We're Headed to the Ship

I think everyone over here at therealtrain is pretty amped and ready for Penn Relays. That's why we will be giving the people the best coverage we can manage given our limited resources. That means a wealth of previews for all the different levels of competition, some live on site coverage, t-shirts, and hopefully much more. I'll be doing another mail bag soon that will likely have a PR theme so be sure to get questions in if you would like and follow along on Twitter for the latest updates on what is being posted, where the coverage is coming from on site and all that fun stuff.

But until then, there is other important action to cover! The Shippensburg Invite, being contested at the site of the state championship, is setting up to be an admirable preview of the middle of the state action we can expect to see come the end of May. The best performance lists are pretty stacked and if the weather holds up, things are setting up to be the best meet of the spring thus far. So let's break it down by entries in each event (events are in the order they will be contested).

3200m AA

State runner up from 2013, Will Kachman headlines the entries in what should be a thrilling start to the action. Kachman is entered in the 32, 4x8 and 16 (the first 3 distance events) so it's hard to say if a scratch is coming somewhere if this is just a workout, but Will likely comes in as the favorite for this meet.

However, he will be up against some excellent competition. Sophomore Griffin Mackey is fresh off an excellent double last weekend in his first race of the spring and has already soloed in the 9:40s. Kachman's PR is around 9:30. Mackey was a force during XC, capping things with a great race at states. The transition to track has been smooth so far, but this could be a huge confidence booster. 

Also expected to be in the field are Simon Smith and Blake Beheny, a couple of men who were top 10 in their respective divisions in XC at states. Smith has excellent ability at both 16 and 32 and could certainly steal a victory this weekend. Beheny has been quiet so far while teammate Cooper Leslie has grabbed headlines, but he was impressive during XC so if he's healthy, this could be a statement race from him. 

1. Mackey

2. Smith

3. Kachman

3200m AAA

This should be a fantastic event, featuring 4 men who have each placed in the top 20 at states in XC to headline the event. Colin Abert ran fantastically at this meet a year ago, setting his 3200m PR. His indoor season in 2015 was arguably better than his 2014 campaign and his XC season certainly had its fair share of highlights (sub 15). So this could be a noteworthy run.

Aaron Gebhart, Zach Seiger and Sean Weidner are no stranger to one another. The three all come from D3 and have been battling at various distances their entire careers. Geb is the favorite of the pack, already with a Penn Relays qualifying effort under his belt and a 9:16 PR, but Weidner has been putting together a hot streak of late. Seiger had a phenomenal XC run as a Junior and ran about 9:30 a year ago after a slow start to the spring (injury I think?). With health hopefully on his side this go round, we could see a much faster playoff push from Zach this time around.

This race is peppered with sleepers, but perhaps none is more intriguing that Brody Beiler of Selinsgrove. Beiler out kicked Gebhart last weekend in the 16 to put himself on the map and now he has a chance to prove that was no fluke. The Ephrata boys, led by Becker and Lefever are set to compete and are an intriguing set of names to watch. Top 50 XC men Kyler Shea, Quinn Wasko, AA state medalists Brady Wilt and Dan Filler, and others like Sam Signor (who may have medaled in XC, I can't remember), frosh Morgan Cupp, Matt Beyerle and Gabe Lamm are all lurking hoping to make a statement. I think Wasko is the most likely candidate to emerge with a surprise performance from this group (but it may end up coming in the 4x8 or 16 as he is entered in all 3). I'll give a top 5 for this event since it's such a deep group:

1. Weidner

2. Gebhart

3. Becker

4. Abert

5. Wasko

4x800m AA

It's tricky to pinpoint who is focusing on this event because of all the scattered entries, but Trinity and Lewisburg are two teams to keep an eye on if they throw fresh squads on the track. St. Joesph's got a shout out last weekend in the comment section as a possible AA sleeper candidate, this would be a good chance to prove it. Bedford (with Kachman and Zane Baker) and Camp Hill (with Leslie and Beheny) also jump out as potential contenders. Boiling Springs is a sleeper if they go for it. They lose Goodson, their 1:54 man, that helped carry their relay to the podium, but they still have a strong core of strong runners ready to take over.

