Now that the PA postseason is less than two weeks away, we decided to take a look at the national rankings to see how PA stacks up against the rest of the country.
Girls
Three US#1 marks last weekend highlight the girls list. The top marks are 4 of 17 marks by PA athletes and relays inside the top five. The four US#1 marks belong to Sarah Walker of Germantown Friends (600 and 800 meters), Madeleine Davison of North Allegheny (3000), and Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury (1500 en route to one mile). The 3000 meter run has the top two runners in the country in Davison and Mady Clahane of Cumberland Valley, while the 200 meters and the high jump also have two top five performers, highlighted by the return of Cyre Virgo of Fleetwood in the high jump last Friday at Franklin and Marshall (5-8).
The girls also have an equal amount of marks between the places of 6th and 10th on the national list. The 60 meter dash duo of Chanel Brissett of Cheltenham and Taylor Chapman of Pennridge highlight the group. The list also includes six state leading performances, with Marissa Sheva of Pennridge sitting at US#6 in the mile as the longest reigning PA#1 mark in the state this season.
The rest of the top twenty has our 300 meter dash state leader in Brooklynn Broadwater and it has four events with two representatives, including the high jump and the shot put.
Boys
The boys have grown their influence on the national top twenty, with the Cheltenham relay team leading the charge. The state champions have three US#1 marks out of the five major indoor track relays, accounting for one-third of the state's national top five performances. They lead in the 4x2 (1:28.40), the 4x4 (3:18.41) and the sprint medley (state record 3:26.11). At this time four years ago, Abington were US#1 in two events. They finished that season at US#2 in both.
Meanwhile, Sam Ritz of Germantown Academy and John Lewis of Cheltenham both kept their top three places in the 800 meter run, while Jordan Geist of Knoch and Isaiah Brooks of Woodland Hills kept their US#4 places in the shot put and long jump respectively.
The 6 through 10 places on the national list represent 7 of our state leaders out of the 13 marks. Ritz is the longest holding state leader with his mile performances, while Mitch Valko of South Fayette is the newest state leader on this list with 8.09 performance in the 60 meter hurdles last week.
The rest of the national top 20, 15 marks in total, features Christian Brissett of Cheltenham and his state leading 200 meter performance from late December. Places 3-5 in PA in the 3000 meter run are also in the national top 20. Pole Vault state leader Ryan Wilkes of Valley View sits on the national list at #13.
You can check out the breakdown of the PA national top 20 marks below!
Girls
National Top 5s:
200 Dash (#4,5)
600 Run (#1)
800 Run (#1)
1500 Run (#1)
Mile Run (#2)
3000 Run (#1,2)
55 Hurdles (#3)
60 Hurdles (#2)
4x2 Relay (#3)
4x8 Relay (#5)
SMR (#4)
High Jump (2@T-US#4)
Shot Put (#3,4)
Total: 17
National Top 10s:
55 Dash (#7)
60 Dash (#6,7)
400 Dash (#7)
600 Run (#7)
800 Run (#9)
1000 Run (#7)
Mile Run (#6,10)
55 Hurdles (#10)
60 Hurdles (#9)
4x2 Relay (#9)
4x4 Relay (#7,10)
SMR (#9)
DMR (#9,10)
Total: 17+17=34
National Top 20s:
55 Dash (#14,15)
300 Dash (#19)
600 Run (#11)
800 Run (#16,18)
60 Hurdles (#17)
4x2 Relay (#16,20)
4x8 Relay (#11)
DMR (#18)
High Jump (2 at T-US#20)
Shot Put (#11,19)
Total: 15+17+17=49
Boys
National Top 5s:
800 Run (#2,3)
1000 Run (#3)
4x2 Relay (#1)
4x4 Relay (#1)
4x8 Relay (#5)
SMR (#1)
Long Jump (#4)
Shot Put (#4)
Total: 9
National Top 10s:
55 Dash (#8)
400 Dash (#9)
Mile Run (#10)
3000 Run (#8,9)
55 Hurdles (#6)
60 Hurdles (#10)
4x2 Relay (#9)
4x4 Relay (#7)
4x8 Relay (#7,8)
DMR (#7)
Long Jump (#7)
Total: 13+9=22
National Top 20s:
55 Dash (#17)
200 Dash (#14)
400 Dash (#12)
1000 Run (#12)
3000 Run (#11,16,18)
55 Hurdles (#13)
60 Hurdles (#17)
4x8 Relay (#16)
SMR (#12)
DMR (#11,13)
Long Jump (#14)
Pole Vault (#13)
Total: 15+13+9=37