The meet is coming up on June 2nd at West Chester Henderson High School and I am happy to say I just took a half day off of work to make sure I can come see the races. It will be my first time attending since 2010 when Tom Mallon "tied" Paul Vandegrift's record in the 800m. Assuming Coach Kelly is cool with it, I'm hoping to get some video coverage of the races, similar to states and posting them up. So somebody with an account can tell that guy on penntrack we may have some coverage for him.
Early speculation around the races says that John Lewis is in for 800m, Peretta is a maybe for either the mile or the 8 (hopefully he can make the trip), Jaxson Hoey should be there for the mile and I'd imagine his teammates like Josh and maybe Barton/Sappey will be toeing the line as well. I've also heard Zach Brehm is going to be involved in the mile, looking to better his mark he set two years ago at this meet. Sam Ritz's inclusion in Prefontaine likely counts him out from this meet, but it sounds like Coach K has brought in some out of staters to participate in the championship races and give PA a chance to prove itself against the top competition from the area in a true of meet of champs type set up.
I've heard rumors guys like Kevin James and Billy McDevitt are expected to be involved and I would think it's likely the meet will grab plenty of east coast talent. If you guys know of anyone else planning to enter, let me know! It should be a fantastic meet!
Also, just a friendly reminder, this meet is an open meet for all athletes. If you are looking to get in one more race, regardless of your ability, sign up and enjoy an awesome race in ideal conditions with great atmosphere and competition. The open races start at 5:45 for the 400m, 800m, 200m and Mile. Then there will be some elite races mixed in with the HS meet of champions events starting around 7:30 (all this information and more can be found on milesplit or the meet website)
Also, again with Coach K's permission, I'd like to bring my batch of etrain shirts to the meet and see if I can find any takers. The goal is to the leave the meet with no shirts remaining ....
As was the case with states, if you see me feel free to come talk and introduce yourself. Always like to hear from readers.
If you have questions, best person to go through is Coach Kelly or Coach Burns, but I will do my best to answer any questions you might have if you need help. My email is jarrettfelix1130@gmail.com if needed.
Anyway, enough talk, continue to discuss and feel free to click on over to Garrett Zatlin's preview for the NCAA regional action!
See you kids soon,
train
is the distance festival and MOC the same thing??
ReplyDeleteYes, it is. The PA Distance Festival at Henderson is set up essentially the same way it has been the past few years but now the fastest heats of the mile, 800m and 5000m are tagged with a "Meet of Champions" line to try and promote the idea of bringing together the best guys, regardless of class and school size and such, to race it out in one fresh, fast race.
DeleteIt's still the PA Distance Festival I just like to drop the Meet of Champions line because, if you haven't been reading the blog, it's the thing I've been lobbying for in PA running basically since I started the Aftermath.
The fields are looking really good. High School 800 has Lewis, Ritz, Peretta, McDeviit, Boswell, Emmanuel, Desko. The headliners in the Mile are Hoey, Brehm, Ebert, Dahl a couple of NJ, Delaware and Maryland kids, I think 3 or 4 guys entered under 14:50 in the 5k. The weather is shaping up great. Partly cloudy and light winds by the time we get to the meet. It usually stills down nicely for this meet. Thanks to e-train for helping to promote this meet. If you're not running, come out and watch, We'll have split clocks every 100 and music on the backstretch.
ReplyDeleteCoach Kelly
^ This guy is the man
ReplyDeleteI second this. Thanks for putting this together, Coach.
ReplyDelete-Sam Ritz
Brehm is going to school that mile field.
ReplyDeleteFor once on this blog I would love to see Evan's last name spelled correctly - Emanuel
ReplyDeleteIf penntrack had a penny for every time a name was spelled wrong on this blog, then no one would have to pay to view athlete profiles ....
DeleteThere have been some absolutely incredible races in PA distance over the last 5 years. Maybe for material during the summer training lull it might be pretty be cool if Etrain gave us his ranking the most impressive performances over the last five years (hint hint).
