NCAA Regional: Michelle's splits and other thoughts

Having the lens of a few hours post-race – as well as these awesome splits provided by Kathy Gaye (Michelle’s mom) – enables us to have some better analysis of tonight’s career finale. Obviously, I witnessed the race first-hand (sorry for the terribly blurry photo taken by me above). But the splits really tell a story that even I couldn’t see unfolding as it was happening.  Here are a few more observations.

--For the past month-plus, since it was apparent that Michelle would be racing at the Regional meet, we have been stressing out over the fact that she would be running 25 grueling laps in Jacksonville, Florida, at the end of May. Hot. Humid. Bad. Well, the weather was about as favorable as you are going to get for Jacksonville on May 28. Race-time temperature was about 78, but it was not oppressive at all. The humidity kind of snuck up a little, but again for Florida it was very manageable. I even saw a lot of coaches and athletes wearing light jackets out there under the lights. Having said all that … 78 degrees and a little humidity is still really difficult conditions for a 10km.

--The early stages of the race were tough with 48 women on the line. There was a lot of jostling for position. Like most runners in the field, Michelle had to run a bit choppy before settling into a good spot.

--Once she settled into that good spot … the race started rolling. Wow! Look at Michelle’s second 1,600-meter split. Smokin’ fast. We talked about the idea of “committing” at certain points in the race. She committed to this pace and established her spot in the field.

--Once her breathing became a factor, it became a personal battle. These things are not easy. It is so, so hard. As coaches, we can say “relax” and “settle” and all that other stuff. But when you are in the heat of the race, it is not easy to process those words and even more difficult to act upon them. To Michelle’s credit, she was able to ride out every bad patch. Her place in the field did not alter much. She was passed, she passed. She battled, right to the very end. She made us proud that she has worn the Marist red-and-white for the past four years.

NCAA East Regional

University of North Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Hodges Stadium

Thursday, May 28, 2015

10,000-meter run

25. Michelle Gaye 35:13.64

82.7, 2:48.0 (85.3), 4:12.5 (84.6) 5:34.1 (81.6)

6:54.4 (80.3), 8:14.5 (80.1), 9:35.7 (81.2), 10:56.4 (80.7)

12:18.2 (81.8), 13:40.8 (82.6), 15:04.8 (84.0), 16:28.7 (83.9)

17:55.0 (86.3), 19:21.0 (86.0), 20:48.2 (87.2), 22:15.6 (87.4)

23:42.1 (86.5), 25:09.3 (87.2), 26:35.6 (86.3), 28:02.2 (86.6)

29:30.0 (87.8), 30:57.3 (87.3), 32:24.1 (86.8), 33:51.5 (87.4)

35:13.64 (82.14)

1600m splits: 5:34.1, 5:22.3, 5:31.3, 5:46.9, 5:46.6, 5:49.3

NCAA East Regional: Michelle places a gutty 25th

Just getting back to the hotel from the meet, where Michelle Gaye closed out her brilliant career with a gutty effort in the 10,000-meter run at the NCAA East Regional. She placed 25th out of 48 in 35:13.64, the second fastest time in school history. For the past week or so, Michelle has been battling a head cold. She would never, ever use that as an excuse. However! About halfway through the race, she was literally gasping for air. Breathing was labored. She was scared, almost to the point of panic. To her credit, she regained her composure, kept battling and represented herself and our program as she has for the past four years -- with grace, grit, toughness, pride. Here are the final, official results. Will update in a bit with splits and more thoughts, but I'll leave you with this: There will never be another runner like Michelle in school history, and we will miss her in ways that simple words cannot describe or fathom.

