Nicki Nesi: MAAC Runner of the Week

Congrats to our very own Nicki Nesi for being named the MAAC Women's Track Performer of the Week, on the basis of her 3,000-meter steeplechase victory at the Monmouth Season Opener on Saturday in New Jersey. Nicely done, Nicki!

To the telephone pole. And back.

My Samsung Smart Phone is really smart. It remembers what I said in previous texts, and it allows me to say the same thing in future texts, if need be. With all the love and concern I have been receiving as a result of my hip/leg injury and subsequent surgery, the Smart Phone allows me to spit out similar responses to multiple queries. “In a lot of pain. Mental and physical. Crying a lot. Trying to stay positive.” Those words have come up numerous times. Those of you reading this may have received those exact words on numerous occasions. Trust me when I say: All of that is very, very true. I’m not sure why God is putting through this, but there has to be a reason. I mean. Geez. I was just out for a run. Something I’ve done tens of thousands of times in my life. I know I’m clumsy. I fall a lot. I trip going out to check the friggin mailbox and to get the newspaper. But a fractured leg and major surgery. Really? Really? Who knows? Really. Who knows?

The nighttime is the worst. Sleeping is tough. Self-pity, self-doubt, dread, anxiety, fear – and mostly, mostly, the feeling that I am letting so many people in my life (especially family) down, by not BEING THERE for them – all of it comes crowding in, with a deep and throbbing pain being the underlying theme of it all, 24/7. In order to insert the screws, the surgeon said matter-of-factly that he had to cut through my IT band, quad and other soft tissue in and around my hip. No biggie, really. No biggie? These are things that ache all the time, and now they have been sliced up like deli meat? Come on, man! Yeah. I have pain meds. They don’t work that great. I hate taking them. I hate taking them. Medical professionals say I have to, in an effort to “stay ahead of the pain.” I get it. But I hate taking them. I know I have to take them. I hate taking them.

The physical therapist came yesterday and then returned again today. She has me up on the crutches, putting a little weight on the bad leg. Just a little. She wants me to walk normally on it, heel-toe. My “normal” walk is so ginger and slow anyway, so this isn’t much different. Just with crutches. She took me outside. Fresh air. I went to the telephone pole in front of my next door neighbor’s house. And back. Tried it again. It hurt. She said it’s OK. Let pain be my guide. Pain is always my guide, but I usually circumvent it. Now, I have to listen. I have to push. But not too hard. I have to not feel sorry for myself. Easier said than done. Today, I went to the next telephone pole. And back. I wanted to do more. She said not today. Not to push it.

It looks like I am redshirting this season. Can a coach redshirt? I guess we’ll find out now, won’t we? Maybe I’ll hobble around on crutches a bit, at practices, at meets. I dunno. I cannot imagine that right now. We’ll see what the next minute brings. No self-pity. That’s the goal. I’m trying. Not succeeding. But trying. There is so much I want to say and so much I need to do. It will have to be put on hold, while my body heals.  There have been so many sources of strength and love, all of them appreciated more than you can know. I write through the fog of pain, physical and mental. The next telephone pole awaits.

Monmouth Season Opener: Women's results

Here are the women's results from Saturday's chilly meet in West Long Branch, N.J. Some splits where applicable. Thanks to so many willing split helpers. We will need that support in the coming weeks and the coming meets as I work my way back into physical relevance (may take awhile):

Monmouth University Season Opener

West Long Branch, NJ

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Women’s results

100-meter dash

8. Danielle Asaro 13.05

36. Alexia Santiago 15.01

200-meter dash

14. Danielle Asaro 26.96

45. Meaghan Gillespie 28.30

70. Alexia Santiago 32.69

400-meter dash

16. Molly Weeks 1:02.19

19. Danisha Craig 1:03.18

800-meter run (opening lap)

