District by District Break Down

Just got home after my graduation from Muhlenberg College, so hopefully in this brief window between work and school I can get some solid posting in for all you guys. Let's talk about these district meets I've heard so much about. Let's go in order from 12 down to 1.

District 12
AA
Masterman has shown in many instances that they are a strong AA team. They had the winner in the 3200m (soph Joe Previdi ran 10:04), the winning 4x8 squad (8:24), and Julian Degroot-Lutzner continues to make noise, winning the 1600m easily in 4:34. I think Degroot could be interesting at states in the 1600m as a potential medalist, I could see him finding a low-mid 4:20s mark and breaking through. Hopefully doubling off the 4x8 doesn't complicate things too much. Tyrell Maddox (who won the 8 in 2:02) is a nice pick to do work in the 800 at states for the strong Del Val team.

AAA
It was the Cardinal O'Hara show in the AAA meet. 2nd in the 4x8 with mainly 'B' guys (8:05), Kev James wins the 32 by a large margin (9:19-9:48) while Drew Pastore grabs the other state spot. Jim Belfatto won the 16 in 4:23 (another huge margin of victory) and Nick Smart dropped a 1:58 to cruise in the open 8. Matt Brown (4:30) and Joe Sullivan (2:00) will accompany St. Joe's Prep (8:05 for 1st in the 4x8) to states after finishing second in their individual events.

Results look pretty slow across the board out of D12 and I think weather conditions probably were not favorable. Kev James looks very, very good. He might be my upset pick next weekend at states. St. Joe's Prep is a lot better than that mark in the 4x8, but is it good enough to make the finals? Honestly 12 of the best 16 teams in the state are in District One right now (at least) but D1 can only send 8! You have to find 4 more teams from somewhere! Belfatto will give his best shot to Russell with a fresh effort and Smart will add his name to a very, very, very deep 800m field with 6-8 guys who have gold medal potential.

District 11
AA
It was a competitive 4x8 at D11 with 8:18 beating out 8:19 and 8:21 in the 4x8 as Marion Catholic took down the W over Notre Dame and Minersville. The name to remember out of D11 will be Kyle Gonoude. He was a stud in XC and is now just starting to round into track form. He won the 3200m in 9:50 and came back the next day to win the 16 in  4:26. I think this guy is a low 9:30s at states if he keeps his head and a definite AA 3200m medalist factor. Ben Hinkel of Minersville got a nice win in the open 8 in 2:00.

AAA
White Hall and Emmaus battled it out at D11 with Whitehall taking a narrow victory 8:01.17 to 8:01.22. Emmaus really had a fantastic day as they advanced along to states and challenged Whitehall who I have been praising as a big time sleeper for an appearance in the state final. Wilson could have made it to the next step but an unfortunate collision with a lapped runner left stud Joe Espinal out of the race. Colin Abert took a pair of golds with his 9:33 and 4:18 wins. Nice run by Gabe Lamm in 9:39 for second in the 32 and Espinal gets through in the 16 running 4:24. Khai Samuels and last year's champ Mike Kopach took 1-2 in the open 8 in 1:57-1:58 to advance.

Ryan Paradise had a big weekend as a soph for Emmaus. He ran 4:24 and 1:59 to finish 3rd twice and barely miss an individual shot at states. The good news is he is no completely focused on a run in the 4x8 and a rapidly improving Emmaus team that has already dropped about 10 seconds in the last few weeks. Colin Abert will be dangerous at states. He has had a significantly stronger track season than a year ago and is not afraid of the big stage. I'm thinking he could perform similarly to Dan Jaskowak a couple years ago.

District 10
AA
District 10 AA is a strong group of runners. Jake Parsons got a big win in 2:00 in the open 8 after his brother finished a close second to Sebastain Curtin (4:24 for Curtin, 4:26 for Parsons) in the 16. Curtin and Parsons are both strong medal candidates in the 16 looking ahead to next week. Curtin also won the 32 in 9:49 and helped lead his 4x8 on to the next round, the squad ran 8:13. That triple would be virtually impossible next week (32, 4x8, 16 all in the first part of the day) so he will have to make a few choices, but the Mercyhurst Prep 4x8 is a nice sleeper for one of the top medal spots in this event.

