Weekend Recap: Part 1

by etrain11

A lot happened in the marginally mediocre weather this weekend and, as always, I'm here to discuss it. Simple as that, let's get to it.

Colonial Relays
Now I wasn't at William & Mary this weekend, or frankly anywhere close, but I have to imagine the weather there (and certainly the weather at Stanford where GFS ran 10:34.66 and Nick Dahl ran an open PR 4:19.60 for the full mile) was at least a bit nicer than some of what runners were dealing with up this way. At Muhlenberg College in the Lehigh Valley, I was experiencing some solid winds and a decent chunk of cold (with a niceish window of weather coinciding with the time I went for a run). So that's an important disclaimer to keep in mind (and feel free to fill in more details on weather down South).

That being said, you have to love the way PA represented at WM, led by a huge weekend for the DT West boys and the Conestoga studs. Let's start with Stoga because it appears that they have been getting a bit less love in the early discussion. Keep in mind the stretch that the Conestoga boys and Andrew Marston have put together in the last two years:

Conestoga was 2nd and then 1st in D1 XC, 7th and then 2nd at XC states, and 2nd in the DMR at indoor states.

Marston was top 10 in the state twice in XC, ran sub 15:20 at Lehigh, killed it at McQuaid, ran 15:40 at states (#3 All-Time and placed third) and now, after a year with multiple sub 9:20s, leads a DMR to silver at states and a win at the Colonial Relays and tacks on an 8:39 dominating victory the next day in the 3k.

Marston's stretch has been killer and his dominance in the 3k remains us that he also made a big sacrifice for the team goals this indoor season. Thus far, it appears that guys like James, Webb, and Brophy have proven their speed a bit more than Marston, but Marston still continues to drop excellent marks. And keep in mind, Stoga has a proven track record now of peaking properly for outdoors, last track season they didnt' full come on until mid to late season. Stoga has suffered a pair of hard fought, well-earned silvers at states in the last 6 months, battling teams with historic pedigree in North Allegheny and O'Hara. These guys have been really strong this season and I am very excited to see what they can do at Penn Relays. Stoga could use a big run there, they've earned it this year.

Then we have Downingtown West, the group of youngsters who stormed the boards a year ago en route to their top 5 finish at the state championships. Since adding the Hoey's formerly of Malvern Prep, the DTW machine has continued to spit out successful races, including an excellent 10:27.96 this past indoors at states. Now it appears DT West has added back to the equation Jaxson Hoey (1:54, 4:11c, 9:05 last year as a sophomore), and although he is still getting back in the swing of things, the relay popped off a 7:55 4x8 to win at Colonial Relays. That came the day after frosh Josh Hoey ran 4:19.9, for a full mile, an unprecedented time for this stage in a high school freshman's career.

It basically goes without saying that Josh's time is unbelievable for a freshman and puts him in some elite company. The best freshman performers I can remember from guys in recent years are people like Sam Ritz, Sam Webb, Jake Brophy, Dustin Wilson, Vince McNally and Craig Miller. All of those guys have won a state championship at some point and Brophy is technically the slowest by PR in the mile with his 4:15 (which will likely be dropping more before he graduates) while Miller, Ritz and McNally all ended up 4:07 or faster.

Craig Miller ran 4:14 as a frosh, nearly winning a state championship, and setting a national freshman class record in the 1600m. The next year he ran the fastest mile he would run until college when he got down to around 4:05 converted for 16. Miller won three state titles in cross, two in the 1600m and another in the indoor 3k as a senior (setting the state record of 8:22). Now Miller is a sub 4 professional miler who has made multiple USA finals and run 3:35 for 1500m.

McNally ran 4:24 as a frosh, split 1:55 on Conestoga Valley's outstanding 7:40 4x800m team, and was 13th at XC states. As a sophomore he was running 15:02 for 5k and as a junior he won the state title in the 1600m and went on to run the equivalent of 4:07 for 1600m at nationals. His senior year was a bit disappointing, but in college he went on to have an excellent career that included some key XC results for PSU's team.

Brophy, Webb and Wilson had the majority of their success at 2 miles (I think they were all around 9:30 or so) and have went on to have continued success in cross country, the mile and the two mile. Sam Ritz ran 4:22 as a freshman.

Josh's season is just getting started, so projecting him to be around 4:14 by season's end (a 4 second drop) wouldn't be that crazy. That would put him in national record contention for freshman which is obviously pretty special.

But beyond all that future projecting stuff, DT West is now facing a bit of an issue. I think their best chance to make noise at Penn is in the DMR (although their 4x8 made big steps with that 7:55 and they have some flexibility now). After running Sappey, Barton and Josh indoors, they have to decide if Jaxson is worth substituting in (my guess is that he is if he is healthy, considering his talent level) and if so who does he replace? By Penn (still 3 weeks away), you could see Jaxson and Josh running impressive end legs and then whoever can split faster at 800m out of Barton and Sappey getting the nod at that spot. In theory, that could be PA's best relay in the event, despite the fact that they were 5th at states. This will be a very intriguing story line looking ahead.

The fact this team is now also a 4x8 contender, makes things complicated from an individual perspective as well. I was looking forward to seeing Sappey try his hand moving up to the 2 mile after an excellent XC season, but if DT West is a sub 7:50 team by May (very possible) then Sappey may be locked into 800m duty the rest of the way. Keep in mind Sappey was basically just as good as someone like Andrew Marston or Casey Comber was as a junior in XC (arguably even better) meaning that the potential for a sub 9:20 is certainly there. The same can be said for Jaxson and Josh most likely (both of whom also could be state qualifiers in the 1600m individually).

