by etrain11
Real quick before I jump into things, here's a potentially optimistic general plan for the week:
Monday-Tuesday: Bang out a ton of Penn Relays talk (there was a lot to talk about)
Wednesday: Recap the other action from around the state (there was a lot to talk about)
Thursday-Friday: Preview any big meets that I can get my hands on (there could potentially be a lot to talk about)
Saturday-Sunday: Shut off all electronics, sleep for two straight days and try and give you guys a chance to catch up before I do it all over again starting Monday. Good luck
Now let's briefly get this out of the way for those of you who didn't know (which I'm assuming is a very small percentage of people): I was actually at this meet! It's exciting to be able to not have to use the phrases like "I'm assuming" or "This is what I imagine" and instead use phrases like "Wow it's freezing in these stands" and "Sweet, I always wanted to eat overpriced pizza while listening to Ron Lopresti talk about BMW!" But in all seriousness, it was a phenomenal meet, I'm glad I could be there and hopefully it makes for better analysis from me for you readers, which is really what it's all about.
Enough chit-chat, let's get to the races ...
Friday
Allow me to set the stage for those of you who may not have been outside. It was pretty cold, pretty windy and pretty early in the morning. The Penn Relays crew makes you strip down and stand in a glorified pig pen with all the other runners in an overcrowded heat, limiting your ability to properly warm up in already difficult and nerve racking situations. Anyone who ran at or near their PR was a champ. Here's a full list of the sub 2 guys according to the Penn Relays results site. Sorry in advance if I miss anyone.
Alek Sauer, Pennsbury 1:54.17
Jaxson Hoey, DT West 1:54.68
Evan Emmanuel, Penncrest 1:56.09
Rock Fortna, CB West 1:56.87
Sam Webb, Pennsbury 1:56.93
Jake Brophy, CB East 1:57.38
Oliver Boucher, CB East 1:57.84
Josh Coakley, Twin Valley 1:57.98
Dan Williams, Pennridge 1:58.12
Alex Milligan, State College 1:58.27
Kyuande Johnson, Wissahickon 1:58.65
Ata Shahideh, CB East 1:58.68
Jordan Neely, Abington 1:58.74
Will Sponaugle, Hershey 1:58.80
Stefan Sutton, LaSalle 1:58.97
Brad Foust, Altooona 1:59.16
Strong showings by all these guys in the conditions. Now get some quick thoughts on each heat.
Small Schools 1
- Hershey ends up as PA's top team running 8:14 and beating out Strath Haven despite the fact that they didn't have Adam Rabon on the roster (2:01ish already this season). Sponaugle has also been doing some quality running leading the way and, based on my early skimming of the rest of the action from the week, doubled back to run in the 9:30s for 3200m as well. Sponaugle is setting up run a quick mile in the not so distant future. Chris Paynter looks like a nice find for them as well.
- Twin Valley's Coakley had the fastest split of the heat and looked killer in other action running 1:56ish if memory serves in the open 8 later in the weekend. He's looking like a legit open 8 contender so we will see what this means for the 4x8. They had Digiacomo run 2:02ish this weekend as well so they may consider some substitutions for the next time around.
Small Schools 2
- Huge split by Emmanuel on the second leg. He's a monster. I was a bit surprised the team didn't lead off Komat who I think has led off some big indoor meets and last year's state championship. Looks like they didn't have Teal on the squad either (their lead off leg from indoor states), but he's healthy as he ran on their 4x4 (which did a great job). I'm sure these guys are probably a little disappointed they didn't make the COA, but I sincerely doubt we have heard the last of this team. They will be back with a vengeance for districts.
Large Schools 1
- This was a fantastic race by Pennsbury. They won their heat and did with some authority. Sauer just broke things open on the 2nd leg (another order change I found interesting, but more on that later) and then Webb did his usual gutsyness and came up big on the anchor. I thought Kersten also held his own nicely on that lead off leg considering his youth and inexperience at the Penn Relays, but I suppose his state experience helped a lot here.
- Abington really did some gutsy running. Neely took it probably a bit over his head, but held on valiantly and set the tone to keep them in it from there. You have to get out well on the first leg to keep your team in contention, so Neely's run was big. Considering their seed, they really overachieved at 8:03 and just 3 seconds out of the COA.
- State College and Altoona just always find each other I guess. Milligan runs down Foust to get SC the nod in the D6 race. Feffer had a nice third leg which set things up. Altoona apparently had a 2:02 split from Kevin Smith this weekend, however, so Toona may be making some changes before their rematch at Districts.
Large Schools 2
- CB West was consistently competitive through their first three legs and then Fortna brought it home to seal what I thought was the most surprising COA qualifier for PA. Fortna did a great job staying competitive and finishing hard even when guys were rolling by on quick opening laps all around him.
- DT West was nearly PA's 4th team into the finals, missing it by 1 spot. But there was nothing to be ashamed of for this squad. You have to keep in mind they are a young team that is still learning a lot about running at this level. Plus they got a huge lift from Jaxson on the anchor who went out blazing fast to try and pull his team back into the race (which he did). Jaxson probably was out a bit too fast, but he still had a good last 200m and didn't really fall apart that much, a great sign of strength considering he's still working his way back to 100%. Also Josh ran 1:58 later in the weekend in the open 8, another positive sign looking forward.
- LaSalle really impressed me this weekend. I felt like they were beginning to get into a bit of a rut, but they broke out in a big way at Penn, running an extremely competitive race and narrowly getting beat out for a spot in the COA by only about 2 seconds. Grant ran a tough lead off leg and Sutton fought well on the anchor leg among a sea of big names and fast times. Also worth noting: the DMR season is officially done for the spring, meaning St. Joe's Prep, Bonner and O'Hara are all switching their focus back to the 4x8 for Districts and state qualifying. LaSalle needs to continue to bring their "A" game if they want to assure themselves a spot on the line at Shipp.