11. Jenn Horner 2:24.91 (69.1)

16. Jenna Robinson 2:28.07 (72.83)

24. Janelle Solviletti 2:31.28 (72.72)

28. Mariah Christian 2:33.61 (75)

31. Roxy Novo 2:34.52 (75)

32. Bryn Gorberg 2:34.56 75)

35. Catherine Ferreri 2:35.45 (75)

37. Emily Franko 2:36.33 (74.78)

41. Olivia Lappas 2:38.20 (75.44)

45. Erin Thompson 2:40.28 (74.38)

46. Christine Gambell 2:40.48 (75)

47. Lizzy Peper 2:40.80 (78)

48. Jackie Bunce 2:41.09 (75.6)

53. Jaime Durso 2:45.86 (76.85)

54. Shannon Gildea 2:48.15 (85.85)

58. Lauren Traina 2:51.34 (85.69)

60. Allison Dellicarri 2:55.23 (86.4)

1,500-meter run

2. Kristen Traub 4:46.90

75.68, 2:37.7, 3:55.4

14. Janelle Solviletti 4:54.60

77.46, 2:36.2, 3:54.0

25. Jenna Robinson 5:05.48

78.9, 2:41, 4:05.1

31. Bryn Gorberg 5:09.30

80.28, 2:43, 4:08

34. Mariah Christian 5:11.86

81, 2:43, 4:09

36. Roxy Novo 5:14.54

81, 2:44, 4:11

45. Lizzy Peper 5:20.18

83, 2:49, 4:16

48. Jaime Durso 5:21.69

82, 2:49, 4:17

54. Jackie Bunce 5:24.68

84.4, 2:53, 4:20

59. Taylor Mueller 5:30.20

82, 2:50, 4:23

68. Shannon Gildea 5:39.45

85.9, 2:57, 4:30

69. Allison Dellicarri 5:41.92

85, 2:58, 4:33

5,000-meter run

10. Elizabeth Wasserman 18:56.35

17. Bianca Luparello 19:37.32

22. Brianna Freestone 19:46.90

400-meter hurdles

16. Alexandra Hernandez 1:11.37

20. Meaghan Gillespie 1:14.29

3,000-meter steeplechase

1-Nicki Nesi 11:17.72

83.9, 2:53.0 (89.1), 4:23.7 (90.7), 5:55.26 (91.5), 7:28.18 (92.9), 9:01.80 (93.6), 10:31.80 (90.0), 11:17.72

400-meter relay

4. Marist (Ashley Haynes, Danielle Asaro, Danisha Craig, Molly Weeks) 51.00

High jump

10. Fallon Quigley 1.50 meters (4 feet, 11 inches)

Monmouth Season Opener: Men's results

Below are results and some splits from Saturday at Monmouth. The reports I received were usual Monmouth weather -- cold and windy. Performances for the first meet were to be expected. The 10km men started the day strong with negative-split efforts (all three guys went through 5km in 16:41 range). Hakim Cunningham had a nice debut in the 400 hurdles and two strong relays as well.

Monmouth University Season Opener

West Long Branch, NJ

Saturday, March 28, 2015

Men’s results

100-meter dash

11. Tyler Schwarz 11.67

14. Brandon Heard 11.86

200-meter dash

18. Matt Edwards 23.39

27. Joe Cafaro 24.21

29. Brandon Heard 24.44

400-meter dash

22. Tim Johnson 52.35

51. Charlie Asaro 55.20

800-meter run (opening lap)

