But seriously, when is it going to be spring ...

Kiwanis

Good news for Pennsbury fans-after missing the end of the indoor season, it appears that Jed Scratchard is back in action. He and state medal winning teammate Aidan Sauer rolled to a 1-2 finish in the 800 with times of 1:58.34 and 1:57.50 respectively. Pennsbury seems like the most logical challenger to CB West for the outdoor state title (although Pennridge and Ephrata will have things to say about that). Speaking of 4x8 contenders, the boys from CB East made a big statement on this front. The quartet knocked off indoor state medal winners Abington and sub 8 squad CR South and dropped a very quick 8:01.44. That time may be good enough to punch a ticket to Penn Relays. East has a star in David Endres, but is also getting back Marc Motter for the spring. These guys have the chance to be well under 8 minutes when all is said and done. I’m a big fan of this group’s potential.

For the record, Pennridge won both the DMR and the 4x4, staking their own climb for middle distance prowess.

Rusty Kujdych began his quest for the triple crown with a runaway victory at 1500. He dropped a 4:06 for the win (roughly a mid 4:20s type mark) to take gold by almost 9 seconds. Kevin Ehrgott of CR North was second. The CRN boys were victorious in the 400 (Mike Welde), 3k (Sam Earley) and 5k (Ethan Koza). It looks like the team’s #1 XC runner Ryan Campbell did not compete. I believe he also missed the indoor state championships so he may have an injury. Although Campbell’s been missing, CRN’s DMR team is still monstrous on paper. They ran 10:32 indoors and could potentially cut some more time off that mark in the right conditions. Their 12-4 punch out front sets them up to be similar to O’Hara from a few years ago, but the pressure will be on the back end to bring it home. I think low 10:20s is possible should they make it to Penn.

Bruce Dallas

Mechanicsburg’s Morgan Cupp left Bruce Dallas with perhaps the best performance of the day. He rolled to a meet record in the 3200, dropping a 9:31.55 to outlast indoor state medalist Ian Miller (who impressed himself with a 9:38.20). I’ve already mentioned Cupp’s name a couple times this spring and he’s on pace for what would be a huge breakthrough on the track. I think he’s setting himself up for a huge year. Miller (just a junior on the rise) should be a name to remember as well.

I was very impressed with the results from Schuylkill Valley in the middle distance relays. They dropped an 8:15 to defeat a strong field that included two of last year’s D3 state qualifiers, Manheim Township and Lower Dauphin, before uncorking a quick 3:26 in the 4x4. Ben Reisenweaver also won the open 800 in 2:00.42. I believe Schuylkill Valley is AA for track and, historically, does a great job in this relay. I could see them factoring in near the top of the state standings when all is said and done. With Seneca graduating their big three, the AA 4x8 is still up for grabs at this stage.

Cumberland Valley’s Andrew Brown had a strong showing in the middle distances. He rolled to the win in the 1600, holding a 6.5 second cushion on second place with a 4:33. Brown followed that with a 2^nd place run in the 800. As a team, CV took 3 of the top 8 spots, including section 2 winner John Williams (a frosh) who ran 2:05.94.

Haverford

As mentioned by one of our commenters, Zack Forney of Ridley has somehow caught fire despite the cold conditions. After a couple big victories in his first meet of the season, Forney doubled down on his success by blasting times of 4:24.16 and 9:42.06 in the 16 and 32. Those are great marks and back up his wins against loaded fields last time out. I’m excited to see this momentum carry forward throughout the season. He still may just be scratching the surface which could be a scary sign for this competition.

Haverford Township had a nice day at their home meet. Aiden Tomov won the 800 with a mark of 1:59.37. He was 7^th at indoor states in the mile so he’s got a nice combination of strength and speed. His teammate Erik McCallion also dipped under two minutes at 1:59.87. Combine these two with Brendan Campbell and Josh Fingerhut (2^nd and 3^rd in the 1600) and you’ve got yourselves the beginnings of a very good 4x8. Haverford didn’t attack the relays indoors, but we may seem them give the 4x8 a real go in the spring. By the way, all four of these kids are back next year with three juniors and a soph (Fingerhut) on the roster. I believe they also return Donnelly who was a force during XC and has great strength.

