What's next: Armory Collegiate Invitational

On Friday and Saturday, a handful of Marist track athletes will be competing at the Armory Collegiate Invitational (the New Balance meet, but I guess NB is not sponsoring it this year?). Anyway, it’s the same, big meet that we have attended for many years. The majority of our team is training hard through this week in preparation for our final two full team meets of the season – Valentine Invitational at Boston University, and MAACs at the Armory. Yes. Indoor track has flown by, for sure. Here is a list of events in which we have athletes competing the next two days:

Friday, 10:40 a.m.: Men’s 60-meter hurdle heats

Friday, 11:25 a.m.: Men’s 60-meter dash heats

Friday, 8:16 p.m.: Women’s DMR

Friday, 8:28 p.m.: Men’s DMR

Saturday, 10:36 a.m.: Men’s mile

Saturday, 5:02 p.m.: Men’s 4x800

Notes from the caboose of the Baby Boom

Baby Boomers, as a demographic, are defined as those born between the years 1946 and 1964. Based on that relatively wide swath of time, I happen to fall at the very end of the Baby Boom, having been born toward the tail end of 1964. But culturally, everything about my world -- from the time I was born until now -- has been defined and measured by this generation of which I am a fringe member at best. Speaking of being at the tail end, I am the youngest of four children. Extend that further, and I am the youngest of eight cousins – my father was an only child, so there are no cousins on that side; my mother has a sister (my aunt), who also had four children. Now, the eight of us – my three siblings and my four cousins – range in age from 48 (that would be me, 49 later this year) all the way up to 60-plus. We are aging boomers, as the entire demographic gets gray. But again, I am on the young side of it and I do not fit neatly into the cultural mores and shifts that have defined the Baby Boom generation.

--When Boomers were “coming of age” as hippies in the Peace/Love era of the late 1960s, I was just entering grade school. “By the time we got to Woodstock …” I was probably playing T-ball.

--When Boomers grew up, shed the flowers in their hair and the vinyl albums and the lava lamps, and starting making serious coin as “yuppies” in the 1980s, I was graduating from high school, entering college and trying to find my way early in my career.

--Now, as Boomers start retiring and typically denying the inevitable aging process and the march of time, I am still not quite there. The thought of retirement for me is a fuzzy mystery, what with a first-grader at the tail end of our family.

So yeah. Technically, I’m a Boomer, but I am really not. But again, my childhood is filled with memories and is shaped to its core by this very generation and the Greatest Generation that spawned us. My cousins, my siblings and I grew up in two very Italian families in the Bronx. My family bolted for Jersey the year before I was born. Of the eight of us, seven were born in Da Bronx and I’m the only Jersey boy. But still, my childhood included many ethnic holiday celebrations, many of them in Da Bronx. I remember Christmases that were very loud and smoky, with adults yelling in some bastardized combination of Italian and English. No one was mad at each other, per se. They were just yelling to be heard, over ridiculously obnoxious Italian music played on scratchy turntables, because everyone was talking at the same time. Wine and booze flowed freely among the adults, and second-hand smoke was plentiful. Driving across the GW Bridge in a very full station wagon, I most definitely did not have a car seat as a toddler and later most definitely did not use seat belts. We rode our bikes without helmets. I am not proud of any of these facts, but we all survived into adulthood, and these memories shaped who we are and who we became.

Why am I bringing all of this up, here and now? As always, we are drawn to times of introspection during key moments in life – weddings and funerals being two of them. And so there I was in Carmel the other night for the funeral service of my oldest cousin’s oldest child – my second cousin, gone way too soon at age 35. I remember when she was born. I went to her First Communion. I have seen her at weddings and funerals, but we were not all that close; in fact, to be honest, I barely knew her. Still, when news of her passing was posted on Facebook and my wife saw it, it was jarring indeed. At the service, I caught up with my cousins. As a group, we are getting old and gray indeed, but we are making our way in life. We all noted with chagrin that the funerals are where we seem to get together anymore. Any funeral is a sad occasion. A funeral for someone’s child, relatively early in adulthood and unexpected, can be crushing. My oldest cousin lost her baby. Even as she edges closer to old age in her early 60s, the sting is just as real. I saw my cousin’s children, many of them adults now as well. I told them all that I remembered when they were born, probably went to their baptisms or Communions. One of the younger ones is a senior in high school, and just submitted his application to Marist for admission. Small world. This next generation has dealt with loss as we all have, in the form of grandparents, aunts, uncles. On this night, they were mourning their oldest cousin.

My second cousin was a college professor, teaching creative writing. She had just recently started to pursue her PhD in the field. The hugs and the sobs of her mother, my oldest cousin, were very real and extremely emotional. One of my cousins, in her sadness, commented on how she wished she could just “turn back time” so that her niece could still be here, so that we could all be those young Italian kids in the Bronx again. It’s a common sentiment, but alas things do not work that way. Upon leaving, we all vowed to stay in touch and stop meeting this way; we vowed to take better care of ourselves. Driving home in the misty darkness through Putnam and Dutchess counties, the thought that occurred to me then -- as it did last year at this time, when we were dealing with a sudden loss of our own -- was to live in the moment and cherish each moment with each other, because we never know how long it will last, or if it will be our last, with those around us. The thoughts for this post came to me during this drive home. As I finish typing it here and now, it occurs to me that this hasty, 1,000-word essay is probably an appropriate way to honor the memory of a writer, the second cousin I did not know well and who left the family way too soon.

