Recap/Preview: District 10/District 3

By etrain11

Nothing like a good old fashion recap/preview to get things going for the week. For this post, I’ll be recapping the District 10 action as well as the District 3 league meets to create a little preview of what could be on the horizon at those two district meets later this week.

District 10

Mercer County & Erie County

In District 10, the big storyline all season has been Seneca. The reigning AA 4x800 champs are rolling right now and look poised to continue that top notch performing all the way through states. Adam Hanes, a 1:55 leg on that relay, won the 200 and the 400 at the Erie County meet, running sub 23 and 50. His teammates, Donovan and Phoenix Myers, rolled to wins in the 1600 and 800. And all those guys were doubling up with the 4x8, where Seneca ran a 7:51 to ease away from this field. And, oh yeah, the Seneca boys were also 4x4 champs in 3:29.

A team trophy has to be on the minds of this group as they could conceivably score in both relays and each of their individual events. There is a path to 30ish points that should put them in the mix for a top 3 spot (although I’m not sure of the other top programs they would be up against because I don’t follow the sprints closely). I’m excited to see how they handle all the doubling the next two weeks. They struggled with it a bit last year, but they are a year stronger this time around. And sure, it’s hard for East Coast fans to get excited about a District that literally runs it’s district meet in another state, but Seneca is on the verge of having a truly historic distance performance down the stretch. I can’t wait.

The other big storyline shaping up in AA for D10 will be Noah Curtin v. Connor Walsh v. spoilers. Walsh has been the long distance stand out over the past two years with two top 5 XC finishes and the last 3 major district titles in XC/3200, but Noah has that state gold (and a state silver). Plus a crew of guys like Logan Lukonic and soph Ryan Stravaggi could get in there and play spoiler in either the 3200 or 1600.

In AAA, it appears the theme will be a Grove City vs. General McLane rematch. If you remember, General McLane stunned Grove City in XC, knocking out the super power and eliminating them from the state championship. They did it behind two big time sophomores in Erik Andrzejewski and Nate Price, who both ran in the low 9:40s for 3200 at Erie County (after running 4:28 and 4:31 in the 1600). But Grove City has their own super soph, Jonah Powell, who was a state XC medalist as a frosh and a state qualifier last year in the 3200. That trio matching up in the state’s longest distance should provide real fireworks. Plus these three are likely to be involved in the 4x8 matchup where Grove City and GM come in as the top two teams on paper.

All that being said, the biggest state medal threat out of D10 AAA seems to be Derek Jones. The 800 specialist has dropped all the way down to 1:55 this spring and mixed it up with some of the best in the business at some District 7 meets. Jones could follow in the footsteps of McLane grad Justin Miller, who caught fire at the right time and dropped to 1:53 at the state championships in a wacky 800 final.

District 3

Mid Penns, YIAA, Lebanon Lancaster, Berks

In my last post, it seemed like the general consensus was Nate Henderson would not be in the 1600 at states. Well, I’d be interested to hear if anyone wants to change their mind. The JP McCaskey senior completed a triple that was on par (at the very least) with the great Miller twins from Manheim Township (look them up, they are real good) at his league meet. Henderson won the 3200 and 1600 before grabbing silver in the 800 with times of 9:03, 4:11 and 1:55. That’s two open PRs and a near PR with a 21 second margin of victory over his biggest competitor in the state 3200 landscape (unless Sam Affoler runs it, which I’m guessing won’t happen). Plus he probably ran a leg on the 3:29 silver medal winning 4x4.

I think Henderson could give the 1600 a real run for it. If Affolder has to run a big 4x8 leg and then double back for the 16, that could go either way and the general consensus seems to be Hoey in the 800 (although who knows for certain).

But there was more than Nate to talk about at this meet. Jesse Cruise of Cedar Crest ran a new PR of 4:16 in the 1600 and also added an individual 400 victory. That’s some nice range out of the XC top 50 finisher. Cruise has the finishing speed to be really dangerous in the 1600 at states if things turn tactical, plus he’s got the strength to mix it up with the best in PA. Definitely a state medal threat.

