Colonial Relays: Thursday's results and splits

Good start to outdoors for our super senior graduate student Christine Coughlin. Along with these ladies in the 3k, the rest of our athletes were able to get in a good practice under the warm sun, so it was worth getting here early. Two long days of racing ahead of us ...

Colonial Relays, Day 1

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Zable Stadium, William and Mary

Williamsburg, VA

Women’s 3,000-meter run

17. Christine Coughlin 10:29.73 (winner, section 3)

Coach Pete’s splits (from starting line)

82, 2:47 (85), 4:12 (85), 5:37 (85)

7:02 (85), 8:27 (85), 9:50 (83), 10:29.73 (39.73)

Kilometer splits: 3:30, 3:32, 3:27.73

Official race splits (from finish line)

39.942, 2:05.628 (85.687), 3:30.321 (84.693), 4:55.409 (85.089), 6:20.385 (84.976), 7:45.520 (85.135), 9:09.255 (83.736), 10:29.722 (80.468)

48. Jordan Casey 11:11.67

Coach Pete’s splits (from starting line)

85, 2:52 (87), 4:17 (85), 5:44 (87)

7:15 (91), 8:52 (97), 10:29 (97), 11:11.67 (42.67)

Kilometer splits: 3:35, 3:40, 3:56.67

Official race splits (from finish line)

41.706, 2:08.709 (87.003), 3:35.163 (86.455), 5:01.060 (85.897), 6:29.414 (88.355), 8:03.400 (93.986), 9:41.839 (98.439), 11:11.668 (89.829)

Also, FYI! Live results can be tracked at halfmiletiming.com ...

Colonial Relays: Friday schedule (hopefully)

Here is the slate of events for races in which we have athletes entered. One major caveat could be the weather. Forecast is for very warm (mid-80s) but very wet weather – with the possibility of thunderstorms. Thunderstorms will shut the meet down. As you can see with this schedule, there are a lot of events crammed into Friday’s morning/afternoon/evening/late night. Moving them to a different time could be difficult and/or could impact the Saturday schedule. One day at a time.

Time schedule/order of events, Friday, April 1

10:10 a.m.: Women’s 100 dash

11:20 a.m.: Women’s 400 dash

12 noon: Men’s 400 dash

12:45 p.m.: Men’s 110 hurdles

1:50 p.m.: Women’s 800 run

2:15 p.m.: Men’s 800 run

2:30 p.m.: Men’s 800 run

3:05 p.m.: Men’s 400 hurdles

3:30 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdles

4:25 p.m.: Women’s 200 dash

5 p.m.: Men’s 200 dash

5:35 p.m.: Men’s 3,000 steeple

8:20 p.m.: Men’s 5k seeded

9:55 p.m.: Men’s 10k

10:40 p.m.: Women’s 1500 unseeded

11:05 p.m.: Men’s 1500 unseeded

Colonial Relays: Getting here

This meet is our longest journey of the year, but well worth the trip to beautiful Williamsburg, Virginia. Our day started with a 6 a.m. departure from the McCann Recreation Center, with a long day of bus riding ahead of us. This early bus departure really makes sense in terms of avoiding traffic in the major metropolitan areas of the Northeast and the Mid-Atlantic – specifically, the massive headache that is usually our nation’s capital. Our bus driver, Tony, is the man. He drives quickly but safely, and got us here exactly on schedule at a little after 3 p.m. With two athletes racing in the women’s 3,000-meter run at 6 p.m., this was perfect timing. We were greeted by summerlike warmth upon getting off the bus. We’re here, and it’s going to be a long and hopefully worthwhile journey at William and Mary.

Raleigh Relays: Debbie Boerke, school record and ECAC qualifier!

Congrats to freshman Debbie Boerke, who is starting her outdoor season as she started the indoor season -- with a school record. This time, she added an ECAC qualifier as a bonus, and took down an 11-year-old school record. Nicely done, Debbie!

Raleigh Relays

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, NC

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Women’s 400-meter hurdles

12. Debbie Boerke 1:02.62 *ECAC qualifier, school record, old record 1:03.99 by Chrissy McDevitt, 2005

Men’s 400-meter hurdles

41. Hakim Cunningham 58.22

Monmouth Season Opener: Men's results and splits

Highlights: Baffuto wins 5k, Duggan gets a PR in the 5k, and welcome to the team for hurdler Josh Taylor, a football player at Marist.

