Weekend Action Part 1

I'm getting the feeling that there is going to be a lot to report on for this week, so I guess I better get started ....

Sam Ritz is a beast. There isn't much else to say about it. Closing in 1:57 en route to a 4:16 is just bananas. And things may open up really nicely for him to get the double gold if Lewis sticks to the sprints (although don't sleep on Alek Sauer). It's still very early, but in the right race Ritz can get that 4:11 and 4:12 state records. However, if he has to go out and do it Russell style (hammering from the front the whole way) that not only puts a serious hit on his double gold hopes, but it also leaves him vulnerable for an upset (similar to what happened in his first mile at the armory). If he sits and waits and closes fast from 400m-800m out (like Willig, Endress, etc.) he puts himself in excellent shape for not just one, but maybe two golds. I hope he can give us our first Millrose gold since um ... 2007 I think with Jason Weller? Yikes it's been a while PA. If all goes right I'll be there to see it in person this year.

Glenn Mills is a slow track. Just keep that in mind. A few years back, the Central Bucks West 4x800m squad ran something like 8 flat or 8:01 on that track while Abington was at the Armory running a state record time in the mid to high 7:40s. A few weeks later at PSU, CB West dropped their seed time by roughly 15 seconds and ran the indoor state record for the 4x800m defeating Abington in a time of 7:45.06.

If you're looking for a more recent result that proves that point, feel free to check out Tyji Mays who ran 10:04 to win the 3200m at GM (roughly equivalent to 9:20s in the 3k by my estimates) and then dropped all the way below 9:10 this weekend just from the switch to Haverford's track. In the relays, we saw Penn Wood put together one of their first stacked 4x8s of the season and they delivered against what was likely a stacked Cheltenham team 8:22 to 8:27. I'd love to see both these teams on faster tracks going after it in the future, however with the 4x4 duties most of these guys will likely have, I'm doubting we see any stacked state 4x8s out of these sprint powerhouses. For the record, Wissahickon continues to drop time. They have a balanced team that is going to continue to improve and they have a very realistic shot of being one of the 12 teams qualified when the dust clears.

There was some other interesting drama going on up at GM, but I've got a post planned on it later this week, so I'll leave it at that for now.

Out in Ohio, we saw a few more different WPIAL teams getting involved in the indoor season. Ethan Linderman and Nick Wolk were among the early strong showings in the 1600m, down around 4:40-4:41. Shane Burkhardt was in the mix as well. Noah Smith and the Ringgold boys are the early sleeper team to watch out of D7. I really like how Smith ran during cross and now he continues his momentum here on the track. He ran 4:36.31 for 1600m to put him in the early season state qualifier mix (he also added a win in the 3200m). And don't look now, but this squad may have the pieces for a relay brewing down the line. Skylar Scholl ran 2:02 in the open 8. Canon-Mac's Strosko ran 2:03 in the open 800m and his team won the 4x8 title in around 8:40. Down the line (maybe outdoors time) these guys may be a state qualifier in this event if they focus their energies on it.

In the TFCAofGP, the action was impressive as usual. The winners of the day: Central Bucks East. While many top teams were attending the Yale Invitational, CB East put on a clinic on the distance side of things. Oliver Boucher started the day with a dominating win in the 400m (52.84). Teammate Ata Shahideh surprised in the 800m with a 2:01.02 win in the event over a strong field. Then Jake Brophy dropped his first open time in the mile, winning in 4:31 over a strong field that included "Sam Webb" (apparently was actually Alek Sauer), Rock Fortna and Joe Maguire among others. Connor Sands joined the leaders of the state 3k race with a 9:08.34 run. And then, a relay that featured none of arguably their 4 best runners, won the DMR in 11:14! Wow!

This is a big statement for East. You can see the pieces coming together for a serious DMR run considering they grabbed three golds in the 4-Mile and then an extra with their "B" team in the DM. Despite all that, I see this team opting for the 4x8 at states and the emergence of soph Ata Shahideh is huge for that plan. I think Brophy could potentially even pull of a 3k-4x800m double as I described in an earlier post.

Recapping the events, Shahideh won the 800m over Dan Williams (2:01.85), Dave Marrington (2:02.01) and then Jake Good and Andrew Baker ran 2:03 and 2:04 for Abington and CB West respectively. I think Williams and Marrington are both really dangerous 800m runners going forward (all the more reason to be impressed by Ata's win) but I'm not sure I see Marrington having space on his schedule for the 800m as things get to championship season considering the 4x2, 60H and 4x4 are all on his radar for a sleeper team trophy squad. Williams, an under the radar stud on Pennridge's district champ 4x8, ran his first open 8 of the year and should continue to mix it up for medals as the season progresses.

