Individuals
Fast History of Fast
The Manhattan College Invitational meet resumed in 1973, following up on the legendary meet at the Van Cortlandt Park course that in earlier decades had brought together the top teams of New York. A few famous runners such as Alberto Salazar and Luis Ostolozaga took a crack at running the fastest time at the meet in the 1970s. In 1985, Monroe Woodbury's John Trautmann topped Salazar's 1975 record of 12:22.5 by almost 4 seconds when he ran a 12:18.7. This mark would stand for an eternity until 2006 when NJ's premier runner Craig Forys ran down one of NY's top guys, Steve Murdock, in the final stretch of the D race to shatter the record by 8 seconds with a 12:10.7. Forys's mark lasted for another eternity of about 15 minutes until it was demolished by 0.1 seconds by NY-runner Tom Gruenewald of Fayetteville-Manlius in the E race. In 2008, the E race winner Solomon Haile of MD lowered the record by another 4 seconds to 12:06.61. In 2009 Joe Rosa of NJ's West Windsor -- Plainsboro North lowered the record another 3 seconds to 12:03.77 in the F race.
Again following on the tradition of a race that had in earlier decades decided the national championship, and had been the key race on the girls' side for many years, a championship Eastern States race for the boys was introduced in 2008 and was inaugurally won by Don Bosco Prep of NJ, with sophomore Joe Rosa of WW-PN winning the race in 12:19.99. The next year, Christian Brothers Academy of Lincroft NJ won the race and Joe Vitez of Haddonfield NJ took the individual title. Joe Rosa's twin brother Jim won the Eastern States race in 2010 and Shaker became the first NY team to take the title. In 2011 the crown returned to CBA, and St. Benedict's of NJ's Edward Cheserek captured the race by 26 seconds with a record-obliterating mark of 11:55.39. 2012 saw a repeat for both the team and individual winners as CBA took its third championship and Cheserek ran 11:58.7. In 2014 CBA won its fourth title and Tony Russell of West Chester Henderson succeeded Cheserek as the top guy. Last year Fayetteville-Manlius broke through for its first Eastern States win on the way to the national title, two other New York teams Liverpool and St. Anthony's followed for a 1-2-3 sweep. Darien's Alex Ostberg ran an incredible 11:57 in the cold wet conditions to take the individual crown.
Preview of Eastern States Teams
For years Christian Brothers Academy-Lincroft had the target on its back at Eastern States, but this year that honored position is shared with reigning champ Fayetteville-Manlius, whose #23 US ranking belies its status as one of the top two teams in the nation's speed ratings. Joining CBA and Fayetteville-Manlius as the top targets for the other teams to pick on at Eastern States is a La Salle team from RI that has been waiting for the national Stage at Manhattan to unleash its full arsenal. Nationally ranked Liverpool, Broughton, and Downingtown West also feel that they should be the race favorites, so we have a situation in Eastern States that is looking very wild and explosive, but in a good way.
Seven teams are sporting speed ratings above 170, and that is just an insane amount of talent. To put that number in perspective, scanning Tully Runners' ratings of the nation's major meets last weekend, only one meet outside of NY had as many as three teams with speed ratings above 170, while the McQuaid meet in western NY had four. Manhattan (the Bronx, actually) will be burning on Saturday, because there are also three teams at around the 170 level in E's Race of Death that is scheduled to kick off at 1:34 after the runners say their final prayers.
Along with all the uncertainty about which team will win the Eastern States, the question about who is the top runner in the race is also up in the air. Unheralded apparently outside of NY, Carthage's Noah Affolder has been on a record demolition spree this year and enters Saturday with the highest speed rating among the Eastern States guys at 197. La Salle's David Principe blistered at Bowdoin two weeks ago for a 193 mark, and Liverpool's Ben Petrella runs currently at around the 191 mark. Two other top guys who haven't yet shown their hands (or feet) are CBA's Blaise Ferro and Fordham Prep's Conor Lundy, and they are also fully capable of approaching or breaking the 200 TR speed mark that comes with likely a sub 12:00 time on Saturday. There are probably a half dozen other guys who could come out on top on Saturday, and if you check the list below, you'll see the names.
Some Seriously Speedy Guys
| Name | Team | Speed Rating (TR) |
| Noah Affolder | Carthage | 197 |
| David Principe | La Salle Academy | 193 |
| Ben Petrella | Liverpool | 191 |
| Conor Lundy | Fordham Prep | 190+?? |
| Blaise Ferro | CBA | 190+?? |
| Jack Salisbury | La Salle Academy | 190+?? |
| Jeremy Brown | Broughton | 189 |
| Armstrong Noonan | Darien | 188 |
| Matthew Bouthillette | La Salle Academy | 188 |
| Dan Schaffer | Maine-Endwell | 188 |
| Aaron Groff | Cherry Hill East | 188 |
| Jaxson Hoey | Downingtown West | 186 |
| Peter Ryan | Fayetteville-Manlius | 185 |
| Sam Affolder | Carthage | 185 |
| Noah Carey | Guilderland | 184 |
| Randy Neish | Glastonbury | 184 |
| Patrick Perry | Fayetteville-Manlius | 183 |
| Josh Hoey | Downingtown West | 183 |
| David Rosas | Don Bosco Prep | 183 |
| Kevin Murray | Charter | 183 |
| Joe Dragon | High Point | 182 |
| Bryan Geehrer | Fayetteville-Manlius | 182 |
| Nathan Lawler | Pittsford Mendon | 181 |
| Nick Dahl | Germantown Friends | 181 |
| Jordan Brannan | Colts Neck | 181 |
| Ryan Kutch | St. Anthony's | 181 |
| Eric Van Der Els | Brien McMahon | 180 |
| Frederick Buckholtz | St. Anthony's | 180 |
| Colin Daly | River Dell | 180 |
| William Daly | River Dell | 180 |
| Drake Anzano | CBA | 180 |