After a fun Winter Track season the guys are back at it during the Spring Track season. Skip to the real good stuff, this past weekend we had the first ever Parochial Sectionals. Two sections, misnamed North and South, competed this past weekend with the Top 8 finishers from each section moving on. We had four distance guys in the mix in Mike Rankin, Brian Walter, Tom Hoban, and Richard McKean. Three of which are seniors. Three advanced and one missed out by a narrow margin, respectably PRing in the process. Take a look below…
The 1600 was an 800 runners dream, going out 68. Somehow, Mike Rankin and Brian Walter didn’t let the slow pace fool them and powered home their last 1200 in 3:12 and 3:13 respectively running PRs and closing their last lap in sub 60.
The 800 was the next day and Brian Walter was dealt a little bit of adversity after a coach’s seed time fudge here or there somehow pushed him out of the fast heat. Who knew 1:59 wouldn’t get you in the fast heat these days! Perturbed but NOT disturbed Brian decided he’d qualify anyway. The senior powered home a 1:57.05 BY HIMSELF to win the second heat by over 4 seconds and FINISH 3rd!!
The 3200 saw Mike Rankin running on an undeniable “hotspot” – something that could potentially turn into an injury and this case – post-race - certainly did. It may have ended his high school career but he certainly ended it with a huge bang. Junior Tom Hoban, senior Rich McKean, and Rankin were right in the mix from the start. They headed through the mile in 4:43 – Rich in 4:56 – and Mike proceeded to start a battle with a very respected junior from CBA (4:15 mile, 9:07 two-mile). The quickened pace became an all-out battle in the last straightaway with Mike getting nipped (although the picture tells a different story) at the line by .02 seconds. 9:15.43 to 9:15.45. Mike ran his last 800 in 2:08.8 and his last lap in 61. Incredible. Tom Hoban, 2010′s XC captain, qualified finishing 7th in probably the strongest Sectional 3200 in the state running a PR of 9:43.13. Could he be the next Rankin? Incredibly hard-worker Rich McKean battled back from a winter injury to post a nice PR of 10:00.3. Pretty damn impressive considering how much adversity he had to overcome over the last 6 months. See pictures below!
Over the summer, we will recap the Seniors careers as we start to move into the beginning of Cross Country! But for now, all we can do is tip our hats off to you guys. You did the work and it’s so refreshing and pleasing to see you guys get your results.
We have college commitments here as well – Rich McKean will run for Rowan University next season, Michael Rankin will join former PVIXC coach Mike Glavin at Saint Joseph’s University, and last but not least Brian Walter will head up to the Big Apple to run track and XC for Fordham! Please join me in congratulating these guys and definitely help us support them the rest of the way!
Brian, Mike, and Tom qualified for this weekend’s State meet (no longer an automatic run). Unfortunately, it looks like only Brian and Tom will be healthy enough to run. Mike – though one of the favorites in the 1600 and 3200 – will have to sit this one out as his college career is MUCH more important than getting injured more severely in high school. Keep an eye out, however, he’ll be back (you can put all your money on that) just in different colors.
