Track is Heating Up the Holidays!

Hello everyone! Merry Christmas, and happy holidays. While we're here to discuss the latest action surrounding the meets from this past weekend (as well as Burdette yesterday), I hope all of you have enjoyed spending time with family, reflecting on your year, and having time away from academics. However, some individuals’ relaxation time was short-lived, as Burdette unfortunately fell on the day after Christmas (which we'll get to). It is hard to believe that we are almost in January, meaning winter is finally in full swing. Lets take a look at some of our big performances from the past week!

Ursinus College Holiday High School Open:

In a meet that was largely dominated by out of state schools, PA still brought some impressive performances to the track that hosted opening weekend two weeks ago.

While the 800 was mostly NJ and MD kids, Pottsgrove's Simon Keen held his own for 3rd, running 2:04.52. Keen ran 2:01 last spring, and while it may sound like I'm beating a dead horse, he increases the list of guys that have the potential to dip down to that 2:00/2:02 range for state qualifying. Also to note, Bishop Shanahan's Ryan Doherty ran 2:05.33 for fifth. I think its nice to see the program still developing new guys even after a large majority of the team's talent has graduated. While it is highly unlikely, Doherty did run 4:37 last spring, meaning this team could have relay potential...

In the stacked event of the day, Sam Keeny (MD) outlasted PA's emerging stud, Ben Kuhn, 4:26.33 to 4:26.96. While many already know who Kuhn is, I call him an emerging star because he is absolutely taking it to another level to start off the indoor season. With only two performances this year, and those two races being 9:02/4:26, Kuhn debatably has had the hottest start to the season alongside Aidan Tomov. Last week, I had no doubt in my mind that Kuhn would be one of the 12 guys on the line for the 3k at states. However, after this early season 4:26, the question becomes, what event will Kuhn opt to run at Penn State?

Behind Kuhn, Josh Lewin made his individual indoor debut with a 4:34 for 3rd. Although some may have expected something a little quicker for the West Chester East phenom, his inexperience of training during this time of year will likely cause him to take longer to develop his peak fitness. Have no doubt, Lewin will be a threat to all of PA over the next two months.

Rounding out the top 5 in this deep field were Robert DiDonato and Mike Donnelly. I am VERY excited to see what DiDonato does this year. This was his indoor debut, which follows his unbelievable debut XC season from this fall, where he stole the Independent League (Private School State Championship) title from Jeffrey Love. DiDonato ran 4:37 here as just a sophomore. Truly, I have no idea what event he'd be best off running, but you'd have to think that he could run something pretty dang solid in the 3k. XC state medalist Mike Donnelly came in 5th with a 4:40. Its a slight improvement from his 4:43 at Ocean Breeze where his Haverford team cleaned up last week. I think Donnelly's best event is also the 3k, though it will be interesting to see where Haverford assigns their guys on relays, as they are quickly a growing threat for the team title at states.

Also to note, Davis Piercy of Kennett ran 4:44 in this race, as he was a state qualifier last year.

In the 3000, it was all about the Haverford boys, finishing 1st-3rd-5th, led by Aidan Tomov's 9:09 victory. I spent a lot of time talking about how impressive his 1000 was at Ocean Breeze was, and now here he is, blowing away a field in the 3k. I think at this point, Tomov is racing everything around his best event, and soon, he is going to blow us away with a mile. I don't know when or where, but watch for a 4:21 or faster from Tomov in the coming weeks. As with Donnelly, Josh Fingerhut and Brendan Campbell both ran well considering the 3000 isn't their best event. Liberty's Darlyn Fermin ran well for 2nd, finishing in 9:21.

A pleasant surprise in this meet was Perkiomen Valley picking up the win in the DMR with an 11:14. They were likely led by Tyler Clifford on the anchor, who quietly had an incredibly solid XC season.

TFCAofGP Meet #2: 

In the second installment of our weekend Lehigh meets, it appears the two divisions were combined for this meet, meaning we got some more competitive races.

The deepest event of the day was probably the 800. We saw our first sub 2 performance, and unsurprisingly, it came from Council Rock South's Collin Ochs. His 1:58.1 on Lehigh's track for this time of year is very impressive. Ochs was a state qualifier indoor last year, but didn't really attract any attention until he suddenly found himself on the medal stand in the spring, with a new 1:54 PR. He has emerged as a favorite rather quickly, so while some may not believe the hype quite yet, there is no doubt that Ochs is amongst the elite 800 runners in Pennsylvania right now.

Another emerging star is Holy Ghost Prep's Jarett Zelinsky. Like Ochs, he was a state qualifier indoor last year, but quietly ran his race in the slowest of the three heats. Zelinsky went on to run 1:58 outdoor, so while he might not be as big of a name as Ochs, he is another guy who has state level experience and could be a deep sleeper for a medal this year.

An interesting name to watch from this race would be Chester's Malachi Langley, who ran 2:02 for 3rd. Chester has done a great job of slowly transitioning their sprinting powerhouse into a middle distance program. Lamaj Curry broke through and made it into the middle heat at states last year, and I think Langley could have a similar trajectory if he finds the right race. Another situation you could say the same exact thing for would be Kylan Willis of Cheltenham, who also ran 2:02 in this race.

In the mile, it was more of the same thing. Christian McComb drops another solid mark of 4:30 en route to victory. After his 9:09 last week, Saabir Ali continues his hot start to his season, giving McComb a slight push as he runs 4:34 for 2nd. Hermann ran 4:41 to finish 4th in this race. Hopefully he's just regaining fitness from being sick or injured, because at this point last year, he had already opened up in the mid 4:30's.

The 3000 was incredibly deep this past Saturday. In a deep race that had well over 5 guys contending for the win, Ethan Saville of Pennridge prevailed, taking the win in 9:18 over some really solid guys. Saville had a great XC season in which he broke 16, and is now adding his name to the Pennridge powerhouse. It would be interesting to see what would happen if Saville were able to make the 3k field, as I'm not sure what Pennridge's plans for states will be (they're sub 11 in the DMR and 8:15 in the 4x8). After a big mile at Ocean Breeze the previous week, Matt Varghese punched his ticket to MOC with a 9:20 and 2nd place finish in this race. Personally, I think Varghese has more to give in XC that we didn't see this year, and I think its starting to come out in the beginnings of his indoor season.

A host of SOL guys rounded out the top 5. McManus of CB East ran a solid 9:26 for 3rd, while Comber and Sears ran 9:27's for 4th and 5th. It should go without saying, but obviously, watch for the development of Devon Comber. The sophomore had a great XC season, and his older brother is fresh off of being an All-American at NCAA's for Villanova. I know those are big shoes to fill, but seeing what Devon is doing as only a sophomore shows me he is going to be star soon enough. Also, while Blatz didn't have his best race here, don't forget that he ran 9:31 3200 last spring.