11. Nestor Taylor 2:00.96 (59)

14. Josh Siegel 2:01.62 (61)

23. Nate Lungarini 2:03.08 (60)

29. Bryan Buttigieg 2:04.65 (60.5)

31. Sami Ellougani 2:05.10 (60)

33. Kyle Heubner 2:05.26 (60)

1,500-meter run

8. Steven Morrison 4:05.36

65.12, 2:12, 3:18

32. Spencer Johnson 4:11.21

65.4, 2:31, 3:20

35. Stefan Morton 4:12.65

67, 2:13, 3:21.9

36. Patrick Ginty 4:12.67

67.8, 2:15, 3:23

38. Mark Valentino 4:14.12

67, 2:15, 3:22

42. Joe Miller 4:16.10

67, 2:15, 3:25

48. Pat Rynkowski 4:17.93

65, 2:15, 3:25

52. Kyle Hannafin 4:20.40

66, 2:15, 3:25

53. Mark Vuono 4:20.72

67.5, 2:15, 3:26

56. Johnny Lee 4:22.21

67, 2:19.4, 3:31.6

61. Charlie Ropes 4:24.28

68, 2:20.7, 3:31.7

63. Nick Vandermoelen (unattached) 4:25.52

68, 2:21, 3:22

83. Jake Hensler 4:33.24

68, 2:21.8, 3:38

85. Will Duggan 4:36.76

68.7, 2:22, 3:35.9

90. Zach Toner 4:39.03

68, 2:22, 3:40

10,000-meter run

2. Dietrich Mosel 32:37.48

5:27, 10:48, 16:02, 21:14, 26:29, 31:31

3. Steven Rizzo 32:46.60

5:26, 10:48, 16:01, 21:13, 26:29, 31:33

4. Omar Perez 32:57.98

5:27, 10:46, 16:01, 21:13, 26:29, 31:43

400-meter hurdles

8. Hakim Cunningham 57.94

20. Joe Cafaro 1:05.03

400-meter relay

3. Marist (Tim Johnson, Tyler Schwarz, Matt Edwards, Hakim Cunningham) 43.90

1,600-meter relay

6. Marist A (Hakim Cunningham, Tim Johnson, Kyle Heubner, Nate Lungarini) 3:32.60

3,200-meter relay

3. Marist A (Steven Morrison 2:01, Pat Rynkowski 2:10, Spencer Johnson 2:07, Stefan Morton 2:04) 8:24.35

4. Marist B (Nestor Taylor 2:02, Mark Vuono 2:03, Joe Miller 2:06, Johnny Lee 2:13) 8:27.18

Kristi Licursi walks to new 5K PR of 27:13

Thanks to Kristi Licursi -- and her dad Doug, for sharing this photo -- for letting me know about a great PR she got in a 5K racewalk yesterday in Westchester County. Kristi racewalked a 27:13 for the 3.1-mile distance, a PR by about a minute. This effort may very well qualify Kristi for the Penn Relays 5,000-meter race walk next month. Nicely done, Kristi!

Girls Scout sports clinic

Thanks to so many of our women's track athletes, who gave up much of their Friday evening for the annual Girls Scout sports clinic at Marist's McCann Center. Alexia Santiago shared this large group photo of the team and the girls. Good stuff.

The woods by my house

My family is not used to having me around so much. I'm trying to be a good sport and put on my happiest face, but I am dealing with a fair amount of discomfort -- both physical and mental -- right now. This, of course, puts a strain on my family, from my incredibly supportive wife, Heidi, and our three children, who as luck would have it are off from school for the next week.

My sons Joey and James just took a walk in the woods by my house. We live at the end of a dead-end road, with acres of deep woods that the boys love to explore. This is the view of a deep gorge in the woods, a great winter scene despite the fact that April is just days away.

The events of the past few days/weeks still have my head spinning. Will do my best to soldier on without too much self-pity.

Can a coach redshirt a season?

Those of you who are affiliated with me or my wife Heidi on Facebook are at least partially aware of my situation in terms of injury, surgery, rehab, etc. The fall that I took while running three weeks ago turned out to be a fracture that required somewhat urgent surgery, which I had on late Wednesday night. I was in the Hospital Formerly Known as St. Francis for a few days and I am now recuperating at home, where I will be for quite some time.

This has been a very emotional and trying time for me. The support that I have received from all corners of my life has been gratifying. Based on the "outpouring of love" metric, I am one of the richest men on the planet and I feel blessed. But again: This has been an extremely challenging time. My life is based mostly on being ambulatory. Now that I am not ambulatory, the shock waves physically and mentally are difficult to describe and fathom. It is putting a tremendous strain on every aspect of my world. I know it is not manly to admit this, but I have been crying a lot lately. Tears are flowing, frequently. Trying to be mentally strong, but it's not easy.

Can a coach redshirt? If so, after close to 75 seasons of coaching, I think this one will have be considered a coach's redshirt. Our team is freezing through the Monmouth meet right now. I'm at home, staring out the window on a gloomy and snowy March afternoon. To say that feels weird is beyond understatement. Based on my current condition and the long road ahead, I cannot imagine being well enough to attend track meets of any length over the coming weeks. And remember: The outdoor season is a blink of an eye, six weeks and we're done.

