Boys State Preview
Sprints
With last year's fields heavily dominated by seniors, many events do not feature many returners. Matt Gilmore of Cheltenham is one of the few returning medalists in his events. In the 200 meters, he finished 3rd in 2010 behind two state meet record holders. So far this season, Gilmore has yet to lose in this event and has run 22.37 on a flat track that has led the state since December 30. Greg Garmon of McDowell has been the best 200 meter runner on the Western side of PA, running 22.38 this season. Yini Donnie of Northeast HS has won the last two big 200 meter races of the season, winning at the PTFCA Carnival and the TFCAofGP Meet of Champions. In their one head to head meeting year, Gilmore defeated Donnie at the Burdette Classic by over 4 tenths of a second.
Gilmore is also the lone returning medalist in the 400 meter dash, finishing 2nd to Brady Gehret. Gilmore was US#1 on January 8 when he won the invitational 400 meter dash at the Hispanic Games, winning in 48.52. Gilmore did have a slight hiccup last weekend, when Chidi Okezie of New Media Tech was able to snap Gilmore's undefeated streak at the Meet of Champions. Manny Collins of Strath Haven is seeded 2nd, running 49.40 at the Kevin Dare Invitational on January 22. Gilmore also has a head to head victory over Collins at the Burdette Classic. Brendan Smith of Penncrest and Alex Shisler of State College are the other seeded athletes under the 50 second mark.
In the 60 meter dash, five of the top six seeds come from Central or Western PA, led by Kadeem Jackson of William Penn, York. Jackson was US#2 at 55 meters with a 6.41 clocking at Franklin and Marshall on January 22. In his two attempts at 60 meters, he has only run 7.34. Shakeil Carter of Bethel Park was a semi finalist last year and has run 6.7h this season. Carter is one of only six guys returning from last year, including Tyler Smith of Norristown (4th in 2010) and Scott Catalano of Lansdale Catholic (5th in 2010). Catalano won the TFCAofGP Meet of Champions, while Smith won the Kevin Dare Invitational in 6.99 (6.97 prelim). TJ Elliot of Central Dauphin East beat out Eddie Burgess of Great Valley at the Burdette Classic. Both will be looking for payback, as both athletes false started in the same heat of the semi finals last season. Elliot's teammate Shaun Palmer has run 6.46. for 55 meters but has yet to compete at 60 meters this year.
The 60 meter hurdles is loaded with Delaware County studs. Four of the top five seeds come from the county, including former two time US#1 Chris Williams of Strath Haven. Williams was the lead man until this past weekend, when he finished 6th in the finals at TFCAofGP Meet of Champions behind the other five top seeds. Eric Futch of Penn Wood has two head to head wins over Williams and is the only returning medalist (4th in 2010). Wellington Zaza of Upper Darby won the PTFCA Indoor Carnival and the Meet of Champs in back to back weeks and has the 2nd best time of the season (8.14). Marcus Collins of Bonner has cut off almost 6 tenths of a second in the past month, including a win at the PCL Championship. Christian Lupica of Holy Ghost Prep and Aaron Willett of Coatesville have run 8.30 or better and will look to break up the DELCO foursome.
Distance
The 800 meter run is the deepest event in all of PA this season, as 24 of the 34 entrants have cracked the 2 minute mark this season. NXN Finalist Wade Endress of Altoona has been doing all his damage at Penn State, running 1:55.89 in mid January to win at Kevin Dare and recently ran a US#2 1:53.7h at the State College Invite on February 10. Hong Cho of Wissahickon won the Burdette Classic and the Carnival, and defending champion Luke Lefebure of West Chester Henderson won the TFCAofGP Meet of Champs. Lefebure won the event last year out of the non seeded section. This time around, he will be in the seeded heat. Drew Magaha of Upper Moreland ran 1:56.01 all by himself at Susquehanna and then finished 2nd to Cho at the Carnival, after being in last place at 400 meters. Kyle Moran of Abington has run 1:56 this season, but has a 1:52.8 split to his credit back on February 5. Evan Gomez of Butler (6th) and Andy Flynn of Cumberland Valley (8th) are the other returning medalists from 2010.
The mile had only one runner break 4:20 this year, and he's not entered, making the race anyone's to win. Endress was 3rd last year and is the only returning medalist. Nate McClafferty of Conrad Weiser won the PTFCA Carnival with a come from behind win over Ed Schrom of Central Dauphin. Schrom was 9th last year after running aggressively on his own to win the unseeded heat. Foot Locker Finalist Chris Campbell of Council Rock North has run two mile races and has won both of them. He and Endress have the most big race experience. Magaha was 2nd at the Burdette Classic and was 2nd at the Meet of Champs to Campbell. Magaha was 15th last year.
The 3000 meter run returns zero medalists from 2010. This year's field features the top three seeds yet to lose in this event this year. Ryan Gil is the reigning US#1 with his 8:36.60 from the Tri State Meet #6 back on February 4th. Tom Trainer of LaSalle was the first runner out of medal contention last year, but has run 8:50 this year without spikes at Glen Mills. Ryan Hartzel of Cumberland Valley was PA#1 back on January 22 with his winning time of 8:52.42 at the Kevin Dare Invite. Zach Greth of Exeter is the only other returner from last year (11th), but has yet to win at the distance this year. Michael McGowan of Lower Merion was 2nd at the TFCAofGP Meet of Champs and will be coming off a lifetime best performance. Sub 8:30 looks likely for the winner on Saturday.
