There
was a meet on Wednesday night that produced some excellent times for the PA
athletes in attendance. The Briarwood Invite at Haverford is typically the
place where LaSalle unleashes their horde of the milers into the wild and the
Army did not disappoint in 2018. Without their best runner (Evan Addison was
listed as a DNF so fingers crossed it was nothing serious), LaSalle still
posted 8 sub 4:48 marks including a third place finish from Jack Seiberlich in
4:34.66. Sophomore Griffin Pumilia continues his sleeper campaign with a big
4:40.25 (that won his heat by 5 seconds over Kevin Ehrgott and Noah Demis, both
top 50 finishers at XC states).
Despite
LaSalle’s depth, it was a different army that had the #1 man in the field.
Spencer Smucker of Henderson took the top spot in the race with a 4:29.15.
Spence, who is fresh off his best ever XC season that included a trip to
nationals, was a state finalist in the 1600 last spring. I’ve underestimated
Smucker’s speed in the past (I pictured him as a 3200 guy), but Smucker is
putting together a compelling case for a top spot at states in the mile.
Smucker has typically given up the indoor events indoors to run on his DMR
(which has paid off most years with competitive results from the state power),
but maybe this year we see him have an individual breakthrough in the mile.
Brian
Baker of CB West was the runner up to Smucker in the mile, but did win the 800
a short while later, clocking a 2:03. Baker is off to a monster start to his
senior indoor campaign. He was excellent last year for the state 4x8 champs,
but had to run in the shadow of superstar Jake Claricurzio. Thus far, Jake has
seemed to be in all sprint events (an interesting early season result) which
has opened the door for Baker as the team’s #1. He has not disappointed.
The
boys from CRN decided to play their cards close to the vest. Their three XC
state medalists, Sam Earley, Ethan Koza and Ryan Campbell all ran the 800
meters (on the shorter side for these guys with the exception of Earley) and
ran out of Heat 4 rather than the top heat (5). Earley still nearly won the
meet from his heat, clocking a 2:03.99 to just miss Baker. His teammates Koza
and Campbell made Heat 4 a 1-2-3 sweep for CRN.
By the way, Mahoney Timing is one of my favorite things in 2018. Shout out to those guys for the live results and well set up lay out.
Now,
let’s talk Kevin Dare Invitational. Penntrack posted up the Heat Sheets for
this marquee invitational (hosted at Penn State where states will be held later
this year) which means I should probably do a preview (do I have a good excuse
not to?). I’ll be keeping it quick, but
hopefully this is enough to get you excited.
Mile
Sam
Snodgrass of South Fayette, a state medalist last winter, returns to this track
to pick up where he left off. Snodgrass had an awesome XC season, even if
states didn’t go exactly as he hoped. That should give him a little extra
motivation to bust out a big time in his first major race since. His biggest
challenge will likely come from sophomore Garrett Baublitz. Garrett was one of
our best freshman in state history last year, breaking the 4:20 barrier as a 9th
grader. That puts him in pretty rare company with guys like Josh Hoey and Craig
Miller. Baublitz could do something big this track season (especially
considering his XC campaign was excellent) and this invite may just be the
first step.
Other
guys to look out for include a couple dudes named Andrew: Stanley and Sullivan.
I think Stanley, a A guy during XC, is better at the longer stuff but still
very dangerous in this event. He won’t be afraid to push the pace either.
Sullivan has a nice resume of results in the low 4:20s for this event over the
past two springs.
800m
This
one is setting up to be fun. Matt Eissler and Joe Cullen, two of the top
returners from last year’s state 800 meters, are both expected to hit the track
and battle for a top time in the state. Kamil Jihad’s 1:56 state lead is in jeopardy
if these guys are on their game. Eissler was one of my most impressive
performers during the holiday break and I think he has state champion potential
this year (if a couple things go his way). Cullen is no slouch either and has a
big time clutch gene at the end of races. If he is in it with 100 to go, it
would be tough to pick against him. Let’s see if he has the speed to get out
hard after racing 3k last meet.
Beyond these
two are some other top PA guys. Brett Zatlin has a 1:57 outdoor best and ran a
really nice mile to open up his season. He’s coming off an XC state qualifying
performance and has a lot of momentum. Seth Phillips of Mifflin County is
running close to home, holds a 1:55 best, and is racing for a school that was
one of the best stories during XC for breakout individuals. Silas Mays is
another 1:57 type who has a teammate, the aforementioned Sam Snodgrass, to push
him in practice and in this race.