Danny Ling impressively won the first heat, solo'ing his way to a 9:32.

Bensalem took the win in the 4x8, running a solid 8:28 that likely had Dabi Chanez contributing a solid split. Central Bucks East and Downingtown East also dipped below the 8:36 MOC qualifying time too.

A pretty huge result came from the DMR. Twin Valley dropped a PA #1 10:54 for the win over Council Rock South's solid 11:03. Before I get to Twin Valley, my big question would have to be whether or not this relay had Ochs on it, seeing that he ran the 800, because I know the TFCAofGP often does not allow athletes to double at their association meets. If CRS ran an 11:03 without Ochs, then truthfully, this might be one of the best performances in PA so far. Back to Twin Valley though. Well, I suppose I'm an idiot for saying this is a 4x8 team, not a DMR squad. While I still believe there is some truth to this, this was a big statement for the boys in green. After a rough performance last week, Servis likely had a great anchor leg, and while I'd imagine Hill ran the 1200 and Schlegel ran the 800. Regardless, these guys stepped up big. The crazy part is, this time likely still won't get them into states, so I'm excited to see if these guys can get on a bigger stage or a banked track to try and dip into the low 10:40's.

Franklin & Marshall High School Invitational #1:

In another meet that saw many talented out of state guys, our PA kids still had some truly impressive races. In the 800, Spring Ford's Joey Power ran 2:01 for 2nd. Although Spring Ford graduated the core of their team last year, they still have great pieces in Power and Zawislak that will make for a great relay (which we'll get to). Spring Ford has produced some solid 800 marks from guys like Milan Sharma and Zachary Smith, but there hasn't been a sub 1:57 stud to come through in a decent while. I think Joey, who is a bit more of a speed type guy than his older brother Paul was, has the chance to be that breakthrough middle distance stud for this program.

The 1600 ended up being super tight up front, with 4:22/1:55 stud Connor Shields taking the win in 4:33. Shields has one of the best resumes in Pennsylvania this year, and after a breakthrough spring, is likely out for vengeance after he finished in the dreaded 9th place at indoor states last year. Until we see a more impressive mark from Shields I'm not ready to consider him one of the favorites, but his resume certainly suggests he might be. Zawislak added to Spring Ford's solid day with a 4:36, and its really easy to forget that this kid is just a sophomore. Senior Jake Barrett of Cedar Crest also ran a solid 4:36, while Jakolby Fackler ran 4:37 fresh off a great XC season. Warwick showed their relay potential off as well with Noah Martin adding another sub 4:40 behind Shields with a 4:38.

The 3000 came down to a finishing kick in which Ephrata's Andrew Foster held off a doubling Jakolby Fackler, 9:13-9:14. I think Foster and Shue could combine to make a great DMR, but they did lose the other pieces from their Championship of America 4x8 last year. Also, while Zawislak ran great, don't let this performance from Fackler go unnoticed. A 4:37/9:14 double for a sophomore in December is ridiculously good.

Dickinson College HS Holiday Invitational:

Let it be known that of all the meets we've recapped so far, Dickinson is probably the slowest track. It may not be as bad as a Glen Mills or Kutztown, but it is a very cramped facility that I would say is a slight step down from Ursinus, Lehigh, and F&M.

In a surprising twist, Quaker Valley's XC stud Daniel Ford dropped down to the 800, and ran away victorious with a 2:03. To me, this is a scary result. Ford has only ever run 2:06. and doesn't seemingly have much of a middle distance background. For him to come in and dominate this 800 tells me he might be ready to drop a very quick mile. Elias Zajicek only ran 2:05 in this race, but he was doubling off the mile, and is a 2:01 guy who might be ready to make that push for sub 2 if he can progress well this season.

The 1600 wasn't lightning quick, but it was big win for State College's Joe Messner in 4:41. As State College tries to rebuild their national caliber middle distance program, this isn't exactly a 7:40 4x8, but it is a step in the right direction. Messner is a 2:03 kid who is building his strength as he tries to become another crucial piece to a relay for the Little Lions. He outlasted the aforementioned Zajicek, who ran 4:44 for 2nd.

The best race in probably all of PA's indoor season took place at this meet. The 3200 at Dickinson was FAST. In a battle between Mifflin County and State College, Mifflin County's Brayden Harris, one of the best distance runners in the state, ran an absolutely incredible 9:32 for the win. Given the venue and time of year, this is undoubtedly the best performance of the year so far. While I don't know the exact conversion, I'm fairly certain this converts to around an 8:53/8:54. This is the first sub 9 performance of the year, and punches Harris' ticket to states. Not to be thrown out of the spotlight, his teammate Chayce Macknair threw down a 9:46 3200 as well. Macknair's time converts to about a 9:06/9:07 if I'm correct. While this won't get him into the state field quite yet, that's still the 4th fastest time in PA behind Harris, Kuhn, and Theveny. I still really liked the performance from the State College duo in this race. Juniors David Gluckman and Ben St. Pierre ran 9:50 and 10:03 to finish 3rd and 4th respectively. While these times aren't as mind-blowing, these guys were frankly two lesser known names within the State College army. For a "lesser known" guy like Gluckman to go run a 9:09/9:10 converted 3k shows just how dangerous this State College team can be.

Adding to the Mifflin County craziness, they ran a 8:26 4x8 that likely had 1:55 man Seth Phillips contributing a strong leg. That's good enough for PA #3 right now.

Robert J Burdette Indoor Classic:

The day after Christmas, I suppose there are many factors that could come into play, so credit is given to those who stayed focused and came out and delivered with strong performances.

We saw a great race in the DMR. The aforementioned Spring Ford boys came out hot, with Joey Power blowing away the field on the 1200 leg, giving the Rams a big early cushion. However, in a huge upset, Zawislak's best efforts fell slightly short to a monstrous kick from Central Bucks South, and the likely anchor leg Gavin Campbell. When I saw that CB South won this race with a 10:57, I was pretty shocked to be honest. However, when you go look at this roster, CB South quietly has amassed a strong group of youngsters. Junior Gavin Campbell ran 4:36 last spring, while fellow classmates Jared Fenessy and Owen Moelter ran 2:00 and 2:02 last spring as well. There are plenty of pieces for this relay, and all of a sudden, they're in the mix for state qualifying. Big shoutout to this squad. As for Spring Ford, I still think they have a very high ceiling. Zawislak is young, and the anchor leg of a DMR can come with many complexities. Power ran unopposed and likely has more to give when pushed. While I don't think Spring Ford will match their epic 10:21 from last year, don't forget about this squad just because they lost this race.