BU Terrier: A school record goes down

David Marthy's school record and IC4A qualifier in the 1,000-meter run was remarkable in several ways. He ran the time in the fourth section, winning the section by a lot. Why was he in Section 4? Ask his coach? Oh wait. That would be ME! OK. Here’s why. I seeded David at 2:28. Wow, you’re thinking, that’s pretty smart and accurate seeding. The problem is, most coaches (myself included), tend to seed much more aggressively (which is a nice way of saying that we lie about our athletes’ predicted performances). As a result of this honest and accurate seeding, David had to do the bulk of the work on his own in this race. The last lap of the race, he was hammering away as hard as he could, one man against the clock. His competition in the fourth section was nowhere in sight. As a result, David earned this record fair and square, and it was probably more difficult than had he been in there with other athletes who were actually running 2:28 or faster, in each of the three faster sections. But such is life, and David made the best of the situation; we admire and expect such an effort from all our athletes.

His record knocks Marist alum Bryan Quinn from the record books in that event, which makes the mark a bittersweet moment. Quinn was part of a real glory era of Marist track, one in which many records were set, and he was part of many of those marks. Quinn was part of the middle distance crew that paved the way for our program to get exposed to the Millrose Games (when it was a really big deal at Madison Square Garden, as opposed to just another big-deal meet at the Armory). Quinn’s career arc was quite unique. He and Mike Bamberger were record-setting runners at Northport High School under their coach, Marist alum Tim Dearie. Bambi came to Marist, while Quinn chose a big-time, Big East school. He decided he was not happy there and he transferred here after his freshman year. That decision was not only mutually beneficial on and off the track. It also forged a lifetime of memories and friendships that we all cherish to this day.

Quinn was very possessive of his 1,000-meter record for a while. But age and perspective have softened his view and further hardened his loyalty to Marist Running. There was a time when he would be tracking the path of our athletes, and sending me texts like, “You’re not gonna drop Vess down to the 1,000, are you?” after Adam Vess was ripping it up in the mile a few years’ back. Then, when Marthy came along, he saw the writing on the wall. Before this season started, I told him our goal was to get Marthy into ICs in the 1,000 and go after the record. This was not an attempt to break Bryan’s record for the sake of breaking the record; it was more a case of the five-lap race being a great distance for David, based on his strong ability in the 1,200-meter DMR leg. Quinn gave his blessing before the season, saying it was time for a new era of Foxes to make their mark. After David’s record-setting run yesterday, Quinn texted me the following: “Wow. Awesome. Good for him, good for you. Great for the program. Foxes! Extend my sincere congrats.”

Thanks to guys like Bryan Quinn, school-record marks are much harder to come by. The bar has been raised high by previous generations, and our athletes continue their never-ending quest to raise the bar even higher.

BU Terrier: Men's highlights

After the Rupp excitement in the middle of the meet, it was time for our middle- and long-distance runners to take to the track. Their performances highlighted an overall strong meet for the men’s team. Here are some highlights.

Personal-best times were recorded by the following athletes in the following events: Freshman Alex Cunningham (200-meter dash); Bryan Buttigieg (800), David Marthy (1,000, school record and IC4A qualifier); Mark Vuono (1,000); Charlie Ropes (mile); Ryan Scrudato (3,000); Johnny Lee (3,000); Will Griffin (5,000, IC4A qualifier); Billy Hild (5,000). In addition, Quimes DelaCruz qualified for IC4As in the 5km.

BU Terrier: A memorable afternoon with Rupp in the house

 The Boston University track was rockin’ on Saturday afternoon in the middle of the Terrier Invitational, as Olympic medalist and American record holder Galen Rupp -- and his legendary coach, Alberto Salazar -- were in the house for an invitational mile. Rupp rocked the place by running the mile in 3:50.92 – a five-second facility record, and he split 3:34.78 for 1,500 meters en route). I’ve spent a lot of time in that building, and I can never recall it being that packed and that loud. It was truly a special track moment.

Here are some pictures of the day from Kathy Gould: Rupp in front of the Marist contingent; Rupp glad-handing the Marist track fans; Kelley Gould beaming with an autographed copy of Salazar’s new book. Good stuff all around.

BU Terrier Invitational: Men's results

Just wanted to post these quickly; results and splits were typed on the bus ride home, so if there are errors or discrepancies, let me know. A solid day and night for the men. More thoughts and statistics after a few hours' sleep ...

