Monday, April 27, 2009

Wednesday practice

Gents:

Very important announcement about Wednesday practice. I would like to go to Vassar (or Spackenkill) on this day, since a cool front is moving through. Tuesday is looking brutal (90s) and I really don't want to go to the track.

We have the mandatory speaker thing at 12:30 p.m. As a result, I would like to have practice at 9:30 a.m.

If you have an 8 a.m. class and no 9:30 a.m. class, this should work. If you have no morning classes, this should work.

IF YOU HAVE A 9:30 A.M. CLASS, THIS WILL NOT WORK AND WE WILL HAVE TO MAKE OTHER PRACTICE ARRANGEMENTS.

We'll discuss this today at practice. But plan on 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to the track, unless you have class at that time.

Yale splits, 4.26.09

A few notes on this meet:

1. It was hot. Really, really hot. Like, 100 degrees hot. Maybe not that quite, but for April 26, it felt like a furnace. I love heat, but this was insane. Considering this, I thought as a team we did quite well.
2. Great day for sprinters, who are rounding into championship form under Coach Horton.
3. Another SR for pole vaulter Max Carow. Great to see.

Results, comments and splits follow ...


100-meter dash: All excellent times!


Mike Cocca 11.40
Mike McCloskey 11.51
Tom DeVaney 12.00

200-meter dash:

Mike Cocca 23.11. Great double!
Neal Viets 24.31
John Kristie 24.60

400-meter dash


Colin Frederickson 50.37. Super effort.
Alex Cuesta 52.91
John Kristie 53.89

800-meter run

Brian McCormick 1:58.76. First time under 2:00. Decisively.
Kyle Havard 2:01.45
David Raucci 2:04.85

1500-meter run


Curtis Jensen 4:04.69. 66, 2:10 (64), 3:17 (67), 4:04.69 (63.69 last 400m). Great kick, strong effort overall.

David Raucci 4:05.61. 67, 2:12 (65), 3:16 (64), 4:05.61 (65.61 last 400m). Solid effort, consistent from start to finish.

Zak Smetana 4:06.68. 67, 2:13 (66), 3:19 (66), 4:06.68 (63.68 last 400m). AWESOME STUFF! Best kick of the day! Major PR!! (can you tell I'm excited about this?)

Matt Janczyk 4:20.14. 67, 2:11 (64), 3:22 (71), 4:20.14 (76.14 last 400m)

Ryan Brown 4:21.17. 70.8, 2:21.6 (70.8), 3:30.6 (69.0), 4:21.17 (67.17 last 400m). The Ryan Brown PR Tour continues! Great job, Brownie!

3000-meter steeplechase


Tom Lipari 9:49.51. First place. 78, 2:38 (80), 4:02 (84), 5:27 (85), 6:52 (85), 8:17 (85), 9:39 (82). Comment: A win is a win. Nice effort on brutal day.

Conor Shelley 10:13.01. 80, 2:44 (84), 4:07 (83), 5:33 (86), 7:04 (91), 8:34 (80), 10:13.01. Comment: Nice pommel horse move. You did not get hurt and you ran this respectably. Phew.

Kris Geist 10:35.95. 83, 2:50 (87), 4:18 (88), 5:50 (92), 7:24 (94), 8:56 (92), 10:35.95.

Greg Masto 10:47.87. 82, 2:50 (88), 4:21 (91), 5:54 (93), 7:28 (94), 9:04 (96), 10:47.87.

5000-meter run: Thanks to Geist for doing the splits ...


Pat Duggan 16:04.44. 74, 2:28 (74), 3:42 (74), 4:57 (75), 6:14 (77), 7:31 (77), 8:51 (80), 10:10 (79), 11:29 (79), 12:51 (82), 14:12 (81), 15:29 (77), 16:04.44 (35.44). Comment: A bit uneven in the heat. Solid effort.

Alex Emerel 16:11.24. 73, 2:26 (73), 3:42 (76), 4:57 (75), 6:14 (77), 7:31 (77), 8:51 (80), 10:10 (79), 11:29 (79), 12:51 (81), 14:12 (81), 15:33 (81), 16:11.24 (38.24). Comment: Ditto Duggan.

Colin Johnson 16:24.55. 78, 2:34 (76), 3:50 (76), 5:07 (77), 6:23 (76), 7:42 (79), 9:03 (81), 10:24 (81), 11:47 (83), 13:09 (82), 14:30 (81), 15:47 (77), 16:24.55 (37.55). Comment: You picked a heckuva day to try this event out!

110-meter hurdles

Mike Clifford 17.44

400-meter hurdles


Greg Dubois 1:00.53
Mike Clifford 1:01.04

Pole vault


Max Carow 4.27 meters *school record

Discus
James Fitzgerald 35.15 meters

Penn Relays splits

In the order they were raced ...

3,000-meter steeplechase men

Nick Webster 9:18.26. Personal-best time.

72, 2:26 (74), 3:41 (75), 4:58 (77), 6:16 (78), 7:34 (78), 8:50 (76), 9:18.26. Comment: Good, solid opener at this event. Nicely done.

John Keenan 9:54.53

73, 2:31 (78), 3:48 (77), 5:09 (81), 6:31 (82), 7:54 (83), 9:21 (87), 9:54.53.

3,000-meter steeplechase wome
n

Brittany Burns 10:59.44. Personal-best time. School record.

84.9, 2:54.9 (90.0), 4:24.2 (89.3), 5:55.0 (90.8), 7:26.2 (91.2), 8:57.0 (90.8), 10:25.7 (88.7), 10:59.44 (33.77). Comment: Superb effort. Steady and strong.