Keeping the impressive relay performances coming, we finally saw our first big time in the 4x8. The Pennridge boys delivered a dominant 8:15 PA #1, US #9 (flat track conversion) race. In all likelihood, Luke Eissler and Andersen Dimon gave the relay enough of a lead that Eissler might not have even gone 100%. With CB West's relay dominance coming to an end, its hard not to think that this experienced Pennridge squad isn't the favorite for the 4x8 this year. Matt Eissler is probably the most experienced doubler in PA, having juggled relay duties alongside his multiple state medals throughout practically his entire career.

I also liked Penncrest's 8:30 for 2nd place. They don't have any big studs or any guys that are really even sub 2:05, meaning this was a really balanced effort. My guess is this relay had guys like Narbus, Woolery, and Abahazy, who are all 2:07-2:10 guys. Anytime you have a relay this balanced, there is a ton of room for improvement, so keep an eye on the growth of this relay.

Speaking of Penncrest, it was all Patrick Theveny in a small 3k field. The 10th place finisher from last year's state championships stormed his to a PA #3 9:03. Considering the fact that he won by over 20 seconds, Theveny is clearly looking fit enough to crush his 8:55 PR from last year and challenge for a state medal. Sam Karstonis finished 2nd with a 9:23 in what appears to be his 3k debut, which makes that time that much more impressive.

As PA's top distance stars start to trickle their way back into racing after taking some time off after regionals, our talent pool indoor begins to rise. Jenkintown's new state champion Jack Miller cruised his way to an impressive 4:32 to open up his indoor season. He closed in a 2:14 after slowly jogging his way away from the field in the opening 800. Seeing as that Miller hasn't quite had the same resounding success on the track as in XC, this is an excellent start for the recent Pitt commit. Miller did dip under 9 last winter, so it will be interesting to see which event he chooses to focus on.

Penncrest junior Andrew Woolery ran a very solid 4:39 for 2nd before he likely contributed to the aforementioned 4x8. This seems to be Woolery's first time breaking 4:45, let alone 4:40, so hats off to Woolery for an all around solid day. One of the many pieces in the CB East masses, Sean Lahetta, ran 4:41 to round out the top 3.

The last distance event to discuss from Burdette would be the 800. Though we didn't see another sub 2, we saw a solid race from a top group of 3 that broke away from the field. Saabir Ali seems to be covering all corners to kick off his season. He picked up the win in a solid 2:01 for a PA #4. Considering this is not Ali's main event, this is an impressive race. However, it is fair to raise the question, what is Ali's best event? In 3 weeks, he's ran 9:09/4:34/2:01. I'd argue he's still more of a mile/3k guy, but we're three weeks in and there still hasn't been many big 800 times dropped. Regardless, Ali is right behind Tomov and Kuhn for the hottest starts to their seasons. Finishing in 2nd was Kylan Willis of Cheltenham in 2:03. I mentioned him earlier alongside Langley of Chester as a big candidate to run well out of a traditional sprinting powerhouse program. Willis is now consistently in the 2:02/2:03 range, and has run 2:00.91 outdoor. While I've mentioned too many guys as sleepers in the 800, I'm going to say Willis is one of my top picks to breakthrough to the 1:59 range if he could get up to somewhere like Ocean Breeze. Radnor's Doug Rosin round out the top trio in this race with a 2:04 for 3rd. With guys like Frank Brown and Ethan Zeh, Radnor's potential for a killer relay increases....

That's all we got for now! Keep an eye on the Marine Corps Classic coming up at the Armory! Eissler and Hoey are in the field, so my guess is we're going to see new PA #1 and PA #2 times in the 800 very soon...

I'm also very excited to see that Zelinsky just snuck into that invitational field. This might be the perfect place for him to breakthrough to that next tier of 800 runners in PA.

Also, if you guys have any suggestions or ideas on what you'd like to see, please comment and let me know! I feel as if I'm stuck in a rut of just recaps and I'm lacking creativity for more interesting ways to give you guys the info. Enjoy the recaps, and Happy New Years!

Stay happy, stay healthy

-The RunningHub

Recapping our Opening Meets

Hello everybody! I know I keep saying this, but I apologize for the delays. Now that finals are over, and winter season is up and running, we should get back to the same kind of activity we had going during the XC season. We are officially now 2 weeks into the winter season, and we've already had some solid performances. Lets check them out!

Ursinus High School Invitational:

Last weekend, we saw some awesome debuts on the season. Ursinus isn't a blazing fast venue, but its one of the faster flat track surfaces in eastern PA. 

With no big studs in the 800, the race was pretty open. No one was willing to take the race out hard, which opened the door for the top seed Jack Balick to kick his way to victory. While 2:02.99 isn't a time that will blow you away, I thought this was a great race for Balick. It is seemingly his first indoor race of his career, which as many people know, can sometimes be an adjustment. Seeing as that nowadays it takes right around 1:59 high to make the state meet, Balick has the rest of the season to drop 2-3 seconds. He seems like the kind of kid that could drop a 1:58-1:59 type mark up at Ocean Breeze in one of those January meets. While his inexperience may hurt him, I think Balick has a very high ceiling heading into this season. Rounding out the top 3 and list of guys under 2:05 were LaSalle's Michael Eastmond, and Boyertown's Payton Stanziani. The two seniors have had the experience of running under some incredible names in their respective programs during their high school career, and now both have the opportunity to join the ranks amongst the best on their team. Eastmond will likely be fighting for one of the spots on the relays that LaSalle is bound to send to states, while Stanziani will join McComb in trying to keep the Boyertown program afloat after a heavy loss to graduation last year. 

In the 3000, we saw an awesome breakthrough race from Ben Kuhn. The Wyomissing junior ripped a 10 second PR with a 9:02.29 against out of stater Nicholas Garrett. This race puts Kuhn in the driver's seat of the 3000 in the early goings of the season. Obviously, that mark itself will likely not get Kuhn into the state meet, but that opening mark is a sign of big things to come for the heir to Joe Cullen's throne in Wyomissing distance running. Jeffrey Love fell off slightly in the latter part of this race, but a 9:15 season opener is still very solid nonetheless. The George School senior might only have an outside shot to sneak into the very small 3k field at states, but he is one of the most experienced distance runners in PA this year. 

In the race of the day, we saw the anticipated matchup between Christian McComb and Cole Walker, two of District 1's finest. From the looks of things, Walker sat on McComb for the entirety of the race, and eventually caught McComb in the final stretch, with both guys breaking the 4:30 barrier. Walker seemingly let McComb do all of the work, and utilized the closing speed that got him a district title in XC. For McComb, this is still an excellent opener, seeing as that he really had to go out and do all the heavy lifting himself. Both guys are likely qualified for states, and have no pressure to get another qualifying mark in. However, I think both of these guys are candidates for the hot heat of the mile at states, which would mean they will have to lower their marks in the mid to low 4:20's. Obviously, it seems as if that should be no issue for either individual, but I'll be interested to see how much more we see Walker race this season.

