Photo by Steven Pisano
TFCAofGP Last Chance Meet
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Friday brings us the first of three weekend meets at Lehigh. The TFCAofGP Last Chance Meet precedes Saturday's Carnival, which gives way to the PCL Champs on Sunday. The Last Chance Meet is loaded with talent, looking for a "last chance" to get into next week's Meet of Champions. Here's what to watch for:
SPRINTS/HURDLES
Reigning 60-meter state champ Ade Jones-Roundtree of Imhotep is the top seed in the 60 dash on Friday. Jones-Roundtree ran the state's fastest 55 meters at January's Hispanic Games and now the senior will be looking to top the current state leading mark of 6.87. He'll have plenty of company in the event, though, including PA#8 Rasheed Wright of Wissahickon, Bishop Shanahan's Keegan Hughes, Neshaminy's Savion Hebron, and Penn Charter's Chris Tucker. Jones-Roundtree is also entered in the 55 meters at the Millrose Games on Saturday, so we'll see if he runs both races.
In the 60-meter hurdles, watch for a good race between Pennsbury's Nasan Robbins, Chester's James Jackson, and Pennridge's Alex Dimon are all inside the top 11 in the state in the event. Int he 400 meters, Pennridge's John Nash is the top seed, but watch for Upper Dublin's George Weems and Abington's Cameron Mitchell.
The 200 meters is expected to heat up the track on Friday night. Shanahan's Hughes and his teammate Nate Alleyne are in the field, but so is Imhotep's Kristian Marche, who sits at PA#2 behind just Coatesville's Terrance Laird. While the times might be affected by the flat track, this should be a super competitive showdown.
Photo by Jerome Lowery
DISTANCE
The mile should be a close battle between a number of runners looking for a spot in the state meet. The field includes CB South's Matthew Scarpill, Cheltenham's Will Griffen, Pennsbury's Eric Kersten, Lower Merion's Matthew D'Aquila, Holy Ghost Prep's Callahan Lennon, Pennridge's Matt Eissler, Upper Darby's Syed Shah, and Shanahan freshman Jonah Hoey. It's a relatively open race and should push each of these guys to quick times.
The 800, like the mile, gives us an open field, too. Radnor's Peter Cooke is the top seed here after a PA#7 run at Kevin Dare. But he should be challenged for the win by a host of others, including Penn Wood's Dennis Manyeah, Pennsbury's Jed Scratchard, Shanahan's Logan Yoquinto, Pennridge's Austin Howell, and Great Valley's Brett Zatlin.
In the 3000 meters, watch for William Tennent's Sean Rahill. Rahill clocked an 8:57 last week at the TFCAofGP meet for second and sits at PA#6 currently. Also in the field is the CB West duo of Ben Bunch and Brian Mass. Bunch is at PA#10 after running 8:58 last week. Boyertown's Dominic Derafelo, Downingtown West's Shaun Bullock and Jake O'Neill, and CB East's William Schulz are among to others looking for a state qualifier.
Photo by Patty Morgan
FIELD
The horizontal jumps will feature tons of fire power on Friday. Upper Dublin's Brian Kaufmann will continue to lay claim to the PA#1 spot in the long jump. Pennridge's Matt Ludlow and Penn Charter's Akeem Blake will be shooting for the upset.
Photo by Patty Morgan
Kaufmann is also entered in the triple jump, but he'll be facing a tough challenge from PA#3 Ahmir Johnson of Wissahickon and PA#4 Dayo Abeeb of Strath Haven. Johnson was PA#1 for most of the season until this past weekend when Milton Hershey's Treyvon Ferguson and Souderton's Shamar Jenkins jumped further. He'll have a lot of motivation to take it back on Friday.
In the high jump, Lower Merion's James Burton returns to the event where he ranks PA#5. Pennridge's Matt Moyer (PA#10) should make for an interesting competition. Upper Dublin's Alex Liu (PA#6) is the top seed in the pole vault.