Opening Weekend

First off big shout to Comber (20th) and Brophy (25th) representing PA at FL Nats! Great season for both guys and looking forward to seeing them on the track.

Opening weekend here in the PTFCA and we have our first PA leaders. One interesting note (to me anyway) was that nobody chose to pursue an early season fast 3k off XC fitness. The Footlocker guys still may try it, but thanks to James's back injury, nobody was in the right position to chase the standard.

Considering the entries to state are based on rank in the state rather than time (can someone post up the list of how many qualifiers and like an official qualifying procedure of some sort), this means that lots of guys are going to be attacking the 3k the last two weeks of the season. 

At Lehigh, we saw many top teams/individuals resting (considering it is just December and only about 2 weeks after the regional meets), but even without the "big names", there were lots of notable early season performances.

In Division I, Dylan Eddinger of Boyertown got a quality early season win in 2:02.43. Finishing second, in an interesting development, was Dave Marrington of Neshaminy who ran a very solid 2:03. He's been more of a hurdler/sprint type in my recent memory, but this 800 mark is excellent for December. He has such natural speed that he could be a version of Sam Ellison, picks up the 800m and increases his strength gradually over the year, ending with some fantastic 800m marks. In a wide open 800, these two names made strong statements in week one.

Worth noting, Ian Challingsworth from LaSalle ran 2:05.70. He wasn't one of the top 7 guys on this XC squad, meaning they have yet another weapon looming towards a DMR/4x8. He also miscalculated his laps, meaning he probably had a faster performance in him.

Brian Arita, a state XC medalist from CRN this past year, showed impressive early season speed running 2:04. He hasn't had too many significant moments on the track compared to XC and I had the impression his best event was probably the 3200, so we could see a really nice mile from him this indoors, or maybe he continues to surprise at 800m (I used to be convinced Ned Willig was a two miler ... Then he set an indoor state record in the 8).

CR South got a pair of big wins from Joe MaGuire (4:38 mile) and Andrew Hanna (9:13 3k). These guys were money in XC this year, having some really strong performances on the fast course at Lehigh and both juniors look poised to have big time track seasons. I think both guys were a bit disappointed with states and were clearly motivated in the early season. 

Both guys beat some quality runners from St Joe's Prep in Isiah Fisher (4:40) and Jon Daly (9:22). The Prep has produced some really strong relays over the past decade and Daly is going to continue to improve after his 4:20s type makes in the mile last year (he was MIA during Cross so he should improve significantly over the season as he gets more mileage in). 

Both teams have interesting relay potential (DMR perhaps?) so we will have to keep an eye on these boys. 

Running a jaw dropping 3k takes a lot of work, so Hanna's 9:13 this weekend was impressive. It's also solid that he beat out a field that included state qualifiers Connor McMenamin, Tayji Mays, and Eric Chapman. 

The Neshaminy boys had an interesting day on the distance side. It's rare that we talk about Neshaminy's distance because they are usually sprint dominant, but they had medalists in each of the 3 distance events this weekend.

Pennridge won the 4x8 without Tucker Desko while Cheltenham chose to go distance in week one and took gold in the DMR in 11:11. CB East got a 4x4 gold in 3:38, and I'd be interested to see how/if those guys move up and make 4x8/DMR potential with Jake Brophy.

In Division II, Alex Lindsey gets the win in the 800m in 2:08 over Archbishop Ryan's Tom Hammond (also 2:08). In the mile, Eric Diestelow got an impressive early season win, running a quick 4:34 to beat out Josh Coakley from Twin Valley (4:36). We knew Diestelow had potential this year and this win is encouraging early, but this is a big early season statement for Coakley. He had a solid XC season (probably underrated overall) and puts himself on my radar for this track season thanks to a quick run for just December. 

Liam Galligan, top 50 at XC states as just a sophomore, shows interesting early potential with a 4:44.

The 3k was one by A XC stud Julian Degroot Lutzner, who I'm a fan of this year. He ran 9:20 to beat out Harriton harrier Sam Ebby (9:26).

Strath Haven got a dominating 4x8 win in the early going, running 8:32 and winning by 10 seconds. Radnor gets a solid win in the DMR (11:14) after a quiet XC season for Holm and co. Keep in mind this team was a medalist squad in the DM last year. HGPrep got an impressive second place in the DMR without Callahan Lennon, who ran the 3k.

At Dickinson, the Carlisle boys had a nice showing, even without big name Zach Brehm. Matt Wisner got the win in the 1600m in 4:43 over a solid A XC runner in Cooper Leslie (4:47). The duo doubled back to take 1-2 in the 8 with a 2:08 to 2:09 victory for Wisner.

State College got the win in the 4x8 and Matt Beyerle got a quality win in the 3200m in 10:11 (I haven't converted it, but it's probably worth low to mid 9:20s). Owen Wing was second for SC.