Fingers Crossed ... Kevin Dare Pre-Snow Preview

By Jarrett Felix

Ah yes, the annual tradition of writing a preview for a meet that quite possibly will not happen and, at the very least, probably won't exactly match the performance list we flipped through the Internet to find.

Oh yeah, here is a link to the performance list, courtesy of our own Evan Hatton. Shout out to the west coast.

http://pa.milesplit.com/meets/220348/attachment/419802

Below I break down some of the distance events from the meet. Let me know I missed someone flipping through the performance lists as I only briefly looked on my phone to get some ideas. Some names I have identified as "key names" are listed below, but you can decide for yourself if you take a peak at the link above.

Mile

Joe Cardie, DELCO

Liam Galligan, DELCO

Nick Feffer, SC

Alex Milligan, SC

Brian Delaney, MT

Patrick Donahue, HGP

Brett George, Altoona

PJ Murray, Conestoga

Ian Reid, SH

Justin Yurchak, Hempfield

By PR, Alex Milligan is firmly the #1 seed based on his 4:17 run last outdoors, capping off a stretch of 4 PRs in one weekend. However, the man with the hottest hand is likely Springfield Delco's Liam Galligan. Galligan has excelled at both the 800m and the 3k in recent weeks, running down around 2:01 and crushing an 8:56 3k mark as well. I think Galligan is ready for something in the low 4:20s in this race and will look to bolster his resume to keep his options open for either the mile or the 3k at states (or both). Milligan has been quiet so far this indoors, but did clock a sub 4:30 split to anchor State College's DMR. He also won an early season 3k under 9:20. Both marks came in low key competition on the PSU track. He has home field advantage and his hungry for the chance to prove himself. That could point to a big day.

But Milligan may not even finish as the top runner on his own team. Junior Nick Feffer is coming off a fantastic XC season where he finished just behind Galligan and in the medals. Feffer also split 1:54 last outdoors and ran 4:25 for 1600. He beat Milligan head to head in 2 of the team's final 3 XC meets in the fall and could potentially get the better of both "lligans" at Kevin Dare.

Also projected to be in the mix should be PJ Murray of Conestoga and Patrick Donahue of Holy Ghost Prep. Murray had a phenomenal race at this meet last year, edging out teammate Andrew Marston and has already set up camp in the 4:30 range on multiple occasions this winter. Donahue on the other hand has been leading a strong armada of milers from HG Prep and is fresh off a nice weekend at Yale. He won't be afraid to race aggressively in this field.

Brian Delaney and Just Yurchak, both out of district 3, rarely get a chance to race at this competitive of a meet. Both have had good success during XC and Delaney is fresh off a strong mile showing at Kutztown. Brett George of Altoona will also be playing close to home like the SC boys, but will be stretching himself up in distance to the mile. The 800m specialist ran 1:57ish last year and had a huge day at this meet last year in the same event as of PA's top finishers. I'm excited to see how he handles the mile.

Prediction:

1. Galligan

2. Feffer

3. Milligan

800m

Tucker Desko, Pennridge

Kevin Dineen, HGP

Brendan Eagen, HGP

Luke Eissler, Pennridge

David Fletcher, Mt Caramel

Ahmir Gordon, SH

Fun fact, Pennridge's Joey Logue holds the meet record at around 1:53 from his duel with Will Cather back in 2014. Why is that such a fun fact? Because current Pennridge runner Tucker Desko likely wants that record this weekend if he can get his hands on it. There isn't a clear challenger in the field to serve in the Cather esque role of keeping things fast, but Desko is becoming accustomed to taking care of business by himself. He's already run 1:56 and 4:20 dominating those races from the front. He ran 1:55 open last season at 800m and be believe he split in the very low 1:53s at states this past outdoors. That kind of resume makes him the center of attention in this one.

However, let's not forget about AA stand out David Fletcher from Mt Caramel in district 4. The small school runner has had a fantastic pair of seasons on the outdoor track, placing very well at states in both the open 8 and the 4x8. If it wasn't for Domenic Peretta, Fletcher may already have a state title. He ran 1:55 last year as well and has yet to really get after things in a fast 800 this winter. He's dabbled at 1600m, producing a pair of nice marks on slower, flat tracks, including a 4:33 mark this past weekend. I think he feels like a logical candidate to pop off a breakthrough time.

