2017 State Recaps: 1600m

1600m

AA

From the start, Winchester Thurston’s Tristan Forsythe made it clear he wasn’t playing any games out there. Forsythe went to the front early and controlled the pace. Noah Curtin of Mercyhurst Prep, the A XC state champion over Forsythe, was his most game challenger. Ultimately, Forsythe continued to grind away and opened up a gap on the pack behind. On the last lap, the only possible challenger for his state gold emerged as Joe Cullen of Wyomissing broke into a furious sprint down the backstretch. However, the last 100 meters, Forsythe used the last gear he had saved and blasted home, stopping the clock in a flashy PR of 4:12.46. Cullen brought home the silver with a very respectable 4:13, doubling back from a silver medal performance in the 4x8.

In total, the top 6 runners in the field broke 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Noah Curtin continued to roll, dropping from 4:21 to 4:16.16 and even passing his brother Sebastian on the all-time list in the event. Tyler Leeser was one of 3 juniors to place in the top 4 and ran a huge PR of his own in 4:16.53. Skolnekovich survived his double and picked up a 5^th place medal while freshman Garrett Baublitz rounded out the top 6 with an awesome 4:19.76. That puts Baublitz in an elite group of sub 4:20 medal winning freshman. The two most recent guys that jump out to me (I may be missing others) are Josh Hoey and Craig Miller. It doesn’t take a lot of research to see how good those two are.

Forsythe’s winning time of 4:12 was really quick, busting well free of his previous outdoor best from districts. It’s the fastest AA mark since Ryan Smathers’s junior season victory in 2012 and the third fastest performance at states dating back to 1988. All this comes after Forsythe was last at Penn Relays and working to overcome serious missed practice time. But in the end, Forsythe proved he belongs among the elite in the state at any classification, running the fastest 1600 of anybody in either classification on race day.

For Cullen this was a pretty impressive mark as well. It was roughly a 4 second PR and his first state medal at this distance. Cullen contested the 800 at indoor states last year and was primarily a speedster type. He ran on Wyomissing’s state champion 4x4 as well. However, Cullen proved he had great strength during XC and, on the double from the 4x8, he was able to come back and run a massive PR and even give Forsythe a little bit of a scare on the final straightaway. On fresh legs, Cullen v. Forsythe in a rematch next spring could end up being pretty legendary, but I’m interested to see Cullen all out in an open 800. I think he could have run a pretty fast time at states weekend and probably still has a 1:52-1:53 kinda mark in his legs if he gets in the right race (Henderson Distance Festival?).

Lastly, have to give credit to Jacob Schulte of Bishop McCort. He was one of the top seeds in the 3200 but fell out of the medals. Then, attempting a very difficult double, he managed to fight through a strong 1600 field and clock a new PR of 4:22 en route to what I believe is his first ever state medal. Congrats to Jacob. Zach Mead’s 9^th place time of 4:23.80 would have been 5^th in 2016.

AAA

On paper, Sam Affolder’s 4:08 PR looked pretty darn good against this field. But the paper didn’t take into account the fact that he was doubling off a 18 second season best in the 3200. That made the super soph very vulnerable on race day. With no Josh Hoey on the card, this race seemed pretty up for grabs.

It took a sub 4:20 clocking to just make it to the final and many guys were at or near their PRs in the prelims. Would that take the sting out of the finish from these runners on race day? Amazingly, no it did not.

Things were crowded early as Cedar Crest’s Jesse Cruise kept himself out of traffic at the front of the field. However, everybody hung with him out front and the field stayed just as crowded and up for grabs as it had been in the build up. Sam Affolder hung back, fighting as best he could through tired legs and seemed like he might be out of it with a lap to go. Meanwhile, CB South’s Matt Scarpill was implementing his strategy that had led him to a big win at District One’s championships. He took off at a full sprint and forced the field to follow.

Then on the last straightaway, Carlisle’s other runner in the field, Isaac Kole took charge of the race. With his form breaking down and his head wobbling, Kole sprinted clear of the field just before Sam Affolder broke into picture with a fast closing sprint. Sam celebrated as Isaac crossed the line in first, both runners clocking 4:12s and taking the first two spots in the field and the 18 team points that came with it.

As we know now, this sealed a team victory for Carlisle, who was able to win the team title with just 26 points coming from two runners. Over the course of the past few months, they lost a ton of potential scoring in the hurdles, sprints and jumps, not to mention their 38 point scorer from indoors Noah Affolder. But this, ultimately, was the championship they won.