5,000-meter run men

Will Griffin 14:53.09. Personal-best time.

72.1, 2:20.4 (68.3), 3:30.6 (70.2), 4:40.8 (70.2), 5:52.3 (71.5), 7:04.7 (72.4), 8:17.4 (72.7), 9:29.4 (72.0), 10:42.4 (73.0), 11:56.3 (73.9), 13:10.0 (73.7), 14:20.2 (70.2), 14:53.09 (33.09). Comment: Solid, strong race and a nice PR. Something to build upon.

10,000-meter run women

Addie DiFrancesco 36:12.42. Personal-best time. School record. ECAC qualifier

85.5, 2:52.9 (87.4), 4:19.7 (86.8), 5:46.1 (86.4), 7:13.0 (86.9), 8:40.2 (87.2), 10:07.3 (87.1), 11:34.4 (87.1), 13:01.5 (87.1), 14:28.4 (86.9), 15:55.0 (86.6), 17:21.7 (86.7), 18:48.9 (87.2), 20:16.3 (87.4), 21:43.7 (87.4), 23:10.8 (87.1), 24:38.3 (87.5), 26:05.3 (87.0), 27:32.2 (86.9), 28:59.1 (86.9), 30:26.2 (87.1), 31:54.0 (87.8), 33:22.0 (88.0), 34:48.7 (86.7), 36:12.42 (83.72). First 5km: 18:06. Second 5km: 18:06. Comment: Machine-like and superb for first time at this distance. Nicely done.

10,000-meter run men

Joe McElhoney 32:44.07.

76.0, 2:30.0 (74.0), 3:43.1 (73.1), 4:57.3 (74.2), 6:11.3 (74.0), 7:24.9 (73.6), 8:40.0 (75.1), 9:55.6 (75.6), 11:12.2 (76.5), 12:30.4 (78.2), 13:49.6 (79.2), 15:08.7 (79.1), 16:28.7 (80.0), 17:48.6 (79.8), 19:08.2 (79.5), 20:29.8 (81.6), 21:51.6 (81.8), 23:12.1 (80.5), 24:34.9 (82.8), 25:55.8 (80.9), 27:15.6 (79.8), 28:35.6 (80.0), 29:56.4 (80.8), 31:21.6 (85.2), 32:44.07 (83.07)

1,600-meter relay men: 3:27.79

Mike Cocca 53.1
Colin Frederickson 51.1
Alex Cuesta 53.3
John Carabetta 50.1

Friday, April 24, 2009

Distance night at Penn

Strong night for the Marist men and women. Highlights:

-- Freshman Addie DiFrancesco broke Liza Grudzinski's SR in the event with a strong 36:12.42 clocking, 15th overall, easily an ECAC qualifying mark (standard is 37:40.00). Tremendous effort. Even splits! First 5km: 18:06; second 5km: 18:06. This was Addie's first ever 10km. She's obviously pretty good at it. This was awesome.
-- Sophomore Brittany Burns broke her own SR in the steeple and PRed by nearly half a minute with a 10:59.44. This is just 5 or so seconds off ECAC standard (standard is 10:55.04) and about 12 seconds off NCAA Regionals. Great stuff.
-- Sophomore Nick Webster improved his steeple PR to 9:18.26, about a 5-second improvement on last year. This was Webs' first steeple of the spring, an excellent debut. He's about 4 seconds off IC standard in the event (standard is 9:15.00). We'll give it a go at MAACs.
-- Freshman Will Griffin broke 15:00 for the first time in the 5km, 14:53.09. Very strong effort and an improvement of nearly 1 minute from his disastrous first 5km a few weeks ago at Princeton. Will hung tough with the fast pace and closed strongly. He's the third young Red Fox to break 15:00 this year (Keegan indoors, Webs last week), and now joins a growing list of active team members in the sub-15:00 club.

I have splits for all races, and will get them up here when I can (might not be till early next week, after the Yale meet on Sunday).

We have a men's 4x400 at Penn later this afternoon (Friday) and a women's 4x800 at Penn on Saturday. Then Yale Sunday, MAACs next Saturday/Sunday.

Busy times for the Running Red Foxes ...

Monday, April 20, 2009

Met Outdoor Championships, 4.18.09

A nice day in the sun and wind at Overpeck County Park in Palisades Park, New Jersey. As a team, we placed sixth overall with 57 points. There were several highlights and strong performances. Here are the team's complete results, with comments and splits as warranted ...

100-meter dash:

Mike McCloskey 11.41. Made finals. Best meet of the year.
Neal Viets 11.97. Strong effort.
Tom DeVaney 12.32. Strong effort.

200-meter dash:
Mike Cocca 23.31. Strong effort, season's best
Mike McCloskey 23.91. Strong effort.
Neal Viets 24.11. Strong effort.

400-meter dash:

Colin Frederickson 50.92. Strong effort. Feet on fire.
John Carabettaa 51.47

800-meter run:

Brian McCormick 2:01.92. Solid double.

1,500-meter run:

Brian McCormick 4:10.46. 64, 2:10 (66), 3:18 (68). Nicely done.
Kyle Havard 4:13.21. 63, 2:11 (68), 3:22 (71). Eh, coulda been better.
John Keenan 4:17.87. 65, 2:14 (69), 3:25 (71). Yuk.

