2024 PIAA Championship Preview: Distance

The PIAA State Championship is this weekend. What can we expect out of this year's final and who are the contenders in each event?

Girls' Distance Preview | Boys' Distance Preview

AA Boys 800m - Saturday 2:25 PM

Archbishop Carroll senior Gabriel Cuffey and his D12-winning 1:53.60 are almost a second ahead of the others scheduled to line up in the three 800m sections. That effort is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, for Cuffey as he also has at least three additional sub-1:55 runs outdoors and a 1:52.70 PR from the New Balance Nationals Indoor.

Teammates is a big theme in this field as Notre Dame Green Pond runners Abraham Sasso and Alec Miner were the next fastest in the district meets and also under 1:55, while Midd-West's Wyatt Nelson, Anden Aitkins and Ben Hummel were separated by only 0.62 seconds in running 1:55s.

@oldschooltrack Picks: In my favorite event on the track, Cuffey and his 50.8 flat 400m speed will be enough to keep his distance over the rest of the field and any fast closers.

AA Boys 1600m - Friday 9 AM

Last year's boys 1,600m run final was a senior-dominated affair, with the Class of '23 taking the first five places and six of the eight medals. Caleb Prettyman, now a senior and possibly the busiest athlete in the state this weekend, was sixth in 4:19.63, while Tyler Rader of Huntingdon Area was eighth to break up the 12^th-grader domination.

Rader's D6-winning 4:16.90 is the top AA time on the season, while Freeport Area junior Michael Braun, Coudersport standout Kevin Sherry and Prettyman all have run 4:18s. Prettyman qualified out of District 10 in all three distances races PLUS the 4x800 so this will kickstart his weekend.

@oldschooltrack Picks: I'm drawn a couple different ways in this race. In the end, I see Sherry climbing up to the top step on the podium.

AA Boys 4x800m - Saturday 11 AM

Who can keep pace with Midd-West in the 4x800? Thus far in 2024, nobody has been able to get close. Their 7:49.17 winner in District 4 is the top AA time by more than 12 seconds and PA#8 overall.

The distance-crazy (and strong in '24) WPIAL moved Quaker Valley and Ellwood City to Shippensburg based on their 8:01s that are Nos. 2 and 3 in AA this year. District 11's Notre Dame Green Pond and Minersville Area are next on the annual list and also the only other teams to go faster than 8:05.

@oldschooltrack Picks: Yep, it's Midd-West as their trio of runners, also amongst the fastest in the open 800m, are just too much to overlook and too much to beat. The biggest question from this race might be whether any other quartet can run sub-8:00.

AAA Boys 800m - Saturday 2:25 PM

Ninety-six hundredths of a second separate the nine fastest qualifiers from the district competition heading into Saturday's Class AAA boys 800m final. That's it, and that's not much.

And that fastest group only includes three District 1 two-lappers, and everybody saw what those teams did in the 4x800m. So, there is even more talent in the other five young men who qualified from that district, which has half of the runners in the hot heat.

Naming names, Hampton senior Dale Hall looked solid throughout his WPIAL win over Kayden Lightner of North Hills as they are in the fastest four, along with Mifflin County sophomore Carter Smith (1:52.61) and Giovanni Mastromonaco (1:52.98) of Nazareth Area. Hall has the year's fastest time of those in the event at 1:52.28 from late April.

10th-grader Lucas Poliseno of Council Rock North is also part of that elite 1:52 club this season. 

How will this one be decided? Who leads? Wish I knew. 

@oldschooltrack Picks: With the 4x800s coming first right before lunch and the 800 final mid-afternoon, the winning time might not be as fast as many think, unless Mother Nature keeps the sunshine in hiding on Saturday and it's cool.

AAA Boys 1600m - Friday 9 AM

A year ago in the Class AAA boys 1,600m, one of the biggest upsets of the weekend occurred as Hampton standout Dale Hall outdueled Butler's Drew Griffith in the final straight for the victory in 4:08.52.

This year's field is faster and deeper than a year ago as Griffith has the top district time at 4:03.22 compared to his 4:09.53 leader from a year ago. Also, 35 in this year's field of 37 ran under 4:24 a week ago, while only 27 of 32 hit that mark in '23. In addition to the top finishers from last year, the WPIAL (District 7) has five of the six fastest district marks, with Hall sitting ninth.

With Ringgold standout Ryan Pajak also back and under 4:08 a week ago, this arguably is the most star-studded field at Shippensburg. And as we have witnessed time and time again in the past year, Griffith is the brightest star of the field, which will be split into 3 races in the time-based final. 

@oldschooltrack picks: Expect Griffith to go all in on a sub-4:00 run over 1,600 meters. The future Notre Dame star will have a sizable cushion at the end.

AAA Boys 3200m - Saturday 9 AM

Simply put, the NFHS record and PIAA meet records are both in serious jeopardy. Drew Griffith ran 8:34.91 for a full 2 miles to set a national record and win a national title indoors, and then he went to California and ran 8:37.43 in Arcadia for 3,200m. To me, even more impressive was his 8:41.60 effort to win the District 7 meet, his third race in less than 36 hours. And he made it look so easy.

Not to be forgotten is another of PA's finest ever over multi-laps - Ryan Pajak of Ringgold. Headed to Notre Dame as well, he ran 8:38 at Arcadia to finish right behind his future teammate and also ran 8:47 indoors over 2 miles.

Gary Martin broke the meet record in 2021, Brian Dicola lowered it last year.

@oldschooltrack Picks: With some cooperation from Mother Nature, Griffith will break the NFHS record for 3,200m and win gold.

AAA Boys 4x800m - Saturday 11 AM

Heading into the heat of the day on Saturday, the middle-distance stars will be bringing the heat. The 4x800 relay is a Pennsylvania staple, no doubt about it. The NFHS record was set at the state meet back in 2009 as Central Bucks South covered the distance in 7:33.48 (an average of 1:53.37 per 800 leg).

Things haven't gotten that hot this spring, but Central Bucks West (7:41.79) and Penncrest (7:42.33) are firmly in the U.S. top 10 from the District 1 meet, which moved the top 8 teams on to Shippensburg.

Council Rock North joined CBW in the Championship of America final at the Penn Relays, finishing fifth and third, respectively. It should be another dogfight for 4x800 supremacy in the Keystone state.

@oldschooltrack Picks: CBW!