Week 2 Recap (Minus the Armory)

It's still just December, but the action is starting to heat up just a bit here in PA (and for the second straight week I was actually in PA for part of the weekend so the phrase "here in PA" works). Things still aren't quite hot yet as we had an impressive group of regional entrants this November so lots of individuals and teams are resting, recovering and refueling this month. But it doesn't mean we can't start to piece together some early favorites and sleepers.

Let's go through week 2 of the indoor season from start to finish.

Things started off with a DELCO meet on Tuesday night. Sean Sullivan had a nice win in the mile in 4:44 over Kevin Hong from Upper Darby. Kamil Jihad, a frosh from Chester, had the first of two big wins in 2:04 for the 800m. Donovan St Louis, an impressive sprinter for Darby in the past, ran 2:07 for 3rd. Andre Kelly of Radnor was a solid 2:04 for second, a nice piece to the Radnor relay conversation.

It's also worth noting that is meet was run at Glenn Mills, a notoriously slow track, making these marks even more impressive. 

On Wednesday the action switched to Ursinus, one of my personal favorite flat indoor tracks, where Paul Power dropped the first big 3k of the year, winning in 8:55.68. It's easily the fastest early season mark and it looks like he helped Derek Lopez to a nice race, second in 9:19. Lopez was the district one champ in AA for Pottsgrove.

I'm somewhat intrigued with Easton. They have some relay potential this year in the DMR. They took third and fourth in the 400m and 2nd and 3rd in the 800m without Lapansky and Abert, their two state medalists. Now the times weren't anything amazing, but there is sleeper potential here considering it's still only December. Grunwald's win was in the slow heat and after an impressive XC year, he has potential to improve as a relay leg.

Nice win for Unionville's Delvecchio on the mile, running 4:49.

The 18th brought us another meet with some interesting results, especially if you are a fan of State College. Alex Milligan clocked an impressive 4:28.2h, easily one of the best early season marks we have seen. Teammate Eric Heatwole took 3rd in 4:39.9h. Then Heatwole doubled back in the 8 (assuming a tradition order of events) and ran 2:05.5 for 3rd behind two teammates not named Milligan. Feffer (#2 guy in cross) was 2nd and Tony Degleris was 1st, both men in the 2:03ish range. Throw Milligan into the trio and this team already has an 8:10ish 4x8 in just December. They ran on a banked, fast track, but these marks are still very nice for this early. And just remember these guys are the defending champs.

Brian Hackman ran a really solid 4:33 for second in the mile. He was one of the best A XC guys in the state and this is an encouraging early result for the small school runner. 

Flash forward another day and head to Kutztown. This track, in my experience is basically like a Glenn mills 2.0. It's maybe a slight improvement but the basic concept of the track is quite similar. Kyle Shinn got a strong win for 3k there in 9:19 winning by 12 seconds over Derek Lopez (who was probably tired from running 2 3ks in a span of 3 days).

Nick Mahon from Wilson killed it in the 800m, running 2:04 to win by an impressive 9 seconds. This is a guy with great potential to drop time on a faster track with better competition. Just not sure how easy that will be to find if you aren't in the Philly area.

Not too far down the road in Lancaster, teams were flying around the F and M track. Avon Grove ran a sweet 8:28 to win over a pair of Abington teams who ran 8:32 and 8:35. I'm awaiting the moment when Abington returns as a 4x8 monster, and this may be the season. They had Isiah Smith win the 400m in 51.8 and the top teams in the 4x4 (as well as a 2:06 runner up performance in the open 8).

Eric Diestelow had an impressive day as well. Not sure which came first, but he doubled 9:17 in the 3k and then 4:36 for the double gold. He got a real nice push from Nate Becker of Ephrara in the 3k (9:19). He was a top 50 guy in cross and is a name on the rise this year (just a Junior). Rustin's Spencer Voight took second in the mile in a strong 4:41. Also encouraging to see Darien Knudsen, a solid 2 miler who was MIA during cross, back and racing.

At Lehigh on Saturday, the second TFCAOFGP race was contested. In a battle of 800m guys, Eddinger of Boyertown and Boucher of CB East ran 51.9 and 52.3 to win their respective heats and take 1-2 in the race. Boyertown has put together some really impressive indoor marks in the past and Eddinger is the early season speedier version of Brett Kelly in years past. I'm thinking he surprises at Burdette with a fast mile.

We finally got to Kamil Jihad's second win! The Chester frosh ran 2:02 to beat out sub 16 man Ryan Tung of North Penn (2:03) and Keelan O'Reilly from DT East (2:04). 2:02 in December for just a frosh is very impressive and makes Jihad a name to watch. I'm also curious what this showcasing of speed for Tung means going forward.

One of the biggest pleasant surprises of the first two weeks has been CRN's Brian Arita. After a solid cross season, I thought Arita may look to run the Regional meet, but instead he chose to focus on track. It's paying off so far after he grabbed a dominating mile win in 4:33 and ran a strong 800m last weekend. Second was Ian Davies from a team that I'm watching closely, CB West. Chapman, a state qualifier in cross, ran to a solid 3rd 4:39 and 4:40). McMenamin from Souderton ran 4:42 for 4th.

Without 4:40 man Chapman, Neshaminy still dropped an 8:22.0 and got the first state qualifier mark in the 4x8. I have to think Marrington played a role in this. Name to watch for sure and Neshaminy is suddenly a very interesting relay story.

So too is LaSalle. They ran 8:23 without the 3k champ (Paul), their best XC guy (Princivalle who was in the 4:40s this weekend) and an 800m 6th place finisher (Phayre ran 2:08). They have depth, but who will break out?

Also don't look now but Bensalem has pieces for another 4x8. 8:23 right behind LaSalle and Neshaminy. CB West ran 8:29 without Davies as well.

The DMR was real nice as well. CR South and St Joes Prep both ran fantastic with their 10:53 to 10:54 battle. Those marks are quite quick for this early and indicate both teams have strong anchors (Hanna and MaGuire vs Fisher and Daly I'm assuming? 4 really strong somewhat underrated guys). CR South also had a sophomore medal on the open 8 that they may want to incorporate into their relay rotation going forward and see what happens. Wiseman just a year ahead of his time?

Cheltenham killed the 4x4 and Lewis will be money this year again. A very real talent. I'm hoping we see these guys throw down an absurd armory SMR.

In D2, another 800m man moved down in Kelly from Radnor, to win in 52 seconds. The 800 had an awesome battle between Twin Valley's Josh Coakley and Masterman's JDL. Both men ran 2:02 but Coakley edged out Lutzner. This is impressive for me for Coakley who was great in XC and is now showcasing fantastic December speed. Really like his potential. Lutzner has been one of my guys for a while, I'm just waiting to figure out his best track event (I'm thinking mile).

Twin Valley got another nice mark from Colin Geary (second in the mike 4:42). Potential for a cool relay is there. Lukas Marcelis grabbed a nice gold with his 4:41 win in the mile. Dom Digiacomo was second in the 3k behind Sean Sullivan of Bonner, giving Twin Valley either gold or silver in all the individual distance races. 

Radnor wins the 4x8 without one of their best guys in Andre Kelly (400 winner and 2:04 at Glenn Mills). Penncrest was right behind them (both squads ran 8:28) and also had enough guys to win the 4x4 (3:36). So there is really nice middle distance depth on that roster.

Malvern Prep made a nice early season statement running 11:02 to win the DMR.

I'll recap the action from the armory tomorrow but hopefully this gives you something to chew on.