3,000-meter steeplechase:

Greg Masto 10:25.00. 76, 2:36 (80), 4:00 (84), 5:23 (83), 6:48 (85), 8:14 (86), 9:39 (85). Form broke down early but you hung tough.
Krist Geist 10:45.65. 75, 2:32 (77), 3:56 (84), 5:24 (88), 6:53 (89), 8:25 (92), 9:56 (91). Ugh.

5000-meter run:

Curtis Jensen 15:24.94. First place. Met champ! 79, 2:30 (71), 3:42 (72), 4:57 (75), 6:11 (74), 7:24 (73), 8:40 (76), 9:54 (74), 11:07 (73), 12:21 (74), 13:36 (75), 14:49 (73), 15:24.94 (35.94). Comment: Nicely done on tired legs/body. You took it when you had to and beat some good runners.

Zak Smetana 15:52.68. 81, 2:35 (76), 3:50 (75), 5:04 (74), 6:18 (74), 7:34 (76), 8:49 (75), 10:05 (76), 11:22 (77), 12:39 (77), 13:57 (78), 15:17 (80), 15:52.68 (35.68). Comment: Uneven race. You did a good job in the middle but couldn't carry it through. The unevenness certainly did not help.

Ryan Brown 16:26.03. 81, 2:38 (77), 3:56 (78), 5:15 (79), 6:33 (78), 7:53 (80), 9:14 (81), 10:35 (81), 11:56 (81), 13:16 (80), 14:36 (80), 15:51 (75), 16:26.03 (37.03). Comment: Another solid effort and PR. Just have to eliminate the 80s and 81s and replace them with 78s and 79s. Nicely done.

10000-meter run:


Alex Emerel 33:23.45. 77, 2:33 (76), 3:51 (78), 5:08 (77), 6:26 (78), 7:44 (78), 9:04 (80), 10:23 (79), 11:42 (79), 13:02 (80), 14:22 (80), 15:43 (81), 17:04 (81), 18:25 (81), 19:48 (83), 21:09 (81), 22:31 (82), 23:53 (82), 25:15 (82), 26:36 (81), 25:58 (82), 29:23 (85), 30:45 (82), 32:06 (81), 33:23.45 (77.45). Comment: Not great. Might have been better if you hung back and ran for the win within the pack.

Pat Duggan 33:37.50. 77, 2:34 (77), 3:52 (78), 5:12 (80), 6:31 (79), 7:51 (80), 9:10 (79), 10:34 (84), 11:53 (79), 13:13 (80), 14:33 (80), 15:55 (82), 17:15 (80), 18:37 (82), 19:57 (80), 21:17 (80), 22:37 (80), 23:59 (82), 25:23 (84), 26:48 (85), 28:11 (83), 29:35 (84), 30:58 (83), 32:22 (84), 33:37.50 (75.50). Comment: Not much to say. Solid, decent effort, mostly solo.

Brian Townsend 34:36.40. 77, 2:36 (79), 3:56 (80), 5:14 (78), 6:34 (80), 7:53 (79), 9:11 (78), 10:34 (83), 11:53 (79), 13:14 (81), 14:38 (84), 16:01 (83), 17:25 (84), 18:49 (84), 20:13 (84), 21:38 (85), 23:03 (85), 24:29 (86), 25:56 (87), 27:25 (89), 28:53 (88), 30:22 (89), 31:50 (88), 33:16 (86), 34:36.40 (80.40).

Pole vault:

1. Max Carow 4.14m. Met Champ!

Javelin:
Tom DeVaney 42.45m. Personal-best throw!

Discus:
James Fitzgerald 38.93m. Personal-best throw!

Larry Ellis/Princeton: 4.17.09

It was a solid night at Princeton, where the weather was warm and the breeze was light. The races are usually very competitive and the conditions are usually really conducive to fast times. Except for a breeze during the 10km, it was a great night weatherwise. The team highlights:

-- Tim Keegan qualified for IC4As in the 10km with a nearly 20-second PR of 30:51.92 and a nice neg split (15:28/15:23)
-- Nick Webster joined the sub-15:00 club in the 5km with a nearly 20-second PR of 14:52.52, despite a blistering early pace
-- Matt Janczyk notched a 15-second PR and looked great doing so in the steeple (9:35.69)

Here are the splits, in the order they were raced ...

3,000-meter steeplechase

Matt Janczyk, 9:35.69
74, 2:29 (75), 3:47 (78), 5:05 (78), 6:23 (78), 7:41 (78), missed last split on all races, sorry. Comment: Great improvement over the first steeple. Form looked fantastic. Nicely done!

Matt Flint, 9:41.03
73, 2:27 (74), 3:43 (76), 5:03 (80), 6:23 (80), 7:43 (80) ... Comment: You looked and raced ragged and tired. The goal for the next two weeks is to rejuvenate you and have you ready to pop a strong MAAC steeple. I know you can do that!

Tom Lipari, 9:42.08
75, 2:29 (74), 3:46 (77), 5:06 (80), 6:25 (79), 7:45 (80) ... Comment: You should have been with Flint for the belly of the race. You had a strong kick ... almost TOO strong. You'll get better at this. And this wasn't too bad, a 5-second PR.

1,500-meter run


Conor Shelley 4:05.13
63, 2:09 (66), 3:14 (65), 4:05.13 (67.13 final 400m). Comment: Blah. Blah. Blah.

David Raucci 4:05.60
64, 2:11 (67), 3:16 (65), 4:05.60 (65.60) Comment: Solid, but consistently mediocre.