Monmouth Season Opener

Monmouth University

West Long Branch, NJ

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Men’s results and splits

200-meter dash

10. Tim Johnson 23.20

400-meter dash

9. Tim Johnson 51.48

1,500-meter run

51. Anthony Colasanto 4:23.99

70, 2:18 (68), 3:28 (70), 4:23.99 (72.99 last 400m)

5,000-meter run

1-Matt Baffuto 15:13.33

74, 2:30 (76), 3:41 (71), 4:53 (72)

6:07 (74), 7:19 (72), 8:34 (75), 9:47 (73)

11:00 (73), 12:12 (72), 13:25 (73), 14:36 (71)

15:13.33 (37.33)

14. Will Duggan 16:07.24

76, 2:31 (75), 3:47 (76), 5:04 (77)

6:22 (78), 7:37 (75), 8:54 (77), 10:11 (77)

11:30 (79), 12:48 (78), 14:08 (80), 15:27 (79)

16:07.24 (40.24)

110-meter hurdles

3. Josh Taylor 15.06

400-meter hurdles

13. Sean Patterson 1:00.30

3,000-meter steeplechase

4. Jake Hensler 9:51.24

77, 2:35 (78), 3:54 (79), 5:12 (78), 6:32 (80), 7:54 (82), 9:12 (78), 9:51.24 (39.24)

Monmouth Season Opener: Women's results and splits

Monmouth Season Opener

Monmouth University

West Long Branch, NJ

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Women’s results and splits

800-meter run

14. Christine Gambell 2:24.91 (first 400, 70)

16. Jenna Robinson 2:25.96 (first 400, 71)

35. Shannon Gildea 2:35.82 (first 400, 76)

1,500-meter run

30. Bryn Gorberg 5:06.10

78, 2:38 (80), 4:02 (84), 5:06.10 (1:04.10)

32. Roxy Novo 5:08.35

78, 2:40 (82), 4:04 (84), 5:08.35 (1:04.35)

35. Lizzy Peper 5:14.29

81, 2:45 (84), 4:11 (86), 5:14.29 (1:03.29)

44. Jackie Bunce 5:24.66

81, 2:47 (86), 4:19 (92), 5:24.66 (1:05.66)

5,000-meter run

8. Kim Schwartz 19:28.51

88, 2:58 (90), 4:28 (90), 5:58 (90)

7:29 (91), 8:59 (91), 10:34 (95), 12:11 (97)

13:51 (100), 15:32 (101), 17:10 (98), 18:45 (95)

19:28.51 (43.51)

High jump

7. Fallon Quigley 1.50 meters

Monmouth Miracle? Weather or not ...

A loyal blog follower suggested that I title the post describing today's meet at Monmouth the "Monmouth Miracle," because the weather was unusually nice for this annual season opener. When she suggested this, the sun was shining, the wind was relatively calm and many were commenting on how nice it was for a meet that usually features less than favorable conditions -- wind, cold, rain, etc. Well, soon after she left, the weather turned decidedly "March at Monmouth" -- clouds covered the sun, the wind whipped and everyone was shivering and mumbling to themselves about the darn weather at this darn meet. So ... the miracle only lasted for so long.

The warmest part of the day -- literally and figuratively -- was hanging out in the sun along the backstretch with my old and great college friend Murph, a loyal blog follower and father of a standout distance runner at Niagara University. Murph lives in Erie, PA, which is somewhere near the Arctic Circle from our perspective, so anytime we can see him it's a great day. And his daughter had a killer PR in the 5k, as the wind whipped and the angry clouds approached. But hey. She's from Erie and Niagara. She's tough. This was nothing compared to the Lake Effect. Nicely done!

Raleigh Relays: Men's results, Friday

Our two men’s athletes at Raleigh represented the program well on Friday. Graduate student Mark Valentino (the inaugural Greg Salamone Memorial Scholarship recipient) opened the season in grand fashion, with a personal-best time and IC4A qualifying mark in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He placed third in his section and ninth overall out of 25 runners. We are proud of Mark, who battled injuries during indoor track and now is juggling graduate school studies as well as a middle school teaching position. Nicely done! In the 110 hurdles, Hakim Cunningham had a solid start to the season, placing second in his section and missing the IC4A qualifying mark by 0.07 seconds. On Saturday at Raleigh, Hakim and Debbie Boerke will be racing in the 400-meter hurdles to conclude our stay at the prestigious, early-season meet.

