Track Week 3 Three Things

A full slate of meets, decent weather and a ton of great times make this edition all about the distance.  The depth of quality times from Lee County distance runners was pretty surprising.  PR's abounded so let's break it down.

800:  Among the boys there's Estero's Kolton Pickard and everyone else.  Pickard reeled off a stunningly fast 1:55.26 on the concrete track at Fort Myers High.  The time would be at least two seconds faster on a good synthetic service.  Ida Baker's Jacob Fritz showed that he's rounding back into form with his 1:59.24 clocking at Fort Myers.  Both Pickard and Fritz ran those fast 800's after running fast 1,600's at the Edison Relays.

Then there are the ladies at Bishop Verot High School who clocked a school record in the 4x800 in 9:52.4 at the Charlotte Invitational. Leading the charge was junior Julia Reitz who also posted her fastest 800 of the season clocking a 2:23.34.  A sub-2:20 time can't be far off.

1600:  Kolton Pickard ran 4:16.87, the fastest time by any Lee County distance runner since Hugh Brittenham was a Wildcat.  He was followed across the finish line by Fritz who ran a PR of 4:24.05 and then came surprising Fort Myers sophomore Joseph Koraya who ran 4:24.17.  Take about four seconds off those times on a good surface.  Lehigh's Evan Meyer ran 4:27.8 in North Port to boot.

A slower of ladies dipped under 5:30 at the various meets across the area.  The fastest was Verot freshman star Mackenzie De Lisle who ran 5:20.07 following her relay carry.  Lehigh's Gianna Del Pizzo ran 5:26.23, Canterbury's Gabrielle Santucci ran 5:29.74 in North Port and ECS junior Ava Povich showed a returned to form running 5:28.28 at the FBA Invite.

3200:  Povich doubled back from her fine 1,600 with her first sub 12 of the season running 11:54.97.  De Lisle tripled back with a fine 11:28.31 at Charlotte followed by the dynamic duo from South Fort Myers, Sophia Torres and Allison Bratton who ran 11:42.3 and 11:59.49.  Most of the fireworks came on the boy's side.  Ida Baker duo Declan Ziomek and Matt Speruta finally showed their wheels going one-two at Edison in 9:44..82 and 9:50.32.  Fort Myers freshman Craig Allard, Jr. broke 10 for the first time with his 9:57.73.  Dunbar's Ivan Marin-Padilla ran a sterling time as well winning the North Port Invite in 9:48.77.

Track Week 2 Three Things

The second week of high school track and field in Southwest Florida featured three meets.  Friday saw about ten teams compete at the Bishop Verot Invitational while on Saturday there were two meets both in Collier County at Naples High and the Community School of Naples with a smattering of Lee County schools in attendance.  The Naples Invite is largely relays and none of the team relay times stood out.  The best racing took place at the Verot meet.

1.  Bishop Verot junior Julia Reitz scored three victories winning the 800 and 1,600 and running a leg on the Vikings' winning 4x800 team.  The Verot relay team came super close to being the first area team to dip under 10 minutes in the 4x800.  And Reitz had her hands full in the 1,600 holding off teammate Mackenzie DeLisle running 5:26.41.

2.  Fort Myers senior Colsen Palmer scored a big PR in the 1,600 a 4:33.25 winning by a wide margin. Palmer pressed the pace from the gun and appears to be well past a nagging back injury.  It will be interesting to see if he gets a chance to tangle with Kolton Pickard at the Edison Relays this Friday.

3.  We have a little love for an up and coming field star, Fort Myers freshman Julia Lemmon.  Following in the steps of big brother Jacob who set the discus on fire three years ago, Julia bombed the disc 121 feet four inches.  That's a big throw for a freshman.  It would have been good enough to take 4th in last year's state meet. Lemmon also took the shot throwing the iron ball over 32 feet.  

Track Week 1 Three Things

Cross country is one thing for distance runners, running on a track is a whole different animal.  One would think that cross country beasts would thrive on the track, but that's not always the case.  The symmetry of running on a smooth oval suits some runners more than others.

Here are the three things I noticed culling through the results.

1.  Gianna Del Pizzo may be one such runner.  The Lehigh sophomore endured a good but not great cross country campaign.  She ran better as a freshman on the turf.  But she showed signs of rebounding at the Ida Baker Indoor/Outdoor in winning the 1,500 in 5:02.34.  Del Pizzo appears to be the girl to beat in Lee County over four laps.