Derin Klick, a defending state medalist in the 800, deserves to be in the title discussion for that event. He just ran 1:54 to defeat Henderson and has run 1:53 a couple times before. That 800 still seems fairly open and a lot can happen in that event because of the super crowded preliminary heats (and a 12 man final can get crowded as well).

I’m a big fan of this Ephrata 4x8. I’ve been talking about them since indoor track and I think they could add some drama to the field at districts. As evidenced by Mid Penns, Carlisle is going to have trouble pulling out a win without their absolute “A” team as a lot of schools have sub 8 potential. Ephrata is a little on the young side, but they’ve got some 1:58 open types alongside a sub 9:20 two miler. Not bad for a relative newcomer to the elite relay tier. Be Ephraid of this squad.

Let’s talk more 4x8. Carlisle’s the best team when they want to be, holding a trio of 1:56 or faster dudes after this weekend. Jack Wisner won his section of the 800 at Mid Penns in a new PR of 1:56.61 to round out a dynamic core. I have to imagine they will chase the relay state title, but at districts I’m not sure how much firepower they put in that event if they want the title.

Meanwhile, teams are lining up to knock them down, including Milton Hershey. I always seem to forget about these guys when mentioning the elite 4x8 squads, but MH showed up at MPs. Austin Padmore, a sub 49 on the relay kinda guy, heads up that squad and likely played a key role in their 7:58 victory. Just behind them were Cumberland Valley (still feel like this is a low 7:50s team by states, just needs to put it together) and Lower Dauphin (needs a star, but their guys are starting to step up at the right time).

Individually, the top names are still the top names as Sam Affolder and Isaac Kole continued to roll (1-3 in the 16, 1-2 in the 8). However, there are some other guys coming on at the right time worth mentioning. Alex Tomasko had a really nice day with his best 1600 performance of the season (4:22) followed by a killer 3200 (9:33). Should be fun to see how he does at districts after qualifying for states a year ago in the 16 and putting together his best, most consistent XC campaign this past fall.

3200 could end up being quite deep if Carlisle stuffs all their guys in there (not sure who has qual times) alongside the Lower Dauphin boys, the Mechanicsburg boys, Henderson, Lefever, Higgins (all past state qualifiers), Doug Kramer, Nate Kaplon and more that I’m definitely forgetting. If weather and pace are good, wouldn’t be surprised to see 5 or 6 down around 9:20. If Affolder is going all out for the win against Henderson, we’ll see sub 9. Heck, if Henderson runs like he did at LLs, he might get there without him.

Anyway, I got side tracked. Wanted to mention Dalton Leab of James Buchanan. Terrific day out of him. First he runs 4:32 to win his section of the 1600, then he doubles back in 1:57 for 2^nd in a very fast 3^rd section of the 800. Top notch day from him.

The YAIAA doesn’t have quite the same depth as these other two leagues, but that doesn’t mean you can overlook them. Just ask 3:46 man Caleb Gatchell. The big name from this league meet was Nathan Lopez in the 800. He rolled to a big 1:56.72 win over Patrick Jacobson (who himself is a 4:20 performer). Both Jacobson in the 16 and Lopez in the 8 should be at the forefront of state qualifier discussions for next weekend.

In Berks land, I should mention that Wyomissing will be a team to watch. Not only do I think they have a real shot at pushing Seneca in the 4x8, but also I think Joe Cullen could end up winning individual gold in the 800. I liked his early season sub 4:20 mile and his elite indoor season. Looking to see him give an all-out, spring weather 800 a shot. He ran 4:22 & 1:59 to win his league meet while some of his teammates stole the show. Austin Keim led a 1-2 Wyomissing finish in the 400 with a 49.69.

This Alex Ermold kid from Governor Mifflin is a big time sleeper you’ve got to know heading into districts. He ran 4:23 to mix it up right alongside Cullen and is quickly gaining momentum. I believe he is only a sophomore, but he’s already put himself under the SQS.