Fastrack Last Chance: Relay photos and more thoughts

Fastrack Last Chance

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Men’s 3,200-meter relay

1-Marist (Stefan Morton 1:58.9, Drew Burns 1:55.1, Nestor Taylor 1:57.2, Steven Morrison 1:53.1) 7:44.69 *IC4A qualifier, school record, old record 7:45.62 by Justin Harris, Sean Prinz, Brian DeMarco, Mike Bamberger, 2004

Stefan Morton: 28, 57 (29), 1:27 (30), 1:58.9 (31.9)

Drew Burns: 26, 55 (29), 1:25 (30), 1:55.1 (30.1)

Nestor Taylor: 27, 56 (29), 1:26 (30), 1:57.2 (31.2)

Steven Morrison: 27, 55 (28), 1:24 (29), 1:53.1 (29.1)

In the previous post, I tried to explain how our school record relay unfolded on the track. Allow me to use this post to tell you a little bit of what was transpiring off the track as our men took down a 12-year-old school record and increased our travel party to Boston next week by four more athletes.

As we have for most of our Ocean Breeze meets this winter in the inaugural season at this fine facility on Staten Island, we were visited by our most loyal track team alum, Marty McGowan, a lifelong SI resident. Marty graduated Marist more than 40 years ago but has followed our program closely ever since I started coaching 25 years ago. He follows the blog and is always – always! -- the first to email his comments soon after I post. If I’m ever lacking motivation to post to the blog, I think of Marty and I know that he’s checking every morning from SI. We had a special treat on Saturday night, as Marty’s wife Annie – aka “good luck charm” – stopped by Ocean Breeze with the old man. Marty stayed trackside with us for most of the meet, pacing nervously and mumbling encouragement as Marist runners zoomed around the track; it was funny watching him do this, all the while knowing I’m probably just as antsy while our athletes are racing. It was great to share the relay experience with both of them; a fine sendoff after a fun winter of meets at Ocean Breeze. Until next winter, Marty …

Before the meet, I was speaking with an older, assistant coach from another Metro Area school. We shared something in common: We were both coached in college by the late Steve Lurie – the other coach while a runner at Fordham, me at Marist. We were swapping old Steve Lurie stories, and we were talking about how Steve was all about the 4x800 relay, always trying to turn every athlete on every team into another cog in another 4x800 or DMR. But mostly the 4x800. Whenever anyone asks me why I turned to marathon running at the relatively young age of 19, it was in large part to escape this middle distance cauldron and find safe haven in an event at which I might actually excel, as opposed to the personal black hole otherwise known as the 800 meters. Many hours later, as our 4x800 relay won and set a school-record time of which Steve Lurie would be proud, I couldn’t help but think that somewhere the old coach -- with the gravelly voice and the admittedly quirky habits -- is smiling down on us.

Fastrack Last Chance: Men's 4x800 relay school record and IC4A qualifier!

More on the men’s 4x800 relay school record, IC4A qualifier and victory on Saturday night at Ocean Breeze …

To say this was an elusive school record would be an understatement. The record lasted on the books for 12 long years. During those 12 long years, we have had some of the greatest middle distance runners, distance runners, and relay runners, in school history walk in and out of our program, setting numerous other records above, below and around the indoor 4x800 relay. But never this elusive record. Why? Why did this record last so long? Was it JINXED?

There are no easy answers, but here’s one explanation: The indoor 4x800 relay is not offered at many of the meets that we have attended through the years, and to really get the record off the books, we would have needed to stack it on a given day and thus devote a meet to it. It usually never materialized. The DMR was the relay that was more worthy our focus through the years. And, oh yeah: Contrary to popular belief, that 4x800 indoor record was pretty good. Oh sure, our outdoor 4x800 exceeded the indoor mark on numerous occasions, but the indoor 4x800 was not a “weak” school record as some contended. It had staying power. Until Saturday night.  

Now. Onto the race. Keep in mind that our primary goal was an IC4A qualifying mark, and that standard is 7:53.00. We felt confident we could do that, and we were setting our sights on the school record, which admittedly I thought we could do with a nearly perfect relay. Away we went.

Stefan Morton led off. Stefan’s primary event indoors is the 3,000-meter run. He was racing his first 800 in a long time and we were banking on his miler speed and race toughness – remember, he brought home our IC4A qualifying DMR with a 4:14 split a few weeks ago in Boston. The leadoff leg is bruising and tough. Stefan proved up to the challenge. He faded slightly over the last lap, but handed off solidly in fourth place. We guessed right. We figured Stef would give us a race and we figured our true 800 men were game for a good chase after his leadoff leg.

