Although we had a few relay meets last week, this past weekend was the first set of big meets with individual events. There were a few really solid openers, and the stage is already being set for things to be much faster than indoor in my opinion.
To kick things off, we have to acknowledge the obvious performance of the weekend. In typical Hoey fashion, Jonah Hoey went down to Florida and competed at the Pepsi Relays, where he came away with two PA #1's. He ran just an "ok" 800 (for him personally) with a 1:56.59, but then uncorked a 4:17.02 to come away with a new PR. Hoey surprisingly opted to run the 1600 outdoor last year, a decision that still rewarded him with a state silver. Many thought he was going to come in this year as a junior and start ripping 1:51 type marks like his brothers, but he is showing more and more that the 1600 might end up being his best path to a state gold. Given that our indoor state champ Jonah Powell is in AA, Hoey certainly has the ability to takedown Anderson and others for a state title.
Altoona Area Igloo Invitational:
Altoona kicked things off with a win on their home track in the 4x8 with an 8:30. Elk County Catholic reminds us to not forget about them in the AA state picture as they were 2nd in 8:36.
There were two great doubles that headlined the distance events in this meet. Josh Yourish of Deer Lakes had an impressive 4:32.93 victory in the 1600, and then doubled back to hold on for the win in the 800 with a 2:05.45. I mentioned Yourish as a name to watch in the AA 800, but this was a really solid opener for him in the 16. I spent a lot of time outlining how the AA 800 is a much weaker field than the 1600, but if Yourish is already running 4:32, its hard to think he can't develop into a real medal threat in 6 weeks.
The other impressive double came from the Bedford sophomore Van May. He finished 2nd to Yourish in the 1600 with a solid 4:38, but then came back to runaway with the 3200 title in 10:08. Now, neither of these times are mind-blowing, but this is a solid double given his age, and given that he won the 3200 by 20 ish seconds, its hard to think the sophomore isn't already in 9:50's shape. Excited to see what this kid can do for the rest of the season.
Haverford Invitational:
The 800 was a showdown of frankly, a bunch of new names we haven't seen or heard of much before. Academy Park senior Ismael Americain is in his first year of track, and came away with a 4 second PR from the indoor season and a win. His 2:02 in his first spring meet of the year is a great sign as he'll try and inch closer to that district qualifier of 1:59.xx. Strath Haven sophomore Julian Carmichael also ran an impressive 2:02, while the Haverford School for Boys had an impressive duo of Lleyton Winslow and and AJ Sanford ran 2:03-2:04 for 3rd and 4th. Rounding out the top 5 was Radnor sophomore Chris Belz, who's 2:04 is yet another piece to add to Radnor's growing group of middle distance stars.
The 1600 was a show for the home team, with Aidan Tomov running away from the field in impressive fashion, as he clocked a 4:27 PA #3 for the win. I felt like we didn't get to see Tomov enough in the mile indoor, and this is just a sign that he's back in his best event, and he's ready to run fast this spring season. Brendan Campbell locked up a 1-2 finish for Haverford, running 4:38.80.
The 3200 was an awesome showdown between two great D1 teams in Haverford and West Chester East, as the two schools claimed the top 4 spots in the race. Josh Lewin kicked off his junior campaign with a thrilling win over fellow junior classmate Josh Fingerhut from Haverford, 9:52.73 to 9:53.83. The two pulled away from their respective teammates Mike Donnelly and Domenic Moser, and gave us a great race. I see Fingerhut pursuing the 3200 in the postseason, but as for Lewin, your guess is as good as mine. He's run 50 point in the open 400, 4:20 in the 1600, and 9:31 for 3200. Whatever he chooses, he'll be an immediate threat, so only time will tell.
Remember when I mentioned Radnor as a middle distance powerhouse this year?
They aren't playing around this season.
After an indoor season where they constantly hung around the top of the state, they asserted themselves as contenders for state gold at Shippensburg, as they blasted a 7:58 in March! 7:58 for this time of the year is absolutely no joke, and the dangerous part is, they probably have options to move around that fourth leg depending on who is running well at the moment. I really hope we see these guys at Penn Relays, as their locals who would have some great support and could really run something fast if they make the finals. It is not longer just the Ethan Zeh show anymore over at Radnor.
Not to be forgotten about though, West Chester East still ran an incredibly solid PA #2 8:05.87 right behind Radnor for 2nd. This is also a really deep program with guys like Moser, Daley, and Benditt all backing Lewin. These are the same programs we saw do damage indoor, but both squads are clearly ready to jack it up another level.
Jim Kelly Invitational:
CB East kicked off the outdoor season with a PA #3 8:06 to win over some fellow SOL rival schools in CB South and Pennridge. This was a really deep race as the top 7 teams were all sub 8:30. There's no names associated with splits, but the impressive part about some of these times are that a lot of big guns seem to be missing. For example, CB East didn't have a single sub 2 split on their relay, meaning they ran 8:06 likely without Endres. The same goes for Pennridge, who's 8:15 seems to have come without Matt Eissler. Having other programs such as CB South run 8:13 and Cheltenham run 8:19 show just how crowded the D1 AAA 4x8 will end up being as always.
We had a really exciting upset in the 800, where we saw Matt Eissler get caught by Holy Ghost's Jarrett Zelinsky in a 1:57.5-1:57.7 finish. Some may see this as a weak result for Eissler, but kicking off the season in 1:57 is nothing to scoff at. This was a great race for Zelinsky who should be gaining a lot of confidence as he will try and gear up for his first time of getting to outdoor states and dealing with prelims and trials 2 weekends in a row. As for Eissler, I still see him as the favorite for the district title. Holy Ghost is really getting their name back on the map though, as Burton Carbino also ripped a 1:58.69 to finish 3rd. This duo could quickly become one of the best 1-2 punches in the state in the 800, and if they could find some pieces around these guys, this is a dangerous 4x8. Familiar faces like Luke Eissler and Trey Hill rounded out the top 5.