5,000-meter run

Nick Webster 14:52.54
68, 2:18 (70), 3:27 (69), 4:37 (70), 5:49 (72), 7:01 (72), 8:14 (73), 9:27 (73), 10:41 (74), 11:56 (75), 13:08 (72), 14:18 (70), 14:52.54 (34.54). Comment: You survived a brutal early pace, faded and kicked well from 1km out. Very proud of this effort.

Joe McElhoney 15:22.96
71.4, 2:23.3 (71.9), 3:34.8 (71.5), 4:47.3 (72.5), 6:00.4 (73.1), 7:14.4 (74.0), 8:30.8 (76.4), 9:47.0 (76.2), 11:02.8 (75.8), 12:18.5 (75.7), 13:33.8 (75.3), 14:47.7 (73.9), 15:22.96 (35.26). Comment: You inexplicably led the race, then faded, but toughed it out and looked like you could have gone many more laps at this pace. Which you'll need to do a few nights from now at Penn!

10,000-meter run

Tim Keegan 30:51.92. IC4A qualifier
75.7, 2:30.7 (75.0), 3:43.9 (73.2), 4:58.3 (74.4), 6:14.9 (76.6), 7:30.7 (75.8), 8:44.4 (73.7), 9:57.0 (72.7), 11:10.6 (73.6), 12:24.1 (73.5), 13:38.3 (74.2), 14:51.7 (73.4), 16:06.0 (74.3), 17:19.7 (73.7), 18:34.4 (74.7), 19:48.3 (73.9), 21:02.1 (73.8), 22:16.5 (74.4), 23:30.6 (74.1), 24:45.2 (74.6), 26:00.2 (75.0), 27:12.8 (72.8), 28:27.1 (74.2), 29:40.1 (73.0), 30:51.92 (71.82). 5k: 15:28. Comment: Fantastic race in less-than-ideal conditions in a small field. You earned it every lap of the way. When the pace slowed, you took the lead and pushed it. Great job.

Penn Relays lineup this week

Our appeals have been addressed, and here are the athletes we have running at Penn Relays this week.

Thursday night distance races

Men's steeple: Nick Webster, John Keenan
Women's steeple: Brittany Burns
Men's 5km: Will Griffin
Women's 5km: Kathryn Sheehan
Men's 10km: Joe McElhoney
Women's 10km: Addie DiFrancesco

Friday afternoon: Men's 4x400
Saturday afternoon: Women's 4x800

A big assist from a big Q-tip

Everybody's got an opinion about Conor Shelley, the guy that many of you call "Q-Tip" (because he looks like one). Sometimes, the opinions vary based on the day and the idiotic comments that come out of his mouth.

But as most of you know, I'm a big Conor Shelley fan.

Oh sure, he can annoy the heck out of me, and does so on a pretty consistent basis. This past weekend was a perfect example on Conor annoying me and making me proud, at the same time.

Friday at Princeton: He shows up at the meet in not a great racing mindset, and goes ahead and runs that way in a half-hearted and mediocre 4:05 1500.

Saturday at Mets: After some threatening words from his usually laid back coach, Conor shows up and blasts through a great 4x800 leg (hey, he always said he was a 4x8 guy!), the day after his blah 1,500.

Sunday at the Admissions Open House: Conor graciously hung out in my office for the better part of four hours, providing me with huge assistance in dealing with the steady flow of recruits and other interested parties.

In this role, Conor was simply amazing. He said all the right things. And the great thing is, he means it. As you know, Conor is good at saying what's on his mind. Too good, in fact.

I love retelling this story: In the fall of 2007, my first semester teaching the fancy "Track and Field Coaching" class, Conor was in it. At practice, a couple guys ask him: "Conor, how is Coach's class?" Conor replies: "It's f--king boring. I fell asleep in it today." I was standing right next to him when he said this!

So again, there's not much of a filter with Conor. He was great with the recruits, really portraying our program in an accurate (and positive) light. That carries more weight than a coach saying it. On many levels, I appreciated it.

Conor also helped me out by taking my son Joey outside for a little while to watch the Marist baseball game. The a/c was not working in the coaches complex, and my office was about 90 degrees. Even with a fan blowing, Joey's ears were beet red and he looked like he was going to explode from the lack of ventilation. Conor relates very well to children (insert joke here), and so the boys had a good time out at the field.

There is no doubt in my mind that Conor would make a great coach in the future. Of course, Conor being Conor, on the van ride home Saturday, he said that as soon as he graduates, he is going to apply for a coaching position at a rival college not to be named here -- again, annoying the heck out of me.

And by the way: In case you think Conor (and I) have come to our senses and matured, think again. I have agreed to allow Conor to try the steeple at Sunday's Yale meet.

That should be interesting.

Weekend splits to be posted here as soon as I can get to them.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

UPDATED: Friday night schedule

Because of the high volume of entries, here is an updated meet schedule for Friday night/Larry Ellis meet at Princeton:

W Steeple: 6:00
M Steeple: 6:30
W 800: 6:55
M 800: 7:10
W 1500: 7:25
M 1500: 7:50
W 5000: 8:30
M 5000: 9:10
M 10,000: 10:00

A very special Jerk Squad: 4.15.09

Last night's Jerk Squad was epic and historic. I think I astonished almost everyone by making a cameo appearance at the Cabaret for this weekly team ritual that dates back many years. This was a first (and perhaps only) appearance by me at Jerk Squad.