3,000m
I think
the 800 will likely produce the fastest time, but I think the 3k will be the
most fun. There are a lot of intriguing names on this performance list
including some indoor newcomers. Brendan Miller of Upper Dauphin will be racing
his first major indoor meet. Miller was an excellent 3200 runner last year,
taking 3rd at AA states, but he was even better during XC. He ran
15:40 at Carlisle and placed 2nd at A states. He’s a gutsy runner
who isn’t afraid to push the pace and chase sub 9. And he should have company.
Andrew Stanley was just behind Miller in the aforementioned state 3200 last
year and also holds a sub 9:30 best for 3200.
Another
potential rivalry could be that of former teammates Carlos Shultz and Jake
Robinson. Shultz, now at Phoenixville, ran under 9 minutes as a frosh last
winter in a Conestoga uniform. This past fall, representing his new squad,
Shultz ran in the 15:20s for 5k and earned his first state medal. He’s got the
talent to run well under 9 minutes this race. Robinson is no slouch either. The
Conestoga senior was a top 50 runner at XC states and nearly broke 16 minutes
for 5k at Lehigh as well.
A few other names to watch include Ryan Sullivan (AA state medalist from Loyalsock), Ben Kuhn and Matt Driben (two talented state champs from Wyomissing), and Christian Groff of Hempfield.
4x800m
I don’t
actually know which teams will load this up, but I did notice that Seneca
Valley was listed in this event (and maybe only this event?). The WPIAL champs
and state medal winners from spring 2017 return a loaded squad (everyone?) from
their 7:46 team. Seneca Valley didn’t get those XC team medals they were after
this fall, but don’t sleep on this team’s ability to turn heads in the longest
relay of the meet. I doubt they will hit a sub 8 this early, but they could definitely
be in range of Pennsbury for a top spot in PA. That would establish them as an
early contender for the state title.
Weekend Recap:
ReplyDeleteDickinson:
Nice 3200 W from Mitchell Martin of Berwick. Had a 4:33/9:54 double last year at districts and has the chance to make some noise out in D2. Picked up a win over a formidable opponent in Dusseau. Speaking of Dusseau and Avon Grove, shoutout to his sophomore teammate Luke Talham for picking up the mile win in 4:48.
Ocean Breeze Freedom Games:
Kind of a weird meet, with only a few PA teams, so I just skimmed the results by team. State qualifier dropped a solid 2:39 1k, juts missing out on the top 5. Underwood from Wilson dropped a 4:37, and from the looks of things, a big pr from Kennett's Davis Piercy, who went 4:38. Great Valley caught my eye a little bit, with 4 guys under 4:50, none of which were seniors. Was hoping to see some big PA talent in this meets 3200, but unfortunately none of the big names came up. That being said, Ethan Bernstein of Saucon Valley still came out and put PA in the race with a solid 9:56, which will convert to about a 9:15 3k. Still a decent bit off the SQS, but it puts him near the top of the state for now.
TFCAofGP:
Div 1- Deep 800 field, but no flashy times. 7 guys under 2:05. Have to wonder if Claricurzio is coming off of an injury, having only run shorter races and now finally opening up with a 2:03. Keep an eye on Langley from Chester with a 2:04. I don't know if they're all that really deep, but between Curry and Langley they're starting to find pieces for a 4x8. Congrats to Tomov of Haverford for the win in the mile over multiple xc state qualifiers (Campbell, Koza, Maher, Valderrabano, Bardwell). RUSTY KUJDYCH. Wow. What a race. Train wasn't lying when he said to watch the state record. An 8:39 solo on a flat track in early January is just ABSURD. At this rate, you'll have to wonder if he'll even have the competition to push him (though we'll get to that later). Rollins with a solid 9:11, though, with Rusty so far out ahead, that was essentially a solo for Rollins as well. After a DNF earlier in the week and a 9:22 from Addison, you have to figure he's not completely healthy, but 9:22 is still a respectable time nonetheless. LaSalle picked up an 8:31 in the 4x8 for the victory and CB West comes up with a big 10:50 effort in the DMR to go PA #3. I'd love to know those splits, but you have to figure Baker played a pretty big part in that.
