by Jarrett Felix
District 3
3200m
AA
In a
bit of an unexpected twist, Camp Hill’s Cooper Leslie will pursue the
3200-4x8-1600-4x4 quadruple. Leslie, who competed well at states last year in
the 3200, will have a very busy weekend, but it will hopefully end with a
District title for Camp Hill and a long list of qualifiers for the next week’s
attempt at a Team State Title (which is very, very much in play). Although I
was expecting to see Leslie in the 8, he will be more than prepared to do
damage in this race. The 32 is his only event on day 1 and he comes in as a
fairly big favorite over Dan Wood, Wil Greene and Jack DiCintio.
That
last name is interesting as DiCintio holds a PR of 9:29 for 3200 and was the
District 3 XC champ in AA this past fall (and 2nd at states in 2014).
DiCintio hasn’t necessarily found that same peak form, but it’s hard to count
out a talent like him. Greene deserves a mention here as well as the Delone
Catholic junior challenged Leslie very well on the trials during cross country,
following him to a top 10 performance at XC states in A. Greene is finding a
nice rhythm on the track in the 32 and this may be a chance to breakthrough.
I
believe there are just two automatic spots on the line for AA, meaning at least
two of these top 4 guys are going to need to run under the 9:48 qual time to
book a room at Shippensburg.
AAA
It’s
been a big year for Nate Henderson, who now enters championship season very
differently than he did a year ago. Henderson ran an 8:24 3k at the Penn Relays
for top PA honors, a mark that is almost 30 seconds superior to his 9:28 seed
time (and thus 30 seconds ahead of everybody else in this field). It would
definitely be a surprise for Henderson (who has also run 4:14 and 1:53) to
cross the line anywhere but first. However, he does have a busy weekend
(projected to run the 4x8, 16 and 4x4 on Day 2) so he will likely look to
conserve a little bit. But if he really goes for it, he could finish with a
meet record.
Behind
Henderson is where things really start to get interesting. The state qualifying
mark is about 9:31 flat, but in D3 the top 5 automatically advance. So it will
be 6 through 8 who will need to keep that number in mind. There are only two
guys seeded under the SQS (Henderson and Ephrata’s Zach Lefever) but there are
9 guys seeded between 9:30.97 and 9:40.05, all of whom could certainly finish
in the top 5 (or run the SQS) on race day. And outside the top 10 seeds are big
names like Dan Filler of Gettysburg and, wait for it, Matt Wisner of Carlisle!
Wisner, who’s rarely ever contested the 32, will try and pick up some extra
team points on race day (Carlisle is going to be suuuppper busy) by adding the
32 to his itinerary. Although Wisner’s seed is just 9:49, he has run 1:53
(multiple times) and 4:18 plus he has an XC state medal from this past fall and
a cross Mid Penn gold. So it would be foolish to count him out of the medal
discussion just because his seed time isn’t impressive.
Sorting
out the final state qualifying spots is going to be a mess (although if Wisner
gets one, I can basically promise you he will scratch for someone else because
he ain’t touching this event at states). Lefever seems like a “safe” bet based
on his resume both on the track this spring and, perhaps more importantly,
during a stellar cross country season. Besides Henderson, I don’t think
District 3 has had a long distance guy on par with Lefever. If the race goes
fast enough, I think he can dip into the low 9:20s.
Another
guy I’m very high on for race day is Red Land’s Zach Seiger. Seiger has excelled
in this race before, most notably breaking 9:30 last year to qualify for
states, and is having a terrific track season. He dropped a 4:21 mile recently
and should be able to improve on his 9:38 seed by a good margin. Don’t forget
that Seiger was a monster during XC his junior season and, if not for some
unfortunate injuries, he could have potentially been a sub 16 guy at Hershey.
That’s a pretty rare club and speaks to the strength this guy has.
Lower
Dauphin has qualified runners in this event the past several seasons, mainly
thanks to Jeff Groh and Cole Nissley but also Sean Weidner who cracked 9:20
last spring at Districts. The next guy in that line could be Kyler Shea. Shea
has run 9:32 this season. But Shea will likely need to jump a few runners who
bested at Mid Penns if he wants to have any hope at keeping the LD streak alive
for another year. That would be Sam Signor from East Pennsboro and Alex Tomasko
from Mechanicsubrg. Signor won the Mid Penn title by 2 seconds over Tomasko,
doubling back from the 1600 and has a 4:17 mark in his back pocket. Plus Sam’s
got a clutch gene. He finished 5th at AA XC States this past year in
his last cross race of his career. Tomasko has also significantly improved his
1600 speed this year, running 4:21.06.
