Thursday, May 19, 2011

75 more laps ...

The start lists for NCAA Regionals came out today. Will Griffin is the 23rd seed in the 10,000 meters at the East Regional next Thursday at Indiana University. There are 48 runners in the race, which basically amounts to the National Semifinal at that distance. Much more on that, and the trip to IU, as the journey draws closer to reality.

Sadly, our steeplers – Quimes DelaCruz on the men’s side and Brittany Burns on the women’s side – did not make the cut for regionals. It’s not really a huge surprise. Quimes was 60th on the descending order list and Britt was 68th on the list. The top 48 declared athletes move on to Regionals.

Both of these athletes should be proud of their seasons, as we are. The future is bright for Quimes. And so too for Britt, who after 5 years of dedication, loyalty and record-breaking efforts for our program will be sorely missed by this old coach. I know she plans on running post-collegiately, and I bet she will tear it up out there.

After Will’s race at Regionals next week, all that is left of the 2011 track season are our two USA Junior qualifiers in the 10,000 meters – freshmen Isaiah Miller and Nick Hughes. They race in late June out at Oregon.

So there you have it: Three more 10km races, totaling 75 laps of Marist Running for what has been a truly memorable 2010-2011.

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