I don't know. Not sure if I am making sense here. For those followers of this blog, please be understanding and patient of my situation; if posts are sporadic, or messy, or lacking in accuracy, I will gladly refund your subscription ... oh wait ... it's free. Results will be posted as I can. Splits, I cannot guarantee that. There is not much I can guarantee these days, other than the feelings of loyalty and love that I have received from my athletes and others close to me. If that's all it took to heal broken bones, I'd be running laps around my house right now. But alas, no such luck right now.

Spring Break notes: Why I like Buck Showalter

Buck Showalter, up close, at spring training in Fort Myers on Friday.

It's dangerous to make value judgments of famous people. We don’t know them. We can pretend to know them, based on what we see on TV, what we have read about them and what other famous people have said about them. But it’s always best to not get too heavily invested in people in the public sphere, as we just don’t know that much about them.

Despite that one paragraph disclaimer, I must say I admire longtime baseball manager Buck Showalter, now of the Baltimore Orioles. Buck’s first Major League managerial job was with the New York Yankees in the early/mid-1990s. After more than a decade of overspending ineptness, Buck was a welcome change for us Yankee fans. Oh sure, he was serious. Oh sure, he could be boring. And Buck, what’s the deal with wearing the long-sleeve warmup jacket, even on the hottest midsummer days?

I grew to like Buck Showalter, like any fan, because of his managerial style led to a different and better way of play for the Yankees. They cared more, they tried harder, and yeah, they won more games and emerged from it in the postseason in 1995 for the first time in 14 years. Buck left the Yankees after that season, mostly due to the late impulsive owner George Steinbrenner, who thought it would be neat to fire some of Buck’s coaches because they lost that epic playoff series to Seattle. My wife and I were bummed out and pissed off at The Boss for letting it happen, for letting Buck get away on the verge of some great things. And then The Boss hired Joe Torre, a career loser as a manager! What was he thinking? Well. We know how the next 12 years turned out now, don’t we?

As we Yankee fans basked in the glory of the Core Four, the Torre Era, the Championships, the yearly trip to the playoffs, the calm leadership of Saint Joe. Despite all that, I will admit to never forgetting about Buck. I followed his career, with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Texas Rangers, in and out of TV assignments and eventually back to the American League East now with the Orioles. I loved listening to him talk baseball; I loved watching him manage baseball. He has a reputation as an obsessive micromanager who sweats every detail on his ball club. You know what? It seems to work.

So anyway, on Friday afternoon, it was with a fan’s enthusiasm that I witnessed Buck Showalter up close and personal as he exited the Jet Blue Park field after an exhibition game with the Red Sox. My nephew Riley was able to secure a Buck autograph for me (“Mr. Showalter, Mr. Showalter, over here, Mr. Showalter”). Here’s a short list of reasons why I like Buck, traits that I think he exemplifies:

--He’s prepared. I’ve always heard about how Buck arrives at the ballpark around lunchtime for a night game, how he sometimes would sleep in his office, how he would obsess over the slightest details of making out a lineup card. He was mocked in some circles for this, but I always thought it was cool. The guy was obsessed about preparing his team? The guy is dedicated to his job and works really hard at it? That’s a bad thing? Not in my book.

--He’s serious. That sort of preparation shows great effort on his part to be the best manager he can be. As a coach, the two qualities I strive for every day, and that I expect in return every day from our athletes, are preparation and effort. I gotta believe Buck is right in line with that. My guess is the players that who love playing for him see that, respond to that and work hard for them. Again. I’m not naïve. These guys are getting paid millions of dollars to play baseball. But Buck’s seriousness of effort does not go unnoticed and he is recognized as a top manager as a result of this.

--He’s loyal. It’s one of the main reasons he walked away from the only job he ever wanted in baseball, as manager of the Yankees. The Boss threatened to mess with his staff. He wouldn’t tolerate that. He is the same way with the players on his team. Loyal, sometimes to a fault. He has been accused at times of “playing dirty” in order to protect his players. Old-school baseball. Gotta love that.

