Photo by Don Rich
AAA Boys' 3200m Preview
More so than any other event, it can be argued that the 3200 meters creates more craziness and unpredictability than any other event at the PIAA state meet. With a number of very talented entries in the AAA field, we're in for what should be a very exciting race nonetheless.
JP McCaskey's Nathan Henderson comes in as the top seed and the top AAA runner on the season so far with a 9:03 to win his league championship (in an incredible triple!). Henderson was battling an injury last year and ended up ninth at states, but the heathy senior has been on a tear this season. He won the indoor state title this winter, and just went 9:06 to win against a loaded field in the heat of the District 3 Championships.
He'll be challenged by a familiar face and district rival in Sam Affolder of Carlisle. The super sophomore was third in District 3 during what was a busy meet for him, but Affolder has run 4:08 for 1600 meters this year and has the talent to win this thing. Another District 3 runner, Zach Lefever of Ephrata, was second in that district meet. He took sixth in this AAA 3200 meters last year and always comes on at the right time. Don't sleep on him.
District 1 brings a ton of talent to the table this weekend. Neshaminy's Rusty Kujdych won a dramatic district meet by .03 over Cheltenham's Will Griffen this past weekend. Kujdych was second at the indoor states 3K and could be taking home gold when all is said and done Saturday. Districts was a huge PR for Griffen, who will look to carry that into states. Souderton's Connor McMenamin, CB West's Brian Mass, CR North's Ryan Campbell, and Lower Merion's Matthew D'Aquila are among the other D1 names with hopes of a high finish this weekend.
Butler's Noah Beveridge posted a strong PR of 9:20 to win the WPIAL title. He was fifth at XC states, so he's no stranger to stepping up on the big stage and has to be one to watch for. At the District 2 Championships, North Pocono's David Haines and Dallas' Jack Zardecki had a thrilling race to the finish, with Haines taking the win in 9:22.67, just a few tenths better than Zardecki. Pleasant Valley's Seth Slavin won the District 11 title and the senior could be looked at as a serious contender here. Cardinal O'Hara's Ryan James won the District 12 title and should be expected to mix it up near the front.
Don't miss this race.
Entries:
Event 710 Boys 3200 Meter Run AAA (28)
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NFHS Record: 8:24.23 2008 German Fernandez, RiverbankHS, CA
PIAA Record: 8:55.60 2015 Zach Brehm, Carlisle 03
NFHS Hnr Rol: 9:02.00
9:31.71 SQS
Name Year School Seed Finals
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1 302 Henderson, Nathan 12 J.P. McCaskey 03 9:06.69 SQS
2 392 Kujdych, Rusty 11 Neshaminy 01 9:07.00 SQS
3 123 Griffen, Will 12 Cheltenham 01 9:07.03 SQS
4 547 McMenamin, Connor 12 Souderton 01 9:13.72 SQS
5 108 Mass, Brian 12 CB West 01 9:14.39 SQS
6 143 Campbell, Ryan 11 CR North 01 9:15.04 SQS
7 195 Lefever, Zach 12 Ephrata 03 9:17.46 SQS
8 341 D'Aquila, Matthew 12 Lower Merion 01 9:18.43 SQS
9 75 Affolder, Sam 10 Carlisle 03 9:20.71 SQS
10 72 Beveridge, Noah 11 Butler 07 9:20.85 SQS
11 415 Haines, David 12 North Pocono 02 9:22.67 SQS
12 165 Zardecki, Jack 11 Dallas 02 9:22.90 SQS
13 146 Haas, Tim 12 CR North 01 9:24.86 SQS
14 177 Rollins, Tyler 11 D-Town West 01 9:25.58 SQS
15 487 Slavin, Seth 12 Pleasant Vly 11 9:25.63 SQS
16 539 Razanauskas, Trey 12 Seneca Valley 07 9:25.65 SQS
17 22 Conboy, Casey 12 Baldwin 07 9:30.34 SQS
18 652 Underwood, Jake 11 Wilson 03 9:30.92 SQS
19 203 Provenzo, Mark 12 Franklin Reg 07 9:31.05 SQS
20 566 Etter, Mitchell 11 State College 06 9:32.10
21 557 Cramer, Colin 11 Sthrn Lehigh 11 9:33.54
22 371 Cupp, Morgan 11 Mechanicsburg 03 9:33.65
23 73 James, Ryan 12 Crdnl O'Hara 12 9:37.85
24 212 Price, Nate 10 Gen McLane 10 9:48.33
25 310 Davis, Isaac 11 Jersey Shore 04 9:49.39
26 322 Paul, Stephen 12 La Salle Cllg 12 9:54.26
27 587 Diallo, Amadou 12 Allderdice 08 10:02.50
28 64 Caruso, Logan 11 Bradford Area 09 10:09.52