Raleigh Relays

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, NC

Friday, March 25, 2016

Men’s results

110-meter hurdles

27. (second place in section) Hakim Cunningham 14.97

3,000-meter steeplechase

9. (third in section) Mark Valentino 9:16.54 *IC4A qualifier, personal-best time

38.07, 1:49.73 (1:11.66, fastest split), 3:03.64 (1:13.92, fastest split, race leader), 4:17.15 (1:13.51), 5:32.24 (1:15.09), 6:48.20 (1:15.97), 8:03.49 (1:15.29), 9:16.54 (1:13.06)

Raleigh Relays: Women's results, Friday

A mixed bag of results from today's action down at North Carolina State. Senior captain Kristen Traub posted a strong, early-season time that was just off her school record (4:33.95) and an ECAC (4:34.24) marks in the event. Bodes well for the rest of the season. Coach Chuck stated that the heat was a definite factor in the 5km races. Steeple splits were courtesy of FlashResults. I do not have access to any other splits from the meet. More updates later ...

Raleigh Relays

North Carolina State University

Raleigh, NC

Friday, March 25, 2016

Women’s results and (some) splits

1,500-meter run

19. Kristen Traub 4:35.39

80. Janelle Solviletti 4:54.69

5,000-meter run

35. Mara Schiffhauer 18:14.19

55. Elizabeth Wasserman 19:06.75

3,000-meter steeplechase

27. Emily Burns 11:18.11

47.35, 2:12.46 (1:25.11), 3:39.12 (1:26.67), 5:08.85 (1:29.73), 6:38.82 (1:29.98), 8:11.14 (1:32.32), 9:47.98 (1:36.85), 11:18.11 (1:30.13)

Spring break: Final thoughts

We arrived home this afternoon after eight (8!) days on the road – a true family road-trip adventure. A few statistics, for those keeping score at home …

Miles driven in 2013 Honda Odyssey (aptly named for this trip!): 2,268

Colleges visited: 3

Colleges with better on-campus track facilities than Marist visited: 3

Colleges with outdoor tracks visited: 3

Colleges with indoor tracks visited: 2 (including one with two different indoor tracks!)

Family members visited: 4 (side note: we made a pit stop in Syracuse yesterday to visit our old friend and former school record holder Mike Melfi, class of 1999, see photo to the left)

States visited: 9

Nights in a hotel: 5

Gas station stops (for gas): 5

Gas station stops (for bathroom/food): Too many to remember

Grateful Dead songs/concerts listened to on Sirius XM: Too many to remember

Cups of coffee consumed: Way too many to remember

Waffle Houses visited: 4 (was aiming for better than that!)

Nerves frayed on long hauls between stops: Many!

Laughs and memories made along the way: Enough to last a lifetime, hopefully.

It’s good to be back home. Time for rest? NOT! How about a 6:30 a.m. van departure for Monmouth for tomorrow’s meet? More driving! Yay!

Spring break: Bigger team photo from Myrtle Beach

Coach Chuck posted this photo on his Facebook page from team practice at Myrtle Beach. Obviously, he has better connections in terms of getting cool team pix! Wanted to post it here for those that did not see it in other areas. By all reports it was a good week for the team down in South Carolina. OK!

Raleigh Relays: Entries and schedule

Our outdoor track season kicks off at the end of the week with our small but excellent contingent at the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State University. Coach Chuck and crew arrived safely in Raleigh on Wednesday evening. After a practice day on Thursday, we hit the track in earnest on Friday. Here is our slate.

Raleigh Relays entries, women

Mara Schiffhauer, section 2, 5,000, Friday, 10:55 a.m.

Elizabeth Wasserman, section 2, 5,000, Friday, 10:55 a.m.

Janelle Solviletti, section 1, 1,500, Friday, 3:47 p.m.

Kristen Traub, section 6, 1,500, Friday, 4:17 p.m.

Emily Burns, section 1, 3,000 steeplechase, Friday, 5:10 p.m.

Debbie Boerke, sections TBD, 400 hurdles, Saturday, 1:15 p.m.

