Spring schedule, fall schedule

For those that are interested who might not know ... here is our schedule:

Friday, May 16: IC4A Championships, Princeton. Three qualifiers. 5k: Girma Segni, Adam Vess; 10k: Mike Rolek

Friday, June 20 through Sunday, June 22: USA Junior Championships, Columbus, OH. Three qualifiers. June 20: 5k, Adam Vess; June 21: 10k, Tim Keegan; June 22: Steeple, Nick Webster

Fall xc schedule

Friday, Sept. 5: Home meet at Bowdoin Park, 5k for men and women. Teams committed: NYU, St. Peter's, Iona

Saturday, Sept. 20: Iona College Meet of Champions, Van Cortlandt Park

Friday, October 3: Paul Short Run, Lehigh

Saturday, October 18: UAlbany Invitational

Saturday, November 1: MAAC Championships, Disney

Saturday, November 15: NCAA Regionals, Van Cortlandt Park

Saturday, November 22: IC4A/ECAC Championships, Van Cortlandt Park

Icahn Stadium Meet

Saturday, May 10

1500-meter run

Conor Shelley, 14th place, 3:56.94, personal-best time
62.6, 2:05.8 (63.2), 3:09.8 (64.0), 3:56.94 (last lap, 63.3 seconds)

5000-meter run

Girma Segni, 3rd place, 14:55.63
70, 2:19 (69), 3:28 (69), 4:36 (68), 5:48 (72), 7:00 (72), 8:15 (75), 9:30 (75), 10:46 (76), 11:59 (73), 13:12 (73), 14:23 (71), 14:55.63 (32.63)

Alex Emerel, 15th place, 15:35.83, personal-best time
74, 2:25 (71), 3:37 (72), 4:49 (72), 6:03 (74), 7:19 (76), 8:36 (77), 9:51 (75), 11:06 (75), 12:23 (77), 13:41 (78), 14:58 (77), 15:35.83 (37.83)

MAAC meet: Highlights, by event

OK, here is the final word on the MAAC Championships, by event.

100-meter dash: 4. Mike Cocca 11.25. Personal-best. Hard-earned points.
200-meter dash: 5. Mike Cocca 23.00. Personal-best. Hard-earned points.
400-meter dash: 5. John Carabetta 51.26. Hard-earned points.
800-meter dash: 8. Colin Johnson 1:59.48. First time sub-2:00! 9. Matt Maynes 2:00.08. 10. Bryan Dixon 2:00.05
1500-meter run: 3. Adam Vess 3:59.94. Closed in 59. Medaled in tough field. 5. Conor Shelley 4:00.39. Closed in 60. Scored in tough field.
5000-meter run: 3. Girma Segni 15:02.75. Closed in 2:08 for 800 meters. Medaled in tough tactical race. 6. Tim Keegan 15:24.51. Hard-earned point on a killer double. 8. Conor Shelley 15:33.17. Tough double, great competitiveness on short rest. 10. Nick Webster 15:48.88. Tough double after hard steeple.
10000-meter run: 6. Tim Keegan 31:20.06. Personal-best and hard-earned point. 8. Alex Emerel 32:40.47. Huge PR. 10. Pat Duggan 33:55.89. Huge PR.
400-meter hurdles: 6. John Keenan 1:04.75. Great comic value. And a point too!
3000-meter steeplechase: 3. Nick Webster 9:23.28. Huge PR. Jr Nat qualifier. Medaled.
4x100 relay: 3. Kippins, Kristie, Carabetta, Cocca. 45.23. Clean passes. Medal winners.
High jump: 6. Greg Masto 1.74 meters. Great comic value. And a point too!
Pole vault: 3. Max Carow 4.12 meters. School record. Medal. Great job.
Long jump: 6. Shaun Kippins 6.23. Hard-earned point.
Triple jump: 5. Shaun Kippins 12.96. Very hard-earned point on bum heel/ankle.
Discus: 4. James Fitzgerald 38.88 meters. Personal-best and point scoring. 6. Dan LaTorre 33.96. Season-best and hard-earned point.

GREAT JOB MEN.