Terrier Invitational

Boston University

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Men’s results

60-meter hurdles

45-Alex Cunningham 8.93

73-Robert Marone 10.09

200-meter dash

93-Alex Cunningham 22.94

170-Zach Berzal 24.61

172-Robert Marone 24.71

400-meter dash

123-Zach Berzal 53.00

141-Connor Dodge 56.11

800-meter run

47-Matt Panebianco 1:56.51

27.2, 56.4 (29.2), 1:26.2 (29.8), 1:56.51 (30.31)

77-Bryan Buttigieg 1:59.27

28.2, 57.5 (29.3), 1:27.7 (30.2), 1:59.27 (31.57)

114-Isaiah Miller 2:03.73

28.0, 58.5 (30.5), 1:31.0 (32.5), 2:03.73 (32.73)

116-Kyle Hannafin 2:03.89

28.6, 59.4 (30.8), 1:31.1 (31.7), 2:03.89 (32.79)

1,000-meter run

11-David Marthy 2:28.31 *school record, IC4A qualifier

28.2, 57.7 (29.5), 1:27.9 (30.2), 1:58.2 (30.3), 2:28.31 (30.11)

33-Mark Vuono 2:32.86

30, 61 (31), 1:32 (31), 2:02 (30), 2:32.86 (30.86)

55-Ty Gamble 2:42.02

29.9, 60.3 (30.4), 1:33.9 (33.6), 2:07.0 (33.1), 2:42.02 (35.02) (note: Ty got caught up in a tangle in the third lap and fell hard to the track; he got right back up and finished as hard as he could, but obviously this had a big effect on his time)

Mile run

112-Charlie Ropes 4:31.23

33, 68 (35), 1:42 (34), 2:16 (34), 2:50 (34), 3:25 (35), 4:00 (35), 4:31.23 (31.23)

3,000-meter run

79-Ryan Scrudato 8:47.63

35, 70 (35), 1:45 (35), 2:20 (35), 2:55 (35)

3:31 (36), 4:06 (35), 4:41 (35), 5:17 (36), 5:52 (35)

6:28 (36), 7:03 (35), 7:39 (36), 8:14 (35), 8:47.63 (33.63)

Kilometer splits: 2:55, 2:57, 2:55.63

53-Johnny Lee 8:52.55

33, 68 (35), 1:44 (36), 2:19 (35), 2:55 (36)

3:31 (36), 4:07 (36), 4:43 (36), 5:19 (36), 5:55 (36)

6:31 (36), 7:07 (36), 7:43 (37), 8:19 (36), 8:52.55 (33.55)

Kilometer splits: 2:55, 3:00, 2:57.55

102-Ian Dorset 8:54.58

35, 71 (36), 1:46 (35), 2:21 (35), 2:56 (35)

3:31 (35), 4:08 (37), 4:43 (35), 5:19 (36), 5:56 (37)

6:32 (36), 7:09 (37), 7:45 (36), 8:21 (36), 8:54.58 (33.58)

Kilometer splits: 2:56, 3:00, 2:58.58

112-Pat Rynkowski 8:59.68

34, 70 (36), 1:45 (35), 2:20 (35), 2:55 (35)

3:30 (35), 4:06 (36), 4:41 (35), 5:17 (36), 5:53 (36)

6:30 (37), 7:07 (37), 7:45 (38), 8:21 (36), 8:59.68 (38.68)

Kilometer splits: 2:55, 2:58, 3:06.68

5,000-meter run

4-Will Griffin 14:29.43 *IC4A qualifier

32, 68 (36), 1:42 (34), 2:17 (35), 2:52 (35)

3:27 (35), 4:01 (34), 4:35 (34), 5:10 (35), 5:44 (34)

6:18 (34), 6:54 (36), 7:29 (35), 8:04 (35), 8:39 (35)

9:14 (35), 9:48 (34), 10:24 (36), 10:59 (35), 11:36 (37)

12:13 (37), 12:49 (36), 13:24 (35), 13:57 (33), 14:29.43 (34.43)

Kilometer splits: 2:52, 2:54, 2:55, 2:57, 2:53.43

12-Arquimedes DelaCruz 14:39.54 *IC4A qualifier

32, 67 (35), 1:42 (35), 2:16 (34), 2:52 (36)

3:26 (34), 4:01 (35), 4:35 (34), 5:10 (35), 5:44 (34)

6:18 (34), 6:54 (36), 7:30 (36), 8:06 (36), 8:42 (36)

9:17 (35), 9:53 (36), 10:29 (36), 11:06 (37), 11:41 (35)

12:17 (36), 12:54 (37), 13:31 (37), 14:07 (36), 14:39.54 (32.54)

Kilometer splits: 2:52, 2:52, 2:58, 2:59, 2:58.54

17-Ken Walshak 14:48.85

33, 68 (35), 1:43 (35), 2:19 (36), 2:53 (34)

3:29 (36), 4:03 (34), 4:37 (34), 5:12 (35), 5:47 (35)

6:22 (35), 6:57 (35), 7:33 (36), 8:08 (35), 8:44 (36)

9:19 (35), 9:55 (36), 10:31 (36), 11:08 (37), 11:44 (36)

12:21 (37), 12:57 (36), 13:34 (37), 14:11 (37), 14:48.85 (37.85)

Kilometer splits: 2:53, 2:54, 2:57, 3:00, 3:04.85

31-Joel Moss 15:04.55

36, 74 (36), 1:49 (35), 2:24 (35), 3:00 (36)

3:35 (35), 4:11 (36), 4:47 (36), 5:23 (37), 5:59 (36)

6:35 (36), 7:11 (36), 7:47 (36), 8:24 (37), 9:01 (37)