--He’s honest. Because of his pinpoint attention to detail, he never blinks at a question from the news media. Baseball managers are in the business of making decisions and value judgments each and every day. Those decisions are scrutinized every day. One thing you know with Buck, whether the decision was agreeable or not, he checked out every angle before reaching his conclusion.

--He’s not flashy. Modern-era sports – at all levels -- is all about drawing attention to yourself. Even the coaches and managers can become celebrities; most don’t shy away from that. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t get the sense that Buck seeks such attention. If that is the case, I like and respect that.

--He’s consistent. I get the sense that Buck Showalter has a sense of beliefs, values them with his convictions, and never wavers from his process despite the never-ending gimmicks that have come about with the advanced metrics in baseball. Here’s the thing, though: Buck’s not close-mindedly old school. I’m certain that he utilizes as much of the “new statistics” as possible as a way to prepare himself to lead his team.

Speaking of the new baseball metrics, there are ways that they can gauge the impact a manager has on his team’s performances. Ultimately, it is a player’s game. The most successful managers generally have pretty strong rosters. But as a longtime coach, there is much that I can take from and admire with Buck Showalter’s approach. The autographed baseball I have from him will now sit proudly in my home office.

Spring Break notes: Exposed skin

As we fly back from our very brief trip to southwest Florida to visit family, I can reflect on the incredible warmth we felt. Oh sure, I’m talking about the weather, which even by their standards was a bit hot – mid to upper 80s in the afternoon – for March standards. But also, I’m talking about the natural flow of uniting with family that we see far too little of throughout the years.

I thought it was hilarious this morning, at my nephew Riley’s Little League game, when folks on the bleachers were reaching for light jackets and sweatshirts. There was a slight breeze. In the shade, it was 68 degrees. Really. Are you kidding me? I was wearing long pants, only because we were headed to the airport right after the game and it didn’t make sense to wear shorts for just a few hours. But otherwise, in our brief few days down there, it was shorts and T-shirts every second of the stay.

Oh. So THAT’S what my arms and knees look like! Other than the brief few minutes in the shower every morning, and I do mean brief, every centimeter of potentially exposed skin has been covered during the past several months of the winter that won’t quit – yes, I know, it snowed back home while my son James was getting sunburned knees at Jet Blue Park watching the Red Sox vs. Orioles in the midday heat. The sun felt SO good. My brother-in-law Mark, a very light-skinned dude, was always scurrying from the direct rays. I was basking in it. No sunblock needed. It felt soooo good.

Now we are back. The flannel lined pants will be located, as the temperatures this week look to remain chilly. But for a few days, we could dream of the warmth that we will eventually feel up here.

Ready or not ... here comes outdoors!

After a winter that droned on forever, it’s difficult to fathom that the outdoor track season is upon us. But alas … it is! And once it starts, it buzzes by in a flurry of six weeks. Oh sure, the “championship season" continues into May and hopefully June, but the reality is that our season as a complete program culminates at outdoor MAACs, which is ridiculously early at May 2-3.

Saturday, March 28: Monmouth Season Opener Invitational, West Long Branch, NJ

Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4: Colonial Relays, Williamsburg, VA

Saturday and Sunday, April 11 and 12: Bucknell Invitational, Lewisburg, PA

Saturday, April 18: Wolfie Invitational, Stony Brook University

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, April 23-25: Penn Relays, Philadelphia

Sunday, April 26: Yale Springtime Invitational, New Haven, CT

Friday, May 1: Vassar Twilight Meet, Poughkeepsie, NY

Saturday and Sunday, May 2 and 3: MAAC Outdoor Championships, Monmouth University, West Long Branch, NJ

Friday, Saturday, Sunday: May 15-17: ECAC/IC4A Championships, Princeton, NJ (qualifiers only)

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, May 28-30: NCAA East Regional, Jacksonville, FL (qualifiers only)

June 25-28: USATF Junior Championships, Eugene, Oregon (qualifiers only)

Modified track coaches

The phone call popped up on my cell at a usual busy time during practice a few weeks ago, from area code 631. Figured it was a coach or student-athlete looking for information about our school and our program; we get those calls all the time. It was not. It was a high school Athletic Director, calling for a reference about one of our beloved former athletes. She was applying for the modified track coaching position in her old school district.