AAA

Again doubling will always make things complicated, but powerhouse programs like Cumberland Valley and State College appear to be sending out A squads on Saturday in pursuit of Gold. SC looks to be holding out Milligan, but that simply means they get a chance to showcase some depth before their upcoming trip to Philly.

SC is the favorite in my eyes, but Hempfield, the reigning D3 XC champs, is a sleeper squad in this event. They were quite good in the fall and had some impressive moments during a indoor season that is usually D1 dominated. Chambersburg could potentially be a contender as well. They have a nice history in the 4x8, but didn't have the same success indoors that a team like Hempfield had. Williamsport, Parkland and Red Land will all also be in the mix.

1600m AA

Like I've said a million times, the potentially doubling really complicates the picture here, but this field should be fun regardless. The key reason why is that it appears 2x state champ Dominic Hockenbury will take a stab at the 1600m for the first time since last spring. This is huge for Hock who's somewhat lackluster PRs at the shorter distance of caused some to doubt his ability to run a truly fast 3200m. Well DH can go to work at Ship to set the record straight.

He will be doing battle with a few 32 doublets in Kachman, Smith and Beheny. In addition, Brian Hackman and Cooper Leslie (possibly on the double from the 4x8) present challenges for Hock, especially because they are both strong 800m runners. 

One of the names I'll be watching is Gabriel Allgayer from Mercersburg Academy. He was great during XC (champ in PS white race) but not on the radar during indoors so this could be a coming out party of sorts for spring 2015.

1. Hockenbury

2. Allgayer

3. Smith

AAA

This should be another exciting race. The top 2 returners from last years championships, Zach Brehm and Jeff VanKooten, are set to go toe to toe on the same track they battled at last year. Brehm has been fairly quiet to say the least thus far this outdoors, while VanKooten is fresh off his best race of the year at TSTCAs. It should function as a nice early season fitness test for both men, but they also are excellent at peaking at the right time.

The guy who may steal the show is Brehm's own teammate, Matt Wisner. Wisner has been excellent dating back to indoors, but hasn't been able to find the right race to uncork a big mile PR. However, he is undefeated at the distance in 2015 and that kind of success usually leads to fast times.

Also set to race fresh are Brad Foust and Alex Milligan, a couple rivals from the D6 powerhouses. Foust has had Milligan's number on the track since Milligan got him in XC, but that could change quickly at Ship.

Gebhart, Wasko, Wilt and Beiler are among the names expected to double back from the 32 in the 16. This race is littered with other sleepers to watch included Geiger, Aplaugh, Deangelo, Sunderland, Paradise and Schneck. My personal favorite sleeper is Ben Wilson from Central Dauphin.

1. Wisner

2. VanKooten

3. Brehm

4. Foust

5. Milligan

800m AA

There are lots of doublers set to be involved in this event, but there should be an intriguing battle between two early 800m studs in Hackman and Leslie. These two could end up getting very familiar with each other by the end of the day.

800m AAA

One of the most interesting comments I saw this past weekend was the news that Ethan Gatchell ran a 1:55 in a dual meet recently. That's silly fast and makes Gatchell an instant contender in this 800m that, oh by the way, is set to include Brehm, Wisner and Foust among others. Ethan happens to be the brother of someone who currently writes excellent stuff for the blog, so that makes things a little bit more fun as well.

I think the guy with the best shot to unseat Ethan might be Brett George from Altoona who is set to have fresh legs and beat Gatchell heads up at Kevin Dare (although Gatchell was doubling from the mile). 

Other runners who I haven't talked about yet with potential to be a factor in this race include Drew Wilkinson, Thomas Nicewicz and the SC platoon. I'm interested to see how well everyone doubles back from the mile, that could play a huge role in deciding the final standings.

1. George

2. Gatchell

3. Wisner

4. Nicewicz

5. Wilkinson 

Steeplechase

Well I certainly don't have any feel for who is going to be good at this rarely contested PA event, but I love that Ship includes it in the itinerary. The steeple is a great event and it would be nice to have kids discover it before they get to college and skip the learning curve section of the program. I honestly didn't even know what a steeplechase race was until I was like a Junior in HS. And I am the biggest track nerd this side of the Mississippi.

Good luck to everyone competing in this event. Keep an eye on XC medalist Lapansky from Easton and Manheim Township stud Brian Delaney who will run it with fresh legs and chase a fast time.