1	Molly Seidel	JR	Notre Dame	33:38.48	Q		1 (1)
2	Chelsea Blaase	SO	Tennessee	33:47.20	Q		1 (2)
3	Emily Stites	JR	William and Mary	33:47.27	Q		1 (3)
4	Margo Malone	JR	Syracuse	33:49.45	Q		1 (4)
5	Katie Gillespie	SR	West Virginia	33:56.69	Q		1 (5)
6	Mara Olson	SR	Butler	34:02.53	Q		1 (6)
7	Sinead Haughey	SR	Furman	34:05.80	Q		1 (7)
8	Laura Nagel	SR	Providence	34:11.65	Q		1 (8)
9	Megan Curham	SO	Princeton	34:14.85	Q		1 (9)
10	Joanna Thompson	SR	North Carolina St.	34:19.72	Q		1 (10)
11	Erin Osment	SR	Davidson	34:27.86	Q		1 (11)
12	Amanda Behnke	SO	Indiana	34:31.86	Q		1 (12)
13	Brooke Tullis	JR	Toledo	34:36.85			1 (13)
14	Alexis Wiersma	SO	Michigan State	34:40.09			1 (14)
15	Caroline Kellner	JR	Cornell	34:41.75			1 (15)
16	Gina Sereno	SO	Michigan	34:47.40			1 (16)
17	Melanie Brender	SR	Michigan State	34:54.06			1 (17)
18	Bethany Sachtleben	SR	George Mason	34:55.64			1 (18)
19	Emily Durgin	SO	Connecticut	34:59.25			1 (19)
20	Sarah Rapp	SR	Virginia Tech	35:03.86			1 (20)
21	Minori Minagawa	JR	Ohio State	35:05.30			1 (21)
22	Jessie Petersen	SR	Syracuse	35:11.21			1 (22)
23	Jessie Rubin	SR	Duke	35:12.42			1 (23)
24	Abbey Kelto	SR	Central Michigan	35:12.70			1 (24)
25	Michelle Gaye	JR	Marist	35:13.64			1 (25)
26	Sarah Fakler	SO	Virginia	35:18.23			1 (26)
27	Kathleen Darling	JR	Wake Forest	35:20.78			1 (27)
28	Cassandra Vince	SO	Toledo	35:23.41			1 (28)
29	Claudia Pham	SR	Dartmouth	35:26.01			1 (29)
30	Dylan Hassett	SR	William and Mary	35:30.53			1 (30)
31	Eden Meyer	FR	North Florida	35:30.61			1 (31)
32	Ednah Kurgat	FR	Liberty	35:45.87			1 (32)
33	Nicole Lucas	SR	Indiana State	35:49.66			1 (33)
34	Mary Alex England	SO	Mississippi	35:50.63			1 (34)
35	Courtney Smith	FR	Harvard	35:52.28			1 (35)
36	Whitney Thornburg	SR	Harvard	35:59.51			1 (36)
37	Tristin Van Ord	SO	Appalachian State	36:03.34			1 (37)
38	Sakiko Minagawa	JR	Ohio State	36:14.57			1 (38)
39	Shaylyn Tuite	JR	Syracuse	36:32.01			1 (39)
40	Melissa Fairey	SO	Georgia Tech	36:37.03			1 (40)
41	Letitia Saayman	SR	Coastal Carolina	36:45.92			1 (41)
42	Maura Linde	JR	Syracuse	36:51.39			1 (42)
43	Katie Townsend	SR	Georgia Tech	36:54.05			1 (43)
44	Kelly Meyer	JR	Georgia Tech	37:09.22			1 (44)
45	Lauren Brasure	FR	Florida	37:49.91			1 (45)
46	Elizabeth Hutchins	SR	Sacred Heart	38:09.99			1 (46)
	Madeline Perez	FR	Georgetown	DNF			1,
	Olivia Pratt	SO	Butler	DNS			1,

NCAA East Regional: Blue track, blue skies

Random notes from Jacksonville Beach:

--Kudos to Sacred Heart track coach and good friend Christian Morrison for recommending that we stay at this Courtyard Marriott in Jacksonville Beach. It’s right on the water, which is beautiful. It’s extremely convenient to everything we need. And it’s only about 10 miles from the track.