In the 4x8, the Twin Valley boys cruised to a 8:28 victory. As we'll discuss in a few moments, this seemed to be nothing more than cruising rust buster for the talented guys on this relay.

TFCAofGP Meet #1:

Division 1-

In our first weekend of our typical eastern PA Lehigh meets, we didn't necessarily see some stunning performances, but we saw the emergence of some new names on the distance scene this year.

Kicking things off in the 800, we saw Bensalem junior Dabi Chanez pick up the win in 2:02.94. This was a big breakthrough race for Chanez, as his fastest indoor time from last year came from Ocean Breeze, where he only ran 2:04. Bensalem has a rich history of producing middle distance studs, and it seems that Chanez might just be the next budding star. With much of PA's top talent competing in the 600 or 1000 at Ocean Breeze this weekend, Chanez actually holds the fastest time in PA as of now. I also really liked Jake Boyd's race for 2nd. Boyd is apart of CR North squad that has seen a steep decline in talent after a brutal loss to graduation this past year, but that hasn't stopped Boyd from stepping up. This was arguably an even bigger breakthrough race for Boyd, as he came away with a 2:03.30 silver in this race after not breaking 2:08 indoor last year!

The mile in this one was very crowded up front, with the top 4 all finishing within 2 seconds of each other. Saint Joseph's Ricky Raup took the win in 4:40, getting some revenge over fellow D12 rival in Griffin Pumilia from LaSalle. Pumilia finished 2nd in 4:41, just .35 seconds off the win. Pumilia struggled this XC season, and so despite the loss, I thought this was a good sign for the LaSalle junior, as he looks get back to his 4:30's form. 800 specialist Chris Rudawsky came away with 3rd in this one, and is someone who I think is a deep sleeper in the 800 this year. He's clearing improved his endurance after running 16:30's this past fall, and having run 1:59, I think he has the potential to make some noise amongst the top 15 or so guys in a crowded 800 state picture. Bensalem's Danny Ling rounded out the top 4 in 4:42 as Bensalem begins to amass some pieces for a DMR...

In the 3000, D1 XC state qualifier Samir Razi took the win in 9:25. The North Penn guys Razi and Demis have proven to be much better on the grass than on the oval, but after the fall season they had, it'll be interesting if they can push each other anywhere near an SQS in the 3000. Sean Garrett added to Garnet Valley's solid day with a runner up finish in 9:31.

The DMR stole the show, with Pennridge and Boyertown battling to sub 11 marks. Ultimately, Pennridge came away victorious, running 10:57 to Boyertown's 10:59. From the sounds of things, Eissler blew the field away on the 1200 leg, and McComb just ran out of room to close the gap on the anchor leg. Truthfully, I didn't mention any either of these teams in my DMR preview, so shoutout to both teams for not only proving me wrong, but asserting themselves as legitimate medal threats in this event. Both the 800/DMR and mile/DMR doubles are possible for McComb and Eissler, so don't be surprised to see these guys very active at PSU in February.

Penn Wood hit the MOC standard, winning the 4x8 in 8:35.

Division 2-

The afternoon session also kicked off with the 800, with Twin Valley's Trey Hill kicking his way to victory in 2:03.30. While the time isn't all that flashy, I think Hill is a diamond in the rough. With guys like Servis and Schlegel, I think Hill's resume of 1:59/4:32 often gets overlooked. Although he'll likely be serving relay duty for a majority of his races, if he gets the chance to get into some open races this year, I think he has the chance to shine. Coming up with a big race for 2nd was Shane Coll. After opening up his season with just a 2:08 just last week, Coll blasted a 2:04 for a huge PR. While he still has a lot of work to do to start getting involved with the long list of sleepers in the 800, Coll showed some signs of life in the state qualifying picture for this season.

In the mile, it was a two horse race between Dylan Servis and Nick Rhodes. In a bit of an upset, Rhodes dropped a ridiculous last 400 in 63 seconds to pull away for the win. After this win, I think Rhodes is a very dangerous dark horse for this year. After being one of the first guys out of states in XC this fall out of D1, coupled with multiple marks in the 4:30's, along with a training partner in Charlie Hermann who made the mile field for indoor states last year, Rhodes has a lot of positives going for him to kick off this indoor season. As for Servis, the 4:27/1:57 stud certainly didn't have his best race, but from the splits, its clear this was a slow race, and he just couldn't quite match Rhode's closing speed. While I think he could make a great anchor for Twin Valley's DMR, I still think this team is still a 4x8 squad.

In what I think was the individual race of the weekend, the division II 3k saw some depth and breakthrough stars. With 4 guys dipping under 9:30, the story came from Saabir Ali's dominant win, storming to a 9:09 victory in which he won by 15 seconds. While Ali has well established PR's of 4:32 and 10:06 (3200), a 9:09 at Lehigh this time of year is another level. What makes his performance even more impressive is that he closed in a 29 last 200! That shows that Ali likely had even more left, which shows that he's close to 9 flat shape already. Simply put, this was probably my MVP performance of the weekend, and I'm super excited to see what Ali can do from here on out. Joey Litvin added to Lower Merion's great weekend with by finishing 2nd in 9:24, and Griffin Schlegel and Pat Wagner rounded out the top 4 under 9:30.

With the DMR's impressing from earlier in the day, West Chester East came away with a win themselves, pulling away from Radnor in 11:07. The biggest part of the story isn't necessarily West Chester East's win or time, but rather, the indoor debut of Josh Lewin, who reportedly anchored the relay to the win. Lewin not only gives his team a legitimate shot to contend at states in the DMR, but he also immediately shakes up the competitiveness of the mile and 3k fields. He ran 4:21 as just a sophomore last year, and may be one of the most talented guys in the state. Essentially, the big takeaway is, watch out for Josh Lewin. I still really liked the performance from the Radnor boys. I'd love to know the order of this relay, as they have some seriously legit pieces in guys like Ethan Zeh and Frank Brown. 11:12 isn't blazing, but I think there's a lot of room for improvement for this relay.


Bishop Loughlin Games:

Because there were so many different events run, and even races broke up by grade, I found that the best way to go through the results was to see the performances that each team from PA put up.

The first notable performance I noticed was Conestoga's Benjamin Horner picking up the win the frosh/soph 1000 in 2:45. Horner ran 2:06 as just a freshman last year, and his 1000 converts to around a 2:04 high. Given that this was his opening race as just a sophomore, I thought this was a great start for him.

