4/12 Weekend Continued

This is basically a continuation of my previous post but I didn't feel like going back and editing the previous post to add in. Also worth noting is after this post I will change the comment section so they instantly become visible based on the suggestions I have gotten, however, if things begin to go poorly I will not hesitate to change this setting.

So on to happier topics. Things got real fast real quick this weekend and a lot of that was due to the TFCAofGP stepping up and running a big time meet. 9 guys found a way under 2 minutes in the open 800m. Leading the way was Jim Belfatto of O'Hara who ran 1:55.22 to get a narrow win over Billy Caldwell who ran 1:55.33. Both times are pretty strong marks and although they don't blow me away, they are very strong. That's right near both men's open 800m PRs which just goes to show you how fantastic they have been on relays over the past year. 

Charlie Hoyt made a huge statement for the Penn Charter boys. He was in the "slower" heat with Billy McDevitt and Connor Holm and the crew got things cranked up nicely. Hoyt ran 1:56.86 for the win by a solid margin over Billy McDevitt of Malvern (1:58.15) and Connor Holm (1:59.07). McDevitt has shown excellent range 3k through 800m now and joins Hoey and Dan F. as sub 2 guys in the open on the season. That is a very capable 4x8 when you throw Wills in there as well. 

Oliver Boucher from CB East had a huge run as well to cross the line at 1:57.95. Throw him in with the Brophy bros and there is a nice 4x8 (as they showed running 8 flat not too long ago). I am very impressive by this performance. 

A few other things worth noting from this 800m for me were the step up performances by the "secret" relay legs on a lot of teams. You may not have seen the name Andre Kelly on a lot of other posts but he just ran 2:00.13 and is a very capable piece to go with Holm and Watson. Stefan Sutton from LaSalle ran 2:00 as well to pair with Bilotta and Grant on a relay. Jamir Brown of Penn Charter ran 2:00 to accompany Hoyt. Wissahickon had a 2:01 and 2:02 run and Stellato has run the 8 well before so that would be my pick for a deep, deep sleeper in the 4x8 only if things really break right. 

Nice win also by James Hare in Heat 4 to get under 2 minutes. He will be dangerous at the mile distance when districts roll around. Chappell has been consistently strong for the CB South boys as well. 

In the mile Kevin James dominated the field winning by almost 8 seconds over a nice run by Pat Hopkins and Colin Wills (each ran 4:24). James ran 4:16.86 to set the meet record. He will be ready to roll on that 1200 leg at Penn for sure against whoever Henderson decides to use in that role (Russell perhaps?). I'm very interested to see what O'Hara does in the post season and if James will consider a 32-16 double at outdoor states or not. He is in shape.

We saw some other strong performances out of another "slow" heat as Jake Brophy beat out out connor Holm and Julian Degroot-Lutzner (fantastic name) 4:24 to 4:25 for both others. How this ends up being a slow heat is beyond me as I believe Brophy is in shape to run under 4:20 right now in the right race. Julian from Masterman ran a 4:25 and inserted his name into the AA states conversation quite nicelyl. Patrick Grant from LaSalle added his own 4:25 performance to the mix. St. Joe's Prep showed us where those great relay times were coming from as they had a man at 4:24.85 (John Daly) and another at 4:27.15 (Isiah Fisher). Both men are Juniors. Scott Mason from Penn Charter ran a nice 4:27 as well. I liked the work he did at 3k indoors. 

Here is a name to remember: Matt Scarpill. The freshman from CB South ran 4:28.83 in the hot heat of this race. I think he has room to drop a lot more in the coming weeks. He has run some big time DMR legs and has run some quality dual meet races pushing to stay with guys like Ryan Grace of North Penn. The more experience he gains in these high level races the scarier he will be. 4:28 is just the beginning for this guy.