More astonishing, however, were the surprise alumni guests:

-- NYPD Officer Quinn, who stole the show in a full tuxedo
-- FDNY's Scotty La, who was dressed like ... well, Scotty La
-- Staten Island's finest: B-Dix, T-Dix and honorary SI resident Rolek
-- CT (Matt Szymaszek) wins the A for Effort award by taking the train all the way from DC for the festivities
-- Maynes and Joey Tat came from Connecticut, Maynes looking very good (for Maynes) and Joe-T dressed like a golf pro circa 1976 with his unusually red trousers

For those that do not know, Jerk Squad is a Wednesday night tradition in which team members and friends gather in the Cabaret at the Marist Student Center after the completion of night class -- for food, fun, camaraderie and other traditions. The dress-code tradition (shirt and tie) sadly has graduated with the aforementioned Jerks. But these alums carried on the tradition last night.

The Jerk Squad Year culminates with the highly anticipated award ceremony, "The Jerkies," and the prestigious "Jerk of the Year" award. Mark your calendars, Jerks and Friends: The 2009 Jerkies are scheduled for May 6.

I was led to believe that Rolek and friends were the founders of JS, but Chrissy 5k (who was also in attendance) informed me that it was actually several members of the WOMEN'S TEAM who created JS. I take this fact on face value as the truth, until convinced otherwise. The boys, being boys, took over Jerk Squad and promptly banned women from the festivities. Which, of course, makes sense.

Last night, current women's team member Lexie Ennis attended JS. Normally, Lex is booed out of the Cab on JS nights. But being the Director of Track and Field, I pulled rank and ordered Lexie to be allowed to eat the fine food (seriously, I was impressed by the chicken parm, which I made Vess fetch for me).

In all, it was a memorable evening with a fine group of Jerks.

Life is a Cabaret, old chum, come to The Cabaret ...

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Workouts: Yesterday and today

Excellent running at Spackenkill on Tuesday and Vassar on Wednesday. Strong workouts. The wind at Vassar was tough today, but everyone handled it well.

Prinz: I know you would love practice splits, but it's just not feasible. I can give you some reasonable estimates if you'd like. But I also don't want to air out our workout laundry, so to speak, on the Internet for others to see. Not that these are state secrets, but still, there is a bit of gamesmanship involved. I think.

Nice to have Jut (JUDD) hanging with the boys at practice today. Although he was only teammates with a handful of them, he has a connection to this team, and it's good to keep the link going.

Jut's got some big races coming up in the next two weekends -- a triathlon and a duathlon. We wish him well and will be thinking of him from afar at our meets while he is tearing it up near and far. We will update his efforts in future posts.

In the meantime, I probably won't post till after the weekend meets.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Practice plan

Since I have not seen a lot of you guys (team) in several days because of the Easter break, here is the plan for the week.

Guys that are racing at Larry Ellis/Princeton will go to the track (Spackenkill) for practice today. It will be a medium volume/medium intensity workout. Nothing killer. A ladder for most. Details in a few hours.

Guys that are racing at Mets on Saturday will go to the track (Vassar) on Wednesday for a similar protocol. Additionally, all steeplers should come to Vassar whether racing either day to practice barrier hopping and, if available, water jumps.

Lastly, on the poll: I set it up so that you can vote for more than one choice. It's a silly poll. But Rolek asked for it!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Separated at birth, part 2




Rolek called and said we need a new poll for the blog.

Fair point.

After I finish with this post, I will put up a new poll question.

The images above are perhaps subliminal hints as to my answer to the question.

Separated at birth?




Last night was Movie Night at the Colaizzo House. We watched "Night at the Museum," starring Ben Stiller, one of my favorite actors.

The whole time I'm thinking: Ben Stiller looks just like Colin Johnson.

What do you think? Above is Colin's official goredfoxes.com picture, from what appears to be several years (and not many haircuts) ago. Also above is the official Ben Stiller mug from his publicity site.

They are more than 20 years apart in age, but there is a startling likeness.

Larry Ellis/Princeton time schedule for Friday

As requested by some loyal blog followers and big fans of the team, here is Friday night's schedule for Princeton.

6:00 p.m.: Women's steeplechase
6:15 p.m.: Men's steeplechase
6:40 p.m.: Women's 800
7:00 p.m.: Men's 800
7:20 p.m.: Women's 1500
7:40 p.m.: Men's 1500
8:00 p.m.: Women's 5,000
8:40 p.m.: Men's 5,000
9:10 p.m.: Men's 10,000

Hope to see some of you all there.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Workout schedule for the weekend

Since there is no practice until Monday, here is the truncated workout plan for the coming days ...

Holy Thursday: Easy recovery distance, 7-11 miles. Strides optional.

Good Friday: Short, easy distance or OFF.

Holy Saturday: Road fartlek or track workout. 10km guys: 4x5min hard/3min easy. All others: 5-6x3 min hard/2 min easy. NOTE: If you have access to a track, call me or text me and I will give you an appropriate track workout.

Easter Sunday: Long run, 11-13 miles

Easter Monday: Practice at McCann, 2 pm

Snowing at Vassar

Gotta love outdoor track in the Northeast.

During our afternoon practice at the beautiful Vassar track today, it was snowing. Snowing! On April 8. Lovely.

Great job by the guys today. Most did 400-meter repeats. Some 10km guys did thresh 1000s. Despite the biting wind and white stuff, there were good efforts by all.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Sam Howell splits

In the order the races were run ...

