PTFCA States Preview

4x800:

There's a lot to discuss for the upcoming weekend. The 4x8 will kick off the meet. This is a change from previous years, when all the relays were at the end of the meet. Schools were allowed to enter teams into the 4x4, 4x2 and one of the 2 distance relays. However, this year the PTFCA are allowing schools to enter both a 4x8 and a DMR. This will make for some difficult predictions. Abington was the team to beat for most of the season. They ran a killer 8:01 in December, which is surprisingly the time they are using for their seed. I think it is difficult for a team to peak to early in the indoor season, but training can get rough around the holiday season and into January. I'm not convinced that this team has peaked, but only time will tell. GFS has had a strong showing in the DMR in the past. This year is no exception. This year it appears like they are putting everything into both distance relays. I'm unsure what the double will do to their DMR performance, but they should be able to start the meet with a fast 4x8 time. They were the first team to break 8, and have 2 studs in Dahl and Hepp. If the other 2 they decide placing in the relay have a big day they could come home with some impressive hardware.

And then there is State College. I talked about this team in the previous post, and nothing is really new hear. Coming into millrose they had a season best of 8:05 from Kevin Dare. I think they perform poorly when there is not a constant threat from competing teams. I do think they are the favorite with 7:51, and they have had a solid season of winning. It would take some interesting lineups from Abington and GFS to take down these guys. I think the only chance they have of making the states record of 7:45 would be if second place is able to stay in close contact.

Some notable dark horses loom with Bishop Shanahan, CB West, O'Hara, and CB East. LaSalle could get in on the scoring, and I think Pennridge would also have a chance to get in the mix, although they do not have Desko listed on their team entry.

     1. State College
     2. GFS
     3. Abington
     4. O'Hara
     5. CB West
     6. CB East
     7. Bishop Shanahan
     8. LaSalle

Mile:

Next we have the mile, where the favorite could not be more clear. Jaxson Hoey ran 4:12 at the Millrose trials back in early January and came back to place 5th with 4:11 in the Millrose games last weekend. This compares very closely to the greatest milers in PA history. At this point in the season last year, Sam Ritz was only 4:14. Tucking in behind Jaxson is a little more of a toss up. Liam Galligan, Tucker Desko and Josh Hoey have all run 4:19 this season. Colin Wills is right on their tail, and Noah Falasco, Connor McMenamin and Cooper leslie are all within 2 seconds. This could be a very interesting race, considering that almost everyone will be fresh. However, some will have to come back for multiple races later in the meet. My gut tells me that Desko will be able to pull second, as his speed will aid him in the final race for the line. I also have to note that Jeff Kirshenbaum is entered in both the mile and 3k. I don't know if he will be favoring one event over the other, but I think if he hadn't entered in the mile he would be more in contention for the 3k. I don't think he will make it on the podium in the mile, but he is a possible sleeper pick.

    1. Jaxson Hoey
    2. Tucker Desko
    3. Liam Galligan
    4. Josh Hoey
    5. Colin Wills
    6. Connor McMenamin
    7. Matthew Scarpill
    8. Cooper Leslie

800:

Mike Kolor has been the talk of the season. Coming off of a strong xc season he is shaping up to be one of the top distance names in PA. He has posted some quick times in the mile, but did not enter, and seems to be focusing on the relays and the open 8. However, even with the fastest seed of 1:53, he is still going to have to race well come Sunday. Dom Perretta and Jaxson Hoey are big names both entering with 1:54 seed times. There are also some possible sleepers in Nick Wagner and Matt Wisner. Wisner has been gathering kick xp (I'll talk about this term in a later post) all season. His victory over state college in the DMR at lehigh will surely give him the confidence in his kick at this meet. I think if anyone is able to out kick Kolor he is definitely the man.

    1. Matt Wisner
    2. Mike Kolor
    3. Domenic Peretta
    4. Nick Wagner
    5. Jaxson Hoey
    6. Sean Conway
    7. Isaiah Bailey
    8. David Fletcher

3000:

This post is starting to get long, so I will try to keep this event short. Basically all I have to say is Jake Brophy. There's no question that he is the favorite, and he's pretty much unmatched at the longer distances. He didn't have the great of a race in the mile last year, but the chance of him having a bad day are not that high. The real battle is going to be between Nathan Henderson and Dom Hockenbury. Hock is used to running against smaller schools in xc and outdoor. Indoor is his chance to stand up against the big guns from AAA. Last year he led for most of the race, getting out kicked by Matt McGoey. I foresee a similar race this year with Brophy. I think Brophy will be saving some for the DMR that takes place almost immediately after the 3k. He'll also be a little tired from the 4x8 earlier in the day. I think Nathan Henderson might be able to snag 2nd if he sits and waits for his opportunity to snag that position from Hock. It's a fast field from top to bottom this year, and even making it is an accomplishment (8:56). I'm glad PTFCA is allowing 14 to run. I'm curious to find out why they are only allowing 12 for the girls race.