Freshman Drew Burns chased, all right. He vaulted our team right back into the race with a truly clutch and money performance. He got out hard, and then maintained and closed on the field. He took us from fourth place with a slight gap on the lead teams, all the way back into the mix for the lead. He made the relay and set the table for the back end. Look at those splits. Look at those splits! Nicely done, Drew!

Nestor Taylor did what he does. He ran tough, hard, consistent. He kept us in the mix and in the race, exactly what we would want him to do as he prepared to hand off to Steven Morrison. His split time was slowed by a clunky handoff to Steven. But, as you see, we can certainly forgive Steven for the rocky start. Steven ran awesome. He ran tough, he ran hard and he ran for the win, with a gutsy anchor leg – everything you want an anchor leg to do, and more. He brought home the relay in truly spine-tingling fashion. The team won. The team qualified. The team set the school record. And Steven carried the team there on his back with a monster 1:53.1 split.

I have more thoughts on this memorable relay, but I will save it for the next post. I cannot access relay team photos from the bus, so I will upload them upon arrival home.

Fastrack Last Chance

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Men’s 3,200-meter relay

1-Marist (Stefan Morton 1:58.9, Drew Burns 1:55.1, Nestor Taylor 1:57.2, Steven Morrison 1:53.1) 7:44.69 *IC4A qualifier, school record, old record 7:45.62 by Justin Harris, Sean Prinz, Brian DeMarco, Mike Bamberger, 2004

Stefan Morton: 28, 57 (29), 1:27 (30), 1:58.9 (31.9)

Drew Burns: 26, 55 (29), 1:25 (30), 1:55.1 (30.1)

Nestor Taylor: 27, 56 (29), 1:26 (30), 1:57.2 (31.2)

Steven Morrison: 27, 55 (28), 1:24 (29), 1:53.1 (29.1)

Fastrack Last Chance: Men's results and splits

The men saved the best for last, with a scintillating school record, IC4A qualifier and first-place finish in the 4x800 relay. Earlier in the night, sophomore Dietrich Mosel posted a nice, solid PR in the mile run. More details and photos on the relay record later ...

Fastrack Last Chance

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Men’s results and splits

200-meter dash

15. Tim Johnson 22.85

800-meter run

26. Brian Henderson 1:58.41

28, 57 (29), 1:27 (30), 1:58.41 (31.41)

31. Nate Lungarini 2:00.23

27, 57 (30), 1:28 (31), 2:00.23 (32.23)

33. Josh Siegel 2:00.43

27.9, 57.9 (30.0), 1:28.9 (31.0), 2:00.43 (31.53)

45. Jon Coogan 2:05.39

30.6, 60.6 (30.0), 1:31.8 (31.2), 2:05.39 (33.59)

Mile run

27. Dietrich Mosel 4:19.33

32 (long split), 64 (32), 1:36 (32), 2:09 (33), 2:42 (33), 3:15 (33), 3:47 (32), 4:19.33 (32.33)

35. Steven Rizzo 4:24.71

33 (long split), 64 (31), 1:36 (32), 2:09 (33), 2:42 (33), 3:16 (34), 3:50 (34), 4:24.74 (34.74)

3,000-meter run

24. Spencer Johnson (unattached) 8:55.96

34, 71 (37), 1:45 (34), 2:20 (35), 2:55 (35)

3:30 (35), 4:05 (35), 4:40 (35), 5:07 (37), 5:53 (36)

6:30 (37), 7:07 (37), 7:43 (36), 8:20 (37), 8:55.96 (35.96)

Kilometer splits: 2:55, 2:58, 3:02.96

31. Johnny Lee 9:12.32

35, 73 (38), 1:49 (36), 2:26 (37), 3:02 (36)

3:39 (37), 4:15 (36), 4:53 (38), 5:29 (36), 6:06 (37)

6:44 (38), 7:22 (38), 8:00 (38), 8:37 (37), 9:12.32 (35.32)

Kilometer splits: 3:02, 3:04, 3:06.32

3,200-meter relay

1-Marist (Stefan Morton 1:58.9, Drew Burns 1:55.1, Nestor Taylor 1:57.2, Steven Morrison 1:53.1) 7:44.69 *IC4A qualifier, school record, old record 7:45.62 by Justin Harris, Sean Prinz, Brian DeMarco, Mike Bamberger, 2004