MAAC splits: 10k

Tim Keegan, 6th place, 31:20.06. Personal-best time.
72, 2:26 (74), 3:41 (75), 4:55 (74), 6:09 (74), 7:23 (74), 8:37 (74), 9:51 (74), 11:03 (72), 12:18 (75), 13:32 (74), 14:46 (74), 16:02 (76), 17:16 (74), 18:32 (76), 19:48 (76), 21:07 (79), 22:21 (74), 23:39 (78), 24:58 (79), 26:16 (78), 27:32 (76), 28:50 (78), 30:05 (75), 31:20.06 (75.06). 5k split: 15:22.

Alex Emerel, 8th place, 32:40.47. Huge personal-best time. Nicely done!
75, 2:31 (76), 3:49 (78), 5:05 (76), 6:22 (77), 7:39 (77), 8:57 (78), 10:14 (77), 11:33 (79), 12:51 (78), 14:10 (79), 15:28 (78), 16:46 (78), 18:05 (79), 19:24 (79), 20:44 (80), 22:03 (79), 23:24 (81), 24:45 (81), 26:05 (80), 27:23 (78), 28:43 (80), 30:03 (80), 31:23 (80), 32:40.47 (77.47). 5km split: 16:05

Pat Duggan, 10th place, 33:55.89. Huge personal-best time. Nicely done!
75, 2:31 (76), 3:49 (78), 5:06 (77), 6:26 (80), 7:47 (81), 9:06 (79), 10:27 (81), 11:48 (81), 13:09 (81), 14:30 (81), 15:51 (81), 17:10 (79), 18:35 (85!), 19:56 (81), 21:18 (82), 22:42 (84), 24:05 (83), 25:30 (85), 26:55 (85), 28:19 (84), 29:47 (88!), 31:13 (86), 32:36 (83), 33:55.89 (79.89). 5km split: 16:30

MAAC splits: 5K

Girma Segni: 15:02.75, 3rd place
80, 2:32 (72), 3:43 (71), 4:56 (73), 6:10 (74), 7:23 (73), 8:40 (77), 9:50 (70), 11:00 (70), 12:12 (72), 13:26 (74), 14:31 (65), 15:02.75 (31.75)

Tim Keegan: 15:24.51, 6th place
80, 2:34 (74), 3:44 (70), 4:56 (72), 6:11 (75), 7:23 (72), 8:40 (77), 9:50 (70), 11:01 (71), 12:17 (76), 13:33 (76), 14:47 (74), 15:24.51 (37.51)

Conor Shelley: 15:33.17, 8th place
80, 2:32 (72), 3:43 (71), 4:56 (73), 6:11 (75), 7:24 (73), 8:41 (77), 9:55 (74), 11:12 (77), 12:28 (76), 13:45 (77), 14:59 (74), 15:33.17 (34.17)

Nick Webster: 15:48.88, 10th place
80, 2:32 (72), 3:44 (72), 4:58 (74), 6:14 (76), 7:31 (77), 8:49 (78), 10:04 (75), 11:23 (79), 12:41 (78), 14:01 (80), 15:15 (74), 15:48.88 (33.88)

Mike Rolek: 15:59.16, 11th place
80, 2:27 (67), 3:38 (71), 4:53 (75), 6:10 (77), 7:28 (78), 8:46 (78), 10:07 (81), 11:25 (78), 14:41 (76), 14:03 (82), 15:22 (79), 15:59.16 (37.16)

MAAC splits: steeplechase

NOTE: International-style steeplechase. Lap splits longer.

Nick Webster, 9:23.28, 3rd place, personal-best by 16 seconds, Jr National qualifier
75, 2:34 (79), 3:54 (80), 5:16 (82), 6:36 (80), 7:56 (80), 9:14 (78), 9:23.28 (9.28)

John Keenan, 9:52.26, 6th place
75, 2:34 (79), 3:54 (80), 5:18 (84), 6:45 (87), 8:13 (88), 9:39 (86), 9:52.26 (13.26)

Greg Masto, 10:14.00, 7th place
76, 2:38 (82), 4:04 (86), 5:33 (89), 7:04 (91), 8:35 (91), 10:01 (86), 10:14.00 (13.00)

Zak Smetana, 10:18.01, 8th place
77, 2:39 (82), 4:04 (85), 5:32 (88), 7:02 (90), 8:33 (91), 10:06 (89), 10:18.01 (12.01)

MAAC splits, 1500

Adam Vess, 3:59.94, 3rd place
66, 2:11 (65), 3:14 (63), 3:59.94 (final 400, 59.94)