Ahmir Gordon from Strath Haven also ran 1:55 last spring and has been knocking on the door of a sub 2 thus far this winter. HG Prep's duo of Eagen and Dineen could make noise as sleepers, especially because the pair may be fighting it out to see who will be the 800m leg of the team's already successful DMR (just ran around 10:50 at Yale). Luke Eissler of Pennridge, just a frosh, is also auditioning for a spot on a relay. He will try and crack the very talented top 4 for Pennridge's 4x8 corps, a relay that has serious state gold aspirations on state Sunday.

Predictions:

1. Desko

2. Fletcher

3. Gordon

3,000m

Nathan Henderson, JP McCaskey

Jeff Kirshenbaum, Methacton

Callahan Lennon, HGP

Owen Wing, SC

Jeff Kirshenbaum has established himself as one of the early favorites for state gold in the 3k. He's already run 9:29 for 2 miles and sub 8:50 for 3k on a flat track. He recently added a 4:26 solo victory in the mile to his impressive set list of indoor track performances. He hits the PSU mondo looking to knock off Dahl's 8:39. If he does that, he will be close to Craig Miller's 8:38 meet record time. Yes, Craig Miller. The indoor record holder at 3k at 8:22 and 4:05 miler Craig Miller. Not bad company at all if Kirsh can get there.

His main competition will come from JP McCaskey's Nathan Henderson. Henderson, the 5th place finisher at XC states and runaway district champion out of D3, opened his season with a dominant win at 1600 over Jesse Cruise. His time of 4:32 wasn't jaw dropping, but it was a good indication that he is quite fit despite still sharpening. This may be his only chance for a really fast time indoors, depending on how much he is willing to travel (D3 doesn't have a big indoor circuit) so he will have to take advantage. I doubt Henderson will shy away from a fast pace after his 9:08 for 3200m last spring at states so if he hangs tough with Kirshenbaum, he will run a very nice time for himself. 

Callahan Lennon of HGP, fresh off a strong 4:37 mile at Yale, will look to prove himself at the longer 3k distance. He was the D1 AA XC champ and a state medalist so I'd bet his strength is good enough to hang in this field and, when combined with his improvement in the mile, could lead to a nice mark in this one. Also lurking as a sleeper is State College's Owen Wing, who has already run a top 25 or so time in the 3k back at his first race. He's also been training with a nice group of speedsters in SC. 

Prediction:

1. Henderson

2. Kirshenbaum

3. Lennon

4x800m

HG Prep

Pennridge

State College

North Penn

DELCO

Strath Haven

Now you never know which teams will bring out an A squad for the relay, especially at the  end of the meet when legs are tired, but these teams seem like some of the potential fastest squads. All of these squads will have a piece of two doubling if they run their best 4, but there is time to recover, especially from the mile.

State College and Pennridge have almost developed something of a rivalry over the past two seasons (I even made a post about the two squads at the end of last spring) and both have something to prove in the 4x8. Neither team has cracked 8:10, putting them well behind the pace of the early state leaders, namely Abington who ran 8:01 in December. It looks like Pennridge might be saving Espinal and possibly another piece for a fresh run, but SC is doing the same with Degleris (both men were 1:56 3rd legs last outdoor states). I'm really hoping they push each other down towards the 8 flat barrier, but that will be difficult with tired legs. The 2014 indoor and outdoor state champ State College ran 7:57 at this meet for the meeting record. 

North Penn and Strath Haven have a strong history of producing 4x8 squads that contend for state medals. North Penn in particular has shown some flashes of potential, especially because their core is still quite young and inexperienced. Haven has Gordon as a proven force but also has Ian Reid who broke 4:40 recently in the mile and has mixed it up well at 3k this year. HG Prep is running guys all over the place individually, but if they have anything left in the tank, they have 3 sub 4:40 guys and another 800m specialist ready to piece together a strong relay.

The sleeper would be Springfield DELCO as they have both Liam Galligan and Joe Cardie (also sub 4:40 in the mile). I don't know what other pieces they have, but that's a dynamite place to start. 

Prediction:

1. State College

2. Pennridge

3. North Penn