--Speaking of the track: It’s blue. Like, Drake University in Des Moines blue. Hodges Stadium seems to be a great venue for such a big meet, and it has hosted this Regional Championship the past two years (it’s our first time here, though). They have plenty of parking (more on that next), plenty of on-campus amenities within a short walk, and a three-lane “practice track” for an athlete warm-up area.

--Oh yeah. Parking. At our coaches meeting this afternoon, it was noted that the University of North Florida would be hosting five (5? 5!) graduation ceremonies this weekend. Maybe I heard that wrong. The coaches’ meeting was very crowded and standing room only. But I think I heard something to that effect. So while it seems like there is ample parking for the meet, there may not be ample parking for the meet.

--Jacksonville in the end of May. You’re thinking, really hot and humid, right? Well, it’s hot. But it’s not all that humid. In fact! It’s not a whole lot different than the weather we left behind in New York. So, that’s a good thing.

--As we were driving to the track earlier today, we saw a big sign (and store) that said PET SUPERMARKET. Wow. Really? For those keeping score at home, we opted for Publix, a human supermarket, across the street.

NCAA East Regional: Preview video on GoredFoxes.com

Check out this link to an excellent preview video of Michelle Gaye's participation in the NCAA East Regional here at Jacksonville. Thanks to Mike Ferraro and his staff for the excellent promotion of our team and all of Marist Athletics.

NCAA East Regionals: Reach the beach

Here are a few views from our hotel in Jacksonville Beach, Fla. The little speck near the water is Michelle Gaye going out for a shakeout run after our flight here from JFK. We have reached the beach.

Nicely done! Academic honors for Michelle, Vuono and Tino

Check out this link to the GoredFoxes.com press release about major academic honors for Michelle Gaye, Mark Vuono and Mark Valentino. They have represented our program so well for so long -- in the classroom and on the track. Nicely done.

What's next: NCAA Regionals

We leave today for Jacksonville for the NCAA East Regional meet at the University of North Florida. Michelle Gaye will be racing in the 10,000-meter run on Thursday at 9 p.m. This race is the national semifinal, with the top 12 from the East Regional and the top 12 from the West Regional advancing to the national final at the NCAA Championships in two weeks in Oregon. FYI, Michelle is listed as a junior because she did not race (redshirt) two springs ago due to injury. Although we wish we could have her back for one more year, this is her final season of competition at Marist. Look for more posts and updates from the beach for the rest of the week. Here is the declared entry list in order of seed time from the 2015 outdoor season.