AAA
Slippery Rock took the top 3 spots in the open 800m, led by Brady Kadlubek who just edged under 2 minutes. A nice group of guys who all return next year will make for an interesting 4x8 now and in the future. They won the 4x8 in 8:13 at their District meet this year. Bobby Danielson took the 1600m and Grove City Junior Ryan Budnik got the W in the 3200m in 9:42.11.

District 9
AA
Ryan Thrush, a freshman from Brookville Area got a big win in the 1600m running 4:30.09. I'll be watching him curiously next week to see how he handles the big stage of states. Matt Morgan got the W in 2:00 in the open 8 while Liam Raehsler of Clarion Area won the 32 in 10:02. 8:19 was good enough to win the 4x8 for Northern Potter. Potter took the top 2 spots in the open 8 and may make for a nice medal contender at states.

AAA
Micah Cantaral won the 8 in 2:02 and the 16 in 4:42 while Alec Freeman ran a 10:29 to take the 32 for Clearfield Area. Punxsutawney beat Dubois to head to states in the 4x8 with an 8:27.

District 7
AA
Domenic Peretta runs 4:19.14 in what I believe was rain and crud weather (a huge PR keep in mind) and then runs ... 1:52.72! That is an unbelievable time for the sophomore from Beaver Falls and catapults him into the state title talks in the open 8 and open 16. The 4:19 and 1:52 marks also were likely soloed by quite a bit considering he is in the AA race and those times are rarely run by anyone at any level (second place is Andrew Koryak 1:58.89). Keep in mind he also was second in the 3200m in 9:39. Is he going to try it all next week as states? How fast can he go? And he's just a sophomore! This will be a very intriguing story next weekend at states.

Washington ran an 8:05 in the 4x8, a mark that will make this squad dangerous next week at states. It looks at this point like the 4x8 is pretty wide open on the AA side with lots of intriguing teams in the mix. Beaver Area also got in the mix with an 8:14. Carter Smith and Colten Trimble also got state qualifying marks in the 16 as did Andrew Koryak who may opt for both the 16 and 8, but I hope he focuses on the open 8. The 3200m had a slew of strong marks with Landin Delaney leading the way with a 9:35 win. His teammate and indoor state qualifier Will Loevner also qualified in third with a 9:40.

AAA
Colin Martin got a big win in 9:10 (PR and important step in the right direction) over Matt McGoey who ran a 9:16 mark and PRd. Fun fact Ethan Martin and Colin Martin now have the same exact 3200m PR of 9:10.74. Twins! Wharrey, Regan and Wakeley were just south of 9:30 and got into states. Wharrey had a big improvement, Wakeley is finally returning to the form we saw before he was injured and Luke Regan ran another strong race. I think he will surprise people next week at states with another PR. Brent Kennedy was right in the middle with a 9:21 to finish 3rd. I think Kennedy can drop some more time next week.

Van Kooten got the 1600m win in horrid conditions in 4:17 over Sloan's 4:19. VanKooten could do some real nice stuff next weekend in strong weather he has come on very strong in the last few weeks. On that mess off a track, Kolbe Short and Mike Kolor ended up getting themselves on to states in the 1600m. Unfortunately the other competitors, who ran great marks, will not get to go. The problem is none of the guys in this race has run the SQS prior to this meet who is not already going to states (if my research is correct which is not guarenteed) which makes a tough argument to bend the rules to let a few more people in even though if conditions were better I think a few other names would have gotten through.

The 800m was a pretty exciting race it appears thanks to a huge run by James Smith (1:53.2) and a big PR by Elias Graca (1:53.97) who is suddenly a serious medal contender. Wilhoite also ran a PR (1:54.3). He was in the state final last year and Penn Hills does a good job developing their guys to peak at states. Brett Foster had an impressive double at 1:55 (although it might have been spread over two days, not sure how the order of events goes). Dougherty gets a long awaited 1:55 PR after a lot of impressive marks and tough races. Michael Becich wins the slow heat in 1:57 low, maybe he can find something next week to run the 1:55ish type mark it will take to make finals.