9:38 (37), 10:14 (36), 10:51 (37), 11:28 (37), 12:04 (36)

12:42 (38), 13:20 (38), 13:57 (37), 14:32 (35), 15:04.55 (32.55)

Kilometer splits: 3:00, 2:59, 3:02, 3:03, 3:00.55

45-Billy Hild 15:19.45

35, 71 (36), 1:48 (37), 2:25 (37), 3:01 (36)

3:36 (35), 4:12 (36), 4:48 (36), 5:25 (37), 6:01 (36)

6:38 (37), 7:14 (36), 7:51 (37), 8:28 (37), 9:05 (37)

9:42 (37), 10:19 (37), 10:57 (38), 11:34 (37), 12:12 (38)

12:49 (37), 13:27 (38), 14:04 (37), 14:43 (39), 15:19.45 (36.45)

Kilometer splits: 3:01, 3:00, 3:04, 3:07, 3:07.45

46-Mark Valentino 15:22.18

36, 72 (36), 1:49 (37), 2:25 (36), 3:01 (36)

3:37 (36), 4:13 (36), 4:49 (36), 5:25 (36), 6:01 (36)

6:38 (37), 7:13 (35), 7:49 (36), 8:26 (37), 9:02 (36)

9:38 (36), 10:16 (38), 10:53 (37), 11:32 (39), 12:11 (39)

12:49 (38), 13:28 (39), 14:08 (40), 14:45 (37), 15:22.18 (37.18)

Kilometer splits: 3:01, 3:00, 3:01, 3:09, 3:11.18

60-Justin Tampellini 16:07.53

36, 72 (36), 1:49 (37), 2:26 (37), 3:02 (36)

3:38 (36), 4:14 (36), 4:51 (37), 5:28 (37), 6:06 (38)

6:43 (37), 7:22 (39), 8:01 (39), 8:40 (39), 9:21 (41)

10:01 (40), 10:41 (40), 11:23 (42), 12:04 (41), 12:46 (42)

13:27 (41), 14:07 (40), 14:48 (41), --, 16:07.53

Kilometer splits: 3:02, 3:04, 3:15, 3:25, 3:21.53

Long jump

43-Andrew Rokoszak 5.48 meters (17 feet, 11.75 inches)

Triple jump

29-Andrew Rokoszak 12.49 meters (40 feet, 11.5 inches)

BU Terrier Invitational: Women's results

It was a very positive night for our women’s track team at the Boston University Terrier Invitational. We had two individual ECAC qualifiers: Kristen Traub in the 1,000-meter run and Michelle Gaye in the 3,000-meter run. We had some excellent personal-best times from some of our longest-running, most dedicated ladies in recent memory: Kathryn Sheehan in the 3,000, Katie Messina in the 5,000, and Kelley Gould in the 5,000.

Please allow me to start by especially mentioning Kelley Gould, a loyal blog follower and even more loyal team member. Kell just completed her first week of student teaching this week. Through the years, student teaching has proven to be a tough and stressful time for our athletes, but obviously it is very important to their future in developing into the fine educators that I know they will be. Anyway, Kell student-taught all day, and then got a ride from her parents from Poughkeepsie to Boston, and then ran the 5km at the end of the meet. It was a long day, and those last few laps were among the toughest she has ever run, but ultimately it was worth it for her. We are proud of her in many ways.

Make no mistake: We are equally proud of Kathryn’s second monster PR and breakthrough in less than a week; Katie’s near-perfect 5km (check out those magical splits!); Kristen’s ECAC mark in an event she had never run(!); Michelle’s very solid ECAC mark in a grueling, physical race. In all, it was a strong night for the ladies after a long bus ride up to Boston.

The men’s meet will run all day and well into the night on Saturday. The men’s 5km, the last event, does not START till close to 8:30 p.m. Since I am not a smart phone/mobile device guy, don’t expect any blog updates until the wee hours and/or Sunday morning when I get back to Poughkeepsie. Of course, you can track the real-time results online at various locations as well.

Note well: Thanks to team member Doug Ainscow for his help in compiling splits for all races today, and thanks in advance for his help on Saturday afternoon/evening.

Terrier Invitational

Boston University

Friday, January 25, 2013

Women’s results

60-meter dash

52-Danielle Asaro 8.40

67-Alexia Santiago 8.74

68-Emelia Lartey 8.81

200-meter dash

116-Danielle Asaro 28.01

128-Alexia Santiago 28.46

138-Emelia Lartey 29.00

800-meter run

87-Catherine Ferreri 2:35.56

35, 74 (39), 1:56 (42), 2:35.56 (39.56)

92-Rachael Peterson 2:37.55

34, 73 (39), 1:56 (43), 2:37.55 (41.55)

102-Lizzie Peper 2:43.22

37, 77 (40), 1:59 (42), 2:43.22 (44.22)

1,000-meter run

4-Kristen Traub 2:56.00 *ECAC qualifier (standard is 2:56.24)

32, 67 (35), 1:43 (36), 2:20 (37), 2:56.00 (36.00)

6-Christine Coughlin 3:01.34

33, 68 (35), 1:46 (38), 2:24 (38), 3:01.34 (37.34)