In the mile, Brophy beat out Alek Sauer in Brophy's first race back after long cross seasons. Brophy is showing signs he can be a factor in the mile conversation at states, although the 3k would likely be his best event. Pennsbury's Eric Kersten, a sophomore, ran 2:04 in the open 800m as well which is an encouraging piece to develop. They also have a couple guys who were in the 1:28-1:29 region at the armory for 600m and Sam Webb (1:57 split). This team has a nice amount of depth. Sauer is my early pick as most likely to knock off Ritz and historically he does his best running on relays. Watch out for Pennsbury.

For CB West, Fortna (4:33) runs a strong race for 3rd. He and Baker are two strong pieces for a DMR and they also have Ian Davies on the roster who has performed admirably in the early season. CR South, an early leader in the DMR, got a strong PR not just from Joe Maguire (4:33 for 4th) but also from Andrew Hanna, who broke 9 today in the 3000m to finish second to Brian Arita of the rivals from CR North (8:58-8:59). CR South's DMR end legs are in fantastic shape right now, but will they focus on the relay or chase individual medal opportunities.

In the 3k, Arita's win in 8:58.0 adds yet another impressive gold medal run to his resume here in the early season. He has having a fantastic season thus far and quite frankly is showcasing a ton more track speed than I was expecting from him. I think by outdoors he could be a real factor in the 3200m. He's likely going to end up in the mile this year indoors to help out his relay members, but I think the 3k is best event. However, the 3k is potentially going to be absurdly loaded and (as of right now) I don't see the mile shaping up to be nearly as competitive, making Arita a serious contender in this event for a medal.

LaSalle continues to get impressive times. I haven't seen PCL results yet, so I won't say much but Price runs a strong 2:05 and Stephen Paul, a sophomore, adds yet another impressive time to the list for LaSalle milers, running 4:38.

In Division II, there's really only one thing to say. Kevin James ran quite the 3k. Unamused by the action going on in the loaded Yale 3k, KJ followed up his monster DMR split with a blazing 8:40.46 3k to set a meet record. He won by 38 seconds and ran on a flat track without spikes. That's a huge statement win and (although it's incredibly early to start talking this way) puts sub 8:30 in play by states. Heck, it even puts the thought of the 8:22 state record within a punchers chance considering how loaded that 3k has the potential to be. That being said (and again I'm typing this without having seen PCL meet results), O'Hara will have a relay with the potential to make noise. James can certainly run a really fast mile (are all the Millrose qualifying meets done?), but his best event is the 3k and I'm sure it's the event he would like to win most. Last year O'Hara gave free reign to their individuals to double in their best events and maximize points, but without Belfatto and Smart this year the relay may become more important.

As of right now my gut says we could see a Kev double in the mile and 3k and a completely fresh relay on the back end, but that's just a guess. Any way you spin it, Kevin and Sam Ritz are both in fantastic shape for this time of year. We will see what the rest of the state can answer with (and yes I will get to the Yale results eventually).

In other news, we saw a very compelling DMR race between Wissahickon and Springfield DELO, a couple etrain certified sleepers for this season. I've been a fan of what Liam Galligan has done for Springfield this season and his squad ended up pulling out the victory 11:02 to 11:04. Springfield's time converts to sub 11 banked track, but thanks to the fast times at Yale it currently sits at PA #16 as I'm typing this. Both teams will have to continue to make strides if they are going to punch tickets to the big dance, but keep an eye on these under the radar smaller schools.

Radnor got a strong win the 4x8 in 8:24 (followed by a strong showing by Upper Merion who continues to stay relevant despite losing yet another 1:53 man in Austin Cooper the year after losing Christian Sanders), Alex Kim from the Haverford School dominated the mile in 4:43 (I like this kid, just a sophomore and ran solid during XC in the independent league), and Harriton shows signs of a nice 1-2 punch with Gillespie-Sickman (4:51) taking second in the mile and Sam Ebby getting second in the 3k (9:18). Both guys are just Juniors and GS was in the top 50 at states for cross country. Both guys are nice deep sleepers to try and crack that 3k top 12 (which is going to be quite a tough time as I may have already mentioned).

Yale will get its own post tonight/tommorrow (before the playoff games, because once those start I doubt I'll be doing too much blogging) and hopefully the PCL meet results pop up so I can throw those in as well.