ReplyDeleteI’m thinking of some of the gems over that time, and I'm sure I'm missing some so I apologize for any I've overlooked!
XC
Russell/Shearn – Belmont – 15:41, Shearn came roaring back to win, but that race put Russell on the map, and I believe the both broke the record on a course that has a very storied history.
Abert – 2014 Paul Short – 14:55, cause it’s sub 15:00!
Brophy – 2014 States – 15:24, crushed a big time field and state record that may stand for a long time.
Brophy’s 2014 is the top XC race in my opinion.
Mile/1600
Magaha – 2011 states 1600 – 4:07.32 (4:08.9)
Brehm – 2013 Distance Festival – 4:09.27
Russell – 2014 Boston Indoor – 4:11.56
Barchet – 2014 Distance Festival – 4:11.51 (lol, the guy goes 4:11 and didn’t make his teams DMR!)
Ritz – 2015 States Indoor – 4:09.56
Ritz – 2015 Nationals – 4:08.67
Ritz has the fastest time at indoor nationals, and his state win was dominant and a record. But the best 1600/mile I’ve ever seen was Magaha’s 2012 D1 victory in 4:08 something 1600. He ran that one totally on his own, accelerating it seemed whenever he felt like it. I don’t think anyone in PA over the last 5 years could have beat him at that distance on that day.
3200 – Wilson’s 8:56 kick/win over Russell last year should have been the stuff of legend for a decade. I read he literally shaped his training for that exact opportunity and then he pulled it off! But Brehm just more than one-upped it. He not only won in 8:55, but closed in 4:19/2:03/:58. And he beat the deepest field of probably any distance race in PA history. Some stud will likely come along and break this record in the next few years but probably not in the fashion Brehm ran that race, hanging back for team points and then kicking and closing.
DMR – O’Hara’s 10:00 at Nationals (one of the most perfect team races ever) and WCH’s Penn Relays 10:03 to even things with OH.
4x800 – CBW – 7:33 (arguably the best distance race in PA ever) and this year’s Pennsbury 7:38
800
Ok, so this is the point of my entire long winded post! This 800 has a great chance to be one of the best PA races ever. Now I give a caveat because there’s chance Brehm could throw down a 4:07 or better mile and upstage the whole thing. But that little qualification aside, let’s take a look at the recent history;
Mallon 2010 - 1:49.01
Magaha 2013 – 1:48.82
Francis 2014 Indoor – 1:50.55
Francis 2014 Outdoor – 1:49.57
Lewis 2015 D1 – 1:49.15
Lewis 2015 States – 1:48.72 (state record)
At the time I thought Francis’ 2014 States Indoor 800 was the most aggressive and best 800 race I’d ever seen. He just shot out from the gun, destroyed the field, destroyed the record. But then he did it again outdoors after a spring season that to that point had been kind of quiet. And then this year Lewis ran practically the exact same race indoors for a wire to wire win. But come outdoors Lewis became a total beast. Who goes out in 24? 51? This guy just flies out of the blocks in an 800 like it’s a 200 or something and everyone is left to just say…ok, see ya.
However, there’s a chance Lewis may get a real challenge tomorrow. This is a stacked field and although Lewis is clearly the favorite by a lot, there are a group of guys who might be able to get on his shoulder on the last 300 and then who knows. It’s tough to predict these big races but I can’t see Lewis doing anything different then just taking it from the gun like he always does. The other guys obviously know this so maybe they go a little more even and try to make a move on the first turn of the bell lap.
So my prediction, a new state record and possibly the best race in PA distance history!
(though it’s a long, long shot, the national HS record is 1:46.45. Anyone who has the guts to go out in 51, well, you know!)
- RJJL
Lewis is the best.
DeleteLewis is the state record holder and he hasn't even been challenged in a race yet.
DeleteHeat sheets are posted on the race results page at www.runccrs.com.
ReplyDelete