Easton showcased some of their depth by putting 3 guys under 1:30 in the 600. While none of their times convert to any flashy marks, this shows that Easton has at least 3 guys that are at least in 2:05 shape right now, making them a big sleeper in the 4x8.

The statement of the weekend came from one of the biggest powerhouses for distance running in PA right now. After establishing themselves as one of the best XC teams in PA, Haverford Township showed that their widespread success is going to carry over into the indoor season. You didn't have to look very hard to find their success. The quartet of Brendan Campbell, Josh Fingerhut, Evan Peetros, and Mike Donnelly all dropped miles in the 4:34-4:43 range. Next, some assortment of their guys dropped a PA #1 8:19 in the 4x8. And finally, in the strongest race in PA this season, Aidan Tomov ripped a 2:33 1k to finish 2nd in the championship section. This is a monster race for Tomov, who put a much heavier emphasis on the mile last year, medaling with a 4:25 indoor, before lowering his time down to 4:29 in the spring. This 2:33 converts to about a 1:56 high, which is extremely rare for this time of year. This performance tells me that Tomov can hold his own with just about anyone in PA, and that he and his Haverford squad can contend for a state gold in either relay right now.

I also really liked Matt Varghese's performance in the mile. He isn't known for being super speedy in comparison to his 3200/5k resume, so for Varghese to open up his season sub 4:40 is very encouraging.

Roman Catholic's Sean Hamilton ran a solid 2:42 in the 1000. That converts to about a 2:03 which is right in line with his PR. It seems as if I keep mentioning a guy in the 2:02-2:04 range that has the chance to breakthrough this season, so expect there to be another very crowded race to snag those last 800 spots around 1:59-2:00 for states this year.

Lastly, while it might be wishful thinking, I would love to see the Saint Joseph's Prep duo hop in an 800 this year. Salim Epps and Denis Gallagher ran extremely quick 600's at 1:23/1:24, which put them in line with multiple 1:50's guys such as Kamil Jihad, their teammate Bobby Dupell, and Methacton's Michael Clark, all of whom graduated last year. While the duo seem to resemble more of Miles Green in the sprints than Dupell's 400/800 resume, I think either of them could excel if they decided to toe the line for an 800.


Armory Coaches Hall of Fame Invitational:

In the invitational mile, we saw Jonah Hoey open his season with a 4:35. While we've become accustomed to seeing Hoey's kick off the season with sub 4:20 US #1's, and some may see this as an underwhelming performance, it was still one of the fastest openers in PA this season. Hoey has raced sparsely in the latter half of 2018, and he very well may just be shaking off the rust. I still fully expect the Shanahan junior to be one of the favorites for state gold in whatever event he chooses to pursue.

-The RunningHub

Recap Post is Coming...

Hey everybody, sorry for the delay. My recap post for the past two weekends was done, and as I was revising, my internet crashed and half of the post was lost... Check back in a couple of hours and I should have the post back up recapping everything we've seen from PA to kickoff the indoor season.

Stay happy (I'm struggling), Stay healthy
-The RunningHub

Opening Weekend Preview

After a long break, we will finally have PA action tomorrow! With a few meets kicking off tomorrow, we have access to the entries for the big opener at Ursinus tomorrow. Without making you wait any longer, lets preview some of our action heading into this weekend! Also best of Luck to Patrick Anderson in San Diego tomorrow!

800: 

The top seed in this race is Abington Friends' Jack Balick. Balick broke through at the end of last spring, dipping under 2:00 in his last race. The senior is seemingly trying out indoor for the first time, so I'll be interested to see how he does and if he's a potential sleeper for state qualifying moving forward. 

The field is truly pretty wide open though. Michael Eastmond, one of the lesser known names in the LaSalle army, will try and raise his stock as a relay piece by picking up a win over this early season field.  Shane Coll and Savaughn Hebron are two other notable names to watch for. Hebron, more known for his sprinting abilities alongside his brother, has the speed to take things out quick and try and get a guy or two under 2 in this race. 

Last name on my radar is Aidan Doherty. I honestly don't know why he's seeded so low at 2:09, as he's honestly one of my favorites to contend for a win. While he doesn't have a flashy 800 time on his resume, he ran 4:33 as just a sophomore last spring, and is fresh off a solid XC season. He could definitely be a top 3 finisher from one of the slower heats. 

Mile:

Absolutely the most loaded event of the day. The top 2 seeds belong to a pair of XC state medalists from Unionville in Cole Walker and Cole Driver. Traditionally, we have seen Uville guys take the indoor season light. With recent stars, such as Kent Hall, we saw him drop an early season mark before disappearing before the state meet. I foresee the teammate duo chasing an SQS mark (I think 4:31 on a flat track will get you in to states), and sparsely racing the remainder of the season. Despite these two being in the field, I think the big favorite is Christian McComb. Coming off of XC fitness, McComb comes in seeded 3rd in this field. McComb came out rolling last indoor season, popping off multiple low 4:30's in the early season as just a sophomore. Seeing as that McComb has taken it to another level this year, I wouldn't be surprised to see him come out and drop a 4:26 type mark in this thing. That might be a little overly optimistic, but I think its certainly in play. Jack Balick's twin, Chase, will also look for a high finish in the mile. Another name to watch is Zachary Brill. The freshman from Malvern Prep ran 4:49 as just a middle schooler, so he could show a lot of promise by hanging around the front of a field like this. 

3000:

While its not a very deep field, we have a great early season matchup between guys that don't see each other very often. Jeffrey Love of the George School comes in with the top seed at 9:04, and he'll clash with the likes of Nicholas Garrett (MD), and Wyomissing's Ben Kuhn. Love and Kuhn both had great XC seasons, and are both potential state qualifiers in this event come February. The Methacton duo of Campbell and McPhillips are also sleepers. Methacton had a sneaky good XC season overall as a team, so its possible some of their top guys can translate that success to the 3k on the track. 

4x800:

Neshaminy enters this meet with the top seed time of 8:11. Truthfully, I'm interested to see if they can live up to the seed time, because frankly, on paper, they don't seem to have the pieces to hit an SQS. I think the favorite for this race would be the boys from Twin Valley. They only come in with a seed time of 8:22, but they return 3 of the 4 pieces from the relay that challenged the 8 flat barrier last spring. While I think Servis has some possible individual glory in the 800, if Twin Valley can get a fourth leg to go along with Schelgel and Trey Hill, this is absolutely a state medalist relay. 

Hopefully we'll see some SQS marks this weekend, and best of luck to all kicking off their season!

-The RunningHub

PTFCA Indoor 3k Preivew

Hello everybody, I hope your slight hiatus from the running scene hasn't been as painful as mine has. Hats off to Liam Anderson for his win yesterday. He seemingly managed to fly under the radar all season, despite being the top returner from NXN last year. Crazy to think that he went from not even being the favorite in this race, to breaking the course record. Stanford man...

