Let's get this Henderson craziness out of the way right off the bat. Jeff Wiseman drops a big time 800m win and shows he is in shape with the best of them. The time was anything absurd, but it is almost a full second faster than he ran this time a year ago with a similar lack of competition so that is encouraging. Caldwell ran a really strong race to dip under 1:55 for the first time and skip the 1:54s completely to get to 1:53.91. Garton ran a strong PR of 1:54.02. Both of those marks you could kind of see coming, those guys were due for big PRs. Ferraiolo got the Henderson magic back and broke 1:55 as did Steve Thompson of Henderson who is on a nice roll. Huge run for O'Connell of Pennsbury as Pennsbury has two really nice legs plus a few guys around 2 flat on the roster. I look forward to watching their 4x8 develop. Sjoreen is running strong and appears best suited for 1600m with excellent 800m speed. He may opt for the 8 if he thinks that field looks weaker than the 16. Gotta like what you saw out of Tom Fitzgerald as well, dropping that 1:58.08 mark. DT East looked much stronger than they did a week ago at Penn. Josh Tupper from Spring Ford had an impressive 1:58. That Spring Ford 4x8 squad is looking sneaky good. They have been fantastic at Districts in the 4x8 in recent years and I wouldn't be surprised to see another surprise run this year.
The 16 was a bit underwhelming, but we did see a nice win for Sam Ritz with a strong PR finish for Alek Sauer. This is also Kevin Moy's best 16 of the year and he is showing the potential to have the peak he had a year ago. I'd be surprised to see either of these guys pick to run the 16 at Districts in a few weeks time, but I do think both are 1:55 types who could be dangerous in the open 8 or on relays (or both). If they do pick the 16 the list just gets longer for guys in the field with an SQS. Jack Tidball ran 4:28 and won one of the slow heats. I expect some nice drops down the stretch for him and maybe a surprise 3200m performance as well.
It takes a rare talent to run a 3200m in the 3rd fastest mark in state history and for people to say ... well that was disappointing. Russell is now only behind Chris Spooner and Paul Springer on the all time state 3200m list (at least according to my research which is fairly extensive). He handled this field and in a national caliber field might have Springer's record in his sights (remember Springer got the record chasing Craig Forys around the track). I'll be interested to see how this double goes for Russell. He is clearly the favorite for both the 32 and the 16, but winning both will be very, very difficult. Not sure how many guys have pulled it off in state history but I'm sure the list is short.
I'll tell you what Ross Wilson is going to give Russell a fight. I'm not sure if Wilson will go after the same unreal streak of hard 2 mile efforts he did a year ago, but I hope he has enough left for the stretch run to give himself a chance at his first state title. He really deserves one after all the hard running and impressive times he has put up this year. In almost any other year we would be talking about him daily, but he is stuck in Russell's shadow. Wilson's mark puts him at #9 all time in state history.
Reiny Barchet! He is on a roll! After a rough indoor season and a tough break being left of the Penn Relays squad, Reiny looks back in his element. This is the best stretch of running out of him I have seen in his career. His mark puts him ahead of Dennin, Tarsnane and Gil among others on the all time list for 32. Good company.
Dom Deluca had an off day and still ran the #16 all time 32 in state history. Good for him! He should be back at states with a vengeance ready to give these other top guys a run for their money. And then of course the super soph Jaxon Hoey runs a 9:05 equivalent 32! That's crazy impressive for a soph and puts him in Dustin Wilson territory. Seems like that is something that shouldn't be lost in the results.
The race was really impressive and lots of guys stepped up and ran big PRs which is what these races are all about. Too many great performances to go through them all in this race.
Picking and choosing some things to note from other meets ....
Jon Lewis runs 1:54.74 not too long after running 48.74 in the 400m. The dude is really strong and could be a 1:52ish guy this year if he ever got the chance to focus on it. Maybe next year. NP gets a big time bounce back with 4:19 from Grace and LeConey running 1:56. Real nice 1:55 out of Austin Cooper. So much talent in District One. A 1:55 doesn't even come close to top 5 marks of the season for D1.
At DELCOs there were lots of other great D1 times. James Hare ran a big time 800m PR getting a 1:56 win over Joe Sullivan (1:59). Out of the slow heat Watson Hanson ran 2:00.17 which is a good sign for the 4x8. Hare also got a 4:22 1600m W over Alex Kim of the Haverford School (4:26). Kim ran a 9:52 to win the 32.