2. Ava Povich, the best female cross country running in Lee County made her season debut at the Palmetto Ridge Invitational.  Povich, a junior at ECS, doubled in the 1,600 and 3,200.  She had her hands full in the 1,600 finishing second to Sonia Lountchenko running 5:29.15, losing a just a tick.  Povich came back in the 3,200 where she ran to an easy victory in 12:12.61, nearly a minute slower than her best.

3.  Fort Myers High sophomore Joseph Koraya scored his first victory taking the 3,000 at Ida Baker in 9:09.47, which equates to a sub 9:50 two mile.  Pretty stout running for a sophomore.  Kolton Pickard, Colsen Palmer and Jacob Fritz are still the top boys in Lee County but Koraya is going to be a force as the season progresses.

With Apologies

Clyde Lovellette, Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Wesley, Dave Robisch, Paul Mokesi, Greg Drelling, Danny Manning, Mark Randall, Greg Ostertag, Eric Chenowith, Scott Pollard, Raef LaFrentz, Nick Collison, Darrel Arthur, Cole Aldrich, Wayne Simien, Marcus Morris, Markieff Morris, Jeff Withey, Thomas Robinson, Perry Ellis, Udoka Azubuike, the list of great Kansas big men is pretty staggering when you look back over the last 70 years. Kansas fans have been spoiled by incredible post play.  That's especially been true since Bill Self took over the program but the last couple of seasons, not so much.

I've been one of David McCormack's harshest critics.  He followed in the massive shoes of Dok Azubuike who may have been the best post player five feet and in since Wilt Chamberlain roamed the floors of Allen Field House.  McCormack is a solid shooter from 15 feet in.  But he never developed the incredible post footwork or strength of a Simien or Robinson.  He's not even been a great rebounder.

He's nine points away from making it to 1,000 points.  He will finish behind other good Kansas bigs like Kelly Knight and Rick Suttle.  McCormack lacks the explosive dunking ability of Robinson, LaFrentz or Aldrich.  He doesn't have the consistently smooth turnaround jump shot of Robisch.  The big man sometimes plays at a frustratingly, frenzied, out of control rhythm that makes him ineffective.  But what I've come to realize over this last month, McCormack plays with heart.

He's finally become a really effective rebounder.  That being said he won't finish anywhere close to the top ten all time rebounding list in Jayhawk history.  He never developed the footwork that made the Morris twins and Withey so effective.  But he's still serviceable around the basket.  It's a good night when big Dave gets 15 pounds and 10 boards.

The thing that I've noticed over these past four weeks is McCormack has become more vocal.  He's showing the kind of leadership that you would hope to see from a four year senior.  Watching he these last few games talking to his teammates, owning his mistakes and his relentless hustle on the boards made me realize that he's become a pretty good player.

Kansas has Final 4 talent this year save for their post play.  If McCormack can find a way to take his good game up just another notch a deep tournament run isn't out of the question because lets face it, there aren't many great post players in college basketball anymore.  

I felt like I needed to write this because I have bashed McCormack in most of my Jayhawk threads.  I just want to say that I'm happy that we've had four years of David McCormack.  He's represented the program well... unlike other heralded recruits like Cliff Alexander and Silvio DeSousa.  Being a good guy should count for something.

Pre-season three things #1

The track and field season kicked off unofficially in Southwest Florida at Gateway High School on a cement track.  How in the hell does the Lee County School District spend millions on a new high school and not install a new rubberized track when the district says it's going to install new tracks at every high school that needs one.  Oh... so far they've installed four tracks by our count in three years by our count.  

1.  Kolton Pickard made his season debut at Gateway.  The Wildcat senior ran anywhere from 1:55 to 1:57 since there was no timing system no one seems to know for sure.  Everything was hand timed.  What year is this?!?  Pickard also blasted 50 low in the 4 x 400 relay.  This is a nice start to what could be an impressive senior campaign.

The big meet was Saturday at Dunbar High School... proud home of one of those four new tracks in Lee County.  Kudos to the meet organizers to having the 3200 races go off in the morning and avoid the later day heat.  It made for some good racing which leads to this.

2.  Mackenzie De Lisle is a beast.  The Bishop Verot freshman pulled off a quadruple with a win at 3,200, a second at 1,600, a hand in the winning 4 x 800 team and a she handled a leg of the Vikings' third place 4 x 400 team.  De Lisle's 3200 was an impressive 11:40.86 and her 5:34.71 after running the 4 x 800 is equally impressive.  

3.  Craig Allard, Jr. could be the next big deal on the boy's side of Lee County distance running.  In his first varsity track meet he finished second in the 3,200 running 10:06.57.  He came back later in the day in the boy's JV 1,600 with a 4:48.15 for the win.  You never know how a season is going to go but if Junior doesn't run sub 9:50 and sub 4:35 before the end of the season... I'll be shocked.