1  Chelsea Blaase                SO Tennessee          32:28.39

  2  Margo Malone                  JR Syracuse           32:29.89

  3  Joanna Thompson               SR NC State           33:07.27

  4  Caroline Kellner              JR Cornell            33:32.07

  5  Bethany Sachtleben            SR George Mason       33:32.53

  6  Molly Seidel                  JR Notre Dame         33:39.70

  7  Katie Gillespie               SR West Virginia      33:45.56

  8  Sinead Haughey                SR Furman             33:53.34

  9  Melanie Brender               SR Michigan State     33:53.49

 10  Amanda Behnke                 SO Indiana            33:59.60

 11  Alexis Wiersma                SO Michigan State     34:00.23

 12  Emily Stites                  JR William and Mary   34:03.43

 13  Abbey Kelto                   SR Cen Michigan       34:06.81

 14  Megan Curham                  SO Princeton          34:07.08

 15  Maura Linde                   JR Syracuse           34:12.00

 16  Jessie Petersen               SR Syracuse           34:18.63

 17  Michelle Gaye                 JR Marist             34:20.07

 18  Brooke Tullis                 JR Toledo             34:21.19

 19  Tristin Van Ord               SO Appalachian St     34:23.08

 20  Dylan Hassett                 SR William and Mary   34:26.95

 21  Mara Olson                    SR Butler             34:27.01

 22  Sakiko Minagawa               JR Ohio State         34:27.31

 23  Emily Durgin                  SO Connecticut        34:30.49

 24  Laura Nagel                   SR Providence         34:33.15

 25  Letitia Saayman               SR Coastal Carolina   34:33.85

 26  Gina Sereno                   SO Michigan           34:34.75

 27  Minori Minagawa               JR Ohio State         34:34.82

 28  Erin Osment                   SR Davidson           34:36.74

 29  Ednah Kurgat                  FR Liberty            34:38.75

 30  Madeline Perez                FR Georgetown         34:39.71

 31  Claudia Pham                  SR Dartmouth          34:40.55

 32  Kathleen Darling              JR Wake Forest        34:42.32

 33  Katie Townsend                SR Georgia Tech       34:43.47

 34  Jessie Rubin                  SR Duke               34:44.09

 35  Shaylyn Tuite                 JR Syracuse           34:44.12

 36  Eden Meyer                    FR North Florida      34:47.11

 37  Melissa Fairey                SO Georgia Tech       34:48.56

 38  Sarah Rapp                    SR Virginia Tech      34:48.96

 39  Elizabeth Hutchins            SR Sacred Heart       34:51.29

 40  Courtney Smith                FR Harvard            34:53.67

 41  Lauren Brasure                FR Florida            34:55.05

 42  Mary Alex England             SO Mississippi        34:56.46

 43  Sarah Fakler                  SO Virginia           34:58.09

 44  Kelly Meyer                   JR Georgia Tech       34:58.38

 45  Nicole Lucas                  SR Indiana State      35:00.00

 46  Cassandra Vince               SO Toledo             35:00.00

 47  Olivia Pratt                  SO Butler             35:02.59

 48  Whitney Thornburg             SR Harvard            35:04.25

A national champion across town

A hearty congratulations and NICELY DONE to our friends over at Vassar College for the National Championship earned and won by senior Heather Ingraham in the 400-meter dash at the NCAA D3 Championships up at St. Lawrence. Heather was an All-American last year when she finished fourth at nationals, and from the second that race finished last May, she and her coach – Marist Running Alum Justin Harris – have been planning for a run at the very top of the podium in 2015. Most times, the best-laid plans do not always come to complete fruition. This time, they did. Heather had an incredible run during her career at Vassar, and she capped it with a school record and fastest D3 time this year in 53.89 seconds for the 400.

We are happy and proud for Justin, who meticulously guided Heather’s process the whole way, and for head coach James McCowan, who has built a tremendous all-around program at his alma mater, where he was a record-breaking runner in his own right. But mostly, the praise and congrats should always go to the athlete, Heather, who had to spike up and defend her position as top dog in the nation all year, something she did right to the end. National Champion. Good stuff.

Commencement 2015: Saturday ceremony

Perhaps the nicest, most perfect weather for a graduation ceremony yesterday. Sunny, blue skies, perfect temperature, as we bid adieu to yet another special class of students and student-athletes. Many photos were taken, but this is the only one I could access for the purposes of the blog. Fortunately, it is not "goodbye" with these two guys but more like "see you later" as Mark Valentino returns for a full fifth year and Pat Rynkowski returns for the fall 2015/XC season. We are proud of them both, and we are proud of the entire Class of 2015 women's and men's XC and track teams, who walk out the door with so many school records and memories over the past four years. Nicely done.

Commencement 2015: Friday night's ceremony

A breezy and unseasonably chilly early evening for the conferring of the graduate degrees on Friday night, but the setting -- with the brilliant sun over the Hudson River -- was breathtaking. Much better than last year for the Friday ceremony, when we were cooped up in the stuffy McCann Center due to weather issues. Kelley Gould received her hard-earned masters -- she completed her degree requirements while working full-time, coaching modified track and myriad other responsibilities. Ken Walshak will be completing his degree requirements later this summer and he walked last night. We are proud of them both, and we look forward to another nice day today for undergraduate commencement on the Campus Green.