Pennridge ran a very nice 4x8, launching a 7:53.05 mark that won the race by 19 seconds. Wow. This team is dangerous in the 4x8 if they use all their pieces. We will see them at Penn with a focused Joey Logue and a great group of under the radar 800m guys and see if they can run under 7:50 with real competition. Maybe we will get to see this team actually use their A squad at districts and states this year as they nearly qualified for states last year without their 1:51 man Joey Logue. It will be interesting to say the least. And Masterman is a sleeper here ladies and gents. 8:19 is a decent mark for early in the year for a AA relay. Plus their apparent best leg (the aforementioned Julian Degroot-Lutzner) appears to have been doubling off the 16. '

A pretty cool DMR went down out there as well. North Penn won easily with a 10:24 that may or may not get them into the Penn Relays at this event (if they even choose to run it). I'm a big fan of NP's DMR potential and at Penn they could no doubt break the 10:20 barrier. Maybe this team is a CB South 2011 type team that flies under the radar with an underrated anchor and 1200 leg that has a nice tradition in the mid distance relays. I'm not sure they can beat Henderson or O'Hara, but they can turn heads. Quakertown had a nice race as well. They are a strong team that maybe can turn their DMR success into 4x8 success if they go for it. 

Another meet that we saw out west was the GL Wildcat meet. Penn Hills ran a solid 8:11 to get the win over Norwin's 8:12. NA was buried back in fourth in that race with an 8:22 anchored by McGoey. Right behind the NA boys were the kids from Greater Latrobe, anchored by Marcus Smail to a time of 8:24. 

The NA 4x8 gets a big boost if they decide to throw Michael Becich on the anchor. He has seen what James Smith has thrown down thus far this year and has prepared an eloquent response: 1:54.38 to win by almost 4 seconds over established 800m man Dylin Wilhoite of Penn Hills (1:58.25). Marcus Smail ran 1:58.86 for third. Beicich trained for the mile indoors and the strength has played nicely into his 800 success. He could be dangerous in a Will Bailey type upset role. The problem is, even if he runs an incredible 1:51 type mark that still may only be good enough for 4th or 5th or even 6th. It's that good of a year at 800m. 

At Leonard Stephan Andrew Miller of Wyomissing Area ran 1:55.99 to cement himself as an early favorite for the AA state title at 800m. He won the race by almost 6 seconds. It puts Wyomissing in a nice spot relay wise as well. 

Out at Bensalem, Bensalem had a very good meet. They won the 4x8 out of a good out of state squad in Lawrenceville running 7:59 to beat out the 8:06 of their opponenets. Francis doubled back with teammate Rahi Shah to take 1-2 in the 800m 1:57.39 and 2:01.26. The 4x8 should get into Penn Relays which gives Francis a change to drop something impressive on a fast track, but beyond Penn I'm not sure how much of this relay we will see on the big stage. I'm more intrigued to see what they throw together 4x4 wise and what Francis can do in the open 8 with competition again. Nice win for Brian Arita in the 32 running 9:41. 

Tyler Whitmore runs 48.13 in the 400m this week. Very interesting to see him flexing his longer sprint muscles. I will look forward to seeing that progress. Meanwhile David O'Such and Joe Bush from the up and coming Spring Ford squad took 2nd and 3rd in 49.79 and 50.92. Those are nice pieces on a 4x4 or 4x8 team. Spring Ford also had Josh Tupper in the open 8 who ran 1:59.82 for second behind Eli Mercado, the state medalist from Boyertown (1:59.30). Perk Valley added another 2 flat leg to their apparent relay thanks to Matt Town. Eric Diestelow ran a 2:00.47 for 4th and Joshua Miller, a sophomore from Spring Ford, ran a solid 2:02.64.

The Spring Ford core is a strong group of guys. Paul Power ran 9:51 to get an easy win in the 32 and when combined with the other above pieces, Spring Ford has some very capable legs on their mid distance relays. Austin Cooper added another W to his resume taking down the 16 by 8+ seconds in 4:28.21. Upper Merion's 4x8 also won in 8:23. 

South Williamsport had a nice day at the Molly Dry Invite. Griffin Molino ran a 4:25 to win the 16 by 15+ seconds over Nick Sweet. Molino's 4x8 also ran a dominating 8:24 to win by a fantastic 53 seconds.