Stefan Morton: 28, 57 (29), 1:27 (30), 1:58.9 (31.9)

Drew Burns: 26, 55 (29), 1:25 (30), 1:55.1 (30.1)

Nestor Taylor: 27, 56 (29), 1:26 (30), 1:57.2 (31.2)

Steven Morrison: 27, 55 (28), 1:24 (29), 1:53.1 (29.1)

Fastrack Last Chance: Women's results and splits

Fastrack Last Chance

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Women’s results and splits

60-meter dash

13. Ashley Haynes 8.21

200-meter dash

11. Ashley Haynes 26.59

1,000-meter run

3. Emily Burns 2:58.01

34, 68 (34), 1:45 (37), 2:21 (36), 2:58.01 (37.01)

4. Janelle Solviletti 2:59.12

33, 68 (35), 1:44 (36), 2:21 (37), 2:59.12 (38.12)

9. Bryn Gorberg 3:10.71

35, 71 (36), 1:50 (39), 2:30 (40), 3:10.71 (40.71)

Mile run

17. Lizzy Peper 5:40.46

41.7, 82.3 (40.6), 2:04.0 (41.7), 2:47.7 (43.7), 3:31.1 (43.4), 4:14.8 (43.7), 4:58.4 (43.6), 5:40.46 (42.06)

Crazy hair day

For those that are not "friends" on Facebook with my wife Heidi ... here are a few photos of our youngest son James on Friday, Crazy Hair Day at his elementary school. The above photo is of him practicing his clarinet shortly after his crazy hair was done up by his older sister, Natalie. The other is a full, head-on view of it. My suggestion for next year's crazy hair day is to cut James' hair into a fashionable mullet -- party in the back! Like most things in our house, this suggestion by me was met with apathy and disdain -- and rightfully so!

OK! Off to Ocean Breeze in a few hours for the Fastrack meet. Results and splits later, either on the bus home or upon returning home.

Academic news: Among the best in the nation

Please see this link on GoredFoxes.com about our men's cross country team, which had the 18th best GPA out of 173 D1 schools that qualified for Academic All America honors by the US Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Also! Once again, our men's and women's XC and track teams led the MAAC with the most number of All Academic athletes. As I've said before, it's good to be first place in something, and these are worthy accolades for our student-athletes. Nicely done!

Fastrack Last Chance Meet: Order of events and schedule

On Saturday, we will return one last time to Ocean Breeze on Staten Island, for the Fastrack Last Chance meet. We will have a small contingent of athletes on the track, chasing PRs and/or ECAC/IC4A marks. As of now, we have athletes entered in the following events. Women: 60 dash, mile run, 1,000 run, 200 dash. Men: Mile run, 400 dash, 800 run, 200 dash, 3,000 run, 4x800 relay. Here is the timeframe for the meet.
Fastrack Last Chance Meet

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, Staten Island

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Order of events and time schedule

Women then men

4 p.m.: 60 hurdle trials

4:15 p.m.: 60 dash Elite Men semis

4:20 p.m.: 60 dash trials

4:40 p.m.: DMR

5 p.m.: 500 dash

5:15 p.m.: 60 hurdle finals

5:30 p.m.: 60 dash Elite final

5:35 p.m.: 60 dash final

5:50 p.m.: Mile run

6:35 p.m.: 400 dash

7 p.m.: 800 run

7:30 p.m.: 1000 run

7:40 p.m.: 200 dash

8 p.m.: 3,000 run

8:40 p.m.: 4x800 relay

8:50 p.m.: 4x400 relay

MAAC Championships: Men's results and splits

This was one of the better days in recent history for the men's team at the MAAC Championships. This was the highest point total for the men in seven years, since the 2009 team totalled 72.5 points. Kudos to the aforementioned Hakim Cunningham, as well as the other meet scorers for us: Dietrich Mosel in the grueling 5,000/3,000 double, in my memory the first runner in school history on the men's side to score in both races; Stefan Morton in the 3km (see photo of Deet and Stefan here); Matt Baffuto in the 5km; Steven Morrison in a bruising 800; both relays in strong efforts. Good stuff.