Div 2- Little quieter in this side with guys racing elsewhere, but a couple notable results. Jonah Hoey runs his first open 8 of the season, solo'ing his way to a PA #7 (I think PA #6 with flat track conversion) 1:58.62. After splitting 1:57 at the Armory, we figured he had this kind of mark in him. Slightly surprised we didn't see him up at the Armory or at PSU, but its still a great time that gets him into MOC for February. BIG name to watch moving forward was runner up to Hoey, Jarrett Zelinsky of Holy Ghost Prep. Holy Ghost is in a bit of a down year in the distance realm after being an elite program for both XC and track the past couple years. It looks like Zelinsky, a 100m-400m sprinter, was given a random shot at the 800 and dropped a 2:03.9. Given that he's a sprinter, the kid might've had no idea who Hoey was and could've gone right out with him. If this was truly this kids first 800 and he ran 2:03 on a flat track indoor, this kid could easily be dipping into the 1:50's soon enough. The race of the day in Div II was a mile that came down to two 800m studs, Jihad and Yoquinto. Having posted 1:56 and 1:57 marks up at the Armory at two different meets, the two moved up in distance and it was Jihad who came out on top in a PA #12 4:32.72 to Yoqunito's 4:34.24. Charlie Hermann for the second time this season, hangs around the front of a race and runs 4:35 (see TCFAofGP meet #1) and rounding out the top 4 was one of Shanahan's many pieces, Mcgrory with a 4:42. In the 3k, Borger picks up another win on the season, this time with a 9:16, holding off Will Merhige and Matt Maiale by one and two seconds, respectively.
Catching my errors and typos hahaha, Michael Clark of Methacton was the state qualifier in the 1k from Ocean Breeze, my apologies
DeleteYoungstown:
ReplyDeleteNothing too flashy here, but some solid openers for the westerners. Dylan Binda took home top PA honors in the 800, running 2:01.71, and was followed by NA's Zach Ehling in 2:02.73. Both hold pr's decently under 2, so you'd imagine that these guys will be in the picture for state qualifying come February. Gordon Pollock stepped up for WT with Thurston not racing here, coming up with PA's top performance in the 1600 with a 4:32.49. Because it was a 1600 and not a full mile, he won't be that far up the state rankings, but its still a great opener for him and with such a talented training partner, its hard to imagine that Pollock can't drop into the mid 4:20's and slide into states. Cameron Binda, not to be shown up by his brother, picked up the win in the 3200 with a 10:03.
Hispanic Games:
Alright, now we're onto the big boys. Lets jump into the two mile invitational. Lederer and Corneilson from District 1 came into New York, and while they had to go up against some big out of state talent, came away with great times. Lederer dropped a 9:41, which will put him right around 9 flat. Lederer is now a multi time state medalist between XC and track, so while he may have been slightly disappointed with this result, it sets him up well to make it back to the state meet and improve upon his 6th place finish. Corneilson from Cheltenham just continues to ramp it up, this time dropping a 9:34.90 for full two miles, finishing in 4th behind three out of staters. It'll convert to about a 8:52, which would put him at PA #3. This is a monster race from Corneilson who just continues to get better and follow Will Griffen as Cheltenham's next big distance stud. Angelina of Penncrest drops a 4:39 as he looks to help Penncrest build a DMR. Now we move to the event of the weekend for the state, the 800. This weekend, 10 of the top 13 times in the state were run across all the meets. At the Armory, PA wasn't quite able to hang with the top finishers, but we still had 4 guys hit 2 flat or under. Leading the way was Hudson Delisle with a 1:58.77, and a PA #8. Delisle has dropped marks of 1:58 and 4:32 this year. While these are great marks, Delisle is a 49/1:52/4:18 stud, so its hard to think anything other than he's just getting warmed up. The two Pennsbury boys, Sauer and Linares came away with 1:58 high/1:59 low times, going PA #10 and PA #11. Seeing as that Scratchard is almost certainly in sub 2 shape right now, its plausible that Pennsbury has 3 of the top 10 800 guys in the state right now. It'll be interesting to see how these guys shake up the state picture with their 4x8, because if they decide to scratch the open 800, two or three guys could totally shift the dynamic of the heats. Rounding out the top 4 was state qualifier from last year, Robert Dupell in 2:00.27.
