MAAC XC women's results/comments

MAAC Championships
Friday, October 29, 2010
Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison, CT

Women’s team standings:

1-Iona 21, 2-Canisius 58, 3-Loyola 71, 4-Marist 106, 5-Fairfield 156, 6-Niagara 181, 7-Rider 185, 8-Manhattan 205, 9-St. Peter’s 259, 10-Siena 259

Marist individual finishers

5-Kiersten Anderson 21:43.5 (5:50 pace) *All-MAAC; top freshman finisher in meet
23-Briana Crowe 22:50.5 (6:08 pace)
27-Katie Messina 22:56.5 (6:09 pace)
29-Erin O’Reilly 23:00.4 (6:11 pace)
31-Kathryn Sheehan 23:03.8 (6:11 pace)
39-Jillian Corley 23:19.5 (6:16 pace)
49-Julie Hudak 23:36.5 (6:20 pace)
58-Allyson O’Brien 24:02.1 (6:27 pace)
60-Tara Nuccitelli 24:03.8 (6:27 pace)
62-Kara Lightowler 24:06.3 (6:28 pace)
66-Kelley Gould 24:15.8 (6:31 pace)
67-Kelley Hanifin 24:20.1 (6:32 pace)
70-Elizabeth O’Brien 24:26.1 (6:34 pace)
71-Dayna McLaughlin 24:30.8 (6:35 pace)
75-Kim Bartlett 24:44.2 (6:38 pace)
79-Becca Denise 24:50.2 (6:40 pace)
89-Miy Mahran 25:14.8 (6:47 pace)
91-Laura Lindsley 25:22.6 (6:49 pace)
96-Rachel Lichtenwalner 25:48.5 (6:56 pace)
98-Colleen Smith 25:52.3 (6:57 pace)
104-Natalie Rowland 26:21.0 (7:05 pace)
123-Erin Quadros 30:42.4 (8:15 pace)

General meet comments:

We are obviously not at full strength, nor have we been all season. I will not document that and look like I am trying to make excuses; that’s not our style, and I know our ladies would have little tolerance for it.

Again, I tend to defer to Coach Chuck to provide personal feedback and commentary to the ladies in person or in writing. But since this is my blog and I am the sole author, allow me to chime in with my three or four cents …

1-Freshman Kiersten Anderson ran a gutsy and fearless race up front. She went out with the big dogs right from the gun and hung in there. Like Kenny on the men’s side, she was the top freshman finisher in the meet, and that’s cool. She faded a bit at the end, and I know she wasn’t thrilled at that. But she did the job as our lead runner, and she did it with the toughness and class that we have come to expect of her in the short time she has been here. Nicely done!

2-I know Chuck was not pleased with the final team placement, and neither was I. But I will say this: Even at our current best, I’m not sure we could have hung with a Canisius team that was just downright impressive. They were ahead of us at Albany, but they were even better here at MAACs. And Loyola ran a strong race as well, probably their best team effort of the season. So it was as much (if not more) of a case of the teams in front of us snatching it as our ladies not getting it, if that makes any sense.

3-I’m personally proud of junior Kathryn Sheehan. She remains off her best, but she continues to plug away and give us her best effort. She had double compartment syndrome surgery in March and the recovery from that remains slow and steady. As a baseball guy, I would compare this to a pitcher recovering from Tommy John Surgery. It takes a long time to fully recover. But Kathryn gives us her best each and every practice and meet, and this meet was no exception. It is noticed, and it is appreciated.

4-Junior Briana Crowe continued her excellent season with her best race of the year, in my opinion. Nice job, BREE! Our other varsity ladies ran well but not well enough. I know they can do better; I know they were not pleased. But the great news is, we have more season left, so let’s get after it!

A note on the photos: Thanks to Kelley's mom, Kathy Gould, for sending them in. The last one is a little fuzzy, but it is Coach Chuck on his mountain bike, which he used to get all around the course. A great idea!