35-Mariella Bilello 3:37.02

38, 80 (42), 2:05 (45), 2:53 (48), 3:37.02 (44.02)

Mile run

86-Brianna Freestone 5:28.78

40, 80 (40), 2:00 (40), 2:42 (42), 3:23 (41), 4:04 (41), 4:47 (43), 5:28.78 (41.78)

3,000-meter run

16-Michelle Gaye 9:53.25 *ECAC qualifier (standard is 9:58.94)

39, 79 (40), 1:59 (40), 2:39 (40), 3:18 (39)

3:58 (40), 4:38 (40), 5:17 (39), 5:57 (40), 6:37 (40)

7:17 (40), 7:57 (40), 8:36 (39), 9:14 (38), 9:53.25 (39.25)

Kilometer splits: 3:18, 3:19, 3:16.25

32-Kathryn Sheehan 10:08.16

39, 79 (40), 1:59 (40), 2:40 (41), 3:21 (41)

4:02 (41), 4:42 (40), 5:22 (40), 6:03 (41), 6:44 (41)

7:25 (41), 8:06 (41), 8:48 (42), 9:29 (41), 10:08.16 (39.16)

Kilometer splits: 3:21, 3:23, 3:24.16

57-Nicki Nesi 10:45.16

40, 84 (44), 2:06 (42), 2:49 (43), 3:33 (44)

4:16 (43), 5:00 (44), 5:43 (43), 6:27 (44), 7:11 (44)

7:55 (44), 8:39 (44), 9:23 (44), 10:05 (42), 10:45.16 (40.16)

Kilometer splits: 3:33, 3:38, 3:34.16

64-Rebecca Denise 10:52.91

40, 84 (44), 2:05 (41), 2:48 (43), 3:30 (42)

4:14 (44), 4:57 (43), 5:40 (43), 6:24 (44), 7:08 (44)

7:52 (44), 8:37 (45), 9:24 (47), 10:09 (45), 10:52.91 (43.91)

Kilometer splits: 3:30, 3:38, 3:44.91

80-Erin Thompson 11:25.69

40, 82 (42), 2:05 (43), 2:47 (42), 3:29 (42)

4:13 (44), 4:58 (45), 5:44 (46), 6:31 (47), 7:19 (48)

8:09 (50), 8:58 (49), 9:47 (49), 10:37 (50), 11:25.69 (48.69)

Kilometer splits: 3:29, 3:50, 4:06.69

84-Annie Gould 11:32.52

43, 85 (42), 2:10 (45), 2:53 (43), 3:38 (45)

4:24 (46), 5:09 (45), 5:56 (47), 6:44 (48), 7:33 (49)

8:21 (48), 9:11 (50), 9:59 (48), 10:47 (49), 11:32.52 (45.52)

Kilometer splits: 3:38, 3:55, 3:59.52

5,000-meter run

33-Katie Messina 17:52.85

42, 85 (43), 2:07 (42), 2:50 (43), 3:34 (44)

4:16 (43), 4:59 (43), 5:41 (42), 6:24 (43), 7:07 (43)

7:50 (43), 8:34 (44), 9:17 (43), 10:01 (44), 10:44 (43)

11:28 (44), 12:12 (44), 12:55 (43), 13:39 (44), 14:22 (43)

15:05 (43), 15:49 (44), 16:32 (43), 17:13 (41), 17:52.85 (39.85)

Kilometer splits: 3:34, 3:33, 3:37, 3:36, 3:30.85

59-Kelley Gould 19:41.64

46, 92 (46), 2:18 (46), 3:03 (45), 3:48 (45)

4:34 (46), 5:20 (46), 6:06 (46), 6:52 (46), 7:40 (48)

8:26 (46), 9:12 (46), 9:58 (46), 10:44 (46), 11:32 (48)

12:19 (47), 13:07 (48), 13:56 (49), 14:45 (49), 15:35 (50)

16:24 (49), 17:14 (50), 18:05 (51), 18:54 (49), 19:41.64 (47.64)

Kilometer splits: 3:48, 3:52, 3:52, 4:03, 4:06.64

Great timing for new gear

Today at one of our practices, one of our athletes called me a "fashionista." Hahahahaha! This is beyond laughable. My idea of "fashion" would be to wear a pair of baggie khaki pants, a long-sleeve shirt underneath a short-sleeve Marist Track T-shirt. And of course, a hat with the pencil propped in the side of the hat. Fashion. Sure.

Well today, my "fashion sense" was lauded with the extremely well-timed introduction of Team Winter Hats. I had ordered these back in mid-December -- each athlete gets to choose a red one or a gray one. They just have the fox head logo on the front of a polyester Nike hat. Simple stuff. Of course, with the wind chill plummeting into the single digits in the afternoon and below zero at other times, the winter hats' arrival was serendipitous indeed. They look good. Fashion sense? More like common sense. Whatever. Everybody's happy, and everybody's ears are warm.

Off to Boston for the Terrier Invitational for the weekend. Will post updates from the road.