I told the dude to put away his questions, because I had two words for him: Hire. Her. Well, maybe three. Now! Because he is a diligent AD, he went ahead and asked me the reference questions that he had to ask. I gave him over-the-top glowing answers, not because I wanted our girl to get the job, but because I really meant it. I’m assuming she got the job, but because I’m not sure, I will continue to talk in generalities about that.

I will not talk in generalities about the modified track coach at my daughter’s middle school. Natalie is doing modified track at Haviland Middle School in Hyde Park. Her coach is Ms. Gould. We couldn’t be more thrilled. Ms. Gould (Kelley) remains a loyal Marist Running Alum who clearly knows a thing or two about track. She coached Haviland modified last year.

Many times, modified track coaches do not have a lot of track or running qualifications; it happens at the middle school level. We are fortunate and blessed that our daughter and her friends are getting a relatively new but very competent coach in Ms. Gould. Just as a bunch of seventh and eighth graders down in 631-country are getting an equally upbeat and enthusiastic runner to lead them in their first steps in our sport.

Changing the clocks

My parents’ home in northern New Jersey is small and modest, a perfect setting for an elderly, retired couple. It is not the noisy house where I grew up as the youngest of four children during the 1960s and 1970s. That house was large, with lots of stairs, lots of noise, lots of people, a few pets, and a labyrinth of rooms befitting a home that raised four kids and housed various old Italians in the latter stages of their respective lives.

Now, my parents are in those latter stages, and the challenges are many, numerous and seemingly coming at us on a daily basis. I’ve been down there many times over the past two weeks, with many more trips planned and unplanned around our busy schedule over the next few weeks. When summer arrives, even more frequent journeys down there will be made and will be needed. They need care and lots of it, probably more than me and my siblings can offer. Challenging times indeed.

You notice simple things. The calendar on the kitchen wall, the one my wife gives to them lovingly every Christmas, was on February well into March. A few of the clocks in the house – the ones that are not automated, like the cable boxes -- still haven’t caught up with the “spring ahead” from a few weekends ago. We need to change them, and we will change them, but doggone it if I can figure out the damn stove clock!

Add in my recent fall from grace on a run – still trying to sort out those injuries, some of which may be very serious and long-term – and there has been a “piling on” effect to life since the calendar turned to March. It’s arbitrary, but it does seem that the month has coincided with a lot of “stuff happens” moments in lives close to mine.

All of which makes me feel guilty about feeling burdened by a long-ago/brief spring trip to Fort Myers, Fla., where my youngest son James and I are visiting family. The trip down here was long (in fact, I am writing this during the journey and am posting it upon landing, settling in and getting Internet). JFK, the fifth busiest airport in the world according to the Flight Captain, apparently is down to one functioning runway? Are you KIDDING me? So our trip was delayed. I’m hobbled. I’m preoccupied. Mostly, I want my son to have a swell time with his cousins in the warm weather, and maybe we can watch some baseball in short sleeves and a T-shirt. That would feel real nice now, wouldn’t it?

Please understand that I am not looking for sympathy or empathy in posting here, but rather as catharsis for what has been a challenging few weeks. My writing goes in spurts. I have not had the desire to expound of late; the spirit has not moved me and quite honestly I’ve been driving around a lot. But here I am now, on a JetBlue plane with a laptop and some ideas and some time, and all I can think about are the clocks that I need to fix back in New Jersey.

NYC Half Marathon

Congrats to Marist Running Alum Ryan Fitzsimons for his fantastic finish at the NYC Half Marathon on Sunday. Fitz is training for Boston so this finish bodes very well for him. He ran 1:15:20, placing 103rd overall and ninth in his age group. His splits were even and he closed with a vintage, track-like finishing kick over the final .1. Nicely done.

Also, a huge shout-out to Ginny Townsend, mom of Marist Running Alum Brian Townsend, for her first-ever half marathon finish. Ginny ran 2:10:18, even splits and strong from start to finish. She made her coach (Brian) very proud. We look forward to seeing her later in the spring to congratulate her in person.

