Best Film Editing

Film Editing
Best Upset of the Year
Which race produced the most surprising result of the year? There are plenty to choose from this year, but don’t feel limited to just state meets or just track. Any meet could have produced the biggest upset.

And the nominees are ...

Abington Invitational 1600m (Owen Ritz)

Owen Ritz entered this meet as a mid 4:30s miler who was buried on the Ritz family depth chart. He left as one of the best runners in the state, clocking a 4:21 PR explosion to get the victory. It was one of the most impressive drops in state history.

PIAA AA XC States (Dallas)

Usually a young team folds under pressure and that’s what many thought would happen to District 2 youngsters Dallas. However, they rallied together and used a tight pack (that included 2 sophomores and 2 freshmen) to clinch an unlikely state title over the defending champions York Suburban and proven program Grove City. They will go for a repeat title in 2016.

Penn Relays Mile (Josh Hoey)

Josh was projected to be PA’s 4^th best miler at the Penn Relays by some people. But he ended up PA’s first best. And also just first in general. Josh Hoey sprinted to the front with about 300 to go and stunned a stacked field in front of the packed Franklin Field stadium. It was also a massive PR for Josh as he dropped all the way to 4:11 for the full mile distance.

PIAA AAA Outdoor 800m (Joe Espinal)

The 800 was so wide open, commenters were literally inventing all sorts of reasons to pick a winner. Just check the comment section (and the Oscar nominees). But at the end of the day Joe Espinal dropped from a 1:55 relative unknown to a 1:51 state champion, defeating Matt Wisner, Jaxson Hoey and Nick Feffer among others.

PIAA AAA Outdoor 1600m (Alex Milligan)

The action was centered around Josh Hoey and Mike Kolor heading into the state championship, but things quickly changed as Alex Milligan, doubling off the 4x8, hung tight until a lap to go when he turned on the jets for the state title. He ran a 4:10.17 shortly after splitting a 1:52 anchor leg on the 4x8 (for the win). Only Sean Collins could have predicted that. Milligan proved the upset was no fluke with a top finish at the New Balance Nationals Mile a few weeks later.

PIAA AAA Outdoor 3200m (Matt Kravitz)

The 3200 has been an event packed with upsets in recent years and North Pocono’s Matt Kravitz became the next in line when he dropped a massive PR in hot conditions to defeat the WPIAL armada, Jake Brophy and Nate Henderson. Yes, all three AAA state titles were big upsets. It was just that kind of state meet.

PTFCA Indoor State DMR (Cardinal O’Hara)

Yes, Cardinal O’Hara was the defending champions, but few people saw them as title contenders heading into the DMR finals. In fact, Dan Beck of Penntrack didn’t even have O’Hara on the medal stand. But O’Hara sprinted out to a big lead early against the favorites and Ryan James took care of business with a herculean solo effort on the anchor leg to defeat GFS, State College, CB West, CB East and many more top ranked programs.