FRIDAY NIGHT
3,000-meter steeplechase


John Keenan: 9:42.55
75, 2:27 (77), 3:42 (75), 5:00 (78), 6:21 (81), 7:40 (79), 9:01 (81), 9:42.55 (41.55). Comment: Solid season-opener. I'll be brutally honest when I say this was better than anticipated. You have restored faith in me! Let's end your college career with a bang.

Matt Janczyk: 9:52.04
74, 2:27 (73), 3:40 (73), 4:58 (78), 6:18 (80), 7:43 (85), 9:07 (84), 9:52.04 (45.04). Comment: You looked awesome early on but then crashed hard. You hung tough mentally in spite of the crash. We'll get your strength up and you will improve a lot.

1,500-meter run


Adam Vess: 3:49.61. School record. IC4A qualifying mark.
61.3, 2:03.4 (62.1), 3:04.5 (61.1), 3:49.61 (final 400m, 59.61). Comment: Solid race on tired legs. A good workout that didn't take a lot out of you. I think you can go a lot faster on rested legs.

NOTE: Thanks to Mike Holinko (HINKY) for his major assistance with the 5km and 10km split recording!

5,000-meter run


Matt Flint: 15:08.88. Personal-best time, outdoors.
71, 2:23 (72), 3:35 (72), 4:48 (73), 6:00 (72), 7:14 (74), 8:28 (74), 9:41 (73), 10:54 (73), 12:09 (75), 13:23 (74), 14:35 (72), 15:08.88 (33.88). Comment: Eh. Not bad. You really couldn't get untracked from the slowish groove from the start. And yet, you are still knocking on the door of sub-15:00. You just need to get the spark back. We'll work on that.

Nick Webster: 15:09.77. Personal-best time.
70, 2:23 (73), 3:35 (72), 4:48 (73), 6:00 (72), 7:15 (75), 8:29 (74), 9:42 (73), 10:55 (73), 12:09 (74), 13:23 (74), 14:35 (71), 15:09.77 (34.77). Comment: Ditto Flint comments. A nice PR for you, but just couldn't get untracked from a slightly slower than anticipated overall pace.

Curtis Jensen: 15:24.84. Personal-best time.
70.8, 2:21.0 (70.2), 3:33.0 (72.0), 4:47.4 (74.4), 5:59.7 (72.3), 7:14.1 (74.4), 8:28.6 (74.5), 9:42.7 (74.1), 10:57.4 (74.7), 12:13.5 (76.1), 13:30.7 (77.2), 14:47.8 (77.1), 15:24.84 (37.04). Comment: Really solid race. Obvious fade over the last mile, but you RACED very well. You can lower this by a significant amount next time. Nicely done.

Will Griffin: 15:54.10. Personal-best time (first time run)
71, 2:23 (72), 3:35 (72), 4:48 (73), 6:00 (72), 7:14 (74), 8:28 (74), 9:44 (76), 11:04 (80), 12:30 (86), 13:54 (84), 15:15 (81), 15:54.10 (39.10). Comment: Disaster. We'll fix.

10,000-meter run

Tim Keegan: 31:27.04.
74, 2:28 (74), 3:41 (73), 4:54 (73), 6:07 (73), 7:20 (73), 8:33 (73), 9:47 (74), 11:01 (74), 12:16 (75), 13:30 (74), 14:44 (74), 16:00 (76), 17:17 (77), 18:34 (77), 19:52 (78), 21:10 (78), 22:28 (78), 23:45 (77), 25:03 (78), 26:19 (76), 27:36 (77), 28:53 (77), 30:10 (77), 32:27.04 (77.04). 5km: 15:20. Comment: You were about 10 seconds too fast through the first 5km. In good conditions, this would not have been in an issue. In the wind, it shredded you. To your credit, you hung tough in the second half and did not fade, just maintained a slower tempo. All things considered, a tough effort by you that fell short of our goal.

Joe McElhoney: 32:08.47.
79, 2:35 (76), 3:50 (75), 5:04 (74), 6:20 (76), 7:36 (76), 8:51 (75), 10:07 (76), 11:20 (73), 12:42 (82), 14:00 (78), 15:19 (79), 16:36 (77), 17:53 (77), 10:11 (78), 20:28 (77), 21:46 (78), 23:05 (79), 24:25 (80), 25:45 (80), 27:04 (790, 28:21 (77), 29:39 (78), 30:57 (78), 32:08.47 (71.47). 5km: 15:59. Comment: Excellent race effort, especially after last week's lousy 5km. You were obviously erratic in the early splits, but you smoothed things out nicely and ran really tough over the final 5km.

David Raucci: 32:34.77.
77, 2:32 (75), 3:48 (76), 5:04 (76), 6:20 (76), 7:35 (75), 8:50 (75), 10:05 (75), 11:20 (75), 12:42 (82), 14:00 (78), 15:20 (80), 16:40 (80), 18:00 (80), 19:20 (80), 20:39 (79), 21:57 (78), 23:17 (80), 24:37 (80), 25:58 (81), 27:17 (79), 28:33 (76), 29:56 (83), 31:18 (82), 32:34.77 (76.77). Comments: Maybe those 75s early on were too fast? Oh well...

SATURDAY SPLITS

1,500-meter run

Conor Shelley: 4:06.32. Season-best.
67, 2:13 (66), 3:17 (64), 4:06.32 (64.32 final 400m). Comment: First of all, I must mention this for all those who were not there. Conor busted out the white-shorts/white-singlet look. Startling. It got stares and comments from coaches on the sidelines. I'm not kidding! Listen: When you dress like an ice-cream cone, you better run well. And Conor did that, leading his section wire to wire and bouncing back to decent form. You've still got a long way to go, but this was a huge step in the right direction. And hey: You run like that when you wear the white-white, you got my blessing. I'll just keep my head down and write the splits.

