Shoveling Out Some Recaps

Guys, it’s snowing today. It’s April and it’s snowing. That’s not exactly what I want to be dealing with while trying to write up a Spring Track Meet recap post. I’m going to try to avoid crying in the middle of this post, but if you see some wet spots on the computer than you’ll know I failed.

That is, of course, a joke. If you see some wet spots on your computer that is definitely not my fault. You might want to look into that people.

Keep in mind that, because it’s basically still winter, the track results aren’t necessarily going to be fearlessly fast. However, there’s always value in knowing who knows how to win a race against top competition. And toughness is on full display under these circumstances as well.

PTFCA Carnival

The race of the day featured a pair of state medalists. Tyler Wirth of Wallenpaupack went head to head with Neumann Goretti 800 stand out Kamil Jihad. Wirth, a sub 4:20 guy, got the win with a strong opening mark of 4:26, but Jihad really gave him a run for his money with a 4:28 performance of his own. That was a nice showing of speed from the 800 specialist. Both guys are all-stars so it’s great to see them head to head in the early season.

Chester’s Lamaj Curry picked up the 800 victory in this meet, producing a solid time of 1:58.48. Curry was one of the breakout stars of the indoor season and it’s nice to see that momentum carrying into the “spring”. His freshman teammate Abdul Griggs was also a winner, winning the first section of the 800 in 2:09. Talus Gaymore, the runner up in the 800 from Penn Wood, likely played a role in the team’s 8:25 victory in the 4x8. Lakeland of District 2 AA was second in that event.

Penncrest made a little noise at this meet. Although Lederer and Theveny weren’t in open action, the Central League Champs had a sophomore take 7^th in the 1600 (Luke Narbus) and added 4-5 in the 800 (Billy Angelina and another soph in Andrew Woolery).

Jim Kelly Invitational

CR South, one of the best 4x8s in the state so far, jumped up to the DMR this weekend and pulled out an impressive result. They rolled to a 10:50.67 runaway victory. Unsurprisingly, the middle distance squad impressed most in the middle stages with a 49.28 and 2:01.92 split to break things open. These guys will be one of our best hopes at sneaking into the Penn Relays Championship of America later this month. They ran well there a year ago and now have a little extra experience and confidence in big meet situations.

In the other relay was a typical relay power in Abington. They dropped an 8:08.98 to win this event. They still have strong potential to drop a big time-looks like they are a piece away. A 1:56 lead off leg is no joke for this time of year. Bensalem gave them a nice fight with a 1:58 lead of their own and an 8:19 mark.

This meet, too, featured a stacked 1600. Matt Eissler, a proven 800 star, dropped a 4:25.29 to defeat the Wissahickon 1-2 punch of Matt Maiale and Ben Hoyer. Pennridge also had the 8^th finisher overall in Ethan Saville, who won heat 2 of 3. I really like Eissler’s potential this spring. His indoors was really strong and I think he can be a sub 1:53 guy this year if things break right. He’s also consistently improved in the 1600, making it an interesting consideration looking forward.

Jarnail Dhillon of Upper Darby picked up the 800 victory in 1:58.26, knocking off Michael Clark of Methacton (1:59.03) who is a proven state qualifying talent from a year ago. Dhillon ended his indoor season on a hot streak and that momentum is carrying through to the big oval. Methacton didn’t just have Clark in this one as Myles Hoven took 3^rd overall with a 2:00.46. They’ve also got the talented youngster Varghese on the roster (9^th in that strong 1600 field). Could be a sleeper team in the 4x8. CB South also posted two sub 2:03 guys in the 800 with Jared Fenessy and Owen Moelter. Both are sophomores.

Keystone Cup

Lower Dauphin picked up a runaway victory in the 4x8 (8:25) plus they took 3-4 in the 1600, 1^st in the 400 and 1-3 in the open 8. These guys were super deep a year ago and when things clicked in the state prelims, they were one of the best teams in the state. Steven Schankweiler is legit and Jared Giannascoli is a versatile weapon to pair with him.

Also picking up strong wins at this meet were D3 stand outs Alex Ermold (1^st in the 3200) and Christian Groff (1^st in the 1600).

Breslin Invitational

It was a big day for Southern Columbia’s Ethan Knoebel. The District 4 XC champ won the 1600 in 4:37.16 before adding the 800 gold to his trophy case (2:02.46). He was also likely a factor in a tight 4x4 event where Southern Columbia narrowly edged XC team champs Mount Caramel 3:38.20 to 3:38.43. Knoebel, a state finalist in the loaded AA 1600 last year, looks poised for another big outdoor season in 2018.

Rustin Invitational

One of the first stars of the outdoor season has been Ridley’s Zack Forney. After a monster XC campaign, Forney entered his track debut as a relative underdog in a loaded 1600 field but left with gold in the event. His time of 4:30 was enough to best a strong field that included multiple indoor state qualifiers including medalist Tyler Rollins of DT West. For good measure, Forney picked up a victory in the 800 as well, pulling away with a time of 2:03. It should be interesting to see if he can carry this winning mentality into the faster stretch of the season and leave with some fast times. Throw Forney into the already complicated district one state qualifying picture.

Noah Dusseau produced arguably the best 3200 rest we’ve seen so far this spring. He dropped a 9:49.86 (coming within 0.03 seconds of his seed time which is pretty wild) and picked up a 10 second victory over strong runners in Jack Bell and James Conway. Dusseau is a proven XC stand out already and could add a state qualifying performance on the track to his strong trail resume.

What will we see out of Great Valley this spring? They picked up a nice win in the 4x8, clocking an 8:19 to beat DT West’s 8:20. They have Brett Zatlin, a 1:54 guy who is now a state medalist, and a young promising core, but will they give this event a sincere focus during the spring? If they do, I think they could challenge the 8 minute barrier. DT West will obviously be in that ball park as well. They have such a long list of pieces (as proven by their 2-3 finish in this one) that they could have two teams down near 8 minutes before all is said and done.