For Kole, this was obviously a big upset and a massive PR (his best coming in was just 4:18). It also established him as another big name in the Carlisle program and gave him a state championship medal to wear. It was one heck of a day.

Meanwhile, Sam Affolder, as one of commenter pointed out, ended his PA high school career pointing at his teammate and celebrating his accomplishment. In just a year at Carlisle, Sam contributed a lot to the school. He helped elevate the teammates around him and he helped to get Carlisle their long coveted team title (plus a national record). He was 2^nd in the 3200 and the 1600 and, if things had gone a tiny bit differently in both races, he could have won an unprecedented double gold. As things stand, this sophomore turned out perhaps the closest thing we have ever seen to a 3200-1600 double gold on the AAA level. He was really disappointed after that 3200 ended, knowing he let one slip away, but he didn’t make excuses in his post race interview and he jumped at the chance for redemption. Seems like a great, fitting way for his time at Carlisle to end.

But he’s gone next year. So is Noah and so is Kole. Which leaves Liam Conway of Owen J Roberts. Conway will now be the #1 returner both indoors and outdoors as he finished 3^rd in this race with a new PR of 4:13.00. Conway snuck through with a big kick at the very end for a second straight championship as he appeared out of nowhere in a very similar performance to his indoor silver. He nearly even nipped a celebrating Affolder at the line as he leaned ahead.

Other than Conway, the next best returners are Tyler Wirth of Wallenpaupack, Evan Addison of LaSalle and Spencer Smucker of Henderson, none of which were able to finish with state medals, but all of which ran sub 4:20 this year. Tyler Wirth is a really talented runner who you have to keep an eye on. I’m not sure if we will see him in XC, but the sophomore ran a 1:53 split at districts, ran 4:17 here at states and finished 9^th in his biggest major championship race. As he continues to learn, this kid could really become something special. Also watch for him and his Abington Heights rivals to make noise this coming fall. Kyle Burke ran a great 4:20 in the prelims and came pretty close to putting two from D2 in the finals.

Jesse Cruise of Cedar Crest finishes his season a lot like he started it. The senior has been clocking excellent times across a variety of disciplines, but has struggled to find breathing room alongside absolute studs like Affolder, Henderson and now Kole. He ran a very fast 4:13.18 at this race, despite doing a lot of pacing. Even when it looked he was buried with 100 to go, he found another gear and fought his way back up to 4^th.

Also dropping huge PRs were Bryan Keller, Matt Scarpill and Owen Wing. This was the “wow” group for sure. Keller takes home 5^th in a 4.5 second PR of 4:13. This kid has always been a great talent, you could tell by his 800s last year. I thought he would be an excellent miler this year, but he had an up and down start, struggling to break 4:20 and battling tooth and nail with his teammates Early and Haas. But, ultimately, Keller found his rhythm at the perfect time. He broke 4:20 at districts and now is a 4:13 runner to end his career. For Scarpill, he may be disappointed with a 6^th place finish, but the CB South Senior made sure everyone knew his name in 2017. In his first appearance at outdoor states, he made a gutsy move for the win, dropping a 3 second PR and nearly stole a gold medal in an unprecedented way. He’s got an Oscar nomination and possible Oscar win coming to him this June. That’s my bet.

And finally, Owen Wing of State College. There’s something in the water over there and its not just the 4x8. Two years ago, Alex Milligan entered the state championship as a low 4:20s miler with 1:56 speed. But seeing as he was doubling the 1600 and the 4x8 together, it seemed pretty unlikely that he would contend for a medal. Of course, Milligan did make the finals and then, after a 1:53 PR split, he ran 4:17 and scored in the 1600. A year later, Milligan was back at it again, this time dropped his personal best 6 seconds and landing on 4:10.17 with a state championship gold around his neck.

Now Owen Wing steps in. He’d never grabbed an individual medal before and, quite frankly, he’d never really been in the conversation. I was surprised to see him giving the open 1600 a shot considering the focus the 4x8 typically is for this program. He advanced through to the finals, dropping his best from 4:21 to 4:18 and then doubled down big time with a 4:14 in the final to cut a total of roughly 7 seconds off his personal best in the event after already PRing in the 4x8 lead off position. Wing was flying on Saturday. I’m sorry. I had to.