Hard to believe in weather like this everybody is already going to work racing outdoors. It's still a long way until the outdoor season gets fully underway, but there were some interesting performances to note around the state.
At Oxenreider Relays, the Spring Ford boys showed signs they may once again be a sneaky pick in the 4x8. They ran an 8:27 which isn't anything too special but also notched a 3:28 4x4 time. They won both events. On top of that they managed a 10:59 in the DMR, second behind the strong 10:48 mark of North Penn (we may see them go after a Penn Relays qualifying time in the coming weeks by the way). Having watched a million 4x8s for my splits file, I know Spring Ford has had some surprisingly strong squads over the year, and they are not a team to completely sleep on.
At the Pirate Invite Joe Logue dominated the men's 16 in 4:20, winning by 18 seconds over established XC presence Colin McLaughlin. Logue has always had intriguing potential in that 1500m sweet spot range. I think if he really focused on the mile he could be super dangerous in a tactical states race. That being said it's hard to tell a 49/1:51 type that his best chance of achieving state gold may be at the 1600m. Overall, Logue has shown great improvements in strength over the last two years which will make him very competitive in whatever event he chooses. Pennridge swept the top 4 spots in the open 8, led by Schulberger in 2:02. Pennridge made the district finals last year in the 4x8, without Joe Logue. Would be very, very interesting to see what this relay could do swapping out a likely 2:02ish leg for a 1:52ish leg. They would almost definitely be in the low 7:50s if they have close to the same squad as a year ago. But is it worth using up Logue on a maybe 8th place relay when he can compete for the win at 800 (or possibly 1600 as previously mentioned)? That's why I'm glad I'm not a coach ....
Out in Chambersburg I was on the look out for the next big thing in District 3 track and field. There were some strong performances from Will Sponaugle (Hershey) and Brady Wilt (Biglerville) in the 16 running 4:33 and 4:36 respectively. Wilt ran 4:28 last year as just a sophomore. Sponaugle ran a strong 4:29 for full mile indoors this year.
Out in Upper Darby, Bonner won the 4x16 in a solid 19:13 over Upper Darby's 19:15 (probably was a pretty exciting 4xMile race). That's roughly a 4:48 average per leg. In the 4x8 Twin Valley edged out Strath Haven 8:18 to 8:19. This Twin Valley team is intriguing to me, they are always just on the edge of becoming a seriously relevant 4x8 squad. This may be their year. They were also second in the SMR to Unionville (both squads ran 3:38). As for Haven they just never go away. You can't count these guys out. St. Joe's Prep with a note worthy 10:56. They have had a solid stretch the past two years in the distance relay, but no break through individuals have emerged as stars on the relay. I'd be interested to see if that changes this outdoors.
Definitely keep your eye on Brady Wilt. He always peaks at the right time and races his best when the lights are brightest. Another result from Tim Cook worth noting is Williamsport's 4x800. Similar to Spring Ford, they didn't run a great time, 8:28, but they bring back their whole team from last year, which finished 11th at states. Watch for them to improve throughout the year, and possibly medal at States.
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Excellent point about Williamsport, they were in a nice 4x8 sleeper this year and it is interesting to learn they have everybody back
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