Raleigh Relay entries, men

Hakim Cunningham, 110 hurdles prelims, Friday, 12:30 p.m.
Mark Valentino, section 1, 3,000 steeplechase, Friday, 5:40 p.m.

Hakim Cunningham, sections TBD, 400 hurdles, Saturday, 12:50 p.m.

We are excited to be representing our program at the meet and we look forward to a great start to the season. 

Spring break: Doin' work

The middle distance and long distance men got in their workout on Wednesday while in Myrtle Beach. Thanks to Sami Ellougani for sharing this BRO photo of the middle distance crew -- Sami, Henderson, Drew and Tanner.

Spring break: What's in a name?

Tuesday was a busy travel day filled with some unexpected twists and turns -- mostly in rural West Virginia (isn't that redundant?), where we hiked at Blackwater Falls State Park (a poor man's Niagara Falls, but well worth the side trip) and made a quick detour to visit the smallest Catholic church in the lower 48 states (oh, it was small, all right!). As we arrived near Pittsburgh, we had to stop in Canonsburg, Pa., a southern suburb of the Steel City. My grandmother was born here, and there have been several distant relatives that have inhabited the city through the generations. It is here in Canonsburg where the highest concentration of Colaizzos in the country can be found -- not that there are many. In the center of town, there is this business (above), located in a building named after a long lost descendant (left). Ours is an uncommon name, so it was thrilling for our family to see it here.

Spring break: College visits

Our first college visit on the return trip north was to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. During a break in the touring, Joey was able to get a 4-mile tempo workout in on the CMU track. As a track coach visiting other schools, please forgive me the "facilities envy" when I see such a nice track on a school campus. Maybe someday ...

After our tour of CMU on a beautiful early spring day (temperature approaching 70 degrees), we made a cannonball run to Rochester, NY, for our next tour, Thursday morning at RIT. When we left Pittsburgh, it was balmy. By the time we arrived in Rochester late on Wednesday, it was 34 degrees, there was a coating of sleet on the cars and it was spitting freezing rain. Welcome back to New York! Now, if only there were a Stewart's in the vicinity ...

Alumni racing update: Conor and Katie

See photo above for the exciting development regarding Conor Shelley's new road 5km PR -- for the win and a nice cash prize too. In other news! Katie Messina's great race just got better -- her net time for the New Bedford Half Marathon was actually 1:19:39, due to a rookie mistake of starting in the crowd. Katie proved emphatically that she belongs on the front of the starting line. Nicely done!

Half marathon results: Katie crushes it at New Bedford

All we can say is: Wow. Wow. WOW! Marist Running Alum Katie Messina had an eye-popping, remarkable, wonderful, awesome, (insert exciting adjective here) half marathon debut at New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Sunday. Racing for Battle Road Track Club, Katie absolutely crushed it. She ran 1:19:54 (1:19:54!!!!). She broke 1:20 in her first-ever half marathon. That’s amazing! She averaged 6:05 pace and proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is built to go the distance. She led her team to a fourth-place finish, and she certainly has a great future at this long-distance stuff. Nicely done, Katie! (And sorry to all for the unusual number of exclamation points in this post, but I am excited about it!)

Half marathon results: Forever Foxes cruise in NYC

Marist Running alums had strong showings at Sunday’s New York City Half Marathon. Ryan Scrudato and Ryan Fitzsimons, both running for Central Park Track Club, notched strong PR times. Datos ran 1:12:30 (5:32 pace) and Fitz ran 1:13:32 (5:37 pace). Both had respective mid-race crises that forced them to slow down/stop briefly, but both rebounded for excellent races. Becca Denise did well, finishing in 1:40:12 (7:39 pace). Todd Bivona, a long-ago sprinter turned distance runner, ran 1:43:50 (7:56 pace). Our good pal Krys Wasielewski (Junk Yard Dogs) placed 20^th in his age group in 1:40:42 (7:41 pace). Great job, everyone!