Conor Shelley wins 10-miler on Long Island

Congrats to Marist Running Alum Conor Shelley for his excellent solo, wire-to-wire victory at the 10-mile Brewery Run on Long Island last Saturday in 52:45.9 (5:17/mile). Conor reported that it was a negative-split effort. He posted his mile splits on Facebook, which of course does me no good. But from what I was told, the last several miles he was really cookin'. Here is a link to the complete race results.

Kristen Traub: MAAC Performer of the Week

Congrats to freshman Kristen Traub for winning the MAAC Women's Indoor Track Performer of the Week, based on her excellent mile race at last Saturday's NYU Team Challenge at the Armory. Kristen ran 5:03.24 for the full mile, leading a trio of stellar races for our ladies -- Kathryn Sheehan and Michelle Gaye had great mile races there as well. This is Kristen's first indoor track season, as she played basketball during the winter in high school. NICELY DONE. For the link to the story on GoredFoxes.com, click here.

The call: Tough to receive, tough to make

Recruiting can be an awkward thing. It’s a delicate dance between high school student-athlete, still not too far removed from being a child; their parents, under pressure to send their kids to the best possible institution of higher learning without bankrupting their family’s finances; and a college coach, under pressure to make his or her team better, oftentimes on a limited budget.

Through the years, my recruiting philosophy has evolved. I will not bore you with the nitty gritty details of evaluating talent. I have had a lot of advice in that area – some of it terribly misguided but much of it extremely helpful in shaping my thoughts. Rather, I’ll focus on the big picture, and that is this: I am not a natural salesman. I say what’s on my mind. I do not “spin” my comments and thoughts to recruits. As a result, I take an approach that I learned from my days as a full-time journalist, a term that we called WYSIWYG (pronounced: Wizzy-Wig): What You See Is What You Get.

I believe Marist is a great place. The people that inhabit the college in general, and the athletes in our program specifically, are wonderful people. And so, in my recruiting, I present what we have – and what we don’t have – in a straightforward manner. What we have is Marist, a beautiful campus and a fantastic community of higher learning. What we don’t have, unfortunately, is plentiful too: on-campus athletic facilities for our athletes, and competitive athletic aid allocation to go up against the schools with which we compete on a regular basis. Again, we present it all in a positive but relatively neutral manner. And then let the chips fall where they may. Oftentimes, those chips fall off the table, and such was the case last night.

A lot of the time in recruiting is spent on the phone. Mostly, it’s the coaches calling the athletes. But sometimes the athletes need to call the coaches. Sometimes, it is a simple return phone call. And at times, the athlete-to-coach call is placed with the purpose of telling the coach that he or she won’t be attending your college. Thanks for everything, but I’m going elsewhere. I have been on the receiving end of this call many, many times and it’s never easy. But I look to the student-athlete with empathy. It’s not easy for him or her to make that call, and it takes a lot of class and maturity to make that call in just the right tone. Again, I have received a few of these calls already this recruiting cycle, the most recently being last night. Without fail, the student-athlete has been gracious and cordial in relaying what was a difficult decision.

Through the years, there have been many athletes who did not have the courage to make the call. They would e-mail me their decision (that is acceptable), or worse they would just stop returning calls and e-mails and try not to deal with it. From the coach’s perspective, that can be viewed as somewhat rude. And make no mistake, through the years I have felt disrespected by the behavior of recruits. But again, put yourself in the kid’s shoes. Have a little empathy. Here’s 17-year-old kid, having to tell a grown-up coach that all the time spent on the phone, in person and via e-mail has resulted in that kid going to another school. If you are that 17-year-old kid, you’d be hesitant to reach out to perhaps a gruff and high-pressure coach as well.

And so, while the call last night was disappointing, I wish the student-athlete well and I will applaud his successes at the rival school he has chosen to attend. He handled himself with maturity and class, which is all we can hope for and expect. The next few weeks and months will be filled with similar calls, both negative and positive, as we attempt to build the future of our team and our program.

Hydration is still key -- even in the winter

Hydration is usually a hot topic (pun intended) in the warm-weather months. With the wind chill dive-bombing below zero the next few days, very few coaches will be talking about hydration. However, it is just as vital now as it is in the summer months for athletes in heavy training. At our SUNY practice yesterday, this was dramatically shown because the athletic building's water was shut down due to maintenance. Athletes who were hoping to fill their water bottles in the fountain near the track were left high and dry (again, pun intended). So yeah. Hydration is still key. Even in January.

Schab and O'Briens at Charleston

Congratulations to Marist Running Alums recent and not-so-recent for their fine performances at the Charleston Marathon and Half Marathon on Saturday in Charleston, S.C.

In the marathon, the ubiquitous Mike Schab placed fifth overall and first in his age group. Hard to believe Schabby is 28 years old already, but our boy is still running strong despite insane work hours. Schab ran 2:57:20.521, an average of 6:46 per mile. Nicely done.

Most recent Marist Running Alums Elizabeth and Allyson O’Brien completed the half marathon, along with their dad, Harry O’Brien. Elizabeth and Harry finished together in 1:45:52, and Allyson was a few strides behind in 1:50:07.

Above is a picture of Schabby and the O’Brien twins. Nicely done to one and all.