A couple other brief takeaways from the meet:
1) St. Joe's Prep is another really solid team. I think the 4x8 may actually be better for them in the long term unless they have a bit of a breakthrough at 1200m. I'm keeping an eye on their 4x8 development looking towards outdoor states.
2) LaSalle has a ton of bodies. They had dudes in the 3k and mile that weren't even on their DMR and 4x8 and had a slew of nice performances. That kind of depth usually translates nicely to results, especially with competitive practice and intersquad competition.
3) Methacton is a sleeper team in the relays. I'm not saying they will be setting records or anything, but if things click down the stretch they should be around 8 minutes in the 4x8 and possibly under.
4) If anyone has splits feel free to post them or get in touch with me

Council Rock Kiwanis
Cheltenham just went off in the sprints. Not sure of the meet order here, but Brissett and Lewis are beasts. Lewis's 48 and 53 400m Hurdlers runs were outstanding, especially considering that conditions were likely not ideal. Dave Marrington broke 55 in the 400m hurdles and held his own against Lewis. He looks poised for a nice run at Penn Relays as well as Lewis (if Lewis decides to try the 400m Hurldes at Penn ... which reminds me, which events is Lewis going to run outdoors this year at states?).

Don't look now, but I kinda like what this CB South team is assembling. I'd argue that CB South is one of the most underrated mid-distance programs in the state and after a quiet indoors, they are showing signs of life again outdoors. They had 4 of the top 5 800m performances at the mid-week Knights Invitational (led by Tim Radwanski's 2:02), Matt Shober finished four in the 400m at Kiwanis behind only Conway, Isiah Smith and John Lewis (ahead of Boucher and Kyle Davis), freshman Trenu Johnson won his heat of the 400m in 52.9, and sophomore Matt Scarpill placed 4th in the 1500m in his first race back in 4:19. This is a nice crew to keep an eye on looking ahead.

Abington had a nice showing as well: the aforementioned Smith was second to Lewis in the 400m in 50.14, Jordan Neely was second to Rock Fortna in the 800m, running 1:59.21, teammate Keion Broadus ran 2:02 for 4th, and Jake Good was second in 1500m in 4:16. Plus they took gold in the 4x4 and silver in the DMR. This team is dangerous outdoors and I believe they also return Smith, Good and Broadus next year. Keep an eye out.

I've said this probably 500 times by now, but CB East's depth is underrated. They won both the 4x800m and the DMR at the same meet yet again despite having Brophy and Boucher run hard in individual events (as well as Thomas Jordan who took 6th in the 3k). This CB East team has massive potential outdoors that I don't think they quite realized indoors. Last year their 4x8 was barely noticeable indoors before becoming a state title threat outdoors. They have been showcasing this kind of depth since indoors and they have one of the best distance runners in the state to lead the way. When they finally decide to go all in on a relay (which has to be soon if they want to qualify for Penn), I think we could see something special.

Downingtown West will go into next year as large favorites in XC for a state title. And honestly, I think that is at the very least a fair analysis. But let's not sleep on the boys from CB West. CB West had an encouraging indoors that included a huge breakthrough at Meet of Champs in the 4x8 as well as an awesome time at states in the relay, which sets them up for a trip to Penn Relays. Rock Fortna has continued to be an animal this outdoors, dropping a 1:57.93 mark to start the year (and I think his best event may end up being the mile). But the more interesting thing for West at this meet was some of their youngsters rising to the occassion. Freshman Jake Claricurzio ran 2:05 to finish 7th in a strong 800m field, freshman Brian Baker was 1st in the freshman 1500m in 4:33 and sophomore Brian Mass returned to action in a big way, dropping 16:11 to dominate the 5000m. None of those three were in the top 7 for CB West this past fall at Hershey (when the team finished 6th and was in the mix for the title through 2 miles).

I feel like I missed out on a fantastic 3000m race at Council Rock this weekend. I've been a believer in James this entire year as it appears that this spring will he best shot yet at individual state gold and perhaps a sub 9 mark. KJ has been excellent this year, including a 4:12 mile and 4:10 split to go with his 8:40 indoor 3k. But there has been something about Brophy that makes me feel like he will be a factor for state gold this outdoor season as well, despite just a 4th place finish indoors in the mile. Brophy was dominate for a stretch that went from post Pre States XC to the indoor state championships and seeing him match up against KJ in early spring action was sure to be a duel for the ages.

As I said, I didn't see the race, but times of 8:45 for James and 8:46 for Brophy, tell me this race was one to remember. Both times are fantastic for this time of year and these conditions and both men put up a terrific battle it appears, neither able to truly separate from the other. I've given Comber v. Brophy some much deserved love for fantastic races this season, but how about Brophy v James? Off the top of my head in recent years we have seen:

Brophy beats out James for 3rd at the 2014 state indoor 3k
Brophy beats out James at Briarwood (Hoey wins in one of the best times in course history)
James beats out Brophy at Pre States (Power wins in one of the best times in course history)
Brophy beats out James at States (Brophy wins in the fastest time in course history)
James beats out Brophy in the mile at states (Ritz wins in the fastest time in meet history)
James beats out Brophy in the Kiwanis 3k

That puts the records at 3-3 for recent memory and all of the races have produced fantastic results. I'm excited to see what happens in Game 7.

Part 2 to come tomorrow where I will wrap up the other action from the past week! Share your thoughts below and keep it classy. As always,

Train