NY Looking For Rare Sweep - Eastern State Champs Preview

Oct 06, 2021

Boys Eastern State Championships

Race Time: 2:15pm

Top Individuals: Gitch Hayes (LaSalle Institute) - 191, Cooper Austen (Middlesex) - 190?, Jackson Barna (Ridge) - 189 Jack Gregorski (Corning) - 186, Myles Hogan (Fordham Prep) - 185, Jacob Heredia (Clifton) - 185, Gavin Ehlers (Westhampton Beach) - 183, Ronan Luff (Trinity School) - 183, Nikhil DeNatale (Trinity School) - 182, Adam Thibodeau (La Salle Academy) - 181, Collin Boler (Delbarton) - 180, Eamon Burke (Xavier) - 180, Jason Markopoulos (Mamaroneck) - 179, Ashton Bange (Corning) - 179, Ryan Hagan (Liverpool) - 179, Drew Brill (LaSalle College) - 179, Maximus Haynia (Westhampton Beach) - 176, Adam Barbato (Victor) - 176, Michael Hawkes (Xavier) - 174, Jack Casey (La Salle Academy) - 174, Zachary Brill (LaSalle College) - 174, Mason Beaudette (Amity) - 172, Troy Silvestri (Bishop Hendricken) - 172, Ryan McGinley (LaSalle College) - 172, J. Matthew Gensel (Corning) - 169, Silas Richardson (Ithaca) - 169, James Kisker (Ridge) - 169, Brian Boler (Delbarton) - 168, Trevor Hayes (Westhampton Beach) - 167, Carter Beswick (North Hunterdon) - 167, Jacob Cobb (West Deptford) - 167, Andrew McCabe (Ridge) - 166, Marcus Homa (Corning) - 165, Asa Alderman (North Hunterdon) - 165, Tevin McLaren (Corning) - 164, Aaron Wysocki (North Hunterdon) - 164

Breakdown: The safe bet here would be Gitch Hayes, coming off a strong showing at the Ocean State Invitational in Rhode Island, as well as the fastest time of the day at the Pre-State Invite a week prior. Hayes was a letter winner in 2019, and looks to continue to see no one in front of him while he crosses the line. However, there are some very fast individuals in the Letter Races while he has moved up to Easterns, so Hayes will have to push the pace to ensure the merge win.

The unknowns here are Middlesex's Cooper Austen and Ridge's Jackson Barna. A 4:17miler at Outdoor Nationals, alongside a 4:12 anchor leg in the DMR, Austen comes in with one of the better Track credentials. However, he'll be coming down from Massachusetts, which hasn't had the racing schedule some of the more Southern States have enjoyed. Likewise, Barna has yet to open his Season, but is one of the top ranked individuals in the country. Are these pair ready to spoil the New York party?

There's plenty of depth here too, as Hogan and Gregorski are coming off McQuaid, while Ehlers has his first race off the Island so far this Season.

Teams at the Top: Corning (171.4), LaSalle College (PA) (170.6), La Salle Academy (RI) (165.6), Bishop Hendricken (163.6), Ridge (163.4), North Hunterdon) 162.4), Westhampton Beach (161.4), Fordham Prep (160.0), Xavier (CT) 160.0

Breakdown: As always, the Eastern States race will be decided by which team gets out well enough near the front and then wins the no-holds-barred dogfight in the back hills. Top ranked teams from NY, NJ, RI, CT, and maybe PA are battling it out here, and the competition should be very close.

Corning is top ranked in NY and was 2nd only to Hilliard-Davidson in last Saturday's brutal McQuaid Premier race. LaSalle (PA) finished 3rd in the Carlisle-Challenge race just 6 points behind winner Severna Park, while near-namesake La Salle (RI) posted a strong 7th in the Great American Race of Champions. La Salle's archrival Bishop Hendricken finished 8th in the RoC, so you know a grudge match is about to break out in Easterns.

NJ's top-ranked team Ridge will again be fighting it out with North Hunterdon following their scrap in the NJ Shore Coaches-B race last weekend. Fordham Prep has to be considered the home team in the race, Xavier will be trying to prove it's the top team in CT, and if you want to root for a small local team, there's always a Trinity squad that leads NY's Class C rankings.

Note: Updated, CBA-Lincroft has switched to Varsity Race A.