In the end, PA sent 3 teams to the Championships with Pennsbury leading the way followed by an excellent showing by CB East and lastly CB West.
Saturday
What a great set of teams to make the COA for PA. First you had Pennsbury. Their spot was almost predetermined giving the statistics for indoor state champs, but that didn't mean they didn't have to show up in the prelims. And they certainly did. The impressive season continued for PB as they won their heat and locked down a spot.
Then you had CB East. They have always had solid relay depth as I've harped on in past recaps. They had the heartbreaking 6th place finish at Districts this past fall. They had an arguably disappointing indoor state meet (although maybe expectations from guys like me were just too high). And of course they had last year. Last year, they didn't make it to the COA and were likely PA's best team left of the qualifiers list. Last year's team also didn't include Jake Brophy, who ran the 3k fresh instead.
But this year, CB East put Brophy on the line and he delivered with a big time 1:57 second leg that kept East in it. But the real winner here was Ata Shahideh (who anchored the previous year's team) who ran a phenomenal 1:58 lead off leg that set the tone for the entire race that followed. It was an ultimate redemption story and it made this squad my favorite COA qualifier. (Also worth noting, having Brophy on the 4x8 didn't seem to hurt his 3k performance all that much either).
Finally, there was CB West. They didn't have the stars or the state champs on their roster in the conventional sense. I picked against them this past districts in cross country (mistake) and I picked against them for this Penn Relays (mistake). I've been thinking they're too young or they're a year away, but West has said their time is now.
And in the finals, it was CB West who threw the best first punch. Lead off leg Andrew Baker dropped an impressive 1:57.9 opening carry and handed off in first out of all the PA teams. Baker's a Senior so naturally he won't be waiting around until next year to get things going. West followed it up with another super frosh to add to the long list of super frosh this year in PA as Jake Claricurzio split a killer 1:56.64 on the 2nd leg. Those two running what I believe to be sizeable PRs combined with a strong run by Carter Zerweck in 2 flat, kept this team competitive and ultimately Rock Fortna brought it home with a 1:54.94 split. Fortna has now split 1:54 and 4:16 this year and is becoming a star.
CB East fell out off it early, but still fought valiantly on tired legs from their epic run the day before. Boucher split a strong 1:55.44 on the second leg from the back of the pack which was a nice PR for him. East now has Shahideh at 1:58, Boucher and Brophy at 1:55 and Kettelberger at 2:02 with two of those marks coming in sub-ideal conditions. They are a strong team for states, but Brophy's 2 mile prowess is getting harder and harder to ignore looking ahead. Stay tuned.
But the story of the finals was Pennsbury. Pennsbury made some very interesting relay movements that, given their fantastic 4th place finish and 7:45.42 time, clearly paid off. The most drastic change was Alek Sauer moving from his usual place as anchor, to second leg. Sauer has been running 4th on this relay for as long as I can remember, dating back to his sophomore year days on their 2013 squad. The general philosophy is you throw your best guy on the anchor so he can chase down as many guys as possible or tactically outduel his competitors. It worked well for PB last outdoors when Sauer ran down a slew of guys en route to a 1:52.9 split and it also helped him hold off Penncrest at indoor states.
But, the Orangemen also knew their best shot at success was to stay at or near the front for as long as possible. Kersten gave a strong lead off performance, running 1:58, and then Sauer took over on his leg, blasting a 1:51.98 split that brought Pennsbury into perfect position in the top group. Then Pennsbury threw in another surprise, opting for Sam Webb at the 3 spot rather than his customary 2 spot or his previous day's anchor role. Like Sauer, Webb has been running in the 2 spot for as long as I can recall, but putting Webb on at 3rd allowed him to keep Pennsbury at the front once again. The fact that Webb was running with elite competition brought out the best in him and he split a 1:54.12 for another big PR.
Here's the thing, Sauer anchored so well in the past because he is an excellent chaser. Webb was so effective as a #2 leg in the past because he runs great at the front of the pack. The best order to give those (Pennsbury's best legs) a chance to do what they do best was to set things up as they did.
However, this could all go wrong if your anchor is not ready to handle the spotlight. Pennsbury opted for Zach Yeger in the finals on the anchor leg, a huge, pressure packed spot for a man in what was likely his first Penn Relays appearance. Yeger is a strong runner, but he was getting the baton with monster anchor legs (a ton of 1:52-1:53 types). Despite the fast early pace, Yeger held on strong for Pennsbury and kept them in a great position. His 2 flat anchor carry was enough to give the squad 4th place overall, top PA honors and also top PA-NY honors as they beat Arlington and James Asselmeyer, who split 1:51.68 but had too much ground to make up on the boys in Orange.
So ultimately, big props to Pennsbury. They ran an effective order that got their two top talents to PRs and their other two legs at or near their career best marks. They challenged conventional wisdom for relays, held their own under pressure, and made PA proud.
Pennsbury is the undeniable favorite for the outdoor crown, but a few questions are still swirling around this team, most notably revolving around the team's key #2 piece Sam Webb. Now that Webb isn't running top tier 3200ms immediately before his 4x8 legs, we can see that he has serious wheels. But if he goes back to the 32 this districts/states, will that effect his ability to give their team the 1-2 punch that separates them from their rivals? Or is Webb looking at a 4x8-16 double this outdoors (another brutally tricky double)? And if so, what does this mean for the already complicated outdoor 1600m state title race (remember no Ritz in the PIAA)?
We answered some questions this weekend, but we also opened the door to a few more. Get ready PA.
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