It's always tricky to figure out who is going to run which relays with their "A" team and chase standards. There are only 10 teams accepted into the DMR so it's quite likely that those squads are aiming for fast times. Those squads are: Avon Grove, Conestoga, GFS, Haverford, Holy Ghost, Mt Caramel, Neshaminy, State College, Strath Haven, and West Chester East.
Avon Grove looks like they will be relatively fresh besides Josh Smith in the 800m and they are a borderline state team as is in the DMR. They have run 10:54 this year and could be in contention for a comparable time this weekend, especially when you factor in the conversion from flat to banked. Conestoga, GFS, and Mt. Caramel have most, if not all, of their key legs on the double, including a probable anchor in the 3k. That's going to be tough to overcome, regardless of talent, but a good test to see if that double can be made at states. Neshaminy, Haverford and Holy Ghost Prep appear to have completely fresh or close to completely fresh squads set to run the hot heat of the DMR (unless I missed some entries). HG Prep has been the strongest team on paper this year and likely feels the need to better their own seed time for the state championships.
State College could be a very interesting story here. they are going to run the 4x8 at states almost definitely, but it appears only Milligan is in the open events from their usual "A" squad. They could be chasing a fast time to diversify the portfolio and mix things up. I'm hoping they throw out a squad, but they could just as easily end up sporting a 4x8. Strath Haven has some solid runners and has yet to really go after a DMR standard. A few of their legs are in the open events, but they could double back and put together something strong. Again, more of a 4x8 team, but could do some fun stuff. Lastly there is West Chester East. Diestelow will likely be on the anchor trying to help this team get back to states once again. They have some solid under the radar pieces and if Diestelow can catch fire chasing on the anchor they may be able to squeeze out an impressive mark.
In the 4x800m many of these same teams are entered (including Stoga, State College, GFS, HG Prep, Mt. Caramel, Strath Haven, Neshaminy and more). Some of those squads may be loading up a 4x8 rather than a DMR so we should be on the look out for a potential meet record attempt by SC or a chase to better their seed by Haven.
A few teams not entered in the DMR that could potentially put together a strong relay include Boyertown, JP McCaskey, Penn Wood, Pleasant Valley, Radnor, Upper Merion, and Chester. There is serious potential here from JP McCaskey who is already a borderline state qualifier in the 4x8 and has no one entered in the individual events and could lower their mark from F&M. Boyertown also appears to be loading up for the 4x8 with Dylan Eddinger absent from the distance events. With a 1:56 anchor type, Boyertown will be right in the mix. Then there are teams like Radnor (Holm and Andre Kelly), Upper Merion (Falasco has run 2 flat and Joachim is a MoC qualifier), Pleasant Valley (Samuels and Slavin) and Chester (Jihad) that have excellent pieces that could lead to a breakthrough performance in the 4x8 if their key legs can double effectively.
The sleeper here is Penn Wood. With Ponzo and Mayneah, they boast two legs down around 2 flat. They clearly have the speed (excellent 4x4s this year) and maybe they will be willing to move things up in distance in hopes of qualifying for the big dance. If they throw out an "A" team they will be able to compete with the best of them.
No comments:
Post a Comment