Non-Henderson and Baldwin Recaps

Stan Morgan

The always dangerous Cumberland Valley 4x800 posted a strong victory with an 8:05 to outlast Cedar Crest’s 8:08. They’ve got a balanced team that has experience advancing to states and the state finals so they could be dangerous once they start to peak. The medals for the 4x8 still seem pretty up in the air as things currently stand.

I was very impressed with Morgan Cupp’s performance in the 1600. A 4:19 mark for him is, I believe, a pretty sizable PR and speaks to his greatly improved track speed this season. He hasn’t dropped any times that put him in that fabled Rusty-Beveridge zone, but I don’t think he’s super far back from those two. I still think this kid could have a big outdoor state meet.

The breakout star of the race was John David Lane from West Perry. I didn’t know this kid’s name, but he ran 4:24 last year so I probably should have. Now he’s down to 4:21 and a strong contender in an absolutely loaded 1600 field in District 3. There’s a long list of guys in that low 4:20 range any of which could surprise over the stretch run of the season.

Jack Wisner picked up a nice win at 800 meters against one of this outdoor season’s most consistent 800 performers in Jack Baker. Will be interesting to see what Wisner chooses to pursue this track season as his main event. He’s been primarily an 800 guy to date, but I like his upside at 1600. Chambersburg put two guys under 2 minutes in this race as well (both juniors) and Mount Carmel’s Tyler Adams was at 1:59.3. He’s a small school guy who is a sure-fire threat in that event.

Blue Streak Relays

It looks like this meet featured an awesome match up in the DMR as Ephrata, Hempfield and Manheim were all well under 11 minutes. Ephrata came out on top with a 10:32, but I was very impressed with Hempfield’s efforts just behind at 10:35. I think this could be a sleeper team in the 4x8. I’ve already mentioned Manheim a bunch in recent posts (10:41) and they continue to excel. I’m more interested in their individuals than relay at this point, but I’d think all three of these schools with Cumby and Cedar Crest will be in the mix for an SQS. Should be another very competitive 4x8 field.

Shaner Invite

Wyomissing is going to be one of the most interesting programs to watch this outdoor season. They’ve got a really strong stable of distance guys who could do big things individually. But they also have the potential to win state gold in the 4x8 (an event they have been dominant in since Joe Cullen first stepped foot on the track). The guy who impressed me most for them at Shaner was Ben Kuhn. The sophomore won the 3200 in 9:34 and then added a 1600 victory in 4:21. Those are both medal worthy times in AA and he’s got room left to go. His teammate Joe Cullen looked pretty strong as well. In perhaps his best track race of the year, Cullen dropped a 1:54.40 for a huge victory and meet record. Cullen focused on the 1600 last year (and did really well with a 4:13), but maybe the 800 will be more of a focus this season. This result was certainly encouraging. To cap things off, Wyomissing ran 3:25 for 2^nd in the 4x4.

Their biggest challenge for middle distance supremacy will likely come from Schuylkill Valley. The boys showed just what they were capable of in the relays with a victory in the 4x8 (ran away with things in 8:04) and were only narrowly edged by Wyomissing in the 4x4 (3:25.24 to 3:25.19). I’d love to see these two squads match up in the 4x8 all out at districts, but we may have to wait until states (if get the match up at all) as I’m not sure how conservative Wyomissing will play the district meet.

In AAA news, I was really impressed with Boyertown’s Josh Endy. The senior has been more of an 800 type on the track, but he proved he’s got the strength to do a lot more. Endy ran just behind Kuhn with a 4:22.07 for the silver in the event. I believe that’s a pretty sizable PR and makes Endy a state qualifying contender in D1 for the 1600 (what a long list that’s becoming). I’m excited to see Endy continue to grow in this longer event.

DELCO Championships

Elias Lindgren. That’s got to be the headline after this one. The Episcopal senior put his name on a very exclusive list of triple champions from the DELCO by winning the 3200-1600-800. He started things with a 9:44 3200, but his real breakthrough came two days later when he dropped impressive PRs of 4:18 and 1:56 to steal a couple golds. Epsicopal also nearly stole a 4x4 title (and likely had Lindgren giving them a leg) as they took silver with a 3:24.85 (Chester won in 3:24.60). The Independent leaguer is likely done racing PIAA kids until June which is a real bummer because he was heating up at the right time. It would have been awesome to see this guy at states considering the burst of speed he’s had this weekend.

Ridley’s Zack Forney continued his impressive outdoor campaign with a 4:22 for second at 1600. He edged out Haverford’s Aiden Tomov, one of the top guys from this past indoor season, who also clocked a 4:22. At 800, Lindgren bested Radnor’s Ethan Zeh by 0.03 seconds as both ran 1:56 low. Jarnail Dhillon of Upper Darby was also in the mix with a 1:56.53. Haverford picked up a 1:58 leg for a potential 4x8 as Brendan Campbell ran 1:58.60. Very interested to see if they give the relay any real consideration. They didn’t indoors and I’m not sure how much the priorities will have changed.

Helman Invitational

The race of the day was the 800 meters where Pennridge’s Matt Eissler stormed across the line first in 1:54.54. Eissler has been terrific ever since his freshman year and now I think he is starting to become a household name. He had already split 1:54 this outdoor season and has excelled at both 1600 and 400. The upcoming state meet is setting up to be a big day for Eissler as he’s projected to be a part of the 4x8, open 8 and 4x4. He could honestly leave with three golds. I can’t say enough about how good Pennridge looks like right now in the middle distances. Bobby Brashear (a sophomore) dropped a 1:57 in the open and Luke Eisssler clocked a 1:59. That means they have three guys at Pennridge who are under 2 minutes in the open and all are non-seniors. Plus they’ve got a 48 second guy in Anderson Dimon (another junior by the way) who could be yet another piece to their 4x8 relay. I may be getting over excited, but if they get the right push at states, I could see sub 7:40 this year and perhaps a run at the state record next year.