Spring break: Heading north

After a couple of action-packed and family filled days in the Myrtle Beach area, our family van was pointed north today for a long day of driving and a little bit of touring too. We made an out-of-the-way side trip to Appomottox Courthouse, Virginia – the historic site where the Civil War ended in April 1865. Thankfully, my kids and wife share my oddball fascination for U.S. history – or at least, they play along for the old man’s sake. Actually! Our youngest son James, he of much noise and activity, surprises us all with his strong interest in the U.S. presidents, which leads to our latest stop for the evening. We are in Staunton, Virginia, where first thing tomorrow we will visit the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum. Maybe it’s because we live in Hyde Park, home to the original presidential library and museum (FDR), but he really enjoys these places. After that, it’s off to some hiking in the hills of West Virginia, and then into Pittsburgh for the college visits portion of the trip. And in reference to the previous post? Yes. We had a late breakfast today at Waffle House, and the midday drive soundtrack featured a 3-plus hour Grateful Dead concert from 1973, as we weaved our way through North Carolina and Virginia. Meanwhile! Down in North Myrtle Beach, much of our team seems to be enjoying Spring Break despite a chillier than normal start to the week.

Spring break: Waffle House and Sirius 23

As we hauled our final stretch of highway to make it to Myrtle Beach, it must be noted that there are two things that make traveling easier for me: 1-Waffle House. 2-Sirius XM Channel 23. Waffle House has a cult following, and I am certainly part of that cult. Great coffee, excellent breakfast food, ubiquitous locations. Once you start season Waffle House signs, you know you are in the South and you know you are in for some good food and great coffee. I mean. GREAT coffee, and endless refills. Friday’s breakfast was at Waffle House. Upon getting on the open highway, most of the family fell asleep. This left me to listen to Sirius 23, which is the Grateful Dead channel. It might be the best traveling music, an endless loop of mystifying and mesmerizing jams from yesteryear. I never attended a Dead show, but I am a big fan. And having Bobby Weir, Jerry Garcia and the rest of them as company got me through the balance of Virginia and all of North Carolina while everyone snoozed or otherwise was not engaged in the trip.

We arrived in Myrtle Beach on Friday afternoon and spent an excellent evening with family, as we will this weekend. We don’t see them – my sister, my nephews – nearly as much as we should, so this long excursion has been and will be worth every mile and every note. Fare thee well, fare thee well … 

Spring Break: Notes from the road

Hello. I am posting this from a hotel room in the curiously named town of Spotsylvania, Virginia. My sister just texted me to say that this name has a "Munsters" feel to it. Indeed! Well. Here's the thing! For the first time that I can remember as a coach, our Marist Spring Break coincides neatly with the Spring Recess for my children. This, of course, is neat! My wife came up with a Big, Grandiose Idea of a family trip to Disney World. Disney. No. No. No!!!!!!! After I toweled off from breaking out in a nerves-induced cold sweat, not to mention detailing how our checking account could not withstand such a frontal assault, we settled on a very neat Plan B. We would go visit Aunt Lucy (my sister) and her boys (my nephews, all BROs, for sure!) in Myrtle Beach. On the way back, we would check off some college visits for our oldest son Joey, a junior in high school who has already begun this process. With a relatively new minivan (41,220 miles at the start of this journey), we loaded up and away we go.

Now. Alert readers may be aware that a large swath of our track/XC team -- mostly young men and women distance runners -- also have Myrtle Beach as their Spring Break destination. There was talk among them of Coach Pete getting the gang together for a workout. Coach Pete quickly squashed such talk. Don't get me wrong. I love my team and our athletes. But enough is enough. We have been together on a daily basis for more than two months since the beginning of the year, and stretching back to mid-August for much of the team. Family time is family time. Of course, my phone is always on and open for texts and calls throughout the break. But a team practice? In Myrtle Beach? NO THANKS. However! I am confident that our athletes will be training well while they are away.

So anyway! The first leg of our trip today involved about 400 miles of driving, starting in the mid-afternoon after our kids got out of school. Even with Modern Electronic Devices, this is a long way to go as a Family Unit -- especially when one member of that unit is a very active and maturity-challenged 10-year-old, whose lexicon includes such timeless gems as "I'm bored" and "Are we there yet?" Overall, it has been smooth sailing after Day 1. We look forward to our arrival in Myrtle Beach to see family members that we just don't see very often. I will do my best to post when I can, from the road.

Erichson race: Proud of our alums

A hearty NICELY DONE to Billy Posch and Kelley Gould for repping Marist track at the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club Ed Erichson Memorial Races, an event near and dear to my heart. Billy won the 5-miler by more than two minutes and Kell was the runner-up in the 10-miler. Billy ran 27:14.13 and Kelley ran 1:12:17.07 for the hilly 10-miler. Good stuff. 

