State Recap: Mile

State Champion #66 of the etrain era has been crowned: Sam Ritz of Germantown Academy. After one of the fastest Decembers in state history, Sam Ritz was a target for criticism. Even after a state record run in Boston, the doubts were still floating. Could a man with 0 state medals, handle two of the most decorated runners of the era? Would Ritz fall victim to the his pursuit of records? Would a fast early pace leave open to the upset?

But the end, Ritz made all the doubts look silly. Ritz blasted a 4:09 mile to cap off his indoor season, breaking the 2007 meet record by over 3 seconds and cementing his name in the history books. He now has the two fastest miles in indoor state history.

Ritz is not in the PIAA, so we won't see him competing for state gold this outdoors against his fellow sub 4:10 miler Zach Brehm. That being said, with Ritz's win, he became the first official qualifier for the 2015 PA Meet of Champions race at West Chester Henderson this June. Hopefully, he and the rest of the state's elite will agree to compete at this meet (the draw of a professional 1500m hopefully won't steal anyone away), because Paul Vandegrift's legendary 4:03 state record for 1600m may finally be under fire.

Kevin James adds another excellent performance to his resume with his second place finish to Ritz. Again he is under a state meet record and he gets his second straight state silver. The general consensus is that James is best over the longer distance (i.e. 3200m) so this display of speed is encouraging. Outdoors, Ross Wilson's freshly minted 8:56 meet record could possibly be in play (that's #3 in state history). 

Sneaky fast for third was Sam Webb, running 4:13 for 3rd in what was likely the fastest 3rd place finish in state history. Although KJ has been something of a poster child for bad luck pursuing state gold, Webb has had his own share of tough luck. Webb has been sub 15:50 at Hershey, in the 15:20s for 5k, 9:08.11 for 3200m and now 4:13. This was just Webb's first time in the top 5 individually at a state championship, amazing for a man of his talents. Webb too is running down in distance and the thought of a healthy Webb hitting his peak this spring is scary (his 9:08 last spring came off a very late start to training).

It's fitting that these two guys capped off their indoor careers winning state gold in the relays. Well deserved.

McDevitt and Brophy rounded out the group with a pair of 4:17 PRs. McDevitt caps off an excellent year and, although he too is not PIAA, I hope we may see him at Meet of Champs. Although McDevitt showed fantastic speed this season (1:55 to beat a Alek Sauer last week, Sauer ran 1:52 yesterday), I think McDevitt's best event could potentially be the 2 mile. At the very least, I think he could throw down a monster race at some point (maybe Henderson invite?). As for Brophy, he drops his mile PR by roughly 5 seconds and grabs 5th in one of the deepest miles in state history. Despite Brophy's fantastic career, this is by far his best track performance time wise indoors or out. It his first mark in the sub 1:55/4:17/9:20 club that I keep state wide statistics on. Brophy was willing to pass on a realistic shot at state gold in the 3k for the relays this weekend, but it's likely this is the last time. Although CB East has a potentially strong 4x8, the Brophy sub 9 talk might trump it (he ran faster than Wilson did in this race a year ago).

Seneca Valley's Mike Kolor dropped a 4:19 and somehow was swallowed up in this historical group. Kolor, just a Junior, grabbed his second individual medal in a row and broke the school record in the event. His time converts to low 4:18/high 4:17, meaning Kolor is already clicking off times significantly faster than how he ended last spring. Seneca Valley has some pieces looming for another strong 4x8 and Kolor has a chance to be a killer anchor on said relay.

Excellent runs by Kyle Shinn and Sean Weidner to round out the medal positions. Shinn is AA for this coming outdoors, setting him up well for a potential shot at gold (or at least top 3, as Perretta looms large).