    1. Jake Brophy
    2. Nathan Henderson
    3. Dominic Hockenbury (leads most of the race)
    4. Rusty Kujdych
    5. Nick Wolk
    6. Will Loevner
    7. Liam Conway
    8. Marc Migliozzi

DMR:

This is the hardest event to predict this year. Normally the best relay teams are split between the 4x8 and the DM, but this year teams can enter both. Most of the top teams are entered both. The fastest PA team this year is definitely DT West, but they don't have a full A team. Their focus on individual events will give them a better chance in the team competition, and Jaxson and Josh Hoey will be able to get on the podium. Without DT West running the Hoey brothers, GFS looks like the favorite. Hepp and Dahl are beasts. It's really going to be up to their 2 middle, and shorter, legs to keep them in the race. It's going to be hard for teams to race down Dahl if he is in the lead. State College is focusing on the relays and could really come away with some big points in this relay. Carlisle, Pennridge, and CB West all have very similar seed times and have some really strong individuals. After watching the lehigh DMR, I would say Carlisle might surprise some people. Pennridge certainly has the credentials on paper, but it is possible for other teams to upset them. O'Hara has the Jones pair and Morro and could potentially run much faster than their seed time. LaSalle has looked pretty good this season, and even Unionville could get in the mix. I'm guessing Brophy will be tired from the 3k, and won't have enough strength in his legs to get his team on the podium, but it's not out of the question. This relay will be extremely exciting to watch. Big props to all the teams that are racing.

    1. GFS
    2. State College
    3. Carlisle (close race between 3-5)
    4. Pennridge
    5. CB West
    6. O'Hara
    7. LaSalle
    8. Unionville

Millrose Games

I would begin the blog with an introductory post, however with the interesting events of the last weekend, I will jump right in. The 109th Millrose Games featured some amazing performances, especially in the high school races. Pennsylvania had a great showing. This season, State College has not performed anywhere close to last year in the 4x8. They barely entered the Millrose games with an 8:05. Not surprising based on personal bests, they went on to best that performance by 14 seconds. However, many would not have guessed that they could have walked away with the Eastern States title. Their lead off, Owen Wing, was boxed off from the start but moved up throughout his leg to a nice 1:59 split. He is new to the relay and shows the depth State College has in the 800. The remaining three legs are returners from last year's 7:41 team. Wing handed off to cross country state medalist Nick Feffer, who kept their position and laid down a monster kick to put State College in the lead with 1:56. Anthony Degleris started slow, but finished strong in a similar split time as Wing. Alex Milligan chilled on the first two laps of his leg, and sensing pressure from West Islip, the best team in the nation, tactically surged to the win.

Jaxson Hoey of Downingtown West has had a phenomenal indoor season off of his sour Nike Cross Nationals performance. He came to Millrose with a 4:12 personal best, and many expected him to be one of the top contenders. New York guys definitely dominated the field. Connor Lundy of Fordham Prep was a major favorite, as well as Aidan Tooker of Saratoga Springs. Usually the winner of the high school mile is from the east coast. However, Isaac Cortes from Great Oak, California narrowly won the mile cruising past Noah Affolder and the other New Yorkers. Jaxson placed 5th with a time of 4:11.

However, this was not the highlight of high school miles for the meet. Drew Hunter is starting to become somewhat of a household name. He ran 14:20 in cross country early in the fall. He won Footlocker Nationals by a sizable margin. Although he ran some very impressive times last year in track, it wasn't until he broke 8 minutes in the 3k that he really showed his strength. Just one week later he went back to become only the second high school guy to break 4 minutes in the mile indoors. He broke Alan Webb's American record of 3:59 at the Armory invitational. Just 2 weeks later he did it again running 3:57 in the "B" elite mile at the Millrose Games. And to top it off, he had a cold leading into, and during the race. The mile that is usually the highlight of the meet, the Wanamaker Mile, was very similar to last year. Matt Centrowitz clinched the title dueling with Nick Willis on the final lap. Track and Field has never been more exciting!