Looking ahead: Outdoor track schedule

The shortest of our three-season cycle -- outdoor track -- is looming in a few weeks. Once it gets started, you blink and it's over. Yeah. It's that fast. This year, the calendar is a bit quirky. Marist has an extended spring break -- almost two weeks! -- that starts on Wednesday and continues through Monday, March 28. The season-opening Monmouth meet (almost always held in difficult weather conditions) will be the day before Easter, and still during spring break, so our travel squad will be limited at best. Also during spring break, Coach Chuck will take a small contingent down to the Raleigh Relays. After that, it's off to the races, literally, with a schedule that will seem familiar to loyal followers of the program. Here we go ...

2016 Outdoor track schedule

Saturday, March 26: Monmouth Season Opener

Friday/Saturday, March 25-26: Raleigh Relays, NC State

Friday/Saturday, April 1-2: Colonial Relays

Friday/Saturday, April 8-9: Met Championships at Rutgers

Saturday/Sunday, April 16-17: Bucknell Bison Invitational

Friday, April 22: Larry Ellis Invitational, Princeton

Saturday, April 23: Wolfie Invitational at Stony Brook

Thursday/Friday/Saturday, April 28-30: Penn Relays

Sunday: May 1: Yale Springtime Invitational

Friday, May 6: Vassar Twilight

Saturday/Sunday, May 7-8: MAAC Championships at Rider

---
Friday/Saturday/Sunday, May 13-15: IC4A/ECAC Championships, Princeton, NJ

Thursday/Friday/Saturday, May 26-28: NCAA Regionals, Jacksonville, FL

Thursday/Friday/Saturday, June 24-26: USATF Junior Championships at Clovis/Fresno, CA

Looking ahead: IC4A standards for outdoor track

The indoor IC4A Championships still remain a recent and fresh memory, but as we round the corner into outdoor track, the standards for that championship in two months' time have been posted. There are some slight adjustments to the standards from the past, so they are listed here. We are hopeful to have several qualifiers for this meet.

IC4A Outdoor Track Qualifying standards

100-meter dash: 11.00

200-meter dash: 22.20

400-meter dash: 49.20

800-meter run: 1:54.00

1,500-meter run: 3:56.50

5,000-meter run: 14:45.00

3,000-meter steeplechase: 9:22.00

10,000-meter run: 31:30.00

110-meter hurdles: 14.90

400-meter hurdles: 54.00

4x100 relay: 42.50

4x400 relay: 3:17.60

4x800 relay: 7:43.00

All sunshine and smiles

It seems unfathomable that something as random as the weather can have such a profound affect on our collective moods. There are acronyms and labels for every possible emotion we feel at every possible time. This can seem pervasive and burdensome at times, but it can be very instructive as well. Seasonal Affective Disorder (or SAD) is a very real emotional crisis for many people, centering around a lack of sunshine and repeated bouts of dreary weather. Again, it seems random and trivial that the weather can do this to us. But it does! Fortunately, on the other end of this meteorological spectrum was an outlier like today. A midsummer day randomly invading the end of winter: 81 degrees at the track on March 9. 81 bloomin' degrees. Shorts, t-shirt, tube socks pulled up high ... on March 9. Are you KIDDING me?

Hey. We'll take it. The smiles were broad. The spring in our collective step was, well, springy for sure. Everyone was happy -- ebullient, even! Steeplechasers steepled. Hurdlers hurdled. The vibe was impossibly sunny and bright. What's the saying? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth? Yeah. Well. Thank you, global warming, El Nino, La Nina, the liberal media ... whatever or whoever the reason for this weather day. Thank you, thank you. A happy team is like a ray of sunshine that keeps on shining. Nicely done, Mother Nature!

Birthday beverage

Sophomore Joe Miller turns 20 today. He celebrated with his teammates and friends with a spirited track workout at Vassar on a gloriously sunny, 60-degree day. It's one of those days where I have to laugh out loud that I actually get PAID to do what I'm doing. I mean, really! So very nice. We had to pinch ourselves as a reminder that it was MARCH 8 and not MAY 8. We'll take it.