But back to PA! We are one week out from opening weekend! I can not wait. This is my favorite time of the year, as some guys shake off the rust from soccer, and others try and adjust from the grueling mileage of XC. I can't wait to see what goes down at Ursinus and other places next weekend. If we get some early meet entries I will absolutely be giving some thoughts in a preview. Now on to our next event preview for the season!

Although every distance event from last year crowned a senior as champion, the 3000 will likely see the most new faces this year. In an event that only accepts 12 athletes, the top 6 finishers were all seniors, and there are only four returners from the entire race. I've mentioned this frequently during XC, but PA has been in unknown territory. For the first time in at least 5 years, we haven't had a seemingly generational talent making their way through the ranks.

But of course, that can never end up being the case.

If we thought Zach Kinne's dominant presence was felt during XC, then we should prepare ourselves for what the Duke commit has in store for us on the track. The Illinois transfer has electric PR's of 4:14 and 9:03 that simply outclass anyone else in our state. Both times would have won him a state championship last year, notably over Rusty Kujdych, while Kinne would have only been a junior. Am I saying Kinne would've stolen both the indoor and outdoor titles from Kujdych last year? Likely not. Does it give perspective on how good Kinne was as just a junior? I like to think so. Last year, fans of the sport debated over whether or not we would see the 3k indoor state record go down. I'm not sure there will be anyone in PA to push Kinne to this state record, but he could absolutely get this at nationals or another regional-type meet.

Naturally, we still have the rest of the PA landscape to discuss though. Despite all the big names you hear tossed around when it comes to PA distance running, I think many would be surprised to hear that Manheim Township's Ian Miller is the top returner in this race from last year, while, Chayce Macknair is the fastest returner by time from the 2017-2018 season. Both of these guys have incredible training partners next to them (Harris for Macknair, Dorenkamp for Miller) that will not only push them, but could also make impacts themselves.

Another obvious name is Kinne's training partner in Dan McGoey. While he has had success on the track before, he hasn't quite been able to translate his XC dominance over to the oval yet. If training with Kinne is what helps things click for him, this could be another deadly duo in the track medals at PSU. Don't forget that McGoey's older brother Matt was state champ in the 3k his senior year.

The remaining sub-9 returners from last fall include Patrick Theveny, Jack Miller, and Jason Cornelison. All 3 of these guys will be interesting to follow. I think Theveny and Cornelison both had higher expectations for their respective XC seasons, and will likely come into the indoor season fired up. On the other hand, Miller is coming off of a dream season. However, like McGoey, Miller hasn't quite found that magic spark in track like he has in XC. It'll be interesting to see what path Miller takes this season, as he opted to run in the mile indoor last year, but medaled in the 3200 outdoor last spring in AA.

As there always seems to be, there is a host of Pittsburgher's capable of throwing down some quick 3k's. Christian Fitch ran 9:01 last year, and had an absurdly good XC season that was completely overshadowed by the NA boys and Anderson. Josh Lewis made a brief appearance indoor last year, popping off a 9:09 at one of the TSTCA meets. He too, could definitely surprise some people after an overall great XC season. It should also go without saying that once his XC season is over, if Patrick Anderson chooses to take a stab at a 3k, he could drop an 8:40's type mark.

Sticking with the western PA kids, a big sleeper for me is Aden Dressler of Butler. He ran 9:15 last year, and will be taking over the distance helm at Butler this season. While he obviously isn't Beveridge, the kid has some clear talent, and I'm sure that having that kind of exposure to an elite talent can only be beneficial.

Two big question mark kids for me are Josh Lewin and Cole Walker. The two Chesmont league juniors both have very solid 3200 PR's (Lewin-9:31, Walker-9:29), and could both absolutely contend for a medal in this wide open field. However, we have yet to see Lewin indoor in his career, and we typically don't see much of Unionville during the indoor season.

The crop of Dwest and LaSalle guys are all great names to watch in this field. Sewall, Maher, and Koors all have sub 9:10 PR's to their names. If either of these teams choose not to pursue the relays, they could end up making up half of the 3k field.

Some deep sleepers to watch are Andrew Foster, Domenic Moser, Tyler Clifford, Noah Demis, and while he may not be much of a sleeper anymore, Christian McComb.

Check back in this week for the Mile and 4x800 previews! Its finals week, so things might be crammed, but I promise I'll do my best to give the people what they want!

-The RunningHub

Quick Takeaways

FL:

Anderson advances! Ran tough in the lead pack and came away with a 6th place finish to advance to San Diego. He was our lone qualifier, but PA was well represented. Super soph Brayden Harris continued his monster season, finishing just shy of San Diego with a 12th place finish. I know he had a lot of momentum coming into this meet, but I thought his youth and inexperience would hurt him on this massive stage. Hard to imagine he won't be back and contending for a top 5 spot here next year. Josh Lewis had a great bounce back race, finishing 13th. Rounding out PA's top finishers was Jack Miller in 21st. While some had him finishing higher, I don't think he should be disappointed. I think he certainly is amongst the most talented guys in the region, but I just don't think he had enough exposure to top tier competition before this race.

NXN:

Will update with more info, but wanted to get this out. Kinne finishes 2nd! We knew his postseason experience would come out, and it sure did. Kinne could quietly do some damage at NXN. At 2.5k, Dwest and NA were both lurking in the top 10. While it looks like neither of them finished in the top 3, its possible they could've snuck in the top 5, which would be huge for either program.

XC Isn't Quite Done!

As promised folks, we're here to preview some of PA's finest talent on the trails and grass as they prepare for one more go around in the 2018 XC season. While PA will be well represented in each respective regional race, do any of our athletes have a legitimate shot at qualifying for NXN or FL?

NXR:

In an exciting surprise, all 4 of PA's top teams will be toeing the line up at Wappinger Falls. I expected North Allegheny and Downingtown West to appear in the entries, but I was happy to see that both Seneca Valley and LaSalle will also be running this weekend.

Realistically, Manhattan was a good indicator of where PA stands on the regional scene. There are a lot of powerhouse programs that are going to make it very difficult for any of our teams to make it to the west coast. However, I'm not ready to count out North Allegheny completely. While Dwest and LaSalle both got dismantled by a number of programs at Manhattan, I don't think either team ran very well, and North Allegheny proved that they're a slight step above the aforementioned squads. While the course isn't exactly a cakewalk, I think Kinne's postseason experience will bode him well for this regional race. If NA can put their duo in the top 10, they'll at least give their pack a fighting chance to maybe pull off an upset.