The 4x8 made for quite the surprise. Seneca Valley, largely regarded as the favorite in the WPIAL 4x8 field, was just barely beat out by Indiana Area, a team with no medalists in the open 800m or 1600m. Indiana Area dropped down to 7:55.31 and beat out Seneca by .01. It must have been a pretty epic race. Both teams suddenly find themselves in the mix for the state final. Canon Mac and Norwin also got through to states at 8:01 and 8:03.

District 6
AA
Penns Valley's Gino Nicosia took the open 8 in 2:00.68 while Penn Cambria Garrett Sutton won the 16 in 4:30.40. Bryce England won the 32 in 9:55. Ironically Sutton was second in the 8 and England was second in the 16. Bellwood Antis will represent District 6 in the AA 4x8 after running 8:32 to get the W.

AAA
State College did work out of D6. Will Cather was a busy, busy guy as he won the 4x8, 800, 1600 and was third in the 3200m. At states I think it will probably be the 4x8, 4x4 and open 8 that crowds his schedule. Teammate Mason Post is looking at a 4x8, open 4, 4x4 triple of his own next weekend with Adams possibly going 4x8, open 8, 4x4 himself after a high quality 1:56 performance right behind Cather's 1:55 win. With Cather likely pulling out of the open 16, Alex Milligan would get the spot (if SC decides to use Golembeski rather than Milligan on the 4x8). Stroh is next inline followed by Faust for Altoona if both SC boys pull out for some reason. Darien Knudsen has quietly emerged as a strong 2 miler. The senior from Mifflin Country ran an impressive 9:33 to win the 3200 with authority.

SC goes into states as the favorites in the 4x8 after an impressive 7:49 victory over Altoona (7:54). It looks like SC will have to beat out the big dogs from D1 if they want to get the state gold. It should be exciting. If Altoona can match that kind of effort next week (and I do believe they can) they can get into the finals at states and have a shot at a medal and a sub 7:50 time when the dust settles.

District 4
AA
Lewisburg Senior Nicholas Scullin led an impressive 3 runners under the SQS with his 1:57.21 time. He was flanked by David Fletcher (1:58) and Andrew Steely (1:59). 4 more runners hit the SQS in the 1600m with Simon Smith of Towanda pulling out the surprise victory, upsetting Griffin Molino. Tyle Vella and Nick Sweet also grabbed state bids and will be in the finalist and medalist conversations. Nate Bartos also pulled out a surprise win, taking down Griffin Molino in the 32 9:41-9:42. Simon Smith also qualified with a 9:44. Molino's South Williamsport squad led 4 under the SQS in the 4x8 with an impressive 8:07.30 to beat Lewisburg's 8:12 and Mount Carmel's 8:14. Northeast Bradford ran 8:14 as well to get back to states without Jewett, Williams or Snyder from last year's squad.

This group of guys will make for interesting distance races at states. Molino is going to be hungry after a couple close calls int he individual events. South Williamsport has a real shot at the state title in the 4x8 but it will be tricky as Molino has a lot of individual events pulling him in different directions of focus. It will be exciting to see what he chooses to focus on or if he goes for all 3 once again. As mentioned the 32, 4x8, 16 triple is very, very difficult.

AAA
Levi Ebersole of Mifflinburg got the 800m win in 1:58.71 while Ethan Fadale ran 4:25 to get to states for Selinsgrove. Brody Beiler, a sophomore from Selinsgrove ran 9:50 to lock up his spot to states in the 32. Williamsport Area will look to get back to the finals of the states 4x8 after an 8:32 win locked up their spot. Without Herb Steeley on the roster the team will have a bit of a different look, but they still have a deep and strong team that could be a deep sleeper.

