Weekend Recap Part 2 (Does Not Feature Panda)

TFCAofGP Invitaional

The 4x800 picture is heating up in a hurry out here on the east coast. I already talked about Pennsbury and CB West putting down some nice marks from the back half of their relay, but now the always dangerous Abington squad is starting to heat up. Aaron Sooknanan and Cameron Mitchell took 1-3 in the 400 with Sooknan picking up yet another win here in the early season, running 50.82. Then their teammates, Josh Coleman and Ori Frazier, each ran well under 2 minutes in the open 800. Coleman clocked a 1:57.76 and Frazier ran 1:58.88. Assuming those four are the quartet this squad will throw out at Penn Relays and beyond, watch out for this team to surprise and dip into the low 7:50s sometime in the not so distant future. Also worth noting, three of those guys are juniors.

Meanwhile, CB East continues to show their own upside as they had two individuals in the 1:57s in the very same 800. Junior Marc Motter ran a 1:57.28 and sophomore David Endres had a big breakthrough, running 1:57.97. Motter has shown plenty of potential already this season and seems like a guy who could pop a breakout time at any moment.

Of course, in total, the 800 belonged to Wissahickon’s Chris Cameron. Cameron busted through with a huge personal best to clock 1:54.70 and win the race by over two seconds. I believe these moves Cameron to #3 in PA so far in 2017 behind only the Josh Hoey and Noah Affolder. Seeing as one of those guys is injured and the other has to at least consider a serious run at the 1600, Cameron suddenly finds himself in the state title conversation. Gotta think this 800 could be wild again this spring. Stephen McClellan of St. Joe’s Prep (1:53 PR, experienced state competitor) had easily his best performance of 2017, finishing second in 1:56.94.

In the 1600 meters, O’Hara’s James boys took 1-3 in a strong showing. Ryan led the way with a 4:21.24 to pick up the overall victory, while Patrick was 3^rd in a strong 4:26.85. Ryan James is an interesting individual candidate to watch this outdoor season. I’m not sure he’s ever contested an individual event at either the outdoor or indoor state championships, but he has a ton of talent and could potentially be a medal contender in either the 16 or the 32. Interested to see what road he goes down.

Splitting the O’Hara boys was Pennridge’s talented sophomore Matt Eissler, who dropped a 4:24.04. An indoor state medalist at 800 meters, Eissler looks to be the next in line for great Pennridge middle distance athletes. Could he work his way into the state title discussion for 800 meters? Also cracking the top 5 in the 1600 were freshman Jonah Hoey (4:29.52) and senior Will  Schulz of CB East (4:30.59).

In an excellent battle over 3200 meters, Matt Scarpill continues to roll at the longer distances. The indoor state medalist who corrected opted for the 3k at PSU, now rolls to a big time 9:33.04 win in the 3200. That mark puts Scarpill right up there with the best in his district so far this spring. Peter Borger, a junior from Malvern Prep, excelled with a 9:39.91 for 2^nd and Stephen Paul of LaSalle was 3^rd. Haverford freshman Mike Donnelly also cracked 10 minutes in an impressive performance by the youngster.

Speaking of Haverford, this squad came flying around the track in the 4x800 relay to steal a victory over a couple excellent distance programs in North Penn and Lower Merion. Haverford stopped the clock in 8:04.15. I was impressed by some recent dual meet results from this squad and thought they had the pieces to do work, but I didn’t expect quite this fast of a result. That may even put them into the bubble range for a spot at Penn Relays (not sure if they qualify under “small schools” or not). Really strong showing by them.

Brookville Invite

As is usually the case when he takes to the track, Brookville’s Ryan Thrush stole the show with his incredible range. The senior won the 200 meters in a strong time of 22.77 and also added victories in his two signature events, the 400 and the 800, with times of 49.26 and 2:03.56. Thrush has the raw speed to excel at the 400 (he’s the defending state champ after all), but I think all of us distance fans would like to see him give the 800 an honest go. I think a shot at 1:51 or faster is very possible in the right race.

Braydon Pyle of Grove City took the 1600 win while Zach Wortman of Elk County Catholic picked up the 3200. Wortman will race AA on the track this year and is coming off a monster XC campaign during which he and his teammates finished 2^nd at the state championships in A.

Harbor Creek

Speaking of A State Championships, Noah Curtin made a strong outdoor debut at the 1600 and 800. The Mercyhurst Prep senior ran 4:31.74 to win the 1600 in a deep field and added a 2:02.02 for 2^nd in the 800 behind Derek Jones of Cathedral Prep (a state qualifier this past indoor season at 800). Curtin’s 1600 victory came over Logan Lukonic of Sharpsville (had an excellent indoor season with real upside for this outdoors) and Ryan Starvaggi (part of a talented young core over at Harbor Creek). Sam Lander of Cranberry and Jimmy Zimmerman of Mercyhurst rounded out the top 5. I believe all of these guys are in AA come track season and, based on one result, could all be contenders in the mile.

I like what I’m seeing from General McLane. This school had a very impressive XC season in AA, which included an upset appearance at the state championship. They have a young group at the top and a talented pair of sophomores in Nate Price (who won the 3200) and Erik Andrzejewski. General McLane won the 4x800 at this one, dropping an 8:25 for a 4 second victory over Harbor Creek.

Susquehanna Invite

Williamsport continues to roll through their 4x8 competition. The boys picked up a new season best of 8:14.06 to defeat Mifflinburg Area and Danville Area, both in the mid 8:20s. They also dropped a 3:29.17 to win the 4x400 at the end of the meet. Milton Area’s Tyler Lesser, a 1:55 runner last spring, rolled to a 2 flat 800 as well as a 4:30.18 for a pair of golds at this invite. In the 1600 he defeated an excellent field that included Quinn Serfass, Isaac Davis (a monster during this past XC season), Ethan Knoebel and Tristan Connor. All of those guys were at 4:40 or faster. Serfass came back to get his gold in the 3200, running 9:55 for the victory by nearly 25 seconds. I believe Serfass competes in AA on the track and could be a name to watch as well.

Whippet Invitational

Connor McMenamin and Ryan Barton, a pair of state caliber milers, toed the line against one another in this invite with McMenamin pulling out the win 4:29-4:33. This comes on the heels of a reported 1:56 dual meet run by McMenamin recently against CB East. McMenamin was just accepted into the Penn Relays individual 3k and could make some noise.

Behind Barton, DT West took the next 3 spots,  with Jake O’Neill, Shaun Bullock and sophomore Joseph Chamoun.