NE Phila. 5/1 – Pre-season, as the powers that be tried to predict covid, the 8-team SOL bubble meets looked like a good idea. But as things began to open up, that game plan began to unravel with ‘Big Meets’ popping up on the calendar like dandelions in your yard. Host schools started to mysteriously decide to ‘un-host’ which had us scrambling for a Saturday competition as late as Thursday. Going to a new venue against different schools can inject some excitement into a season and the reconstituted Father Judge Relays did just that.

DISTANCES

The 3200 has seen our guys (save for Ruffner) stalled out around the 11:00 mark pretty much all spring. Dean DiGiovanni decided to take advantage of the cool weather and change that. Hitting his pre-race splits, he knocked off a full 30 seconds off his PR posting 10:35.92.                                                                                                 

Freshman Grayson Ruffner has been setting personal records almost every time he steps on the track. He doesn’t just chip away. He does it in chunks. Last three races: 4:57.4 on 3/30 for his first time under 5:00, 4:48.24 on 4/10, and 4:40.29 for the full mile yesterday. That converts to a 4:38.66 for 1600M. Bobby Rogers’ freshman school record of 4:36.13 from 20 years ago is in serious jeopardy.   

Not to be overlooked, Matt Winkowski’s been a PR machine behind Ruffner. His progress has been as impressive: 5:00.02 on 4/6, 4:50.59 on 4/16 and 4:42.71 yesterday (worth 4:41.07). These two guys have been knocking 9-10 seconds off every outing.     

SPRINTS     

Isaiah Marc became the 16th WIssahickon athlete to run sub 50 for 400m/440y. (To show how running for three other guys makes you step it up, our sub-50 list for relay splits is 47 deep!)  Facing a good field with several entries in the 49’s, he led into the final curve and never gave it up. 49.66. He added another PR at 200 with 22.30 for 2nd place. Coincidently, that mark is ALSO #16 in our All-Time list! Shawn Carr (52.68) and Chase Bethea (53.34) also PRd in a different heat.         

TEAM RESULTS HERE                                                    

FULL RESULTS HERE

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *