Boys 4x800m Relay
PA State Rankings: 4x800m
The State Favorite: Pennridge
Top Medal Contenders: Bensalem; Central Bucks West; Central Bucks East; Central Bucks South; Council Rock South; Haverford Township; Indiana Area; Penncrest; Radnor; Twin Valley; West Chester East; Wyomissing Area
Dark Horses: Downingtown West; Holy Ghost Preparatory; LaSalle College; State College Area
Sizing It Up: This event is perhaps the wildest of all the relays (girls or boys) that we have so far in the state. Pennridge's 8:02.12 broke it open a few weeks ago with a great run at Ocean Breeze and with perhaps the best half miler in the state on anchor in Matt Eissler, the Rams will be a mighty tough squad to take down.
PA#2 Wyomissing Area is a AA squad outdoors, but it showed that it can roll with the big dogs with an 8:08 effort in the same OBI race as Pennridge. Council Rock South (8:08) and West Chester East (8:10) both earned impressive TFCAofGP wins this past weekend on the flat track of Lehigh and could both make runs at the title.
Incredibly, 5 teams have run 8:11 this season, the last of which is the defending state champs (indoor and outdoor) from CB West, which always seems to turn it on at the right time. Indiana Area has shown to be the class of the west. Radnor, Haverford, and Twin Valley each have terrific depth and could make some moves in the coming weeks.
The boys from State College have run 8:40 this season, but this squad can never be counted out when it comes to the 4x8. With the 4x8, it will be interesting to see if any teams opt to go fresh for the DMR rather than start the meet with the 4x8, so that could certainly change some things.