Love your page please don’t stop posting
ReplyDeleteKevin Dare:
ReplyDeleteLast one, here we go. Mile was solid, but not nearly as deep as last year. Baublitz is proving that he is simply one of the finest milers in the state, regardless of age. Its absurd that although Baublitz ran 4:24.2 and is PA #4, he isn't even the fastest sophomore in the state right now. Assuming Rusty will go to the 3k, Baublitz's shot at a state title is contingent on what Josh Hoey does. If in an unlikely situation, Josh scratches, I think Garrett has a small, yet possible shot at taking the title. Following Baublitz was the always contending Sam Snodgrass, who came in 3rd with a 4:29 and PA #6. Snodgrass always seems to be lurking around the top of the state, but has yet to ever really be in the conversation for a title. Here's to hoping that this early sub 4:30 is a sign of a big breakthrough for the Duquesne commit. Earlier, I referenced that we'd get to referencing any competition that Rusty may have in the 3k. Look no further than PA #2 and US #2 Brendan Miller. Aside from the many aspects of his race, including how fast his time was, and the fact that he solo'd it, nothing was crazier than the fact that this was Miller's first indoor race ever. Also, in his interview, Miller noted that he's really just building mileage right now and hasn't really been doing a lot of workouts. If these are true, Miller could have tons of upside, and, well, having tons of upside after running 8:49 is a big deal. It'll be interesting to see just how fast Miller can go and if he can come out and give Rusty a true challenge for his 2nd state title of his senior year. Outside of Miller, Carlos Shultz added to the sophomores talent this season and dropped a 9:04, which is insanely strong time for a sophomore this early on. Theres only a handful of sophs who have broken 9 in the past couple years, with those names being Conway, Kujdych, Dahl, Brophy, James. So as we've already seen during XC, Shultz is setting himself up to be in great company. Not too far off him was sophomore Ben Kuhn from Wyomissing with a 9:12, so the same can be said for him. Andrew Stanley ran 9:13 on the double from a 4:34, so I think he can definitely get down around 9 flat and contend for a state qualifying position. Alright, now we're onto the event of the weekend for PA, Kevin Dare's 800. This race produced the PA #1,3,4,5, and 7 times, as well as a short-lived US #1 for the winner, Collin Ebling. This was a HUGE win for the Pottsville senior not only because of the time of 1:55.03, but because of the victory over guys like Cullen and Eissler. From the video, he bided his time and then hawked down the likes of Cullen, who is a 1:53 guy. This was just a great run for Ebling who 100% puts himself in contention for the state title, especially because of his ability to close. While Ebling pulled the upset win, its not to say Cullen and Eissler didn't run well, because they went 1:56.66 and 1:57.34, both of which would've been in the top 12 or so at states last winter. Eissler showed he had this kind of time in him with a 1:59 at Lehigh, and we knew it was only a matter of time until Cullen, the Duke commit, came out and dropped a monster time. Brett Zatlin hung onto these top tier guys and was rewarded with a PA #5 time. He doesn't necessarily have the credentials of some of these other guys, but this was a huge race for the Great Valley senior, and puts him in possible state medal contention come February. Rounding out these sub 2 guys was Seth Phillips, the junior from Mifflin County, who dropped a 1:58.37, and put in a hard charge to close the gap on the top pack of guys. The junior has a 1:55 pr and qualified for states outdoor last spring, so Phillips is yet another guy who will be in contention for one of the top spots come late February. Snodgrass doubled back nicely from a 4:29 with a 2:02 double.
That's all fellas. Sorry for what was probably an excessive amount of typos or mistakes. I thought I'd try and give train a break. Can't wait for the rest of the season!
Bruh shoutout to this dude ^
ReplyDeleteI too wanna give a huge shout-out to whoever put up these recaps. There's just something soothing about reading these, I guess. Thank you. I'll chime in with a few of my thoughts from this weekend.
ReplyDelete-Brendan Miller is my new favorite runner. After reading the Penntrack feature on him before XC states and listening to his interview, I've come to the conclusion that he is the real-life Ben Havleck. Small school, no teammates, pays for his own meets, coached by a not-so-typical coach, etc. He just seems as blue collar as it gets, and I respect that. I sure hope he decides to run at states, because I really wanna see him against the best of AAA.
-I think Penncrest went under the radar this weekend. You could argue that they underperformed or didn't wow anybody, but I was impressed. Lederer is a known commodity, but having 3 other guys essentially at 4:40 for 1600 is a big deal to me. I, like Etrain, am a big believer in having strong training partners to push you. I can see these guys sniffing sub-4:30 if they continue improving, and that bodes well for a DMR or 4xMile at nationals.
-Thanks for mentioning the Youngstown meet as a solid opener for the west. The 1st TSTCA meet was cancelled, which screwed a lot of big names (Beveridge, McGoey, and Forsythe according to Penntrack) from racing. I liked seeing Zach Ehling back in action. He must have been injured last spring, but don't forget he was a 1:56 guy in 10th grade. Lots of talent there. The Greensburg Salem boys did decent, too. They opted against an indoor relay last year, so I hope they pick one (preferably DMR) this time around. Then again, their big 3 are all juniors, so maybe next year.
-Seneca Valley with a nice 8:07. Yes, they have everyone back from their 7:46 outdoor squad (barring injury). The results indicate that they ran this meet without Ketler and Owori, which would be scary. However, after looking at the photos, I'm like 90% sure that was their true "A" squad with their 2 big dogs.
-Jiminy Cricket
You had me at real-life Ben Havleck
Delete