Penn Individuals

By etran11

Is it bad that I'm supposed to be a kid in charge of a PA track blog and I had no idea they were releasing the individual acceptances last night? I found out 3/4 of the way into my fake mail bag last night and it basically KOed one of my fake questions (by the way, excellent work so far on the mailbag questions, I think I'll be having a Mailbag post again to answer questions at the end of the week).

But now that I do know, I figure it's only right to give a little recap/analysis/preview for the big dance. So here's some individual chatter to help stir the pot.

In the mile, PA will only be represented by Sam Ritz. Wow how spoiled are we right now that I just wrote that sentence? If we are only going to have one guy in the field, it probably should be the reigning indoor state record holder who is officially the best bet we have at Vandegrift's state record since Magaha in 2011-2012. Ritz has been fantastic this season from day 1 to the point where we have basically taken his accomplishments for granted. Well a Penn Relays win in the mile (an event that I believe we have a massive drought going in) would be huge towards reminding everyone just how special his track season has been (and beating the gangs of NY would be a sweet cherry on top). 

Just for fun, I'll talk Grifts record here. I believe Magaha was 4th in 4:12 in 2012 (the year he ran 1:48) and Tom Kehl was in the low 4:11s in 2010. Paul Springer was 4:10 high the year he ran the state record for 3200m. In other words, if Ritz gets anywhere near the mark this weekend, it would be impressive (for the record Vandegrift himself won Penn Relays twice, including the still standing 1500m record of 3:49.67 which is probably worth about 4:08ish for a full mile if I had to guess).

Realistically, I'd imagine that Ritz has 3 real shots at Grift's 4:03.22 1600m: Penn Relays (probably too early in the season), PA Meet of Champs (assuming he doesn't sneak into the elite 1500), and NBON (as long as the race isn't tactical). There is a 4th in play if he goes in the dream mile (which would be the best chance assuming the weather isn't as awful as it has been in recent years). Beyond Vandegrift, Ritz is also sitting behind two of PA's other all time greats in Ken Lowry and Craig Miller at this distance. 

While the mile has one stud to focus on, the 3k will feature a pack of horses including Dom Hockenbury, Casey Comber, Andrew Marston, Kevin James, Aaron Gebhart, Nick Dahl and Jake Brophy. Holy moly. PA has a history of performing well in this event and sending a crop of runners to battle it out in the large field, but this year is particularly interesting because perhaps all 7 entrants have legitimate hopes of being top PA runner.

The man who is technically "slowest" in the field (he is the only one without a sub 9:20 time for 32) is Jake Brophy, the reigning XC state record holder and footlocker finalist. Brophy skipped the 3k at states indoors to be better rested for the relays and now will be taking a shot at bettering his personal best in his best event. Last year Brophy skipped the 4x8 at Penn to run the 3k, so I'd expect the same thing this year (although there is more than enough time between the 4x8 trials and the open 3k to do both as they are on both ends of the day). 

CB East was a team I thought may chase one final go round at the DMR before all was said and done, but it looks like that idea is pretty squashed now (unless they have made an order change I don't know about, the DMR and 3k are essentially, maybe even literally, back to back). 

CB East is far from the only team to make this decision. Remember during indoor states when basically every team made huge individual sacrifices in pursuit of relay goals? Well now teams/coaches have apparently decided it's time to reward their runners for their generosity. Kevin James, Andrew Marston, Nick Dahl and Jake Brophy all skipped the 3k (with Dahl and Marston skipping individual events entirely) to pursue the DMR, but now they have all flipped the script. 

I'm a little surprised that Marston and James made the decision, but I can't say I'm upset about it. Those two made big sacrifices in their senior year to pursue team success (and for James it paid off as he got his first state gold), but now things have taken a turn as neither team is expected to be a factor in the 4x8 outdoors (more strength squads than speed squads). I thought maybe Penn Relays might be a last hoorah for Marston and Stoga before switch gears to individuals the rest of the way, but a dominating 8:39 victory for Marston this weekend may have sped up the plan.

Regardless, it's super exciting to watch these storylines come together. For now I won't make predictions (that will come eventually) I'll just give you a brief snapshot of what I'm looking forward to for each entrant.

Hockenbury: Real gutsy run at indoor states, but an unfortunate silver. Everyone is impressed with his work to date, but wonders if he has the mile speed to do true damage in the 2 mile. He won the AA XC state title but was overshadowed by the running of both the AAA and A state champ. The District 2 runner named Dominic is looking poised for revenge.

No I'm not talking about Dom Hockenbury, I'm talking about Dominic Deluca, the guy who ran the equivalent of a sub 9 3200m at Penn Relays a year ago. 

Comber: Comber was PA's best runner at nationals in the 5k and probably feels a tiny bit like he let one slip through his fingers at states. He does his best work in races that aren't entirely PA (regionals, Nationals indoors) and now gets another go at Brophy, the guy who brings out the best of him.

I'd be remiss if I didn't float that Norris won here in 2013.

James: He's got the stats to back up a huge run here (4:10 and 9:03 for 3200m), but this is his first time running on this stage with this much pressure/expectation. How does he handle it? And can he get PA the title?

Marston: Just killed it at William and Mary on back to back days. He's perhaps the scariest runner in this field momentum wise and arguably has the most to prove after a relatively quiet indoors.

Gebhart: everything is in place for Geb to take D3 by storm. He ran 9:16 last year but couldn't quite get an individual track title. He also missed out on the loaded medal spots at states last outdoors. Despite his impressive resume, he still likely is hungry for much more.

Dahl: Kid is just a sophomore. Already ran 9:11 for 3200m and currently has PA #1 honors in the mile. He was nearly the frosh champion in both the mile and 2 miles at nationals last year. He's really, really good, but he's just a sophomore. How will he handle the big boys in his first major test?

Brophy: He took the XC world by absolute storm over the last stretch of the year and was dominate for a stretch indoors as well. He's finally back in his best event and will have KJ in his sights for the rematch (with Comber likely on his mind as well). If memory serves he was last in this race a year ago, a tough pill to swallow for any athlete, especially an impressive competitor like Brophy. The champ is looking to reclaim a piece of the near untouchable status he left Hershey with and get PA back to the top in the 3k. 

Sounds like a fun Friday Night.