States Recap: 3000m

The Mile and 800m recaps can be seen below.

Ah the 3k. The only event of the day where I missed on the state champion. And man did I miss on the state champion. Colin Martin ran a fantastic race officially removing the title of "Ethan Martin's brother". Ethan had been the big name for a while, but Colin, who came on big last spring and even bigger this fall, is now a state champion in his own right. Imagine if both brothers are full healthy for outdoors? I wonder what a 1-2 punch of Martins would look like outdoors and if that sibling rivalry would get you to sub 9 minutes?

Colin probably could have even gone faster out there. The pace was a little sporadic and the first 1k was blazing fast! It was around 2:45 which is roughly 8:15 pace! If the pace was more like 2:50-2:50 for the first 2k then I think Martin could have come home in 2:48 and ran 8:28 to put him in the sub 8:30 club. Considering how often Martin has contested the longer distances and how often Wilson contested the longer stuff a year ago and both guys ended up finishing the season on quite the high note, I am going to have to go back and revisit a few theories.

Dominic Deluca ran gutsy but ended up getting caught in the wrong spot. He likely didn't realize just how fast things were early on and he wanted to be at the front. Then suddenly, he found himself at the front of the race and said, OK gotta just keep on pressing. Deluca still ran a PR kind of race out there and certainly helped make things fast for Martin, but got exposed the last 1k. A more evenly run race and Deluca is in excellent position for a massive PR. Outdoors a more experienced Deluca should be a factor in an excellent outdoor 3200m field. If all the pieces come together, I not only expect sub 9 minutes, but I expect 10+ guys under 9:20 (weather permitting).

Jake Brophy man. Wow. Watching that race, I thought he fell off hard off the fast pace and just wasn't ready to run the 8:40ish time it would take to be in the top 5. Then all of a sudden the results flash up on the board and Brophy gets up for 3rd and almost takes 2nd! What a fantastic kick! Just a sophomore finding his ability and proving his kick in a great field. I picked Brophy to win states because I believed in that kick and maybe in a different, much more tactical race, Brophy could have won the race, but for now I think he should be quite proud of where he finished in this field and the PR time he ran.

Kevin James had a strong race and ran a big indoor PR. I think James has been hurt a bit by the fact that his XC season went so long and he was missing a little extra umph out there to get him up for 2nd and in the sub 8:40 club. I believe that this O'Hara coaching staff is doing a fantastic job with their athletes and James last year had an excellent spring. Those two things will likely click and allow James to be gutsy and get another big PR. He probably misses having Savage and Pitone in practice (and Pastore) but Belfatto and Smart will help make him faster and add an extra dimension to his racing package. He's still just a Junior which I always forget because of how strong he ran a year ago.

Patrick Reilly has been consistently strong all year. I like the way this guy competes and runs to win. District 3 has some very interesting pieces at 32 and 16 this year. Throw Brehm into a race at districts once again and you could have Reilly, Grow, Brehm and Nissley making for a very fast race. Throw my boy Aaron Gebhardt in the conversation as well. Reilly may be another Seth Robbins/Chuck Lockwood type who runs under 9:15.

Matt McGoey! Great race by him to sneak up and get 6th! 8:45.76 for him is a nice PR just a week after a nice PR. McGoey and the NA boys will continue to improve outdoors and McGoey may turn into a title contender (no guarentees here). I think McGoey is going to really turn heads this outdoor season. If I'm on the bandwagon for Gebhardt and Caldwell, I'm driving the bandwagon for Matt McGoey. I really project big things for him going forward. Let's see if he can come through.

Hatboro Horsham gets their guys ready to go at the right times. Comber is clutch at the state meets and grabs a big PR and a medal right at the perfect moment. Quinn, Hibbs, Hibbs, Hibbs, Hibbs, Comber, Topper, Kraiss, ... Horsham gets it done.

Martson is quickly gaining a reputation as a clutch runner and he is on a fantastic career arc this season. He has had easily his best race at states two seasons in a row now. He is moving up my clutch list for sure. I will be intrigued by this Conestoga team outdoors, I like their pieces.

Molino is going to good outdoors, keep an eye on him for big things. Indoors is not the peak season for most AA guys and he still managed an 8:50 2 weeks after opening above 9 minutes. Lots of other big name guys finished outside of the medals, but I think that is a testament to both the depth of the field and the brutal early pace. A bit more of an even paced race and I think we see a bunch more down around 8:50 and maybe one or two more that dip under 8:40.