A shivering day in the life of Marist Running

Winter, which took a vacation in 2012, has arrived in full force with cold, wind and snow in the forecast. Last year, the impact of our sudden lack of facilities was not felt too much due to the mild winter. Now, now, NOW ... we surely miss that old McCann Track. In fact, this morning I caught myself staring longingly at the women's basketball team practice in the McCann Arena. I had no real interest in what they were doing, to be honest; they are a great team, but basketball drills hold no fascination for me. It was just a longing to be able to give my 11 a.m. practice group the option of an easy hour of laps around the gym, followed by a hard interval workout in the confines of our campus. Yeah, I miss that old track. But alas, that is a thing of the past. Here is how are busy Tuesday shook out ...

11 a.m. practice: Small group of men's distance runners arrives in the racquetball court that we call home. All are commenting about the cold. Yeah, it is cold. They did not get any push-back from this old coach when the suggestion of a treadmill workout was raised by several members of the team. However, four hearty souls opted for a Luty Loops workout. (Side note: Omar did Luty Loops, solo, at 7 a.m., before his classes today; that's dedication, man)
Luty Loops: It was cold out there. Did I mention that? I spent much of the practice sitting inside the van. The guys who did this workout -- Justin Tamp, Lappas, Meegan, Dan Stan -- got through it with toughness and ability that was inspiring to me. Given the brutal cold, I gave them the option of a shortened cooldown. I made a beeline to the South Hyde Park Stewart's shop for a cup of coffee. I told them I would wait there and they could ride back from that point, cutting the normal 3-mile cooldown in half. The wind was howling; four steps from the van to the shop had me shivering. So, it was no surprise that all four entered the van without hesitation; smart move on their part. Nicely done.
SUNY practice: A large group of mostly middle and long distance men and women trekked over to SUNY for Big Blue Doughnut interval work. New Paltz is in session now, so that made things tricky on the track, as students and other fitness center members wanted to jog some laps. We made it work. The women and men ran a great workout. It should be noted that only two men warmed up and cooled down outside today. Very understandable.
Sprinter starts: Back in Poughkeepsie, Coach Horton led the sprinters through some block starts in the narrow tunnel behind the bleachers in the McCann Arena. Tomorrow, it's over to the Doughnut for some speed.
Spackenkill practice: Also back in Poughkeepsie, Coach Chuck took Michelle and Katie to the Spartan track for an interval workout. Chuck texted me that the wind chill was 3 above. Hey. It could have been 3 below. Wow. That's cold. The report was it was a great practice out in the wind and cold.

And so, on a frigid Tuesday in the dead of winter, the Marist Track Family keeps on keepin' on. We are proud of them all.

NYU Team Challenge: Women's results

NYU Team Challenge
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Armory Track and Field Center 
Women’s results

60-meter dash

15-Danielle Asaro 8.26

28-Emelia Lartey 8.71

60-meter hurdles

15-Alex McCahill 10.66

200-meter dash

23-Danielle Asaro 28.17

1,000-meter run

19-Kelley Gould 3:18.66

--, 74, 1:54 (40), 2:35 (41), 3:18.66 (43.66)

Mile run

3-Kristen Traub 5:03.24

36, 74 (38), 1:52 (38), 2:30 (38), 3:09 (39), 3:47 (38), 4:24 (37), 5:03.24 (39.24)

4-Kathryn Sheehan 5:04.43

37, 75 (38), 1:53 (38), 2:31 (38), 3:10 (39), 3:48 (38), 4:25 (37), 5:04.43 (39.43)

6-Michelle Gaye 5:06.69

36, 75 (39), 1:52 (37), 2:30 (38), 3:09 (39), 3:47 (38), 4:25 (38), 5:06.69 (41.69)

21-Brianna Freestone 5:33.42

38, 78 (40), 2:00 (42), 2:43 (43), 3:25 (42), 4:08 (43), 4:51 (43), 5:33.42 (42.42)

3,000-meter run

10-Nicki Nesi 10:46.29

39, 81 (42), 2:03 (42), 2:46 (43), 3:28 (42)

4:11 (43), 4:55 (44), 5:40 (45), 6:25 (45), 7:09 (44)

7:54 (45), 8:40 (46), 9:23 (43), 10:05 (42), 10:46.29 (41.29)

Kilometer splits: 3:28, 3:41, 3:37.29

13-Rebecca Denise 10:53.62

39, 80 (41), 2:05 (45), 2:48 (43), 3:32 (45)

4:16 (44), 4:59 (43), 5:43 (44), 6:26 (43), 7:11 (45)

7:55 (44), 8:41 (46), 9:27 (46), 10:12 (45), 10:53.62 (41.62)

Kilometer splits: 3:32, 3:39, 3:42.62

15-Rachel Bremer 11:07.05

40, 82 (42), 2:05 (43), 2:48 (43), 3:32 (44)

4:16 (44), 5:00 (44), 5:44 (44), 6:29 (45), 7:15 (46)

8:00 (45), 8:47 (47), 9:34 (47), 10:20 (46), 11:07.05 (47.05)

Kilometer splits: 3:32, 3:43, 3:52.05

21-Annie Gould 11:31.38

42, 85 (43), 2:09 (44), 2:54 (45), 3:39 (45)

