IC4A/ECAC, Day 1: Quick highlights

It was a great night under the lights at Princeton for the distance squad on Friday night.

The last race of the night provided us with the most notable highlight, as junior Will Griffin placed sixth in a tough 10,000-meter race, finishing in 30:15.92. Will’s sixth-place finish earned him a scoring spot and IC4A All-East honors. It is the first All-East/scorer we have had in Marist history at the outdoor IC4A meet.

Will did it the hard way, with a negative-split effort. His first 5km was covered in 15:15, and his second 5km was covered in 15:00 – including a sizzling last-lap surge of 65.3 seconds. It was a race of surges, a tough 25-lap battle and Will did a fantastic job in ending what has been a challenging year for him on a very high note.

In the first race of the evening, junior Quimes DelaCruz placed 11^th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:09.78. Although it was not a personal-best time for Quimes, it is the highest finish in school history in this event, and it capped off another strong year of racing for him.

Finally, it was great and gratifying to see Addie DiFrancesco go out with her second-fastest 10,000-meter time ever, placing 11^th in 36:28.57. Much like Will’s race, this was a race of pace changes and surges. Addie was leading the race early on, as the early pace was relatively slow. When the pace inevitably shifted, Addie hung tough and ran a strong, season-best performance.

This was Addie’s third 10,000-meter run in about four weeks. Remarkably, she has gotten faster with each one: Mt. SAC (37:02.53); MAAC (36:33.98) and ECAC (36:28.57). Keep in mind that the MAAC 10km was just six days ago, and that makes this race all the more remarkable.

In fact, the whole night was remarkable, and our athletes should be proud of their efforts. I will follow up with splits and more details when I can.

IC4A Championships

Friday, May 11, 2012

Princeton University

10,000-meter run

6. Will Griffin 30:15.92 *IC4A All-East

3,000-meter steeplechase

11. Arquimedes DelaCruz 9:09.78

ECAC Championships

Friday, May 11, 2012

Princeton University

10,000-meter run

11. Addie DiFrancesco 36:28.57