WC East shined as well in this meet. A pair of sophomores, Josh Lewin and Domenic Moser, were excellent behind Forney in the 3200. They clocked times of 9:45 and 9:48 and put their names near the top of the state leaderboard thus far. We’ve seen Lewin do big things already in XC and track (which is crazy as he’s only a sophomore), but Moser is coming along nicely to push him. This 1-2 punch could be scary good in a couple years. East also took 5^th in the 1600 (Matt Clarke) and 4-5 in the 800 (Brennan and Daley).

Pirate Invitational

CB West hasn’t lost much momentum from the indoor season. The defending 4x8 state champions indoors and out took the top 3 spots in the open 800 (without their best guy from the winter). Jake Claricurzio is hitting his stride at the right time, dropping a 1:57.95 after a banged up couple months. The consistently reliable Luke Fehrman was 2^nd in 1:58.83 and Owen Shields, the breakout star on the 4x8, rounded out the top 3 at 2:02, just ahead of Burton Carbino’s 2:03 (Carbino ended up breaking 2 minutes at Kiwanis later in the weekend). CB West also took 2-5-6-7 in the 1600 and won the 4x4 and 4x8 relays.

Hudson Delisle flashed some serious range here as well. The Quakertown senior won both the 1600 and the 400. His times were 4:36 and 52 seconds. Delisle holds a best of 1:52 for 800 and may be the man to beat in that event if he’s healthy and in form.

Golden Ram

After an impressive DMR run during indoors, Spring Ford hit the track at West Chester ready to showcase their depth. Zach Smith and Milan Sharma took 2-3 in the open 800 and were closely followed by JT Clark and Calvin Thomas (6^th and 7^th). That right there is the pieces for a solid 4x8 if they choose to pursue it (they’ve also got McKenna, but I suspect he will be all in on the 3200). Freshman John Zawislak was 5^th in the 1600 and the aforementioned McKenna teamed with Shane Ainscoe for a 1-2 finish in the 3200. McKenna’s winning time was 9:48.

Great Valley’s Brett Zatlin, a 1:54 800 man, was second in the 1600. He clocked a time of 4:30 and was 6 seconds ahead of mile state qualifier Jack Miller of Jenkintown (3^rd place, solid run for the AA stand out). Zatlin’s Great Valley teammates were spread across the top of various fields with Roman Silen taking 3^rd in the 3200 and Seth Hoffritz leading the GV 800 charge at 2:03.97 (5^th). This Great Valley 4x8 squad will be interesting. They’ve shown flashes and they have a great piece in Zatlin, but the 4x8 in District One is always loaded. We will see if the young guys can step up. Great Valley won the 4x4 over Spring Ford at this meet 3:33 to 3:35.

Whippet Invitational

Owen J. Roberts was one of the most pleasant surprises in an XC season filled with pleasant surprises. So that’s saying something. Liam Conway shined during the indoor season (two gold medals are pretty shiny), but I thought we might see some relay action start to develop during the winter. Looks like I may have been a couple months early. The OJR boys depth is starting to show up again as they went toe to toe with indoor state qualifiers Twin Valley and DT West (who medaled indoors) in the 4x8 and came away with the win 8:07.98 to 8:13.82 (TV). OJR’s Kyle Malmstrom was also victorious in the individual 800 with a mark of 2:02.49. He knocked off Spencer Smucker of Henderson by less than 3 tenths of a second. OJR took 1-7-8-10 in the open 8 and 6-11 in the 1600 (and 6-9-10-11 in the 400). None of those guys were Liam Conway.

Of course, DT West still has one of the deepest squads in the state. The D1 XC Champs took 1 through 4 in the 1600, led by indoor state medalist Tyler Rollins at 4:31. Tyler Valderrabano was 3^rd in the 800 (2:04) and, as mentioned, West’s 4x8 was 3^rd in 8:17.