4:25 (46), 5:10 (45), 5:55 (45), 6:42 (47), 7:30 (48)

8:18 (48), 9:06 (48), 9:56 (50), 10:44 (48), 11:31.38 (47.38)

Kilometer splits: 3:39, 3:51, 4:01.38

3,200-meter relay

7-Marist (Sheehan, Gould, Lizzie Peper, Catherine Ferreri) 10:20.18

Kathryn Sheehan: 34, 70 (36), 1:47 (37), 2:24.6 (37.6)

Kelley Gould: 34, 73 (39), 1:54 (41), 2:36.8 (42.8)

Lizzie Peper: 35, 74 (39), 1:56 (42), 2:41.4 (45.4)

Catherine Ferreri: 37, 75 (38), 1:55 (40), 2:37 (42)

Team standings: 12th of 17 teams with 16 points

NYU Team Challenge: Men's results

NYU Team Challenge
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Armory Track and Field Center 
Men’s results

60-meter dash

17-Tyler Schwarz 7.39

60-meter hurdles

4-Alex Cunningham 8.51

19-Robert Marone 9.33

200-meter dash

21-Tyler Schwarz 23.71

400-meter dash

23-Zach Berzal 53.57

800-meter run

19-Isaiah Miller 2:04.63

30.8, 61.8 (31.0), 1:33.1 (31.3), 2:04.63 (31.53)

23-Kyle Hannafin 2:06.12

30.8, 62.2 (31.4), 1:33.8 (31.6), 2:06.12 (32.32)

28-Andrew James 2:11.30

31.8, 64.0 (32.2), 1:36.5 (32.5), 2:11.30 (34.80)

1,000-meter run

9-Mark Vuono 2:36.70

30, 61 (31), 1:32 (31), 2:04 (32), 2:36.70 (32.70)

11-Bryan Buttigieg 2:37.34

30, 61 (31), 1:32 (31), 2:04 (32), 2:37.34 (33.34)

12-Ty Gamble 2:37.67

30, 61 (31), 1:33 (32), 2:06 (33), 2:37.67 (31.67)

Mile run

9-Pat Rynkowski 4:24.87

31, 64 (33), 1:38 (34), 2:11 (33), 2:44 (33), 3:17 (33), 3:51 (34), 4:24.87 (33.87) 

10-Nick Salek 4:25.35

31, 64 (33), 1:38 (34), 2:11 (33), 2:44 (33), 3:17 (33), 3:51 (34), 4:25.35 (34.35)

21-Joel Moss 4:33.40

33, 66 (33), 1:40 (34), 2:14 (34), 2:48 (34), 3:23 (35), 3:58 (35), 4:33.40 (35.40)

3,000-meter run

12-Ian Dorset 9:25.21

33, 68 (35), 1:42 (34), 2:17 (35), 2:53 (36)

3:27 (34), 4:03 (36), 4:39 (36), 5:16 (37), 5:54 (38)

6:34 (40), 7:16 (42), 7:58 (42), 8:40 (42), 9:25.21 (45.21)

Kilometer splits: 2:53, 3:01, 3:31.21

27-Charlie Ropes 9:32.28

37, 73 (37), 1:49 (36), 2:25 (36), 3:02 (37)

3:39 (37), 4:17 (38), 4:55 (38), 5:35 (40), 6:15 (40)

6:56 (41), 7:37 (41), 8:18 (41), 8:59 (41), 9:32.28 (33.28)

Kilometer splits: 3:02, 3:13, 3:17.28

1,600-meter relay

11-Marist (Zach Berzal 54.6, Alex Cunningham 53.4, Robert Marone 55.4, Andrew James 56.0) 3:39.68

3,200-meter relay

4-Marist (Rynkowski, Vuono, Gamble, Buttigieg) 8:10.24

Pat Rynkowski: 29, 59 (30), 1:31 (32), 2:02.8 (31.8)

Mark Vuono: 29, 59 (30), 1:30 (31), 2:01.4 (31.4)

Ty Gamble: 28, 58 (30), 1:30 (32), 2:03.5 (33.5)

Bryan Buttigieg: 28, 58 (30), 1:29 (31), 2:02.2 (33.2)

Triple jump

6-Andrew Rokoszak 12.51 meters (41 feet, 0.5 inches)

Long jump

15-Andrew Rokoszak 5.74 meters (18 feet, 10 inches)

Team standings: 13th of 17 teams with 15 points

NYU Challenge meet: Order of events

Here is the order of events for Saturday's meet at the Armory:

NYU Challenge Meet   1/19/13

Order of Events  ( we will try to get ahead 15minutes)

6:00pm            60 h                                         men/ women 

6:15pm            Mile                                         men/women

6:45pm            60h final                                  women/men 

7:00pm            60 dash                                    men / women

7:15pm            3000                                        men

7:45pm            60dash Final                            men/women

8:00pm            500                                          men/women

8:20pm            Invite 600                                men/women    

8:25pm            400                                          men / women

8:45pm            800                                          men / women

9:00pm            1000                                        men / women

9:15pm            200                                          men / women

9:40pm            3000                                        women

10:00pm          4x800                                      men/women

10:20pm          4x400                                      men /women