Above is a cool picture from the Van Cortlandt Park Tortoise and Hare statue by the finish line of our Mets Men’s Team from yesterday (minus two guys who left early for home to beat the traffic). It’s a cool photo, a rare decent shot taken by this old coach.
For those keeping score at home, here are the fine team members photographed, starting from lower left and moving around:
Freshman Doug (Silent Speedstar) Ainscow
Sophomore Brendan (Man, This Beard Is Itchy) Green
Freshman Isaiah (From Beam Team to Dream Team) Miller
Freshman Patrick (Yo, Can We Get to Dunkin’ Donuts Already, Coach?) Deedy
Sophomore Will (The Mayor of Shaker and All of Section Two) Schanz
Freshman Billy (The Fresh Prince of Leo Hall) Hild
Missing from photo, but not from a fine day at Vanny, were:
Freshman Nick (The Phillies Are The Best Team of All Time) Salek
Sophomore Mike (Feelin’ Fast With a Fresh Q-Cut) Keegan (aka Meegan)
Onto Friday’s meet analysis. First off, after Coach Horton (thanks for driving down, Terry!) and I somehow easily found parking off 251st Street (what the heck, we DID get there quite early), one of the ladies pointed out how “weird” it was to have so few athletes traveling and competing. It was a bit unusual, but it had me recalling the “old days” when Phil and I started coaching, when we would routinely each drive our own vans with only 8, 9 or 10 athletes in the back.
It is a testament to how large this program has grown that the athletes listed below who ran represent just a small fraction of our entire squad. And if the NCAA has its way, such tiny, van-like squads may become the norm of the future. More on that in a later post, perhaps …
OK, here is my two-bit analysis of each individual race …
Kiersten Anderson 18:49. Crushed the back hills after a slower-than-normal start in which you were clogged up in race traffic. Good hills, good effort.
Kathryn Sheehan 19:53. The back hills were a different story for you, but altogether another huge step in the right direction. You looked and raced much better than two weeks ago at Fairfield, and that is awesome.
Jillian Corley 20:24. Eh, not great and not terrible. Just kind of there. You looked solid finishing, but overall a so-so performance.
Allyson O’Brien 20:29. Definitely a decent performance all around, though you were not pleased with it entirely.
Elizabeth O’Brien 21:25. Ditto Allyson, although it is not lost on me how much improvement you have had since a rough freshman year!
Tara Nuccitelli 21:36. Not that great after what seemed to be a strong start. Back hills seemed a bit rough. Let’s build on it and move on.
Men’s results
Isaiah Miller 28:01. Seemed like that 5:01 opening mile was blazing fast, but you pointed out it was not. Perhaps you overcompensated on the second mile (or perhaps the mile markers are not accurate?), but overall I feel you can do much better than this.
Patrick Deedy 28:13. Considering your Achilles was barking BEFORE the race, I thought this effort was splendid. We’re just going to have to manage the rest of the season and get you through it. Nice job.
Will Schanz 28:25. Solid effort from start to finish. In typical Schanz fashion, you of course down-played this and feel you could have (and will) do much better. I like the attitude.
Nick Salek 28:31. Very solid effort. You said you overcompensated for opening fast mile by a slower 2nd mile, but overall a good effort and strong finish.
Mike Keegan 28:35. Your race was similar to Kathryn … you can do better, but a huge step in the right direction. The new haircut should help, too! Seriously, good to see you back closer to form.
Doug Ainscow 28:48. An overall solid race. Can it be better? Yes. But it was a good start at the 8km distance.
Billy Hild 30:18. Well, this was way off what we were hoping for, and frankly, the shape you are in. Perhaps it was the heat, but I will not make excuses for it. Just needs to be better.
Brendan Green 31:11. Come on, man! You were faster in tempo at Vassar Farms, for heaven’s sake. Similar to Billy, way off your fitness level. Must be fixed at Albany, and should be.
OK. Time to pack the backpack for what promises to be a slow and painful 26.2 in the morning.
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