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