Signs of spring, part 2

This is the view of the front lawn at my parents' house in northern New Jersey. We still have a lot of snow on our lawn here in the mid-Hudson Valley, but clearly it's fading fast.

Sorry for the lack of posts. It is Spring Break, so not much is going on. Also, I have been dealing with a nagging injury after taking a nasty fall while jogging last week. The injury is not progressing well and the pain is persisting, so I have been in a crabby mood and not all that motivated. My youngest son James and I will be traveling to Florida to visit family for a few days, and hopefully the warm weather will be a salve for my woes.

Signs of spring

For the first time this calendar year, on Wednesday I did not wear flannel-lined pants. Yes, it has been that cold for that long. And yes, it was that warm yesterday. Our women's distance runners did a fartlek workout on campus in short and T-shirts. Tino arrived from student teaching and promptly changed into shorts and singlet for his run.

The snow is melting rapidly, but there is still a lot of it. We are over the hump, but we are not through with the cold weather completely. As we head into Spring Break, here's hoping we will be able to see the bright red of track surfaces for the first time in three months.

ECAC Championships: Sunday's result

Kristen Traub had a tough race in the 3,000-meter run this afternoon. Alert followers of the program may have noted that she did not race at the MAAC Championships. That was due to illness, which was later diagnosed as the flu. She has been trying to recover from the effects of her illness, and she fought gamely today in an extremely competitive race, but it caught up to her over the final kilometer. We are proud of her toughness and going for it today, but it just did not work out. Onward to outdoor track!

ECAC Championships
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Boston University
3,000-meter run
23. Kristen Traub 10:06.51
37, 76 (39), 1:54 (38), 2:33 (39), 3:12 (39)
3:50 (38), 4:28 (38), 5:08 (40), 5:47 (39), 6:26 (39)
7:05 (39), 7:47 (42), 8:31 (44), 9:17 (46), 10:06.51 (49.51)
Kilometer splits, according to Lancer Timing:

3:11.969 (3:11.969)     6:26.390 (3:14.421)    10:06.510 (3:40.120) 

ECAC Championships: Record-setting stride

Thanks to Lizzy Peper for sharing this photo of Michelle Gaye's record-setting run last night. We have one race left in the indoor track season: Kristen Traub in the ECAC 3,000-meter run this afternoon.

ECAC Championships: Michelle Gaye runs 16:41.89, places 4th

First the splits, then the commentary.

ECAC Championships

Boston University

Saturday, March 7, 2015

5,000-meter run

4. Michelle Gaye 16:41.89 *school record, All-ECAC, highest point scorer in school history

37, 77 (40), 1:57 (40), 2:36 (39), 3:17 (41)

3:57 (40), 4:37 (40), 5:16 (39), 5:57 (41), 6:37 (40)

7:18 (41), 7:59 (41), 8:40 (41), 9:21 (41), 10:02 (41)

10:42 (40), 11:23 (41), 12:02 (39), 12:42 (40), 13:22 (40)

14:02 (40), 14:43 (41), 16:02 (39), 16:41.89 (39.89)

Kilometer splits: 3:17, 3:20, 3:25, 3:20, 3:19

The race went out hard. Really hard. Through the first kilometer, Michelle was in the back pack (there was a lead pack and the back pack, and there was a chasm between both) and was hanging on for dear life at a very fast pace. She was battling and running in lane 2 much of the time. 

Once she broke clear of that pack, she began to make up ground on the lead group, which was starting to splinter. Each athlete that she caught and overtook, she did so with decisive moves. She ran her usual, methodical pace. And while the closing kilometer splits look simply steady, they were BOLD and DECISIVE laps in which she was hard-charging about as fast as anyone in the race. As Coach Chuck said afterwards, if the race were 6km she might have won!

Where does this race stack up there in the lore of the distance running program? Oh, it's up there, baby. Probably the finest single performance by a women's distance runner. And definitely in the pantheon of Vess/Griffin/Segni/DelaCruz of recent memory. Put it this way: To break 17 for the first time, and do it by 20 seconds? Words in a simple blog post won't due it justice, so we'll just let it stand alone in its amazing greatness. 