Conor Shelley, 4:00.39, 5th place
66, 2:11 (65), 3:14 (63), 4:00.39 (final 400, 60.39)

Tom Dixon, 4:14.72, 11th place
64, 2:14 (70), 3:25 (71), 4:14.72 (final 400, 66.72)

Teddy Marak, 4:18.46, 12th place
64, 2:13 (69), 3:24 (71), 4:18.46 (final 400, 71.46)

Joe Tarantello, 4:20.58, 13th place
66, 2:16 (70), 3:28 (72), 4:20.58 (final 400, 70.58)

A fine sendoff for Coach Phil; great job by the team

Great to see my good friend and coaching compadre of 17 years, Phil Kelly, get honored by the MAAC and by our teams at the awards banquet on Sunday at Rider. Well-deserved, and it was a great way to end his career.

In the "nice guys finish last" category: This was our best MAAC meet, as a team, in a long, long time. We scored in every event in which we were entered with one exception (and in that one exception, the guys ran tremendous!). There were highlights everywhere; I'll try to summarize them here:

-- Max Carow getting it done in the pole vault. School record, third-place medal. After a spring in which he battled illness and no place to practice. Max at MAACs: He got it done!
-- The Thrower Guys -- James and Dan -- scoring in the discus. James PRed. Again, great job on minimal practice.
-- Shaun Kippins scoring in both jumps and the 4x1, despite an ankle and heel that were ready to explode and finally did at the end of the TJ. Thanks for sacrificing in your final college meet, Kips!
-- Mike Cocca having perhaps the finest sprinting day in Marist Track history, scoring in the 100 and 200 in PR times and near school records, and anchoring a medal-winning 4x100 relay. Nice job, captain.
-- Colin Johnson (he of 4:59 and 2:13 high school PRs) breaking 2:00 in the 800 and winning the second section. Phenomenal season, my friend.
-- Nick Webster with perhaps the single most impressive performance of the meet: 9:23 in the steeple, 16-second PR, third-place medal, an EASY Jr National qualifier and closing in on IC4As. Something to shoot for next spring. We're heading for Columbus, Webs!
-- Tim Keegan with a stunning distance double, getting a hard-earned 6th in the 10k in a PR of 31:20 -- hanging with the Iona pack through a blazing 15:22 first 5k and hanging tough over the second half. Then, on tired legs, scoring another hard-earned point in the 5k on Sunday. Great season!
-- Dumb and Dumber (Vess and Shelley) were smart and smarter -- and tough and tougher -- in the 1500. In a typically tactical race, they kept their cool and kicked with a frenzy (59 seconds for Vess, 61 for Conor) and got two scoring spots (3rd and 5th) in a very competitive race.
-- Girma getting a hard-earned, tactical third place in the 5k, closing the last 800m in 2:08! Thanks to Rolek for doing the dirty work by breaking up the jogging, and sacrificing his own race in the process.
-- Ricky (Greg Masto, high jump) and John Keenan (400 IH) having some fun in "off" events and scoring points. Greg, if you can high jump 5-9 the day after a tough steeple, maybe we can get you up to 6-0 fresh next year! Why not?
-- Countless other PRs among the non-scorers -- Emerel lopping more than 1 minute off his 10k comes to mind, but there were others as well.

Did I forget someone? Probably, and if so I am sorry. You guys should be proud of your efforts and it is an honor to say that I coach you all.

Lastly, thanks to the seniors for all their efforts through the years. You clearly enjoyed your final road trip with the team, and I've enjoyed every minute with you boys.

Check back for meet splits in a while, when I come up for air.

While the majority of the season is finished, we still have a lot of spring left in us:

-- A few guys chasing some PRs on Saturday at Icahn
-- Vess, Rolek and Girma at IC4As on 5.16 in Princeton
-- A school-record three (3!) Jr National qualifiers, in Columbus, Ohio, 6.20-6.22.

The road never ends, my friends ...

Nicely done!

At the Senior Awards Banquet last night ...

-- Men's Track won the Athletic Director's Award for highest team GPA among male teams.
-- Mike Rolek was chosen as Sportsperson of the Year for his outstanding accomplishments.

It was a great dinner and a great night, and it was fun to honor the outgoing seniors.

And yes, Phil's speech was outstanding and was caught forever on video.