I said it before, I'll say it again: After two storms in two weeks that ravaged the eastern shoreline, all credit goes to the Fairfield and Yale athletic department staffs for a fantastic job staging the NCAA Regionals today at Hammonasset Beach State Park in Madison, Conn. It was a solid and strong day for the Running Red Foxes. We are proud of our team's efforts.
On the women's side, we improved six spots from 2011 and finished 17th overall. This was accomplished despite having sophomore Erin Thompson fall hard early in the race. Erin ran in terrible pain the entire race. Her legs were scraped up really badly. Her left arm/wrist hung limp, a severe bruise that race medics thought was so bad they sent her via ambulance to the ER to rule out a fracture. Fortunately, there was no fracture. Her toughness epitomized the day for the ladies, as they worked hard and together on a course that was muddied up by recent snow. How about sophomore Michelle Gaye, with a school record time in the 6km course in 21:28.1? GREAT STUFF. But again, across the board, our women ran great and we have much to be proud of.
On the men's side, we had three runners in the top 100 and we placed 13th in an ultra-competitive field. This was a seven-place improvement from 20th in 2011. Senior captain Quimes DelaCruz placed 26th overall -- missed all-region by less than 2 seconds! -- and was a true team leader for us out there today. Only one runner, Mike Melfi, had a higher finish for us in this meet, 25th in 1998. Quimes was two spots better than Girma Segni's 28th place finish in 2006 at Franklin Park. A great run for Q! Freshman Ryan Colabella came up big for the team with his 69th place finish, and junior captain Kenny Walshak cracked the top 100 in 85th place.
Our support was phenomenal as usual. Recent program alum Ryan Fitzsimons surprised us and it was great to have him there. Joel Moss' parents, Jay and Lisa, get major extra credit points for all the post-race food they provided -- not to mention their incredible loyalty for driving all the way out from central New York to support Joel and the team. Nicely done! Team members that sacrificed their Thursday night and Friday to help and support us will not be forgotten: Will, Kelley, Hild, Matty P. And of course, all the alums, teammates and friends who were blowing up my ancient cell phone with texts ... your support and interest is always, always, always cherished.
Results will be posted here soon. I'm sure you can find them all over the Internet as well. Our programs should be proud of the women and men today. To use a well-worn Coach Pete cliche: NICELY DONE.
No comments:
Post a Comment