MAAC at Disney

Hello Blog Followers:

Sorry for the lack of posts as we were busy traveling, etc. I did have a few minutes on Conor Shelley's laptop in the hotel, but it was the day before the meet and there was not a lot to report. For those of you that did not see our men's team results at the MAAC meet, we finished a strong 2nd to Iona -- for the fourth consecutive year, the fifth time in six years and the sixth time overall.

For those that are interested: The years we finished 2nd to Iona include the following. 1998, 70 points; 2003, 60 points; 2005, 73 points; 2006, 52 points; 2007, 61 points; 2008, 55 points.

It could be argued that this was our most dominant 2nd-place finish in history. Iona ran their entire varsity squad. Most VCP years, they will sit out a few of their top-5 men to rightfully prepare for regionals and nationals (they sometimes get grief for this; I understand and respect their decision-making process). This year, being a Disney year, they did not do this as far as we could tell. They swept the top-5 spots, once again proving their dominance. We were hoping to break into the top-5 but could not do so.

However, we more or less swept the rest of the MAAC field. In fact, our second 5 and possibly our second 7 (starting with our 8th man) could well have gotten 2nd place in the field, which may be a testament to this team's depth. That is not for me to decide or judge.

Here are the team standings: 1. Iona 15, 2. Marist 55, 3. Manhattan 118, 4. Loyola 120, 5. Rider 122, 6. Canisius 174, 7. Fairfield 198, 8. Niagara 207, 9. Siena 266, 10. St. Peter's 292.

The course at Disney's Wide World of Sports was flat, flat, flat. Nary a hill to be found. However, most runners I talked to from all teams felt the course either ran slow or may have been long since they felt their efforts should have reaped faster times. Matters little. When you get to the championship portion of the xc season, all that matters is place. Time is secondary.

The race began at 8 a.m., just shortly after the sun rose in Florida. In an unusual scene, the men warmed up in the dark, with just stadium lights showing the way. It was an overcast morning with a slight drizzle and a breeze, a far cry from the blazing weather from the 2000 and 2004 races. The course was slightly altered from the other Disney years, for those alums who remember those races. Again, it can be debated whether the course was faster, slower or in between. My take: A lot slower than 2000; a lot faster than 2004. If that helps.

For those that did not see the results, here are our Marist boys' places and times from the meet on Saturday morning, with commentary as warranted.

6. Girma Segni 24:47.50. All-MAAC. Picture with Mickey.
10. Conor Shelley 25:04.91. All-MAAC. Picture with Mickey.
14. Will Griffin 25:16.04. All-MAAC. Picture with Mickey. Top true freshman in the field (I'm pretty certain of this, anyway).
16. David Raucci 25:23.86.
17. Tim Keegan 25:28.56. A nice PR.
NOTE: Top 5 average time of 25:12.18.
20. Joe McElhoney 25:48.51. About a 4-minute improvement from his 2004 Disney race!
23. Nick Webster 25:58.53. Tremendous effort.
24. Matt Flint 25:58.63.
27. Curtis Jensen 26:10.60. Nicely done.
31. John Keenan 26:17.17.
33. Alex Emerel 26:20.95. PR and wonderful race!
39. Brian Townsend 26:47.67. Great bounce-back effort.
44. Zak Smetana 26:54.21. Huge PR and the race of his life (so far).
49. Sam McMullen 27:01.13.
50. Matt Janczyk 27:01.32.
51. Tom Lipari 27:02.51.
69. Pat Duggan 27:39.27.
75. Frank Stewart 27:49.23.
89. Kyle Havard 28:22.77.
98. Greg Masto 29:00.51.

Much more to come, and maybe even pictures if I can figure that out.