ECAC Championships: Michelle Gaye's race for the ages

Senior Michelle Gaye ran one of the greatest races in school history on Saturday night at Boston University, placing fourth overall in the 5,000-meter run in a school-record time of 16:41.89. It is the first time the 17-minute barrier has been broken, and she exceeded her two-week-old school record by 25 seconds. Tremendous effort. Photo above is of Michelle and a proud Coach Chuck post-race. More details to follow ...

IC4A Championships: Men's result and splits

Freshman Steven Morrison raced at the IC4A Championships this afternoon at Boston University. He gained valuable experience at the trials-and-finals nature of the meet. There were two sections of the 1,000-meter run. He was in the first section, which turned out to be far slower and more tactical than the faster section. He placed fifth out of 10 in his section in 2:29.98. He raced well and competitive in his section. The only problem: His section was by far the slower of the two qualifying heats. The second section was so fast that seven of the nine runners in it qualified and will move on to Sunday's final.

Tactically, Steven ran pretty well. It just wasn't fast enough. He probably should have made a big move early in the race to ensure at top-2 finish. But that sort of hindsight is easy; making such a split-second decision at top speeds is not easy. So we chalk it up to a good learning experience and luck (or, in this case, unluck) of the draw.

IC4A Championships
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Boston University
1,000-meter run
13 out of 20 (5 out of 10 in first section
Steven Morrison, 2:29.98
28.7, 59.2 (30.5), 1:30.0 (30.8), 2:00.4 (30.4), 2:29.98 (29.58)

Here are the heat results, if interested, courtesy of lancertiming.com

Heat  1 Preliminaries                                              
  1 Gil, Ryan                 SO Georgetown             2:27.68Q   
  2 Taylor, Lester            SR Fordham                2:28.00Q   
  3 Cooper, Charles           FR Georgetown             2:28.60    
  4 McCormack, Phelan         SR Cornell                2:29.49    
  5 Morrison, Steven          FR Marist                 2:29.98    
  6 Biler, Mitchell           SR Lehigh                 2:30.19    
  7 Timmerman, Parker         FR Connecticut            2:31.56    
  8 Keith, Stephen            SR Lehigh                 2:32.48    
  9 Trimble, Chris            JR La Salle               2:35.47    
 10 Daly, Patrick             SR Boston College         2:39.51    
Heat  2 Preliminaries                                              
  1 Garcia-Garrison, Andrew   SR Bucknell             L 2:24.99Q   
  2 Westwood, John            JR Bucknell               2:25.59Q   
  3 Tejidor, Francisco        JR Holy Cross             2:25.98q   
  4 Belcher, Sam              SR Cornell                2:26.94q   
  5 Amazan, Bradley           JR Stony Brook            2:27.22q   
  6 Annelli, Jonathan         SR Fordham                2:27.34q   
  7 Kelley, Cameron           JR Umass Lowell           2:28.40q   
  8 Frering, David            FR Bucknell               2:29.08    
  9 Thomas, Ryan              FR Columbia               2:34.33    

Next up is Michelle Gaye in the ECAC 5,000-meter run later this afternoon.

What's next: ECAC/IC4A Championships

We head up to Boston today for the weekend and the ECAC/IC4A Championships. We have a small contingent of athletes. Here's the schedule.

Saturday, 11:50 a.m.: IC4A 1,000-meter trials, Steven Morrison
Saturday, 5:40 p.m.: ECAC, 5,000-meter run, Michelle Gaye
Sunday, 1:40 p.m.: ECAC, 3,000-meter run, Kristen Traub

Check back for results and splits ...

God's headlamp

Based on the forecast and the calendar, I would like to think that this morning was one of the last truly frigid runs for this seemingly endless winter (3 degrees at the finish). If so, we went out with a bang with perhaps the best ice beard of the season (thanks to running partner Ken Schneider for taking this photo of me after a chilly 8-miler). Although we will lose it with the clock changing, it was nice to run in mostly daylight this morning. Before the sun poked through, though, our frigid morning was illuminated by a gorgeous full moon. It was so bright that we were actually able to click off the headlamps, something we'll be able to do for many months really soon.