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