As for our individuals, I think anyone that wants to qualify will have to do it outright. I don't foresee any of our athletes earning an at-large bid. Again, like the team race, I think PA as a whole is buried a bit back in all the madness, but of course, we have athletes capable of sneaking in. The Unionville trio, the Seneca Valley duo, Payton Sewall, and the Tigers' duo all have some sort of possibility at making their way through to nationals. Keep an eye on Cole Walker. Kent Hall only finished 11th at the state meet his senior year before he went on to finish 6th at NXR at make it to nationals. Unionville knows how to prep their athletes for the big races, so Walker has some big upside in my opinion.


FL Regionals:

I don't have a full list of entries for this meet, but we have a decent idea of who we should expect to see from PA. With Mount Lebanon opting not to run at NXR, we will get to see state champion Patrick Anderson try and continue his hot streak and qualify for FL nationals out in San Diego. Truthfully, I think this is our safest chance of a qualifier between either regional race. PA has started to string a couple consecutive years of qualifiers (at least the past 5 years dating back to Ross Wilson in 2013), so history tells us we will likely get one athlete through. Anderson has proved to be both a gutsy and resilient runner, and I think this, coupled with his momentum will have Anderson pushing for a top 5 finish.

Outside of Anderson, our next two big guns are likely Jack Miller and Christian McComb. We've discussed both of these guys a lot this season, and rightfully so. Miller has not actually lost an XC race this season. You can say this or that about his classification and such, but anytime you come into a regional race still undefeated, you make for a promising candidate. McComb proved that he can excel against out of state competition when he popped of PA's fastest 4k time up at Manhattan. He'll also be extra motivated to bounce back from a tough states race. On paper, I have both of these guys just barely on the outside looking in, but don't be shocked if either of these guys pops a big race off and gets PA two male athletes to San Diego.

If anyone can get their hands on a full FL entries list, that would be greatly appreciated!

-The RunningHub

PTFCA Indoor DMR Preview

We are back with more indoor previews folks! And happy holidays as we approach one of the best times of the year! We are now 3 weeks out from opening weekend, and even PennTrack is starting to release some of their first returning lists of the year.

Some quick side notes for all of you. The Warrior Classic went down this past week at Henderson. The 2 mile tune-up for the regionals races have produced some blazing times in the past years (see Dahl, Affolder, Ritz). While the races were slow this year, it gave us an idea of who to expect to toe the line at NXR or FL regionals in the coming week.  Valderrabano picked up the individual victory, being the lone athlete to dip under 9:40. Although Sewall did not make an appearance in this race, I fully expect to see Dwest up at NXR, as Barnhill also dipped under 10 in this race. While the Whippets' chances of making it over to the west coast for NXN are very unlikely, they could uncork a big performance in the northeast region after they left states with a bitter taste in their mouth from taking 3rd. The two big names I was very happy to see in this race were Christian McComb and Mitchell Rome. Oh, that rhymes. That's awesome. Anyways, I am actually really pumped to see what McComb can do. I was hoping he wouldn't end his season after he had a really off day at the state meet. While many may forget, Christian McComb had the fastest time of any PA athlete up at Manhattan. This kid can run fast in NY against out of state guys, so depending on what meet he ends up picking, does the Boyertown junior have a chance to shock the northeast and get a PA guy to nationals? While I think Mitchell Rome may be a long shot, I'm very excited to see how he does. He is riding a ton of momentum after his big finish at states, and he might just go for all the glory at regionals. He took the lead after 2 miles in the AA race and he was almost rewarded with one of the biggest XC upsets in years.

Lastly, before we get into the main action, congrats to our PA alum in their respective NCAA national races. Casey Comber of Villanova was the top D1 finisher for PA in 34th, and Liam Galligan was the top D3 finisher for PA in 63rd.

Back to the indoor preview! Our next event up in our series is the Distance Medley Relay. There are plenty of squads with the ability to find themselves in contention to qualify for the state meet this winter. If you look at the 8 fastest times run from last year, 5 of the schools suffered some pretty heavy losses to graduation (Spring Ford, CB West, Shanahan, Council Rock North, Butler), so its fair to say that we should expect a new landscape of teams up at the front this season.

Despite what I just said, there will still be our usual suspects. The defending champs in Seneca Valley return their biggest pieces in Sam Owori and Seth Ketler, and while Volk-Klos isn't necessarily a speedster, he's run 4:24, so he can easily be developed into another contributing leg for this relay. Of course, the LaSalle army will be on full display. We know they have the depth, but the question becomes, do they have the firepower to compete for a title? Twomey, Seiberlich, Zilligen, and Ghantous all ran sub 4:30 last spring. Seiberlich and Costonis were the only two guys at 2 flat or faster. I think LaSalle does have the pieces to win this thing, but it will all come down to how they use their personnel. If Costonis can dip under 2 and allow Siebelich to run the 12 and have Twomey chase down Ketler, I think this could shape up to be an excellent championship race. While obviously we still have a whole season to see who does what, I think these two are the big time preseason favorites heading into December.

The next big team up with DMR hopes would have to be the Dwest boys. Similarly to LaSalle, they have so many pieces to work with in the 1200/1600 leg, but they'll need to develop an 800 leg to have a shot at contending for state gold. They don't return a single runner that has run sub 2 indoors. The key for this relay will be Sewall. Despite being one of the best XC runners in all of PA, he doesn't hold a sub 4:30 mile to his name. With Valderrabano having run 4:24, its hard to predict who would run what leg on this relay. I imagine Chamoun will take the 800 leg, and after that, your guess is as good as mine. I've said it already, and I will say it again. Its incredible how much the LaSalle and Downingtown West programs mirror each other at this point. I think LaSalle is a little more seasoned on the track than the Whippets may be, but I still believe Valderrabano can help this team contend for a title.

The big sleeper here of course, would be the XC state champions from North Allegheny. The x-factor for this relay would have to be Dan McGoey. Just like Payton Sewall, despite being one of the PA phenoms, Dan McGoey doesn't have much to show on his track resume under the 3200. With a 2 flat leg in Luke Turkovich, and the obvious 4:14 stud anchor in Kinne, its hard to ignore how good this relay could be. Although his resume is basically blank, I find it hard to believe McGoey, a 9:24 stud, couldn't drop down in distance and give the Tigers a legit leadoff leg. Even if he ends up only being a 3:15-3:20 guy, does anyone really have an anchor to hold off the likes of Zach Kinne?

After these big names, there is a host of schools who have the right pieces to contend for a state medal. To list the notable ones, we have Central Bucks East, West Chester East, Great Valley, Mifflin County, Haverford Township, and Greensburg Salem. Each of these schools either has a legit ace, or just an army of guys to pick from.