The biggest source of competition for Pennridge? We likely saw it at this meet. CB West took 2-4-5 in the 800 to make their potential quite evident. Their top 3 legs looked even better than Pennridge’s and, although Eissler got the win, it was an incredibly confidence building run from Jake Claricurzio. Due to the time he missed, Jake hasn’t been the same guy that anchored West to a state title last year-until now. A 1:54.68 with a negative split to come within inches of knocking off Eissler? That’s really impressive. He’s the x-factor for West and I think he gets the anchor role back for the post season with Baker going back to lead off. Pennridge vs. CB West for the next three weeks is going to be unreal.

High quality 3200 result from Ben Bunch who dropped a 9:40.14. The kid also ran 3:08 for 1200 at the Penn Relays (really quick/speedy performance). This guy may end up the x-factor in the state 4x8 discussion. Either that or he may drop a 3200 time in the 9:20s and make states.

Don’t sleep on CB East. I really liked what I saw from them at Penn Relays and Alex Bardwell is legit. He won the 1600 with a 63 second last lap. He’s going to be a really nice relay piece for them and, given the upside for Endres and Motter, this team has all the tools for a sub 7:50 by season’s end. They just need to all click at the same time.

North East Invitational

We either saw the closest 1600 of all time (14 guys within 0.5 seconds) or the results are wrong. Regardless, I’m keeping a close eye on the Harbor Creek duo of Stravaggi and Weber. Those guys were fantastic during XC and I think they could be factors in the post season (although they haven’t dropped anything too mind blowing thus far). Also, I’m unsure if they are in AA or AAA this year which will be a big swing.

Oil City

Jonah Powell turned around quickly from his big double at Baldwin. How about a 1:56.57 800 PR? This junior is rolling right now. I think we are seeing a breakout star. But it’s worth noting the time of Lakeview’s Zach Tingley. The AA stand out showed some nice speed with his 1:58.28. He’s a medal contender in the AA landscape in the 800 and this was a nice lifetime best in his first marquee match-up.

Neshaminy Invite

The marquee event here was the 800 meters, which featured CR South’s Collin Ochs breaking through in the open 800. He dropped a 1:55.91 PR to win the race, backing up some of his impressive splits on the relay. He beat a strong field that included sub 2 minute runners Sam Earley and Kevin Rodriguez. I’ve been on the Ochs bandwagon for a while and this supports my … well … support. CR South also had the winners in the 4x4, 3200 (Kyle Kutney), and 1600 (Andrew Zawodniak). Their 4x8 is one of the biggest wild cards for me as we head into the post season.

Really nice 800 from Sam Earley. I’d say he has been mostly focused on the 1600 for the big races to date, but maybe this result will spur him toward the shorter race (or perhaps give him confidence in the 1600). This kid knows how to peak and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he catches fire right when the pressure turns up a notch. Lastly, don’t sleep on Bensalem in the 4x8. A lot of speed on this team (their 4x4 is great) and they have the coaching to make something happen.

West Central Coaches

Indiana Area won a close 4x8 battle with State College 8:11 to 8:13. Their super soph Kendall Branan, who was second in the WPIAL during XC, dropped a blazing 50.57 in the open 400 showing that he’s got some serious range. Kendall is incredible and, if he has a stretch run like he did in the fall, is going to do some big things in the 800. Chayce Macknair was your 1600 champ for Mifflin County, winning comfortably with a time of 4:31. In AA, it was the Garrett Baublitz show as the super soph added to his gold medal collection with a 4:29 victory over Zach Kohler of Tyrone (4:36). I can’t wait to see this kid go head to head with Forsythe/Cullen/Leeser. There will be fireworks.

Pine Richland

Don’t look now, but here comes Cameron Binda. The Greensburg Salem junior is really finding his stride on the track. He won both the 3200 and the 1600 at this meet, taking the 16 with a time of 4:22.03. In the process, he knocked off defending district champ Le’Shawn Huff and teammate Mark Brown (by 7 seconds). For good measure, he added a 9:33 in the 3200 to win that event by 24 seconds. Binda is already a medalist indoors for the mile and he’s turned it up another notch this spring. A time around 4:16 is in play before all is said and done. He’s definitely got the strength, I’m interested to see if he’s got the raw speed. Maybe he tries both the 32 and 16 at WPIALs and picks his favorite for states (or tries both).

Speaking of speed, Le’Shawn Huff didn’t let himself get down about his 1600 defeat. The New Castle senior rolled a big PR of 1:56.74 to defeat Matt Busche (1:56.92). Those are two of the fastest times of the district (Huff is suddenly an individual contender in the 800). That half got a lot deeper as 5 guys dipped under 2 minutes include a 1:57.85 from CJ Thimons and a 1:58.53 from Josh Yourish. Those aren’t big names, but they dropped big PRs this weekend to put their names on the radar. I’m not sure what to make of this WPIAL 800 right now. Should be a fun one to sort out in a couple weeks.

Trojan Track Classic

The 3200 was the most notable race from this meet (as a long distance race under the lights can often be) as we saw 4 guys under 10 minutes (comfortably). Brendan O’Toole topped all runners with a 9:36 result to announce his candidacy for a state qualifying spot. He’s got the range to be dangerous in all distance events which could be an advantage in District One, where state spots are hard to come by. Ben Hoyer had a big breakthrough to get down to 9:38 and he and Maiale will likely throw their hat in the ring for this event at districts. Sophomroe Noah Demis with an encouraging result as well – he dropped a 9:49 for 3^rd. Demis was a top 40 guy at states in XC as just a 10^th grader.