Some Recaps And ... Apparently Some Breaking News

Susquehanna

Kyle Burke picked up a nice win a competitive mile. He knocked off XC state champ Isaac Davis (4:40) and sophomore sensation Cole Walker (sub 9:30 as a frosh in the 3200, also ran 4:40) with his time of 4:36. He’s creeping down into the state qualifying mix every week and this win should speak to his potential. Henderson won the 4x8 in 8:37 and also had the gold medalist in the 800 when Spencer Smucker took the title in 2:04.77. Josh Willard won the 3^rd of 4 sections in 2:07 and looms as a sleeper from the powerhouse that is Cumberland Valley.

The 3k may have been the race of the day as a crowded field produced 14 guys under 10 minutes. Mitchell Etter of State College and Morgan Cupp of Mechanicsburg (the top two guys in the Mid Penn during XC) finished in the top two spots here with Etter getting the win and the faster mark (8:57.10). This is Cupp’s first significant indoor race that I can remember and bodes really well for a deep run not just indoors but also outdoors. As for Etter, he’s established himself as a legit all-state contender in the 3k based on his performances the past 12 months.

Shout out to Carter Kauffman of Saint Joseph on the 9:20 for 3^rd. He’s a A guy who was strong during XC and makes a nice transition to the oval in 2018. He beat out some legit competition including Mitchell Rome (9:21), Owen Isham (9:24), Cade Rush (9:28) and Brett Pope (9:28).

F&M Invitational

Shout out to F&M. They didn’t used to have big time indoor track meets, but now they are churning out some impressive stuff over there.

The 1600 was a pretty great as Spring Ford’s Zach Smith dropped a huge mark of 4:29.79. The Ram has been on fire in recent weeks which is a great sign for this squad. Pair him and Jacob McKenna together and they have a powerful 1-2 punch in the longer stuff. I’ve said it before, but I really like this DMR’s potential as a sleeper team. Maybe they aren’t as flashy time wise as some of the other programs that have trekked to bank tracks, but I see them making noise. His teammate John Zawislak ran a solid 4:38 for 6^th in the race as a frosh.

Davis Piercy of Kennett is another guy who is quickly gaining steam. This kid can run and his 4:32 for 3^rd in this race really proves that. He was lurking just below the elite tier for a couple weeks and he punched straight through that barrier at F&M. Josh Endy of Boyertown also posted a great race with a 4:32 of his own. Endy’s got a great 8-16 combo that could make him an elite 1200 leg. On the flip, Boyertown is really deep with McComb and Derafelo also on the roster. Lots of options for this team to make a run at a nice DMR as well.

How about the 3k at this meet as well? The aforementioned Jacob McKenna built nicely off his 9:12 effort at Kutztown and translated that into an 8:56.88. That’s a SQG time and probably guarantees him a spot at states (although you never know). If he wants it that is. Meanwhile, Ian Miller of Manheim Township had a big breakthrough with his 8:58. Miller had posted a nice 2-mile at the Armory, but this is a far superior mark, especially when accounting for bank and flat conversions. Miller is legit. He had some strong moments during XC and is a part of a sneaky good distance program that also has Evan Dorenkamp on the roster.

In other news, it’s time to stop overlooking Ephrata. They’ve had nice 4x8 results to this point, but their most recent explosion put the rest of the state on notice. Ephrata picked up a big win over an awesome Boyertown squad (who impressed in their own right with an 8:14) and dropped a mammoth 8:06.02. Last year, this team almost snagged some state medals in the spring with a sub 8 effort. However, they lost key senior leader Zach Lefever which I thought could be a problem for this squad. Whoops. They’ve only gotten better as Tyler Shue (who won the 800 over a really strong runner in Seth Phillips) continues to blossom into a star. If Shanahan isn’t all in on the 4x8 (and who knows if they are), should we be talking about Ephrata in the state title discussion?

TFCAofGP #7

The Philly boys are still at Glenn Mills which does limit some of the fast times, but racing is still racing and winning is still important. CR South’s Andrew Zawodniak did some winning of his own against a couple strong middle distance guys in Carter Laatsch and Nicholas Yeatman. Zawodniak clocked 2:05.27 for the W. Sean Rahill, a 3k state qualifier a year ago, was best in that event and sophomore Asher Pileggi of Neshaminy starred in the mile, winning with a time of 4:55. Could he develop into a piece for a Neshminy DMR attempt before all is said and done?

The relays were really the story in D1 as CB West clocked an 8:11.30 to win the 4x8 and Abington smoked an 11:06 in the DMR. 8:11 may not sound like all that much, but this a dangerous sign for the rest of the state. It wasn’t that many years ago that a CB West 4x8 ran around 8:01 on this Glenn Mills track. Then a short while later they stepped on the PSU track and clocked a state record 7:45. This isn’t quite the same, but it is reminiscent of that to me. They seem to be getting healthy and gaining steam at the perfect time. Meanwhile their old rivals from Abington showed some real distance strength en route to that 11:06. We think of them as a 4x8/4x4 squad but they had mile and 1200 legs step up to deliver a nice win over CR South (an always dangerous squad this winter).

In Division II, Brett Zatlin continued his winning ways with a 4:42 mile victory, Elias Lindgren showed his 800 speed with a gold in the 4 lapper and Domenic Moser continues to establish himself as 3k guy with a victory in that event. The Great Valley boys were also victorious in the DMR, taking the top spot by 10 seconds over Sun Valley.

TSTCA #2

The rescheduled Western Meet gave a boatload of kids another chance to post some fast times. And those kids delivered.

At 800 meters, it was Seneca Valley’s Seth Ketler who took the title. After impressing on the anchor leg at the Armory for SV’s DMR, Ketler torched a 1:58 on the track this weekend for a big gold. The 1-2 punch from Indiana of Kendall Branan and Joey Bujdos grabbed the next two spots with strong marks of their own at 2:02. Not to be outdone, Ketler’s teammate Sam Owori took over the mile and rolled to a victory in 4:30.83. His team was best in the field by 8 seconds as Sam toppled state medalist Brett Brady of Butler (4:38) and his own teammate Connor Volk-Klos (nice race at 4:38 as well).

To this point, the 3k has largely been the Rusty Kujdych show, but Butler’s Noah Beveridge has inserted himself into the talks. Noah clocked a big time 8:44.75 to take over the #1 contender spot from Brendan Miller. Beveridge was 2^nd at XC states and is the #2 outdoor returner at 3200 behind Rusty. Beveridge entered the meet with an ambitious 0.08 second seed, putting a big target on his back. But ultimately he delivered a fast time to back it up.

It wasn’t just Noah who turned heads in this race. Christian Fitch of Fox Chapel has a couple state champs in his team’s trophy case for the longer stuff and the sophomore impressed with a 9:06 3k. Fitch was nearly a state medalist during cross and, at such a young age, has a ton of talent. My favorite sleeper Josh Lewis dropped an 9:08 and Dan McGoey improved his season best with a 9:11.

The much anticipated debut of the Greensburg Salem DMR resulted in an 11:06 victory over Mount Lebanon (who ran 11:10). They are just outside the state qualifying mix for now, but this should be an important stepping stone toward a big time by year’s end. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. If the WPIAL loads up a fresh DMR at one of these meets, it is going to be really impressive. My fingers are crossed we get to see it happen.

That’s all for now. I’ll come back with more Ocean Breeze comments later in the week.

Oh, by the way, apparently Footlocker Finalist and sub 4:10 miler Dalton Hengst has transferred to Bishop Shanahan to join that super star core …. So stay tuned for that ….