Colin Johnson: 4:07.43.
63.9, 2:10.5 (66.5), 3:17.5 (67), 4:07.43 (66.43 final 400m). Comment: Wind got to you big time at the end, but you hung tough and ran a solid time in those conditions.

Kyle Havard: 4:11.28. 68, 2:16 (68), 3:24 (68), 4:11.28. Comment: Solid, decent effort and nothing more.

Tom Lipari: 4:12.72. 68.0, 2:19.3 (71.3), 3:23.5 (64.2), 4:12.72 (final 400m, 64.72). Comment: Some ridiculous first section! Wicked slow and tactical. You switched gears well, but not well enough. Solid effort considering what you have been through the past few weeks.

Zak Smetana: 4:14.58. Personal-best time.
69, 2:17 (68), 3:23 (65), 4:14.58. Comment: Excellent effort out of event for you. Great job.

NOTE: With the following guys all in the same section, split-taking was impossible. Sorry.
Pat Duggan: 4:20.24.
Brian McCormick: 4:22.12.
Ryan Brown: 4:24.22.
Kris Geist: 4:26.32
Alex Emerel: 4:26.57.
Greg Masto: 4:36.40.
Trevor Thomas: 4:38.60.
Mike Holinko: 4:48.18.
Alex Lombardozzi: 5:14.00.

Blowin' in the wind

Sorry for the lack of posts.

Here's a quick summary from last weekend's Sam Howell Memorial Invitation at Princeton: IT WAS WINDY.

Really, really windy.

And this, at a track that blocks the wind really well!

On Friday night, the wind didn't get bad until the 25-lapper (10km). Too bad for those guys. Before that, for the steeple, 1500 and 5km, the wind was manageable and it was even a bit warm and humid.

The biggest individual highlight was Adam Vess breaking Chris (Chomps) McCloskey's SR in the 1500. Vess was running on tired legs from hard training. I told him, repeatedly, before the race: "Don't be stupid." He gave me one of those "yeah, yeah" nods and smirks, and I was certain he was going to blitz out like an idiot.

But he did not, ran smart and tough on tired legs and posted a 3:49.61, getting second only to Princeton's Michael Maag, who qualified for NCAA Regionals with his victory in 3:46.

On Friday night and then all day Saturday, the wind howled up to 40 mph. Hip numbers were rendered useless and they were literally ripped right off runners by the wind.

Anyway, I will get to posting the splits, hopefully at some point soon ...

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

West Point Dick Shea Open

Sorry for the delay in posting this stuff.

Congrats to pole vaulter Max Carow for his outdoor SR in the first meet. Max's dedication to his event is amazing. He and Justine Colabraro have been driving down to the "Pole Vault Barn" in Warwick, paying $30 to use that excellent facility run by the Warwick coach Tim St. Lawrence. For both of them, the results are obvious after each trip to The Barn. Again, that shows some serious dedication, and we appreciate it.

Anyway, here are the complete results, with splits where appropriate.

100-meter dash:
Mike McCloskey 12.07
Mike Cocca 12.10

200-meter dash:

Mike Cocca 23.97
Mike McCloskey 24.14
Neal Viets 25.03
James Boylan 26.31

400-meter dash

John Kristie 54.62
Alex Cuesta 55.07
Neal Viets 55.16
James Boylan 56.45

400-meter hurdles

Greg Dubois 1:01.29. Comment: Nice effort for first time ever in the event.

800-meter run

John Carabetta 2:04.65
Colin Frederickson 2:09.32

1,500-meter run


Nick Webster 4:04.90. Personal-best time
Splits: 63, 2:09 (66), 3:16 (67), 4:04.90 (last lap, 64.90). Comment: Nicely done for a steepler/long distance man. Great PR.

Colin Johnson 4:05.78. HUGE personal-best time
Splits: 63, 2:09 (66), 3:17 (68), 4:05.78 (last lap, 65.78). Comment: Holy schmokes! I would say the best breakthrough performance of your career, which has been filled with them. Nicely done!!

Curtis Jensen 4:07.65. Personal-best time
Splits: 64, 2:09 (65), 3:16 (67), 4:07.68 (last lap, 67.68). Comment: I know you weren't happy with this, but remember we are pointing toward the 5km. Basically, you don't have great miler turnover at the end of these races. This is not a big deal, and we can work on it. You are an even-split kind of guy. That works well for 5km. Just wait and see.

Kyle Havard 4:11.13. Personal-best time
Splits: 65, 2:12 (67), 3:20 (68), 4:11.13 (didn't get final 400m split). Comment: A solid, decent effort. Nothing special, good start to the season. Will get faster, much faster.

John Keenan 4:13.33.
Splits: 65, 2:13 (68), 3:23 (70), 4:13.33 (didn't get final 400m split). Comment: Blah. Especially the 70. Big blah. No biggie. This was a workout-type day for you. You must get much faster, very soon. You will.

Conor Shelley 4:13.63.
Splits: 63, 2:11 (68), 3:20 (69), 4:13.63 (didn't get final 400m split). Comment: Started out too fast! That's OK. I have faith this time will come down a lot. KEEP WORKING HARD AND BELIEVING.

Trevor Thomas 4:27.88.
Splits: 67, 2:16 (69), 3:29 (73), 4:27.88 (last lap, 76.88). Comment: Not great, but you gotta start somewhere!