The 1600 looked to be the thrilling race of the day, with the top 6 all finishing within 3 seconds of each other. The pack was all within a second of each other with 400 to go, and a blazing 62 last lap from Stefano Isabella got him the victory in a really impressive performance from the Hatboro Horsham junior. The Hatboro Horsham guys have been showing me glimpses of talent here and there between Isabella and Comber, and I'm waiting for one of thee guys to breakthrough. This sign of closing speed is very promising for Isabella, as that kind of kick can be very rewarding when it comes to advancing through prelims and such in the postseason. Josiah Moyer, Samir Razi, Garrett Campbell, Diego Lera-Lozano (sophomore), And Griffin Schlegel made up the rest of the top 6 and all had great races that put them in the 4:32-4:34 range.
Mount Lebanon Invitational:
Even if we didn't get to see all the Pittsburgh powerhouses here, there were still some great times thrown down. Carter Kauffman got the win in the 1600 with a 4:33 to throw himself on the AA radar, but the real story was his competitor. Coming in 2nd was Mount Lebanon's new secret weapon apparently, as 9th grader Barak Asher threw down a 4:34! This is a seriously legit mark for the youngster and has to be looked at as an emerging star in all of PA if this is correct.
The 800 gave us some more familiar faces, with Elias Zajicek picking up a really solid victory over two thirds of the Greensburg Salem trio in Mark Brown and Dylan Binda. There really isn't a standout 800 star in the D7 AAA 800, and I would love to see Zajicek drop into the mid 1:50's. As for the Greensburg Salem boys, we know how talented they are, and they're pretty much contenders in any event they pick down in AA.
Speaking of the Greensburg Salem boys, what the heck has gotten into Cameron Binda? After ripping a huge PR of 4:17 at NBIN, he almost took down Patrick Anderson in a 3200! The two studs went head to head and while the XC state champ ultimately prevailed, Anderson's 9:25 pulled Binda to, simply put, a colossal PR of 9:27. These are two of the top times in the state behind Kinne, and set the stage for the 3200 to be really deep this year. I talked about Binda challenging Powell in the AA 1600, but is Binda now considered a possible favorite for the AA 3200? What a crazy development.
Pennsylvania Track Classic:
Another year, another season opener for a lot of stud athletes at Plymouth Whitemarsh. The 800 wasn't blazing fast, but we saw some solid openers from some solid mid-tier state level guys, with Malachi Langley of Chester picking up the win in 2:03 over Alex Fillman of Southern Lehigh (2:05).
Similarly to his indoor season, Saabir Ali opened the spring hot, cruising to victory in the 1600 with a time of 4:31. I spent a lot of time hyping up Ali in the beginning of indoor and he fizzled out a little bit, so lets hope he can maintain his hot start this season and roll to some quick times. Penncrest sophomore Benjamin Klinger put together a solid race for himself, setting a new PR of 4:37 for 2nd.
The big story of this race was the 3200. Robert DiDonato was outlined in my rising stars article, and after this race, I think its fair to say that he is no longer "rising", he's already there. The sophomore solo'd a 9:27 to blow away the field, and tie Cameron Binda for the 3rd fastest time in PA. Even if its still March, anytime you're a sophomore and the only two people faster than you are Zach Kinne and Patrick Anderson, you know you're in pretty dang shape. I quite frankly didn't even expect DiDonato to open this fast, and if anything, it just makes me more upset he won't be at PIAA states. His teammate Matt Sandifer also ran a solid 9:52 to finish 2nd. Two non-seniors under 10 in the season opener for a PAISAA school is very impressive.
Mitchell Rome had a solid double of 4:38/9:56.
The Distance Project:
There were a lot of really weird events in this meet, so I'll just try and give the really big highlights. Unionville rolled to a 18:26 in the 4x1600. That's a 4:36.5 average per leg. That's unbelievable depth, and I'm not entirely sure there's many other teams in PA that could replicate that performance. The D1 XC runner ups clearly have a great group of fit athletes right now, and they're going to have some scary individual performers outside of just Cole Walker this year.
The awesome story for me in this meet was the dominance of Neshaminy out of nowhere. In the 800, Ethan Nolen took the win, breaking 2 and running 1:59 seemingly out of the blue! His teammates led a 1-2-3 sweep, running 2:05 and 2:06. Neshaminy suddenly has some really promising 4x8 stock, and I'm excited to see what this Nolen kid can do.
Tim Cook Memorial Invitational:
After a rough indoor campaign, 800 star Seth Phillips is returning to form, picking up a solid victory in 1:58. I'm sure he would love to knock down his 1:55 PR from last year, and get back to the state final and avenge his fall from last year. This is a great start, and there's obviously a great culture of success over at Mifflin County right now.
Phillip's teammate Chayce Macknair picked up where he left off in the indoor season, blasting a 4:26 to dominate a solid field of D3 guys. Casey Padgett and Trentin Overcash finished 2nd and 3rd in this race, both running 4:33, and they both had solid doubles in the 800 later on in the day. Greencastle-Atrim freshman Weber Long had a very impressive showing running 4:37 to finish 5th. Taryn Parks is no longer the fastest runner in the school!
A couple of sophomores went at it in the 3200, with Carlisle soph Evan Peachy taking the win in 10:09 over Henry J. Lyon and Graham Thomas.
Mifflin County also picked up the 4x8 win in 8:28.
That's all folks!
-The RunningHub