Generations overlap

Two generations of Marist Running greatness overlapped on Thursday afternoon when Liza Grudzinski came to campus to meet up and run with Michelle Gaye. Michelle has broken the records that Liza set many years ago, and the two have formed a special bond over their shared experiences in different decades. We were pleased to see them coordinate their schedules today -- special thanks to Liza and Kirk for making it work with their 15-month-old fireplug of an awesome toddler Emmett coming to campus as well.

Spring Cleaning: A cool story

Sometimes we tend to place emotional attachments to inanimate objects – most notably for some, automobiles. But an air conditioner? I’m not saying I shed a tear over this old, beat-up AC that now has a final resting place in our Dumpster. But this old AC definitely has a unique story in our family lore.

The year was 1999. A special year, as that was when our first child was born. That spring and summer, Heidi was in her later trimesters of pregnancy. The fog of memory recalls only the very hot and stifling moments of that summer. The marathon in Vermont, where the temperature in Burlington on that Memorial Day weekend was warmer than in Miami Beach. At the time, it was my PW (personal worst), but I did finish on a day when the dropout rate was extremely high; you don’t go to Vermont expecting hot and humid weather. Heidi was there, nearly seven months pregnant and miserable in the late spring heat.

Maybe we should get an air conditioner, I said upon returning home. Nah, she said. I’ll be fine. Our old Cape Cod style house does not have central air. Like most Capes, the upstairs bedrooms are like the attic of most houses – very, very warm. We had a ceiling fan and window fans going during that summer of 1999. But some nights, it was so warm that we would have to sleep on the den couch.

Maybe we should get an air conditioner, I repeated a few weeks later. Nah, she said. I’ll be fine. The summer heat persisted. June. July. Her pregnant belly got bigger as the boy grew inside her. Maybe we should get an air conditioner, I said as August loomed. No answer. The fans whirred on the ceiling and in the window. Maybe we should get an …

Finally, she had enough. OK, she said. Get an air conditioner. It’s now the second week of August, of what was a hot and stifling summer. No one’s got air conditioners. I make calls to every hardware store in a 20-mile radius. Finally, I find a store that has an AC. One left. Put my name on it, I say, I’ll be right there. I paid the overpriced tag on it (bargaining power = zero at this point), bring the AC home. You know those energy efficiency rating scales? This one’s off the charts – on the low end! It is not energy efficient. But boy, does it pump out the cold air.

Happy wife = happy life, and a bursting at the seams mom-to-be needs to be cool. Just a few weeks later, the baby is born. A few weeks after that, the chill of autumn comes in, and the AC goes back in the box until next summer. That little bundle of joy now towers over me, a headphone-wearing/dad-ignoring honor student and track athlete who is rapidly becoming a pretty neat adult before our eyes. That old energy inefficient AC moved around our house, room to room as needed, but kept pumping out ice cold air for summer after summer after summer. Until finally, it stopped conditioning the air to our liking. It went from energy inefficient to just plain inefficient. It stopped working. It lived a good, long, electric-bill draining life.

On this Throwback Thursday, we shed no tears for an old and now useless household appliance. But we do recall some fond memories from a loud and rattling machine that has finally run its course.

Spring Cleaning: One for the Thumb

The Dumpster in our driveway is in place, a sign of literal spring cleaning at our house. Heidi is in one of those purge modes, kind of a reset button for home and family. In the process of cleaning out the upstairs office we call the “cold room” (because it has no heat), she came across this long-ago goofy picture of me, taken in France when we were there visiting our good friends back in 1997. I immediately noticed some different things from that era:

1. I’m not wearing a hat;
2. I’m wearing sunglasses;
3. I’m wearing a buttoned shirt;
4. Where's the gray hair?

All things that would be considered oddities for the circa 2015 version of me. Anyway! Facebook has this thing called Throwback Thursday (#TBT), so I guess we can spill that into this blog.