Saturday, May 11,
2013
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ
3,200-meter relay
16-Marist (Chris Vanzetta 1:54.5, David Marthy 1:52.8, Matt
Panebianco 1:55.5, Mark Vuono 2:00.6) 7:43.62
Final comments:
We broke down this relay in a previous post. Now we try to avoid an emotional
breakdown as we say goodbye to two of the finest relay runners this school has
ever seen. Chris Vanzetta was always far more interested in relays than open
events. In fact, if we were to look it up, I guarantee you he ran twice as many
relay races as open events. And when he did, he did it with an unmatched
ferocity. Matt Panebianco ran a few more open races that Vanzetta, and he did
them quite well, thank you. But he was truly at his best on the relays. Matty
gave us so many memories, and may have been the best coach/athlete ever, but
sometimes it is the worst of times that brings out the best in people. This
March at IC4As, we qualified both a 4x800 and DMR. But our team was falling
apart; our 4x800 disintegrated. Our DMR was doing the same. The only way we
could run is if Matty took the stick in the 400-meter leg. One little problem:
He had a flu bug that would not go away; he was running a fever on and off for
the better part of two weeks. Undaunted, he agreed to travel all the way to
Boston and give us the gutsiest 52.1-second relay split you will ever see. He
did not have to do it. It’s not his event, and he was sick as a dog. But he
did; the ultimate team player. I will remember the school records. I will
remember that sick leg just as much. Nicely done.
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