Penn Relays Preview: Large Schools Heat 4

Cedar Crest
This is a heat filled with question marks and none is perhaps a more intriguing question mark than the boys from Cedar Crest. About once every 2-4 years Cedar Crest is good for the, wait Cedar Crest has run 7:50? In 2010 they shocked everybody to win states in the 4x8 and in 2008 behind Troxell they were title contenders. Even in 2011 they were one of the best teams to miss the finals in the relay. In all those years, I'm not sure Cedar Crest was ever on the radar this early in the year.

Cedar Crest has already run 7:57! Where did that come from? Here are the names listed on the squad:
Jared Glosser (Junior)
Jordan Cruise (Junior)
Jesse Cruise (Freshman)
Jarrod Cruise (Senior)

This is a family affair over their at Cedar Crest and I think that is a fantastic story. I think that guys play better when they are playing with their siblings, at least I played better in basketball with my brother. Maybe that doesn't translate to running but this a fantastic story to watch unfold. The triple Js are my new fun team to watch. They don't have anyone sub 2 in the open 8 so I suppose that is a bit of a concern but they have a cool storyline and they have some guys on their projected bench like Willy Bragg who can step in and give them a strong leg as well. Good luck to Cedar Crest, I'm rooting for you.

Downingtown East
Dowingtown East has been a great success at the last two state championship meets. Indoors they busted out a 7:58.45 to come in at a somewhat surprising third at the state championship meet after Billy Caldwell ran 4:18 and mixed it up with the best in the state to end up in the medals for the mile. Outdoors, the team skated their way into the finals at districts, skated their way into states, skated their way into the finals at states, and then rose to the occasion in a big way at the state championships behind a nice order swap for Caldwell on the third leg and patient anchor by Fitzgerald and end up a stunning 4th. Caldwell came back and grabbed a medal in the open 8. Clearly this team can handle the pressure of the big stage behind their leader Billy Caldwell.

This outdoors Caldwell has already run 4:16 and 1:55, a massive PR and a near PR in a more tactical affair. Caldwell ran just 4:25 last year in the 1600m, his strength is greatly improved and that's a good sign. The team also has seen Tom Fitzgerald continue to improve as he ran 2:00 recently at the Warrior Invite in a less stacked race than the TFCAofGP meet that so many people grabbed PRs from. Adam Carcella had a nice indoors where he broke 2 in the open and has run 2 flat already this outdoors.

After those three they haven't had many noteworthy times outdoors. They need a healthy return for stud runner Liam McLaughlin from last year's squad. He ran 1:58 a year ago for the squad in the open 8. If you throw him on that relay you 4 sub 2 guys who are gamers and rise to the occasion on the big stage.

Altoona
Altoona is an interesting story headed into the Penn Relays. They dropped a super fast DMR indoors and then opted to go after the 4x8 at states. At that meet they had a strong showing and dropped their Penn Relays qualifying mark of 7:59 but were perhaps disappointed with where they finished in that close pack at states. Now they have gone outdoors and have had a quiet start to the year. However, they still have lots of strong pieces and the same young squad that ran 7:59 not too long ago.

Altoona really probably should a been a state qualifying team in XC but District 6 only gets one team. They had two guys who could have been state medalists (one who ended up being a state medalist) and they came very close to pulling out the LaSalle move at Districts but came just a bit short. This is a very talented group of distance runners. And it's worth noting, they are unselfish. They gave up individual glory to pursue the 4x8 at states.

Now at Penn they have Brad Foust leading the way (1:59 indoors) with Brett George and Mitch Endress (2 flat indoors) running with him. Dom Stroh, who had a very strong XC season, may also be featured on the relay, although he is probably better at the longer distances than the shorter ones. Stroh has run 4:29 already this outdoors and Foust has dropped to 4:23. There are some very nice pieces on the Altoona roster to make a push back under 8 minutes at Penn and perhaps surprise some people when all is said and done.

St. Joe's
For essentially the entire indoor and outdoor track season St. Joe's has been solid and overloooked. They don't get as much hype as the LaSalles or the O'Haras of the world but quietly they have run consistently strong 4x8s and DMRs. Already this year they have run 8:03 and 10:35 in the same weekend. Their 8:03 also got them first place in the entire race.

St. Joe's has been led this year by John Daly (4:24 1600m man) and Isiah Fisher (4:27). Both men are Juniors. Alongside them they have Justin Baselice (2:03 this year) and Joseph Pisacano (2:06). Certainly on paper those legs don't look much faster than 8:10, but St. Joe's has been a relay driven team all this season.
This time has shown signs they are headed for a sub 8 performance by seasons end. We will see if this comes at Penn.