CB East has the 1:55 phenom in Endres, and a 4:27 miler in Alex Bardwell.

West Chester East is a big question mark, as we have yet to see Lewin run indoor. If he chooses to, the 4:21 miler paired with Domenic Moser could form a dirty relay.

Great Valley returns 4 milers in the 4:30's, having plenty of options to experiment with in the 1200/1600.

Mifflin County is a BIG one. You've got a 1:55 kid in Seth Phillips, and a 4:20 miler in Chayce Macknair. Throw in a XC state medalist Brayden Harris on the 1200 leg, and this is suddenly a DMR that can win the title on paper.

Haverford Township is another big one. They've got an ace of an anchor in the 4:20 miler Aidan Tomov, and with Brendan Campbell and Erik McCallion both sub 2, they've got very solid 800/1200 pieces lined up.

Lastly, the AA state champions in Greensburg Salem. The Binda twins paired with Mark Brown can run in any formation in the DMR and still be a contender for a medal. I'll be very interested to see who takes which leg on this relay if they do opt to run it.

Let me know who you guys expect to standout this indoor season, and let me know if you think I missed any sleepers!

-The RunningHub

PTFCA Indoor 800m Preview

Hey everybody! Hope I'm not the only one suffering from post XC depression already. Nonetheless, we patiently wait for the regionals races. Also to note, the Temple 2 mile tune-up gave us a sneak preview of some postseason guys. In really cold and windy conditions, Luke Klingenberg flashed some of his track speed, outlasting Jack Miller for the win, 9:41 to 9:46. Obviously this isn't a great indicator of anything, but I thought it was a notable result to throw out to all of you. While I originally planned on throwing out a very basic, broad indoor preview, I found that I simply had way too much to say for each event. Since our first indoor meet isn't for likely another 3-4 weeks, I'll probably be dropping an event preview every 5 days or so, to ensure that you guys don't have to go a week or so without anything new. Hopefully, some regionals previews mixed with some indoor previews can get us through this dead period that is the offseason. Without further ado, lets see what the 2018-2019 indoor season has in store for us!

The 2018 indoor 800m state championship produced one of the slower winning times in recent memory, but also produced one of the fastest cutoffs for a state medal in state history. In hindsight, looking at how things were projected, it shouldn't have been all that surprising. With Hoey absent and Conway going for the double win, the hot heat unsurprisingly went out slow. The 2nd heat, with speedsters like Aidan Sauer and Matt Eissler, took things out hard and resulted in 3 of the 8 medalists. In one of the deepest state races in years, where it took 1:55.37 to get a medal, many were left wondering, was this the new norm? 5 of the 8 were seniors, but the contingent of young talent ensured fans that there would be plenty of fireworks for the following year. So the question became, what should we expect for next year? Will it be deep and tactical? Or will we some blazing times in place of the now professional Josh Hoey?

Well, there is a chance we see both.

The fact that there are 3 returning medalists from indoor that don't include Jonah Hoey, Ethan Zeh, or Collin Ochs is just ridiculous. If you count returning state medalists from all of last year, we have 5 (6 if you include Hoey in the spring 1600). Ochs and Zeh were the two breakout stars of last year, whereas the other names mentioned have been pretty good at this whole 800 thing for awhile now. Tyler Shue is obviously going to be hard to beat. He was both a Liam Conway and a Collin Ebling away from a state title last year. In both cases, he just couldn't quite match the respective senior's closing speed. I think Shue had one of the most remarkable sophomore campaigns in state history, and while the illusive state title will be hard to take away from Eissler and Hoey, he's probably my favorite heading into this season.

Despite Shue arguably having a better season, its pretty clear that the spotlight is on Jonah Hoey. With two brothers packing up and going pro, and a limited XC season to focus on track, expectations have to be sky high for the Shanahan junior. After running 1:52 and 4:17 last spring, the youngest Hoey brother could easily choose either event and contend for a title. In my personal opinion, I was shocked to see him go with the 1600 last spring. I thought the 800 was wide open, and although he got lucky with Liam Conway being sick, he had a much stronger chance at taking the 800. You could say the same thing heading into this season, so maybe he ends up out of this field as well. However, if he, Shue, and Eissler all line up fresh for an 800 this season, I think we'll be able to get a 1:51 mark out of these guys.

Eissler and Endres are both big wildcards in the 800 this year. After a slow districts race and an unfortunate spill at states, Eissler really had an underwhelming outdoor season. And then of course, as soon as I came to that conclusion, he bounced back beautifully and ripped a 1:52 at Henderson. Eissler, the recent Penn commit, undoubtedly has the confidence to win a state title as well, and just needs things to click on the right day for him. Endres, after a magnificent indoor season, seemed to struggle to find his groove outdoor. He contributed on some great relays, but just never seemed to bust out an individual race like he did during indoor. Nonetheless, he is still the 2nd fastest returner from the state meet last year at Penn State, and could be a big surprise to the big names like Hoey, Shue, and Eissler.

Of course, there are tons of names to consider outside this top 6. The first heat from states last year, while being on the slower side, was comprised of basically all underclassmen. Guys like Seth Phillips, Jarret Zelinsky, and Dylan Servis all have the opportunity to move up into one of the faster heats this winter and get down to 1:57 or faster indoors. Jack Baker was only a 2:02 guy indoor last year, but then went on to rip a 1:55 outdoors. If he chooses to take indoor seriously this time around, he could be a serious threat for the medal stand. Then there are some big names that I won't go into too much detail on. Seth Ketler is a 1:55 kid who could absolutely contend on the big stage if he decided to do so, but Seneca Valley is so team-oriented that its hard to imagine they don't have their eyes set on 4x8's and DMRs.

An intriguing name for me is Luke Fehrman. The CB West senior only ran 2:01 open last year indoor, but is well known for the valuable relay leg he contributed to CBW's state title in the 4x8. Seeing as that most of their pieces have graduated, if Fehrman gets more looks in some open races, I think he is absolutely a dark horse.

Connor Shields is another big name like Jack Baker who, after not touching 2 flat all indoor season, ripped a 1:55 at Henderson in early May last spring. Shields is coming off of a state medal in XC, and while he may be more of a miler, he could definitely do some damage in the 800 if he chose to. There is a whole host of guys who have great 800 potential, but are probably better off in the mile. Jack Wisner, Jonah Powell, and Garrett Baublitz have all run in the 1:55-1:56 range outdoor, but are all sub 4:20 milers who will likely stick to the popular distance.

Other sleepers to keep an eye out for include Kendall Brennan, either of the Bindas, Elias Zajicek, and Luke Eissler.

December 9th. Opening weekend. Less than a month away. Seems like a ways away, but it'll be here quickly. Buckle up folks, because track season is coming.

-The RunningHub