links is not
something to undervalue.
By the
way, Yahya Soliman on his third race of the day runs 1:58.19? That’s pretty
quick. Very talented kid in a system that knows a thing or two about developing
800 guys. Stay tuned.
AA
Tristan
Forsythe looks ready for the Penn Relays mile. He ran away with the 3200 title
at this meet, running 9:38 to defeat Jacob Shulte, an indoor state qualifier in
the mile. Forsythe also finished second in the 800 with a time of 2:02.
Trinity
has historically been a powerhouse of the 3200 relay in AA. They look like they
could have another crop of medal contenders after their 8:23 victory over their
fellow D3 squad, Camp Hill (8:28).
I’m not
sure, have we have discussed the talented class of 2020 yet this post? Oh
shoot, we have? Well, dang. The class is so talented that a 1600 victory out of
frosh Garrett Baublitz (4:27) isn’t even the first freshman performance
measured. Keep in mind, for AA, 4:27 in April is a very respectable time. This
freshman is a realistic medal contender and, if he can get down to say 4:19, he
could be top 4 in the state. It’s possible folks. Don’t sleep on runner-up
Morgan Morrison going forward either.
CB West Relays
The
LaSalle boys look ready to roll, picking up a strong win in the 4x800 behind a 7:56.99
time. They defeated indoor state medalists CB East and DMR rivals CR North who
ran 8:04 and 8:08 respectively. I don’t know the specifics, but if someone has
the time and interest to look it up, I wonder how many seasons in a row LaSalle
has put together a sub 8 4x8. Maybe not consecutively, but they must have a ton
of sub 8s in their history, always churning over a new crop of studs.
The
boys from Pennsbury won the other signature distance event, the DMR, with a
time of 10:44. That was enough to outlast CR South and host CB West (who each
broke 11 minutes). Pennsbury is a really interesting team as we look ahead to
the Penn Relays. With the emergence of Sauer in recent weeks, Pennsbury has 3
sub pieces to boast about and a couple guys who can step in at the 4 spot and
make noise. But PA’s top school from the COA in 2015 needs to prove they have
the clutch factor needed to rise to the occasion in Philly.
CB West
won the other big relays with wins in the SMR, 4x4, 4x2 and 4x1600. As I’ve
already alluded to, they are my #1 pick for the 4x8 COA. They made it the past
two season and have at least 5 guys who could crack 2 minutes on race day. But
they also have a ton of depth in the longer distances, something they have
really cultivated in recent years. Most notably, Brian Mass, a state qualifier
in 2016, but also guys like Ben Bunch.
That
3:30 in the SMR is pretty quick (meet record I believe) and likely featured a
big carry from someone like Claricurzio (Quakertown and CR South were the next
two behind in 3:33 and 3:34). Interested to know if Delisle, fresh off a big
1600 PR the night before, was involved in this one as well. Claricurzio and
Delisle are kinda budding rivals right now as juniors who are state title
contenders in the two lapper.
Blue Jay Invitational
The
Ephrata boys 4x8 is really starting to come together. It’s wild to think that
this weekend three of the top flight 4x8s in the entire state were Seneca,
Greensburg Salem and Ephrata. Not sure most people who read this thing have
even heard of those schools and here they are dropping sick times. Ephrata ran
7:56 for their first sub 8 and a nearly 12 second victory over Manheim Township
(who ran a very respectable in their own right 8:08). Tyler Shue and Alex
Morales went 1-3 in the open 800 as well, running 2 flat and 2:02. Zach
Lefever, the team’s most accomplished individual performer, will run the Penn
Relays 3k this Friday night.
Great Valley Relays
Lower
Merion, one of PA’s top DMRs in a very deep 2017 season, ran away with the DMR
title in 10:41 to defeat very game challenges from Episcopal Academy (10:53)
and home team Great Valley (10:59). Episcopal was active in this one, also
running 8:06.90 to win the 4x8 gold. Really nice pair of relays from an
Independent school that we will likely forget about once the action really
heats up in the PIAA. Gotta give credit while we can.
Spring
Ford also had a strong showing in the 4x8, running under 8:10. It gets
swallowed up among all the amazing 4x8s in District One, but that’s a strong
time. There’s usually a team that sneaks into the district final after flying
under the radar in the early season. Could be Spring Ford. Could be a number of
other teams thanks to the whole “swallowed up in amazing 4x8s” thing I
mentioned earlier. But, hey, it could be Spring Ford.
Peter
Cooke from Radnor is a talented 800 runner who has shown the potential to be up
with guys like Delisle, Claricurzio and Conway (i.e. the guys rolling right now
in D1). He had a solid double, winning the 1600 and coming within 0.06 of Kamil
Jihad who, I think, was fresh in the 800. The times weren’t mind blowing, but I
like the way the kid is racing.
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