MAAC Indoor Track Championships

Armory Track and Field Center

Sunday, February 21, 2016

Men’s results and splits

60-meter dash

14. Joe Cafaro 7.46

200-meter dash

18. Joe Cafaro 23.66

400-meter dash

12. Tim Johnson 50.63

18. Josh Hindle 53.32

800-meter run

6. Steven Morrison 1:55.26

26.836 (26.836)         55.150 (28.315)       1:24.673 (29.524)       

     1:55.251 (30.579)  

12. Drew Burns 1:58.30

29.284 (29.284)         58.755 (29.472)       1:29.223 (30.469)       

     1:58.298 (29.075)

15. Nestor Taylor 1:58.86

29.271 (29.271)         58.515 (29.245)       1:29.020 (30.505)       

     1:58.856 (29.836)  

21. Nate Lungarini 2:00.97

29.480 (29.480)         59.665 (30.185)       1:30.596 (30.932)       

     2:00.968 (30.372)    

22. Josh Siegel 2:01.23

29.796 (29.796)       1:00.150 (30.355)       1:30.697 (30.547)       

     2:01.225 (30.529) 

Mile run

17. Steven Rizzo 4:35.90

34.500 (34.500)       1:06.679 (32.180)       1:40.474 (33.796)      

     2:15.178 (34.704)       2:50.587 (35.409)       3:26.524 (35.937)      

     4:02.379 (35.856)       4:35.895 (33.516) 

18. Zach Toner 4:36.41

33.686 (33.686)       1:07.665 (33.980)       1:41.510 (33.846)      

     2:16.669 (35.159)       2:52.472 (35.804)       3:28.192 (35.720)      

     4:02.576 (34.385)       4:36.407 (33.832)

24. Ricky Willi 4:45.95

34.047 (34.047)       1:08.436 (34.389)       1:42.274 (33.839)      

     2:17.874 (35.600)       2:54.556 (36.683)       3:32.471 (37.916)      

     4:10.279 (37.808)       4:45.941 (35.662)

3,000-meter run

5. Stefan Morton 8:32.79

34.162 (34.162)       1:09.167 (35.005)       1:43.989 (34.823)      

     2:18.975 (34.986)       2:53.578 (34.604)       3:27.036 (33.459)      

     4:01.226 (34.190)       4:35.586 (34.361)       5:09.056 (33.471)      

     5:42.723 (33.667)       6:16.620 (33.898)       6:50.838 (34.218)      

     7:25.948 (35.110)       8:00.193 (34.245)       8:32.787 (32.595)

6. Dietrich Mosel 8:35.59

34.484 (34.484)       1:09.330 (34.847)       1:44.238 (34.908)      

     2:18.792 (34.555)       2:53.316 (34.524)       3:27.365 (34.049)      

     4:01.508 (34.143)       4:34.854 (33.347)       5:09.326 (34.472)      

     5:43.969 (34.644)       6:19.261 (35.293)       6:54.821 (35.560)      

     7:30.443 (35.623)       8:04.703 (34.260)       8:35.583 (30.881)

12. Palmer Weimann 8:47.52

35.909 (35.909)       1:11.489 (35.580)       1:46.653 (35.165)      

     2:20.819 (34.166)       2:55.072 (34.254)       3:30.324 (35.253)      

     4:06.419 (36.095)       4:41.800 (35.381)       5:17.069 (35.270)      

     5:52.810 (35.742)       6:29.198 (36.388)       7:05.748 (36.550)      

     7:41.916 (36.168)       8:16.638 (34.723)       8:47.512 (30.875)

18. Michael Kennedy 9:03.31

36.081 (36.081)       1:11.573 (35.493)       1:46.961 (35.388)      

     2:21.114 (34.154)       2:55.624 (34.511)       3:30.680 (35.056)      

     4:06.861 (36.181)       4:42.683 (35.822)       5:18.518 (35.836)      

     5:54.928 (36.410)       6:31.859 (36.932)       7:08.972 (37.113)      

     7:47.020 (38.048)       8:25.195 (38.176)       9:03.310 (38.115) 

5,000-meter run

5. Dietrich Mosel 14:52.93

34.879 (34.879)       1:10.214 (35.336)       1:46.105 (35.892)      

     2:21.588 (35.483)       2:57.203 (35.615)       3:33.031 (35.829)      

     4:08.467 (35.436)       4:44.121 (35.655)       5:19.681 (35.560)      

     5:55.342 (35.662)       6:30.980 (35.639)       7:07.042 (36.063)      

     7:43.283 (36.241)       8:19.611 (36.328)       8:55.878 (36.268)      

     9:31.885 (36.008)      10:08.840 (36.955)      10:45.316 (36.477)      

    11:21.873 (36.557)      11:58.817 (36.944)      12:35.799 (36.983)      

    13:11.337 (35.539)      13:47.696 (36.360)      14:22.004 (34.308)      

    14:52.922 (30.918)        