Of course
Tomasko may not even finish first on his team on race day. Sophomore Morgan
Cupp from Mechanicsburg, who finished in the top 40 or so at states this past
fall in cross, is 4:24-9:37 guy with the potential to surprise. Of course Cupp
may not even finish as the top sophomore in the field. Hershey’s Andrew
Sullivan is having a phenomenal year in his own right, having run 4:21ish at
Mid Penns and also clocking 9:35 earlier this year.
Ultimately,
I think Henderson takes this and then Lefever-Signor-Seiger-Shea end up
rounding out the state qualifiers. Wisner could definitely crack that top 5,
especially because he will likely lay back early and unleash his kick on anyone
who went out too fast late. But, as mentioned, for state qualifying purposes,
I’m not sure Wisner actually makes a difference here. But he’s not running it
for state qualifying purposes, he’s running it to help Carlisle add another
district title to the trophy case which should make things fun.
4x800m
AA
We get
a big match up here to start off day 2. Wyomissing, the defending state
champions in the 4x8 and current AA state leaders at 8:01, will go head to head
with the reigning A XC State Champions Camp Hill. Camp Hill jumped out onto the
4x8 scene early and consistently have been under 8:10, but they have yet to dip
under 8 minutes, a time which Wyomissing hit in 2015 and, with the right
competition, could certainly hit this year. I lean toward Wyomissing in this
match-up, especially with the continued development of sophomore Joe Cullen (1:57.22
last week), but if Camp Hill can keep things close and get the baton around to
Leslie, who knows. He ran 1:56 in the open on the triple last weekend, so fresh
(besides the previous night’s 32) with a running start and people to chase? You
can do your own math.
Outside
of the big two, keep an eye on Trinity. They always have a good team and they
have a sub 2 anchor in Geisler. I’ve learned not to pick against this team in
the 4x8. They’ve got a knack for it and I think they will punch a ticket to states
based on time this weekend.
AAA
As my
writer Caleb Gatchell pointed out, it was a bit bold of me to call Cedar Crest
“potential favorites” in the 4x8 at Districts considering Carlisle has a seed
time over 10 seconds faster than CC (and everybody else). But with Carlisle
spreading themselves over a variety of distance events both before and after
the relay, they seem a little less focused on winning this event than the
defending champions might feel. And personally, I really like this Cedar Crest
squad and the way they peak at the right time. Jesse Cruise and Matt Royer are
a great 1-2 punch who could each potentially dip under 1:57.
Of
course there are more teams than just these two that should have championship
aspirations. JP McCaskey has run 8:03 and have arguably the best runner in the
district preparing to give them an anchor carry. Nate Henderson has already
reportedly split 1:53 in a dual meet, meaning if JP McCaskey can boast 3 legs
averaging 2 flat, they could run as quick as 7:53, a time that rivals Carlisle
and is well ahead of anything Cedar Crest has done so far this spring.
The
rest of the pack is filled with some incredibly intriguing squads. Eastern York
and Daniel Boone have been a top my sleeper list for a while. That’s especially
true for Eastern York who I have been very impressed with. I think they are on
the verge of a breakthrough. Cumberland Valley is always a contender in the 4x8
and is definitely lurking in the middle of the heat sheets with potential to
surprise. They have a sub 2 anchor leg in Yahya Soliman. Lower Dauphin has a
ton of depth, but perhaps not the star needed to get over the hump. And Milton
Hershey has the star, Austin Podmore, who ran 1:56.11 at Mid Penns on the
double. But do they have the depth? I think they do.
Each
team better be on their game on race day as it may take a time close to 8 flat
just to crack the top 8.
1600m
AA
Another
event preview, and guess what, we are talking about Cooper Leslie again! He’s
the big favorite in this event, with a seed time nearly 10 seconds ahead of the
field. He’s consistently run in the low 4:20s this season and he should, in
theory, have little trouble taking gold in this race, even with a tough 4x8 and
32 in his legs.
The real
fun will be the battle for the second state qualifying spot. It’s up for grabs
right now with a couple intriguing two miler doublers like DiCintio, Greene and
Dan Wood as well Leslie’s teammate Blake Behney, who will be hoping for some
critical team points. But Alex Sheib of Millersburg comes in as the 2 seed with
a 4:28 seed and will likely be fresh, ready to take the spot.