In the other division, O'Hara seemed awfully motivated after Penn Relays. Kevin James won the 800m in 1:55! A big time PR for him speed wise as he beat Ramsey Kerkula of Upper Darby who ran 1:56.1. James also won the 1600m as the O'Hara boys rolled taking 1-2-3 in 4:14-4:16-4:17 for James-Smart-Belfatto. Smart is really looking strong in recent weeks and added a nice 16 PR to his resume. Those three easily took home the top 3 medal positions in the meet. James made it 3 for 3 on the distance titles when he beat out Chris Kazanjian in the 3200m. Belfatto was 3rd. O'Hara won the 4x8 for good measure dropping an 8:11. Those boys were busy this weekend and hopefully will get to rest up a bit before the home stretch.
For those wondering, Joey Logue is in beast mode. Cruises another 1:52 at the Helman Invite to lead a 1-2-3 sweep for Pennridge. Masgai got under 2 minutes as the Pennridge 4x8 continues to take shape. Logue could win the individual title in the 8 right now based on his momentum, but will he also commit to the 4x8? Worth noting, CB East developed a few more of their own 4x8 legs in Brophy and Shahideh running 2 flat and 2:02.
Dylin Wilhoite is coming into his own thanks to a 1:55 victory over a (doubling?) James Smith who ran 1:56 at the Baldwin Invite. Wilhoite is the next in a long line of Penn Hills studs at 800m and is starting to hit his stride now with this win. Foster of SV had a nice 1:57 double and Patrick Miller stayed in the mix with a 1:57 of his own. The state spots out of District 7 in the 800m should be very competitive, especially when you factor in Mike Beiech of NA who didn't contest this meet.
James Smith continues to improve at the mile with a 4:18y victory over Brett Foster (4:19y) and Mike Kolor (4:21y) which makes all those guys well under the state standard at 16. SV is going to have to pick and choose their spots with regards to the 4x8 and individuals. Colin Martin and Brent Kennedy took the next two spots.
Martin bounced back and won the 32 in 9:16 barely over Matt McGoey who is looking very strong. McGoey has been my sleeper pick for 3200 states for quite some time now so I'm happy to see him begin to show signs of potential for something special. Like I said before, think Junior Ryan Gil who ran 9:03. McGoey can get into that ball park this year in the stacked state race. I'm a believer. Martin, Russell, Wilson, Deluca, Barchet, McGoey, Kev James, Jeff Groh, and Reilly are all looking like 3200m state threats this season. At least one of them won't grab a medal. Crazy stacked field. That's not even counting someone like Brent Kennedy or Colin Abert who may come on down the stretch. Nice race for Caleb Wakeley as well in 9:27.
Speed Round
Kyle Francis looks kind of bored over at Bensalem. An easy 800m win of 1:57 continues his undefeated streak in the open 8 this outdoors. 4:19 1600m win as well.
Brehm picks up a couple golds with 4:23 and 9:34. Jon Goodson is a AA competitor with his 4:24-1:56 performance.
State College is in beat mode. Cather continues to dominate and Post is looking strong. That 4x4 is looking real nice as well.
Andrew Miller wants the AA title as well. 1:56 mark against Mercado of Boyertown. Mercado led a 8:01 4x8 as well. Boyertown states their claim for sleeper team in the 4x8. Eddinger of Btown also breaks 2.
Matt Brown of Roman Catholic a real nice 4:20 1600m. Interesting piece to the D12 puzle.
Rock Fortna. Great name. Great 4:24 1600m for CB West.
Great analysis. Nice to have it back.
ReplyDeleteAt delcos the 3200 was the day before and i don't think either smart James or Belfatto was on the 4x8 so not as big of workload as it seems
ReplyDeleteBelfatto has had an extremely underwhelming season thus far. He hasnt even made it close to 4:11 yet. If he keeps this up Russell wont have much competition in the 1600 even after the 3200 because anyone else whose shown the ability to come within 7 or 8 seconds of him is either running the 3200 or in AA.
DeleteDon't rule out Kyle Francis. Every year someone make a big jump to another level. Last year I predicted it would be him, though it turned out to be Kevin Moy. I'd love to see him on the 800/1600 double at Districts instead of on the 4x800. I think he's very realistically a 4:10ish guy in the right race. He's probably one of a handful with the potential to ruin Russell's day at states if he's going for double gold.
Delete- RJJL
Kyle Francis has been a dud all season, kid blew his load indoors and he hasn't shown any sign of coming back. He has an amazing 800 pr and even if he was still running at that level it by no means translates to a 4:10 mile, 800 runners rarely have the strength to make it down to that speed over 4 laps. Its exactly like saying Russell should be able to drop a 1:48 because he's running faster than magaha did.
DeleteHow about a little nod for Seamus Collins. The guy has thrown down a 4:18 and 9:16 and I'm not even sure his coach knows he's on the team. - JEB
ReplyDelete