6. Matt Baffuto 15:06.96

36.133 (36.133)       1:12.273 (36.140)       1:48.365 (36.093)      

     2:24.273 (35.908)       3:00.335 (36.062)       3:35.746 (35.411)      

     4:11.398 (35.652)       4:47.337 (35.940)       5:23.054 (35.718)      

     5:59.204 (36.150)       6:35.793 (36.590)       7:10.834 (35.041)      

     7:46.597 (35.764)       8:23.013 (36.416)       8:59.215 (36.203)      

     9:35.262 (36.048)      10:11.177 (35.915)      10:47.182 (36.006)      

    11:23.464 (36.282)      11:58.956 (35.492)      12:35.727 (36.772)      

    13:12.871 (37.144)      13:51.100 (38.229)      14:29.167 (38.068)      

    15:06.959 (37.792) 

9. Steven Rizzo 15:13.58

35.915 (35.915)       1:11.909 (35.995)       1:48.012 (36.103)      

     2:23.911 (35.900)       2:59.933 (36.022)       3:35.125 (35.193)      

     4:10.730 (35.606)       4:46.727 (35.997)       5:22.805 (36.079)      

     5:59.082 (36.277)       6:35.590 (36.509)       7:11.959 (36.369)      

     7:48.360 (36.402)       8:25.209 (36.849)       9:02.355 (37.147)      

     9:38.902 (36.547)      10:15.156 (36.255)      10:52.152 (36.996)      

    11:29.553 (37.402)      12:06.983 (37.431)      12:43.905 (36.922)      

    13:21.247 (37.343)      13:58.655 (37.408)      14:36.551 (37.897)      

    15:13.577 (37.026)                            

10. Mark Valentino 15:17.67

35.660 (35.660)       1:11.544 (35.884)       1:47.071 (35.528)      

     2:22.446 (35.375)       2:58.257 (35.812)       3:34.349 (36.093)      

     4:10.464 (36.115)       4:46.388 (35.924)       5:22.440 (36.053)      

     5:58.785 (36.345)       6:35.341 (36.557)       7:11.723 (36.382)      

     7:48.130 (36.407)       8:25.078 (36.949)       9:02.502 (37.425)      

     9:39.328 (36.827)      10:16.367 (37.040)      10:53.903 (37.536)      

    11:31.848 (37.945)      12:09.947 (38.100)      12:47.917 (37.970)      

    13:25.369 (37.452)      14:03.441 (38.073)      14:41.177 (37.737)      

    15:17.661 (36.484)                                            

15. Riley Hughes 15:37.52

36.374 (36.374)       1:12.760 (36.387)       1:48.561 (35.802)      

     2:24.586 (36.025)       3:01.080 (36.494)       3:37.755 (36.675)      

     4:14.186 (36.432)       4:51.160 (36.974)       5:28.180 (37.020)      

     6:05.228 (37.049)       6:41.817 (36.590)       7:19.266 (37.449)      

     7:57.010 (37.745)       8:34.291 (37.281)       9:11.955 (37.665)      

     9:49.935 (37.981)      10:27.943 (38.008)      11:06.602 (38.660)      

    11:45.789 (39.187)      12:25.101 (39.312)      13:04.322 (39.222)      

    13:43.318 (38.996)      14:21.897 (38.580)      15:00.313 (38.417)      

    15:37.515 (37.203)     

60-meter hurdles

2. Hakim Cunningham 8.13 *school record, IC4A qualifier, old school record, 8.28 by Eli Bisnett-Cobb, 2004

1,600-meter relay

5. Marist (Hakim Cunningham 52.445, Zach Berzal 51.303, Nate Lungarini 52.907, Tim Johnson 51.550) 3:28.21

Distance medley relay

4. Marist (Brian Henderson 3:08.142, Drew Burns 51.355, Mark Vuono 1:57.999 Joe Miller 4:22.753) 10:20.25

Henderson: 31, 62 (31), 1:34 (32), 2:06 (32), 2:38 (32), 3:08.142 (30.142)

Burns: 24, 51.355

Vuono: 26, 55 (29), 1:25 (55), 1:57.999 (32.999)

Miller: 29, 61 (32), 1:34 (33), 2:07 (33), 2:41 (34), 3:15 (34), 3:49 (34), 4:22.753 (33.753)

Men’s team standings

1-Monmouth 170, 2. Manhattan 126, 3. Rider 96, 4. Iona 85, 5. St. Peter’s 83, 6. Marist 34, 7. Canisius 18, 8. Siena 12