Relays
All four relays will feature the 2010 champions defending their respective titles. Cheltenham is the reigning champions in the 4x200 and 4x400 meter relays. Cheltenham has been the top 4x200 meter relay team all season long and is the only team to break 1:30 this season, with their 1:29.74 prelim performance at the New Balance Games. In fact, six of the top eight seeds ran their best times on January 22, either on a banked track or oversized. Strath Haven won the Kevin Dare Invite on January 22 with Downingtown West finishing 2nd. Cardinal O'Hara had the 2nd best time out of all PA teams at New Balance. McDowell is PA#3 with their 1:31.13 win from the Tri State Meet of Champs. Strath Haven also won the TFCAofGP Meet of Champs. McDowell and Strath Haven come in with the two best recent performances and may be the two hottest relays coming into the weekend.
Cheltenham also carries the gold in the 4x400 meter relay, but will have their hands full defending the title against new all time state record holders Abington. Abington ran 3:16.78 on February 4th at the New Balance Collegiate Invite and there isn't a team within 6 seconds of them. Strath Haven ran 3:23.14 to win at Kevin Dare, Cardinal O'Hara was 2nd to Abington at the TFCAofGP Meet of Champs (3:25.23). Cheltenham ran 3:23.41 way back on January 8 and Central Bucks West has run 3:27.69 on a flat track and has yet to run on a banked track this year. Cheltenham beat Abington last year, but Abington beat Cheltenham at the Hispanic Games. With the 4x4 being the last event of the day, it will come down to who can put the best race together with most teams having relay legs on their 3rd or 4th event. Meet record is 3:18.73 by Glen Mills in 2002. Can is be broken for the 2nd time this year?
Abington is the defending champion in the 4x800 meter relay and just ran a new state record time of 7:45.93 on February 5 with a 1:52.8 anchor leg by Kyle Moran. Central Bucks West was 2nd to Abington last year, but has yet to break 8 minutes all year. LaSalle won the TFCAofGP Meet of Champs with an 8:04.21 while Penncrest ran 8:03.0h at the NJ Varsity Classic on February 7. Lower Moreland ran 8:06.10 at the New Balance Games, the best PA time at that meet. Meet record is 7:48.99 set by North Penn in 2008 and that has a chance of going down.
West Chester Henderson is the defending champion in the distance medley relay and ran 10:33.6h at the NJ Varsity Classic this year. Wissahickon ran 10:35.56 to win the TFCAofGP Meet of Champs, Great Valley ran the 2nd best PA time at the Yale Varsity Classic on January 21, and Council Rock North ran 10:39.6h at Lawrenceville on January 22. They could have Chris Campbell as their anchor, who will have the best mile time run this year out of any potential anchor leg in the field. Pittsburgh Central Catholic won the DMR at the Tri State Meet of Champs with North Allegheny finishing 2nd.
Field
The best matchup in the field events is between US#4 Rich D'Ambrosio of Malvern Prep and US#5 Richard Rouse of Penn Hills in the long jump. They went 4-5 in that order last season and are separated by under an inch this season. D'Ambrosio has won the past two meets he's competed in while Rouse won the Tri State Meet of Champs. These two also have the most experience, as they are the only two returners from last year. Kevin Day of Glen Mills (23-02.50) and Mike McClelland of Trinity (23-00.75) are the only other jumpers over 23 feet this season.
Rouse is also US#5 in the triple jump from the Tri State Meet of Champs with his 48-01.50. Rouse was 2nd to Carlton Lavong last year. Imani Brown of Reading was PA#1 for most of the season and was 5th last year. He and Ian Welsh of Pittsburgh Central Catholic are the only other jumpers over 47 feet this season. Welsh was the first to miss out on the podium last year, finishing 9th. Tyrek Edwards of West Catholic jumped 46-4.50 on December 11 and hasn't competed since. He was PA#1 for all of December.
Mike McClelland of Trinity finished 3rd after winning a tiebreaker with 6 other jumpers at 6-4. This year he leads the state with a clearance of 6-8. 6-8 is the mark that won the meet last year. Alex Gregro of Wilson is the 2nd seed at 6-6 and then there are five other jumpers at 6-5. John Dahlstrand of McDowell and Jean-Luc Twyman of Coatesville will be looking for better luck instead of their performances from last year. Paul Lee of Coatesville and Louis Smith of Downingtown West are also part of the 6-5 crew competing for the first time at states. Kevin Caporiccio of Council Rock South is the other returning medalist (7th).
Sean Burns of Delaware Valley has been doing the majority of his vaulting at the NY Armory and holds the top state mark of the season with his 15-2 clearance at the New Balance Games. Beau Williams of Germantown Academy is the only other vaulter at 15 feet (Indoor Carnival) and he was 8th at this meet last year. The next 12 seeds have cleared 14 feet or higher this season, including Chris Williams of Strath Haven, who finished 2nd last year on misses. Eric Hunter of Northampton, Patrick Anderson of Kane, and Nathan Schramm of Pittsburgh Central Catholic have all cleared 14-6 this season.
Darrell Hill of Penn Wood has been the best in PA since the opening day of the season. Hill set the bar at 58-5 on December 11 and hasn't looked back since. In the month of February, Hill has had two of his best throws of the season. Hill threw 59-1 at Glen Mills on February 3 and threw 60-00.75 at the TFCAofGP Meet of Champs this past weekend, a US#7 mark. As Hill has improved, the field has started to gain ground. Luke Monta of Greensburg Salem won the Tri State Meet of Champs with his throw of 58-9.50, Mike Recla of Bloomsburg is on the cusp of 58 feet, Kyle Long of Hempfield (3) was 2nd to Hill at the Carnival (57-5.25) and last year's runner up Scott Rushton of Episcopal Academy had his best throw this past weekend behind Hill (57-2).