PL T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS AT HC

There are a few events today, including the first half of the decathlon and heptathlon. But most of the meet is tomorrow. It is over by late afternoon Saturday, barring inclement weather.

For the fellow track buffs (I know this is off topic): Too bad recent high school track and internet (9.8 wind-aided 100M) sensation Matthew Boling isn't heading our way next year. He's a senior at a Jesuit high school in Texas (Strake Jesuit College Preparatory). Something tells me he'd place pretty well at the PL champs:

"The University of Georgia signee boasts high school track and field’s fastest wind-legal times in both the 100 (10.22) and 200 (20.58), both achieved in mid-March at the Texas Relays. At the same event, he also won the long jump with a wind-legal mark of 26 feet, 3.5 inches, the seventh-best distance in high school track and field history." As a junior he ran a 46.1 400M.

sports.yahoo.com/matthew-boling-is-crushing-stereotypes-in-under-10-seconds-144656305.html

Sorry about that typo.

He was recruited because of his 400M time (as a JR)...this year's sprint and LJ performances are making UGA reconsider his role on the team next year.  I quickly glanced at the HC all time record book and I believe his high school  100M, 200M, 400M and LJ records  from the article I quoted would all break the all-time  HC outdoor records.  (Unless my conversions are rusty,  I believe that  includes conversions from yards also.)

Watched a bit today. From a video replay, one of the pole vault competitions was held inside the Luth. Dreary weather but the track looked good, and the event looked well-managed. HC was running around 6th or 7th in both the men's and women's competitions. Army and Navy easily the top two.

The women finished 6 of 10, and the men finished 6 of 9.

On the men's side, Navy (289) and Army (255) are on a different sphere than Bucknell (94) and BostonU (80), and then there are the also rans: Lafayette (45), HC (41), Lehigh (36), Colgate (10), and AU (6),

Narrower spread for the women: Navy (181.50), Army (155), Boston U (137), Bucknell (126.50), Lehigh (96.50), HC (76.50), Loyola (48), Lafayette (20), American (16), Colgate (1)

PL records set for
W Javelin Pole Vault 200M Dash, 4 x 400 relay
M Javelin, 400 M hurdles, 4 x 400 relay

(The PL record holder for the W 1500 is from Fordham (in 1992), and her time is about 20 seconds faster than was run yesterday. It is the oldest PL record.)

Worst job on names still goes the announcer at the Belfast tournament who used the Towson roster when announcing HC players for most of the first half of the HC/Manhattan game. (Even with one HC fan yelling the correct names at the top of his lungs.)

Since I know NAD and I didn't go, that would mean . . . . . . .   [atta boy!]

I was refferring to the guy on the PA system, not the PLN coverage.    And actually they should have brought in the Bucknell PA announcer - or the one at Army - who do the PL meets at those venues..   Both do an infinitely better job.    One of my favorites yesterday was when he repeatedly referred to athletes as being from Loyola Marymount.   And he also confused the winner of a 1500K with someone who was in 8th place.    Misidentified dozens of other runners.    They would have been better off with no announcer at all.

HC write up on men's team performance:

Day 2
Sophomore Michael Pichay placed second in the triple jump with an IC4A-qualifying leap of 14.77 meters, breaking his own outdoor school record.
For the second consecutive day, senior Brandon Thornhill broke his own school record in the 110 meter hurdles, clocking in at 14.28 seconds to place third in the finals on Saturday.
The Crusaders had three finishers in the top eight of the 400 meter hurdles. Sophomore Gabe Piepergerdes was fourth in a time of 52.61 seconds, just .01 seconds out of third place; he broke a 54-year-old school record in the event. Thornhill was close behind in fifth in a time of 54.03 seconds, while junior Freddie Halloran was eighth at 54.31 seconds.
Sophomore Dan Dempsey placed seventh in the high jump at 1.92 meters.
Freshman Joseph Leland had a personal best of 14:48.37 in the 5,000 meter run, placing 12th out of 33 competitors.
Piepergerdes, Halloran, Thornhill and freshman Will Hornyak ran a time of 3:18.48 in the 4x400 meter relay to place sixth.
Senior Alexander Escada was fifth in the decathlon with a personal-record total of 6,150 points.


 Day 1
Senior Brandon Thornhill advanced in the 110 meter hurdles and enters the finals with the third-best time of prelims at 14.40 seconds, which broke his own school record in the event.

Sophomore Michael Pichay placed fifth in the long jump at 6.94 meters.

The 4x800 meter relay team of freshman Corey Kumamoto, sophomore Peter Mitchell, freshman Will Hornyak and freshman Joseph Leland placed sixth in a time of

Junior Garrett Fortin ran a personal-best time of 11.04 seconds in the 100 meter dash, placing 15th in the prelims; he later had an IC4A-qualifying time of 22.12 seconds in the 200 meters, also a personal best.

Senior Alexander Escada sits in fifth place in the decathlon after one day of competition with 3,267 points; he finished fifth in the 400 meter dash in a time of 52.20 seconds


Leland's non scoring performance in the 5000 is quite impressive.  It was a 15 second PR for the freshman.  He has run 4:00 flat for the 1500  and 1:56 for the 800 this spring as well.  I looked at his high school stats.  PR's were 4:29 for 1600 (equivalent to about 4:11 in the 1500) 2:09 in the 800, and 9:41 for the 3200 which I would say is comparable to a 15:25 in the 5000.  Good job by him and his coaches.