PA Alumni Recap 3/31-4/1

Joe Espinal – 4:05.68 1500
Joe Espinal continued a solid outdoor season with a 4:05 1500 at Muhlenberg. That’s a really good mark for the 800 man who has already run 1:53.50 and 48.77 this year. I don’t think this will be a primary event for him any time soon, but it shows good endurance for the 2016 state champ.

Jeff Kirshenbaum – 9:57.19 3k Steeplechase

The time isn’t overly impressive on its own, but it is worth noting since it was Kirshenbaum’s debut at the event. It’s fair to expect him to drop some pretty significant time as he gets comfortable going over hurdles and water jumps.

Nate Sloan – 1:50.03 800 & 3:52 1500

Wow did Pittsburgh have a great weekend out West. Sloan started his weekend with a very solid 3:52 1500 on Friday which was just off his pr. He followed that up with an outstanding 1:50.03, just missing breaking the 1:50 barrier and PR’ing by over 3 seconds.

Billy Caldwell – 1:56.18 800 & 3:51.53 1500

Billy Caldwell had an awesome 1500 Friday running a big PR of 3:51.13. He came back Saturday as well with a 1:56 800. I think he has a lot of potential in the 1500 so hopefully we’ll see him start to focus on that event this season.

Nick Wolk – 14:19 5k

Nick Wolk. Wow. I don’t know what else to say. This man just continued an incredible freshman season with a crazy fast 14:19 5k. For someone with 4:14 and 9:10 pr’s from high school 5k the last event I would have expected him star in. Shows what I know.

Matt McGoey – 14:22 5k

McGoey continued a stellar weekend for the Pittsburgh boys out in San Francisco with an 11 second 5k PR. While there have been some questions around this program in the past, McGoey has been instrumental in turning them back into a competitive team. This race was just the latest example of that. Look for even more as the season progresses.

Aaron Lauer – 14:39 5k

Aaron Lauer was the only Pitt runner not to PR, but he progressed solidly from indoors running 8 seconds faster than his best indoor time. Look for him to PR and get under 14:30 soon.

Brendan Shearn – 29:36 10k

This man has become a sub-30 machine. Shearn opened up just 8 seconds off his PR over 10k and should qualify for regionals with this time. I think Shearn has a legit shot at Nationals this year with his experience.

Dylan Eddinger – 1:53.83 800

Eddinger opened up just .01 slower than last year at the same meet. That bodes well for his season since he dropped 2 seconds and ran 1:51 by the end of last year.

Jack Magee – 1:55.96 800

Jack Magee also opened up right around where he did last year. He’s had a solid career so far but is still right on the edge of a big breakthrough. Hopefully he’s able to put it all together this season.

Jeff van Kooten – 3:55.10 1500

Jeff Van Kooten opened up just barely faster than last year. I think he’s also on the verge of some big things if everything breaks his way. He’s only going to get better the farther into the season we get.

Cooper Leslie – 3:58.00 1500

The freshman continues to impress running sub-4 over 1500 for the first time. I really like his potential, especially coming from a smaller high school program. I think he’s just going to get better as he faces stiffer competition.

Rico Galassi – 8:21 3k

The 3k is rarely run outdoors, but Galassi excelled given the chance here. He was just off his time indoors this year and showed he’s primed to run some really quick outdoor races.

PJ Murray – 8:35 3k

PJ Murray also had a good 3k at the Colonial Relays. His 8:35 is a 9 second PR from his indoor time this year. He’s also primed for some big outdoor races as he’s only getting better right now.

Paul Power – 8:42 3k

Paul Power didn’t run many races indoors but he took advantage of the opportunity to race here also running 9 seconds faster than he did indoors. He showed a lot of potential last year as a redshirt so hopefully he’s able to keep getting faster.

Todd Gunzenhauser – 8:33 3k

Todd ran unattached which makes he think he’s going to redshirt this season, but 8:33 is a really solid time so maybe that will change. That’s a really good mark for a true freshman so keep an eye on him the next couple years.

Christian Kazanjian – 14:32 5k

The 5k at Colonial Relays saw some really solid results from the PA boys led by Kazanjian in 14:32, which was an impressive 15 second PR. That’s a great spot to start his outdoor season and hopefully there’s more to come.

Addison Monroe – 14:34 5k

Monroe was just behind Kazanjian running just faster than he did indoors. I really like guys who progress consistently from indoors into outdoors, and I think Monroe is going to run something pretty quick by the time all is said and done.

Calvin Conrad-Kline – 14:44 5k

Conrad-Kline had one of the most impressive races of the weekend dropping a casual 33 seconds off his 5k PR. That’s a huge jump and shows he’s much more fit than he was last year.

Harrison Schettler - 14:46 5k

Schettler was almost as impressive as Conrad-Kline dropping 24 seconds off his 5k PR. Both of these guys have clearly made huge strides since last year. Hopefully they can keep the momentum rolling.

Dan Savage - 9:15 3k Steeplechase

Dan Savage opened up with a really solid 9:15 steeplechase, just 2 seconds off his PR. Any time your race has hurdles an opener can be pretty rough. To be that close to his PR is a great sign. As he gets comfortable going over barriers again look for him to drop some significant time.


Alek Sauer - 1:48.95 800 
Sauer got his outdoor season off to a great start at Florida relays with the second sub 1:49 performance of his career. He's starting off faster than he did last year when he qualified for NCAA Regionals, so he's set up for a big season. The East Region 800 is absolutely loaded, but I think Sauer is right on the edge of being able to compete with the top guys.

Domenic Peretta - 1:49.51 800 
While this was not as fast as Peretta ran to open his outdoor season a week ago, it was another sub-1:50 mark to add to an outstanding freshman resume.  Being able to consistently run at a high level is extremely important when you get to Regional and Conference meets, so I really like what Peretta is doing right now.

Elias Graca - 1:51.63 800 
Graca continued to progress from a solid indoor season running about half a second faster than last week and getting closer to his PR in the process. Last year Graca ran his fastest race of the year at Florida Relays but had trouble improving after that. Hopefully he's able to time things a little better this year and set himself up well for a big conference meet.

Jeff Wiseman - 1:52.64 800 
Wiseman has showed some really good speed in the shorter events over the last few seasons, especially indoors where he was second at HEPS in the 500. This was a solid opener for him, but I think there's even more there if he chooses to focus on the 800. My gut says he will be running more 400's than 800's though.

Sam Ritz - 3:45.63 1500 
Wow! This was a huge breakthrough for Ritz who broke 3:50 for the first time in a big way. He's coming off a very solid indoor season where he ran 4:06, but this is on a whole different level. This won't quite get him to the Regional meet, but given this was his opener I think he has a legitimate shot at qualifying for that meet.

Jaxson Hoey - 3:56.42 1500 
While it's not quite the 3:50 Jaxson ran at USATF Juniors last year, it's a big improvement over his indoor season and shows he's headed in the right direction. He's at a great program so I think the key is just going to be staying healthy for the next couple months and continuing to progress. If he can do that he should be in a good spot moving forward, even if he doesn't PR this season. The key to a good college career is staying healthy, so just racing is a good sign for Jaxson. Getting a solid result in is even better.

*Thanks to the commenter who pointed out that I missed Florida Relays results. Let me know if there are any other results I missed.