It’s officially the last month ever for the blog. Thanks
to everyone who has stuck with me as I struggle to the finish like a sprinter
that went out way over his head in his first ever 800. It’s a busy time right
now in my life as my wife and I are looking to relocate back to PA and the job
search is ramping up (my wife’s a physics teacher, so if you hear about any
openings, drop me a line) so posts will likely be streaky at best over these
finals weeks. I’m saying that not as an excuse (although I suppose it is), but
more as a warning to try and avoid some anger during the farewell tour.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to disappear completely
as I try to post up some recaps and certainly will have my predictions ready to
go when we get to the end of the season (I had a decent-ish read on Penn Relays
so I’m optimistic for state predictions this year – which probably means they
will be totally wrong). I’m looking to mix it up a bit and keep things
interesting (mostly for me, but hopefully for you as well), by reaching out to
the community to see if there’s any specific types of posts that you would like
to see me do. It may be a repeat of some old school stuff I worked on or maybe
you’ve got a new idea that you’d like to see put in play.
I also thought it might be fun to share some of your
favorite posts from over the years (if you have any) to take a trip down memory
lane together while we close this out. I may recycle some of my favorites to
the front page as well. It is a cool process for me to re-read some of this
stuff (plus it saves me some work because I don’t have to write a new post).
Anyway, thanks for all the support, huge shout out to
Jiminy for all his work (I look forward to maybe reading your blog one day),
check out GZ’s The Stride Report if you like college stuff and, um, stay in
school, tell your mom you love her and, of course, stay classy.
Week 4 Rankings:
ReplyDelete1. Josh Hoey (Bishop Shanahan/Senior)
2. Rusty Kujdych (Neshaminy/Senior)
3. Noah Beveridge (Butler/Senior)
4. Liam Conway (Owen J. Roberts/Senior)
5. Tyler Shue (Ephrata/Sophomore)
6. Evan Addison (LaSalle/Senior)
7. Jonah Hoey (Bishop Shanahan/Sophomore)
8. Tristan Forsythe (Winchester Thurston/Senior)
9. Colin Ebling (Pottsville/Senior)
10. Tyler Wirth (Wallenpaupack/Junior)
11. Matt Eissler (Pennridge/Junior)
12. Joe Cullen (Wyomissing/Senior)
13. Brenden Miller (Upper Dauphin/Senior)
14. Tyler Leeser (Milton/Senior)
15. Kamil Jihad (Neumann Goretti/Senior)
16. Isaac Davis (Jersey Shore/Senior)
17. Garrett Baublitz (Juniata/Sophomore)
18. Morgan Cupp (Mechanicsburg/Senior)
19. Seth Ketler (Seneca Valley/Junior)
20. Jonah Powell (Grove City/Junior)
21. Mitchell Etter (State College/Senior)
22. Brian Baker (CB West/Senior)
23. Evan Kaiser (DT West/Senior)
24. Jacob McKenna (Spring Ford/Senior)
25. Elias Lindgren (Episcopal Academy/Senior)
26. Tyler Rollins (DT West/Senior)
27. Sam Owori (Seneca Valley/Junior)
28. Hudson Delisle (Quakertown/Senior)
29. Jack Wisner (Carlisle/Junior)
30. Connor Shields (Warwick/Junior)
31. Ethan Zeh (Radnor/Junior)
32. David Endres (CB East/Junior)
33. Ian Miller (Manheim Township/Junior)
34. Jack Baker (Cedar Cliff/Junior)
35. Vincent Twomey (LaSalle/Sophomore)
36. Kyle Burke (Abington Heights/Senior)
37. Aidan Sauer (Pennsbury/Senior)
38. Sam Snodgrass (South Fayette/Senior)
39. Brett Zatlin (Great Valley/Senior)
40. Brett Brady (Butler/Senior)
41. Alexander Ermold (Governor Mifflin/Junior)
42. Nathan Grucelski (Conestoga Valley/Junior)
43. Zack Forney (Ridley/Senior)
44. Jake Claricurzio (CB West/Senior)
45. Tyler Bailey (Mifflinburg/Senior)
46. Chayce Macknair (Mifflin County/Junior)
47. Cameron Binda (Greensburg Salem/Junior)
48. Mitchell Forgash (Wyoming Valley West/Senior)
49. Zachary Leachman (Mars/Sophomore)
50. Christian Fitch (Fox Chapel/Sophomore)
Honorable Mention: Le’Shawn Huff, Seth Phillips, Ben Bunch, Linus Blatz
-Jiminy Cricket
is this an 800 ranking?
DeleteYeah, that’s why Rusty is second on the list. His specialty is the 800 meter run, not the 3k and 2 mile.
DeleteThe 800 is really strong this year.
DeleteNo not just the 800. Its supposed to be a list that answers the broad question "who's the best track runner right now?" It's super unofficial and subjective.
DeleteAnd yes, the 800 is good this year (as always). It just got even better with the Helman Invite. Eissler 1:54 FTW, 4 others under 1:57. If you make it out of D1 in the 8, you're automatically a state medal threat.
-Jiminy Cricket
You seem to overlooking Brendan O'Toole from North Penn who has qualified for District 1 in the 800, 1600 and 3200.
DeleteHoey in the elite 800. Any chance of a National record?
ReplyDeleteIt is a very fast field, if the weather cooperates there should be a legitimate opportunity. There are 5 guys in that race who have gone sub 1:47. Provided the weather cooperates (achance of T/S which brings gusty winds) I pick Hoey FTW and a new Outdoor National HS record.
ReplyDeletewhere/when is this race?
DeleteHey Train, thanks for doing this blog. I graduated a couple of years ago but it really made my time running more fun. I always had the goal of getting mentioned by name on here, I was never quite good enough but a few relays that I ran on did. Anyway I'm sure a lot of people will be sad to see the blog go, but I get it. Just keep chugging along and being a dope dude.
ReplyDeleteany league championship reviews coming?
ReplyDeleteI hope Jimminy or maybe a group of people take over the blog from etrain, this is awesome.
ReplyDeletefavorite post types in order
ReplyDeleteA) Sentimental: you're posts can be quite touching. The one you wrote for Ferruzzi's senior year states race is sticking out in my mind right now. you'll write a darn good memoir my friend.
B) The 5-8-10 year relay/XC squad team races/posts. I always thought these were some of the most fun, resourceful posts you made.
C) The top 50 XC Runners. These take so much work, talking from experience, and I think you had brilliant analysis for the guys on the trails.
D) New Years prediction posts. Clever, imaginative, and funny.
Last Favorite Posts:
A-Z) Drake lyric references... sorry bud but I just can't get into him still.
Congratulations on your (impending) move to Philly!
P.S. i'm in the midst of thesis writing till mid-august; depending on how the future falls i could do some writing if people continue the blog, but it's not something i imagine myself being able to take on alone.
Love to the running community
--forrestcrn