AAA
Can
Nate Henderson complete the triple? Henderson is the clear favorite in the 16,
having run 4:14 already this year, a mark 3 seconds ahead of his next closest
competitor (who will be doubling off the 4x8 just like Henderson). In fact, if
you look at this field, it looks like Brian Delany of Manheim Township (the 8th
seed) may be the top seed who hasn’t run a district race yet (and he could
technically run his squad’s 4x8, which would push the top fresh dude down to
spot #10 Cole Sunderland).
Even
with a couple big races under his belt, I still feel like this is Henderson’s
to lose. Cruise, however, will have a very tricky task. I believe he pulled off
his 4:17 seed on the double last week at LLs so we’ve seen his strength in
action. However, he’s likely in for a much tougher anchor battle this time
around if the boys from Carlisle bring their “A” squad to the table.
Beyond
those guys, it’s basically a rematch of the madness we will see in the 3200
with a ton of guys down around the mid to low 4:20s hoping to steal a state
qualifying spot. A few guys that do stand out as different are Cole Sunderland
(very nice 4:24-1:57 double last week) and Jared Harnish (a sleeper running out
of the slower section). It also looks like Zach Lefever will be in the slower
section which could help make that race faster overall if he chooses to help
push the pace.
800m
AA
Wyomissing’s
super soph Joe Cullen will enter as a big favorite and, although he will have a
4x8 carry in his legs, there’s little reason to doubt his ability to double.
Given all the fast times in AA so far (the AA 800 is absolutely loaded right
now), Cullen will likely be hoping for something in the 1:56 or faster range.
That will mean he’s going to need some push from guys like Matt Geisler of
Trinity and Tyler Moore of Lansdale Catholic. Camp Hill’s Blake Behney will also
be competing in the open 800, but it will be his third event of the day.
AAA
The AAA
800 is crazy right now! In between the writing of the first section of this
post and the section, things got all shook up in the open 8. Jaxson Hoey jumped
in, Joe Espinal dropped a 1:55 and then District 12 exploded with 2 guys in the
1:53s and another at 1:55 (who took out that first lap hard enough to set the
tone for everybody else). So now Matt Wisner, the top returner from AAA indoors
and out, will look to make a statement on his 3rd of 4 races for the
weekend. But lurking, ready to turn the tables, is upstart newcomer Derin
Klick.
Klick
came out of nowhere to drop a 1:54 last weekend, however, according to the
seeding he had already dropped a 1:54 in a dual meet earlier this spring. So he’s
building a nice resume for himself. Klick has strong quarter mile speed, but
doesn’t have the same big race experience as Wisner. Wisner is strong, having
running 4:18 last week, but also holds a filthy kick. To run the legs out of a
1:53 is going to be tough and I’d bet Wisner gets the W. But Klick has a big
opportunity to put himself right in the mix for the AAA state title.
Behind
these two is a trio of 1:56 runners. Austin Padmore of Milton Hershey ran
1:56.11 last week at Mid Penns and heads the group. He will be doubling off the
4x8. Luke Everidge of Central Dauphin East comes in with a 1:56 of his own from
Henderson’s invite. He’s not entered in the open quarter so I believe he will
be fresh for this one. And lastly, we have Cole Sunderland who appears to have
run 1:56 in a dual meet this year for his seed. He will be doubling off the
1600, but pulled off that double well last week at LLs. Of all these guys, I
like Everidge for the breakout most. He’s been a little up and down at this
distance, but he’s got great raw speed and is slowly finding his groove in this
2 lap race. All 3 men are juniors.
In
fact, of the top 9 seeds in this one, only 2 are Seniors (and just 3 of the top
13). One of the seniors, who will be hoping to use his experience to qualify,
is Luke Myers of Governor Mifflin. He comes in with a 1:59.1 seed, but has had
a strong season picking up some impressive wins or top finishes in his various
invites. He has yet to really compete in a race as loaded as this so it will be
interesting to see how he handles the quick pace. I’ll also be watching Drayk
Cassamajor, not just because he has an awesome name, but also because he had a
nice breakthrough in the fast Leb Lan race this past weekend, dipping to
1:57.55. Let’s see if that momentum can carry through to this stage.