District 3
AA
The favorites for the state title in the 4x8 will likely come out of District 3. 4 teams hit the SQS and ran times that will put them in the hunt for something special. Wyomissing (8:06.84) and Boiling Springs (8:09.66) have very strong anchors in Miller and Goodson and that makes them dangerous teams for the title spot. However, Schuylkill Valley wasn't blinded by the star power and hung tough, splitting the two squads with an 8:07. Trinity is always a factor, they ran 8:12 this weekend to make their presence known. Goodson went after the 1600m as well, running 4:23 to beat out Brady Wilt of Biglerville (4:28). Goodson is looking like a favorite for a top 3 spot at states. He also won the 800m, an event that he could potentially win at states (of course Perretta's emergence alters things a bit) in 1:58.07. Andrew Miller, another early favorite for a title in the event, finished fourth in 2:01 after dropping an impressive 49 low in the open 4. He may opt for the 4x8, 4, 4x4 triple rather than the individual 800m next weekend, but it is unclear exactly what his plan will be. Brady Wilt and Kyle Shinn ran SQS marks in the 3200m with Wilt winning in 9:43 and Shinn running a solid 9:47. Both will be in the medal conversation at 3200m.

AAA
Fun fact: Zach Brehm is back. He anchored Carlisle to a win in the 4x8 (7:57), ran 4:16 to win the 1600m and 1:53 high (a PR for him believe it or not) to win the open 8. Central Dauphin was second to Carlisle in the 4x8 (7:59) with Cedar Crest and Twin Valley moving on right behind. Cedar Crest has struggled of late to get back to sub 8 form, but they are still a sleeper for states. 7 men are going to states in the 1600m, led by Brehm's mark but followed closely by Jeff Groh (4:18). Jared Luckanitz was a bit of a surprise, running 4:21 to beat out Aaron Gebhart, Ben Wilson and Cole Nissley (4:21-4:22 for these folks). Will Sponaugle of Hershey also advanced. I'll be interested to see what Gebhart, Groh and Nissley choose to focus on at states as they also qualified in the 3200m. Groh got a big time win in that event running 9:13. Aaron Gebhardt was a strong second in 9:16 and Nissley was 5th in 9:25. Brehm finished 4th in the 3200m (9:23) while Patrick Reilly was third in 9:18. I expect a strong bounce back performance from Reilly next weekend. He has had a fantastic season and I think he will be ready to redeem himself at states. 9:18 is no joke of a time regardless. Gebhart makes another name under 9:20 this year. Incredibly impressive group of 3200 runners this year. As mentioned, Brehm took the 800m over Jarrod Cruise (repping Jarrett based names everywhere) with a big open PR of 1:55.60. Both should face more competition next weekend and will have excellent opportunities to drop their PRs.

District 2
AA
Mark Arzie and Nathan Morgan ran nice marks in the open 8 (1:58 and 1:59) to take 1-2 in the open 8 for Lakeland. Morgan also added an impressive 4:21 victory in the 16 that gave him a large margin of victory over Dominic Hockenbury (4:27) and Matt Murray (4:30). Hockenbury did get a strong win in the 32 (9:41) and will likely enter the race as one of the favorites for gold. Lakeland picked up an easy 8:35 victory in the 4x8 but they will be dangerous next weekend. Morgan also is a very interesting sleeper at 1600m. Watch for Lakeland to do work next week at states.

AAA
Deluca is hungry for a rematch with Tony Russell and Ross Wilson (and Barchet) and blasted the 3200m at Districts to prove it (9:03.54 nearly 23 second victory!). Deluca also won the 1600m in 4:20. This 3200m field continues to be incredibly stacked as Deluca, Russell and Wilson have all made dramatic statements recently while guys like Barchet and Groh and Martin wait in the wings. Matt Kravitz and Jack Tidball both had strong state qualifying showings behind Deluca running 4:23 and 9:26 respectively. Really excited that Tidball got in, he has had a very nice year. Kravitz is a name people should know and will learn going forward. Just a soph. Andrew Meyers won the open 8 in 1:59 for Hazelton while Scranton Prep is the 4x8 qualifier, running 8:12.