Sprints
The top returning medalist in the 60 Meter Dash is Malvern Prep\'s Trey Womack, who was 6th in 2005. 8th place finisher, Cardel Johnson of West Allegheny, has opted for the 200 this year. So that leaves the table wide open for top seed Andre Nelson of Springfield Delco, Javan Sanders of Avon Grove, Calvin Laing of Kutztown, Christopher Muvdi of Holy Name and Kashif Smith of Penn Charter. Nelson is the only one to crack 7 at the distance, but this race could have a surprise or two.
The 60 Meter Hurdles is another story. Carrington Queen of Chichester is the defending state champ. He has gone 7.98, faster than his winning time in 2005. And when pushed at the TFCAGP Meet of Champs, he responded with a meet record to hold off his closest competition, Kamal Marell of Penn Charter.
The returning runner-up in the 200 Meter Dash, Kenneth Talley of Simon Gratz, has the fastest 200 of the season at 22.00. He held off a charge by Queen at last week\'s MOC, but those times were in the upper 22s. He\'ll have some fast challengers in Springfield\'s Nelson, Glen Mills\' Tyree Bryant, West Allegheny\'s Cardel Johnson, and Cumberland Valley\'s Juan Steward.
The 400 Meter Dash has two guys seeded under 50 seconds, Reggie Carter of Bensalem, last year\'s runner-up, and Chad Sargeant of Neshaminy. But defending state champ Khaliff Featherstone of Simon Gratz is also in the mix. Rounding out the tops seeds are Ricky Goettel of Council Rock North, Mike Tomasco of Monsignor Bonner, and David Stonfer of Cumberland Valley.
Distance
It\'s virtually a whole new cast of runners in the 800 Meter Run this time around. One of the top returners, Rob McNally of Upper Darby, is the top seed by over a second at 1:55.90. He was 14th last year. In the mix for the win should be Jamar Jones of Engineering & Science, Matt Gordon of Upper Dublin, and Adam Smith of Camp Hill. After two tangled starts at the MOC last week, don\'t be surprised to see North Penn\'s Cody Edling way up the standings.
The Mile Run will be eight laps this year. Matlack Gillin of Springfield-Montco was 5th last year, but is seeded 2nd to North Allegheny\'s Max Brown, both the only two entrants under 4:20. Returning 4th place medalist Josh Hibbs of Hatboro-Horsham is in the race, along with Radnor\'s Sean Mahoney, West Chester East\'s Duriel Hardy, Unionville\'s Paul Springer, and Cardinal O\'Hara\'s Greg Thomas. The race should come down to the top two seeds.
The field in the 3000 Meter Run is one of the deepest and fastest ever. There is the defending state champ and current state record holder Jake Walker of Ellwood City; two Foot Locker finalists in Manheim Township\'s Craig Miller and Council Rock North\'s Keith Capecci; plus eight other guys who have broken 9 minutes this season. Miller, coming back from the collapsed lung that cut short his XC season just before the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals, ran alone to an 8:38.65 at last week\'s Penn State Invitational, within a whisker of the state record. He\'s been swimming and setting PRs. He has upped his mileage to 60 mpw. So he is more than ready. A fast early pace won\'t be a problem, because Walker and others will see to that. So expect the state record to be lowered again. Could the high 8:20\'s be a possibility? Key challengers to Miller, Walker and Capecci will include Northgate\'s Lucas Zarzeczny with the 2nd fastest seed time, Brian Cullin, East Stroudsburg South, and state 3200 AAA champ Curtis Bixler of Cumberland Valley. As you may notice, three of the top six 3000 runners in the state have opted for the Mile - Paul Springer, Josh Hibbs, and Max Brown.
Relays
The relays are the closest this meet gets to organized chaos, as runners scramble to get the baton cleanly and then get to the inside lane. The craziest is usually the 4x200 Meter Relay with the top teams literally on top of each other in the zone. While they\'re not the top seed in the 4x800, this could be a year where Simon Gratz sweeps. They have the top seeded time in the 4x200 by over two seconds on Glen Mills. In addition to Glen Mills, looking to challenge Gratz in the 4x200 will be North Penn, Penn Charter, Bensalem and Cardinal O\'Hara.
And Gratz\' seed time in the 4x400 Meter Relay is over three seconds better than 2nd seed Neshaminy. Plus, they\'re defending champs in both the sprint relays. Leading competitors to Simon Gratz and Neshaminy will be Bensalem, Conestoga, North Penn and Harrisburg.
The 4x800 Meter Relay has six teams within four seconds of each other at the top of the bracket. Cardinal O\'Hara and North Penn, the defending champs, are the top two. But should either falter, it could be a big day for Wissahickon, who ran just a second over their season-best last week just three hours after winning the DMR at the MOC at Lehigh. Others in the mix are Simon Gratz, Archbishop Carroll, and West Chester Henderson.
Field
2005 4th place finisher in the High Jump, BJ Wolfgang of Thomas Jefferson, PRed last weekend at the TSTCA Championships with his 6-6 jump that tied him for PA#1 with William Tennent\'s James Pittenger. But 2-3 inches isn\'t a big cushion at a state meet, which means PJ Shirdan of Bonner, Zach Barker-Chittick of Southern Lehigh, and Parker White of Punxsutawney could also be in the mix for the win.
North Allegheny\'s Sean Gil has put some distance between himself and his closest competition in the Pole Vault... nearly a foot, to be exact. His 15-07.25 is the top seed. Gil was 4th in 2005. Seeded above 14-06 are Pine-Richland\'s Zach Meverden, Archbishop Ryan\'s Kevin Breen, and Laurel Highland\'s Jared Jodon.
Last week at the boys\' MOC at Lehigh, Academy Park\'s Aaron Hunter won the Long Jump with a leap of 23-0, a mark that would have won states in 2005 by five inches. The state-winning jump of 22-7 was also matched or exceeded this season by Downingtown West\'s Alex Tremblay and North Penn\'s Chris Dollinger. 2005 State runner-up Scott Henkelmann of Strath Haven is seeded at 22-5 along with McCaskey\'s Caesar Westbrook.
Westbrook is the top seed in the Triple Jump with a mark of 46-2. He\'ll be challenged by North Penn\'s Brandon Turner, who will be looking to make amends for last year\'s no-mark, along with fellow 45-foot-plus jumper Emmanuel Overape of Erie McDowell. At the upper end of the 44\'s is Baldwin\'s Bill Nguyen.
Chestnut Hill Academy\'s Wayne Crawford, who was 11th at states in 2005, looks like a man on a mission this season in the Shot Put. He had been leading the state rankings before Glen Mills\' Robert Williams took over. But he came back at the MOC on 2/18 and went 57-11.25 to regain the top spot. In the same zip code with Crawford and Williams is Weston Banks of Hempfield in District 7. Look for Glen Mills to have a crack at a ton of points, because they have two other throwers, Nathan Stewart and Kim Touch, seeded 5th and 6th just behind North Allegheny\'s Garrett Larkin at 4th.