IC4A Day 1

3,000-meter run: 11th place of 33 runners

Will Griffin 8:20.21
34.3, 68.9 (34.6), 1:43.3 (34.4), 2:17.5 (34.2), 2:50.5 (33.0)
3:24.7 (34.2), 3:58.3 (33.6), 4:31.1 (32.8), 5:04.1 (33.0), 5:37.1 (33.0)
6:11.1 (34.0), 6:43.8 (32.7), 7:15.4 (31.6), 7:48.2 (32.8), 8:20.21 (32.01)
Kilometer splits: 2:50.5, 2:46.6, 2:43.21

Post-race analysis from the hotel room:

This one falls into the “be careful what you wish for” category. As I was discussing with Marist Running alum Mike G during the race, our runners have progressed to the point where we don’t just want to qualify for IC4As but rather qualify fast enough to be in the faster section of distance races. So when Will Griffin ran his 8:17 back in January at the BU Terrier meet, we were satisfied that time would be enough to get him in the “hot heat” at ICs.

And it was!

But wait!

The hot heat … well, it wasn’t so hot.

Check out those early lap splits. Putrid. It wasn’t Will’s fault. No one would take the pace. Will actually took the lead early in the race. No one wanted to move. A tactical race, a personal pet peeve. Especially since the first, supposedly slower, heat was pretty quick. And as it turned out, two runners from the “slow heat” scored on this day.

Will did the best he could. He really did. Look at that impressive stepdown progression in his kilometer splits. Really solid stuff. But going through the early laps and the first 1600 meters at a rather pedestrian 4:31.1 robbed Will of the ability to go sub-8:15, which we felt he was ready to do. Ah, well. It’s a missed opportunity, through no fault of his own.

Will had a great indoor track season and he should be proud of his efforts. I know I am. Nicely done.

DMR: 22nd place of 25 teams

10:13.56
Ben Windisch, 1200 in 3:06.4
31, 62 (31), 1:32 (30), 2:03 (31), 2:35 (32), 3:06.4 (31.4)
John Kristie, 400 in 52.2
Kyle Havard, 800 in 1:57.7
27, 57 (30), 1:27 (30), 1:57.7 (30.7)
Billy Posch, 1600 in 4:17.1
31, 64 (33), 1:36 (32), 2:08 (32), 2:40 (32), 3:12 (32), 3:45 (33), 4:17.1 (32.1)

Post-race analysis from the hotel room:

Over morning coffee with Coach Horton, I analyzed this race. I figured if we could run around 10:15 or faster, we could have a good day. Here were my estimated/goal splits for our athletes: Windisch 3:06 (check); Kristie 51-point (close enough); Havard 1:57-point (check); Posch sub-4:20 (check). So on paper, it was a successful relay. But there is more to this story.

Freshman Ben Windisch ran a great leg, about as fast as we could have hoped. And yet … he handed off in dead last and out of the race. It was a great effort, but we were in a buzzsaw section with much faster teams.

Which makes the middle legs by senior John Kristie and junior Kyle Havard all the more impressive. The boys were truly in no-man’s land, and still raced tough and hit their splits. By the time Kyle handed off to Billy, Billy had the Fordham anchor leg within sight, which gave him something to run for. And as you see, he had himself a nice, PR-effort leg to cap off the relay

So overall, a good relay effort from top to bottom.

Sunday in Boston will consist of the women’s DMR at ECACs/Reggie Lewis Center at 1 p.m., and the men’s 5,000 back at BU with Quimes DelaCruz and Kenny Walshak at 1:40 p.m. I will update with results, splits and comments upon arrival back in Poughkeepsie.