Mike Holinko 4:49.24.
Splits: 70, 2:24 (74), 3:45 (81), 4:49.24 (last lap, 85.24). Comment: Started out good and went south in a hurry.

3,000 steeplechase

Kris Geist 10:17.14.
Splits: 77, 2:35 (78), 3:57 (82), 5:19 (82), 6:16 (85), 8:12 (86), 9:35 (83), 10:17.14. Comment: It's not often that I laugh at my athletes while they are racing, but during this one I couldn't help but giggle as you stumbled over the barrier right in front of me, just as I was gonna say "good job" or something. But here's the thing: This WAS a good job and other than some rocky form (understandable for your first steeple), you competed well from start to finish. I liked what I saw. Nicely done.

Greg Masto 10:34.38.
Splits: 76, 2:37 (81), 3:59 (82), 5:25 (86), 6:54 (89), 8:22 (88), 9:50 (88), 10:34.38. Comment: You started way too darn fast. But this was your best season-opening effort in your three years at Marist. Your form was decent for the first meet. Like Geist, I liked what I saw. Let's build on it.

5,000-meter run
(NOTE: Thanks to Geist for writing the splits down for me as my digits were starting to get cold as the wind and dark descended on Shea Stadium ...)

David Raucci 15:11.11
Splits: 73, 2:29 (76), 3:34 (74), 4:58 (75), 6:12 (74), 7:24 (72), 8:38 (74), 9:52 (74), 11:07 (75), 12:18 (71), 13:29 (71), 14:39 (71), 15:11.11 (32.11). Comment: Your dad had you at 63 for the final 400m. That's really good! You looked strong and in control the entire way, indicating your fitness but not necessarily your speed at this point. Thus, 10km next meet. Let's make this a fun outdoor season!

Zak Smetana 15:47.58
Splits: 71, 2:27 (76), 3:41 (74), 4:55 (74), 6:11 (76), 7:27 (76), 8:43 (76), 10:00 (77), 11:19 (79), 12:38 (79), 13:55 (77), 15:10 (75), 15:47.58 (37.58). Comment: A bit uneven but a solid first effort of the season.

Joe McElhoney 15:51.65
Splits: 72, 2:28 (76), 3:43 (75), 4:58 (75), 6:11 (73), 7:24 (73), 8:39 (75), 9:55 (76), 11:13 (78), 12:32 (79), 13:52 (80), 15:12 (80), 15:51.65 (39.65). Comment: Gotta start somewhere! I think you are more fit than this, but you showed some "race rust" as a result of these splits. You need to be a quick study, as this is a short season. I'm confident you'll get it together and race fast soon.

Alex Emerel 16:07.85
Splits: 72, 2:27 (75), 3:41 (74), 4:55 (74), 6:11 (76), 7:28 (77), 8:46 (78), 10:06 (80), 11:26 (80), 12:47 (81), 14:08 (81), 15:29 (81), 16:07.85 (78.85). Comment: Started fine, but the last 2km was not good at all!

Ryan Brown 16:27.91, personal-best time
Splits: 79, 2:37 (78), 3:56 (79), 5:15 (79), 6:34 (79), 7:55 (81), 9:15 (80), 10:35 (80), 11:55 (80), 13:16 (81), 14:35 (79), 15:51 (76), 16:27.91 (36.91). Comment: Outstanding first effort at this distance. I was very happy with this effort. Next time, we just have to minimize the 80s and 81s. Otherwise, great effort.


10,000-meter run


Patrick Duggan 33:32.44. Personal-best by 20 seconds.
Splits: 85, 2:46 (81), 4:06 (80), 5:26 (80), 6:45 (79), 8:06 (81), 9:24 (78), 10:42 (78), 12:00 (78), 13:20 (80), 14:39 (79), 15:59 (80), 17:20 (81), 18:39 (79), 19:58 (79), 21:17 (79), 22:37 (80), 24:00 (83), 26:43 (83), 28:08 (85), 29:31 (83), 30:55 (84), 32:17 (82), 33:32.44 (75.44). First 5km: 16:38; second 5km: 16:54.44. Comments: Very uneven first race, which is exactly why we did it. Didn't take much out of you, and you'll be ready for the next one, I'm certain of that.

Brian Townsend 33:55.24. Personal-best (first time running the event).
Splits: 85, 2:45 (80), 4:06 (81), 5:26 (80), 6:45 (79), 8:06 (81), 9:24 (78), 10:42 (78), 11:59 (77), 13:16 (77), 14:35 (79), 15:56 (81), 17:17 (81), 18:39 (82), 20:02 (83), 21:24 (82), 22:48 (84), 24:11 (83), 25:36 (85), 27:00 (84), 28:23 (83), 29:47 (84), 31:11 (84), 32:33 (82), 33:55.24 (82.55). First 5km: 16:34; second 5km: 17:21.24. Comment: Like Duggan, I'm glad you got this nonsense out of the way and now you'll know how to race better next time. And you will!

4x100 relay: Mike Cocca, Colin Frederickson, John Kristie, Mike McCloskey. 45.08

4x400 relay: Mike Cocca, John Carabetta, John Kristie, Greg Dubois. 3:38.59

Pole vault: Max Carow 4.25 meters (school record, old record 4.12 meters, Max Carow, 2008)

Javelin: Tom DeVaney 35.79 meters. Comment: Nice job in first time doing the event.

Discus: James Fitzgerald 37.38 meters. Comment: Good start to season.
Tom DeVaney 31.20 meters