Tis the Season for Track and Field

High school track and field gets underway on Saturday as Dunbar hosts the pre-season opener at its fine facility.  Some of the most talented athletes to ever compete for Lee County high schools last spring headed off to college to begin the next stage of their careers.  But the cupboard is hardly bare.

Because of what I cover cross country for the News-Press and the fact that I sell running shoes by and large to distance runners,  I want to focus on the three distance aces as we head into the spring. I'm sure as the season progresses I will have a chance to write about some of the outstanding sprinters, jumpers and throwers.  

First there is Estero senior standout, Kolton Pickard.  I'm sure Kolton has one goal in mind.  He would like to break 4:10 in the 1,600.  If he can do so he would firmly cement his place as one of the distance greats in Lee County history.  Kolton has the range and ability to run sub 9:10 for 3,200 as well.  Assuming he has a chance to run at the FSU Invite and at the Florida Relays, Pickard will face the kind of competition needed to achieve those goals.

The top girl in Lee County is ECS junior Ava Povich.  Following her gutty performance at last year's State outdoor track and field championships, Povich looks to be ready to run a sub 11 minute 3,200.  The longer distances seem to suit Povich but breaking 5:10 in the 1,600 should be well within her wheelhouse as well.

The final one to watch is Lehigh senior Evan Meyer.  He's got a wonderful coach in Ben Pignatone and the youngster isn't afraid of work.  With someone to chase like Pickard, Meyer could run 4:15 in the 1,600 and has a fair shot at 1:55 in the 800.

There are a half dozen or so young men and women who deserve a mention but their time will come as our blog gears up for an exciting season of high school track and field.

Braun and Agbaji

Braun and Agbaji, it doesn't roll off the tongue like Ernie and Bernie.  Google the Ernie and Bernie Show, it was quite the thing 45 years ago.  Ernie Grunfeld and Bernard King were two forwards who ruled the SEC for the University of Tennessee.  Unfortunately, the rest of the team stunk.  That's not the case for Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji at he University of Kansas.

Normally I would have written an early season blog about my beloved Jayhawks basketball team.  But this team is puzzling.  They are good, extraordinarily good.  In fact, this is the best, deepest Kansas team since the squad that won it all in 2008.  This team doesn't have the unbelievable depth along the front line that the 2008 Jayhawks possessed but the game has changed and having bigs like Sasha Kaun, Darrel Arthur, Darnell Jackson and Cole Aldrich isn't quite as important.

This Kansas team has Braun and Agbaji, two forwards who can fill it up on any given night.  It's like Brandon Rush rolled into one.  Then you have Remy Martin, a transfer point guard who can shoot lights out, sort of like Mario Chalmers.  Oh, and then there's sophomore guard Dujuan Harris who likes to distribute the ball and play defense, kind of like Russell Robinson.  The mystery man is center David McCormack, who played like a hot mess the first five games of the season but has suddenly settled down.  He's a poor man's Darrel Arthur on offense and a poorer man's Sasha Kaun on defense.

The good thing about McCormack is for the first time in a couple of years Kansas has some front line depth which takes some pressure off of him.  Mitch Lightfoot is turning 30 (just kidding) and will end up playing more games than any player in K.U. history thanks to COVID.  He's a capable back up.  The real sauce will be from two freshmen, the unbelievably athletic K.J. Adams and the silky smooth Zach Clemence.  Adams is going to be a force, but that lies in the future.  Clemence can shoot and has decent hops.  Both can give the Jayhawks minutes if there are foul issues.

The toughest thing about this team is that it is way too deep.  Jalen Wilson was a freshman star.  Now he's struggling to find minutes and with his size and defensive ability, the Jayhawks will need him.  I don't understand Jalen Coleman-Lands or Joseph Yesufu.  These two transfer can be instant offense but Kansas only needed one of them, not both.  I smell some transfers at the semester.

The hidden jewel in this depth of talent is freshman point guard Bobby Pettiford.  He could be the next Frank Mason or Sherron Collins.  He's a human bowling ball who can drive without fear through the lane and he's the kind of physical guard that Bill Self loves.  An injury has temporarily sidelined Pettiford and he will be needed when conference play starts.

Kansas is so deep that it's best freshman recruit, Kyle Cuffe, is redshirting this year.  The Kansas roster of 18 players has 12 players that can start on any team in the Big 12 Conference.  The 2008 team had a similar amount of depth.  So I'm saying that this team is a lock to make it to the Final 4.  The team can stand to lose any one of its five starters save for McCormack and still make a deep tournament run.  It's going to be a fun run to March Madness.