We had some great workouts there today. Joe's group was set to do 20x400 (2 sets of 10) -- perfect symmetry for his birthday, right? -- but this old coach couldn't resist going the extra mile (almost literally). We added a "bonus" set of 4x400, for a grand total of 24x400 for the Birthday Boy, along with Rizzo, Saad and Palmer. On a day like this, I feel like I could have asked them to do another 10 and they would have kept cranking them out.

Conveniently, we stopped at the 7-Eleven after the workout so Joe and his van-mates could get a birthday Slurpee -- a well-earned birthday beverage after a hard-earned workout at the track. Here's to many more 400s, Slurpees and birthdays for Joe and the rest of the boys. Nicely done!

Updating the record board

There are many cool things about having the track school record board in the McCann Recreation Center. It is a daily reminder of past greatness and future aspirations. On more than one occasion, I have spied a current athlete staring at that record board, no doubt longing to be on it and plotting ways to make their way on it. One of the neatest things about having a record board is having to UPDATE that record board at the end of each track season. This March, we are fortunate to have emailed the following updates to the record board company for the indoor 2015-2016 season:

Men’s indoor track

60-meter hurdles: Hakim Cunningham 8.13 2016

200-meter dash: Tim Johnson 22.61 2016

4x800 relay: Stefan Morton, Drew Burns, Nestor Taylor, Steven Morrison, 7:44.69 2016

Distance Medley Relay (DMR): Brian Henderson, Tim Johnson, Drew Burns, Stefan Morton, 10:01.03 2016

Women’s indoor track

400-meter dash: Debbie Boerke 58.55 2016

4x200 relay: Candhace Forrest, Danisha Craig, Debbie Boerke, Molly Weeks, 1:45.88 2016

4x400 relay: Courtney Cartwright, Debbie Boerke, Molly Weeks, Danisha Craig, 4:00.20 2015

Here's hoping for another lengthy email in a few months, at the end of the outdoor track season. OK!

ECAC/IC4A Championships: Day 2 results

The indoor track season concluded on Sunday at Boston University with a strong showing by senior captain Kristen Traub in the 3,000-meter run. Kristen placed sixth out of 15 runners in her section and 17th overall in a strong time of 9:48.96. Note her splits below, and you will see that each kilometer was basically equal. She ran tough and strong, and this should springboard her well into the outdoor track season. As for the men’s DMR, after a stellar showing on Saturday, our guys came up short on Sunday. The guys were physically and emotionally exhausted from their exemplary effort on Saturday and it showed here in a big way. It was disappointing, but it does not diminish their record accomplishment from the day before. And now, we move full steam ahead into our shortest season of the year – outdoor track.

ECAC/IC4A Championships, Day 2

Boston University

Sunday, March 6, 2016

ECAC 3,000-meter run

17. Kristen Traub 9:48.96

38.3, 79.1 (40.8), 2:00.0 (40.9), 2:38.7 (38.7), 3:17.1 (38.4)

3:56.1 (39.0), 4:35.3 (39.2), 5:14.5 (39.2), 5:53.6 (39.1), 6:32.8 (39.2)

7:12.8 (40.0), 7:51.9 (39.1), 8:32.4 (40.6), 9:12.4 (40.0), 9:48.96 (36.56)

Kilometer splits: 3:17.1, 3:15.7, 3:16.16

IC4A DMR final

9. Marist (Brian Henderson, Tim Johnson, Drew Burns, Stefan Morton) 10:32.02

Brian Henderson 30, 62 (32), 1:34 (32), 2:06 (32), 2:39 (33), 3:14.3 (35.3)

Tim Johnson: 22.8, 49.2

Drew Burns: 26, 55 (29), 1:28 (31), 1:59.9 (31.1)

Stefan Morton: 27, 56 (29), 1:28 (32), 2:02 (34), 2:37 (35), 3:15 (38), 3:50 (35), 4:28.1 (33.1)

IC4A, Day 1: DMR school record and qualifies for finals!

In one of the more remarkable relay performances in school history, our DMR took down one of the oldest and most storied school records (look at the names on that old record) -- by three seconds! -- and became the first team in school history to qualify for the finals. Wow! This was good stuff. Whenever four relay team members can nail it on the same day, it's magic -- pure magic. That's what these guys did today. It's the reason why this post and the previous post were titled "Day 1" as there is now a "Day 2" with this relay.

The relay started with freshman Brian Henderson. During the week, we set a lofty, aggressive goal time of 3:05 for his leg. He exceeded it by racing to a remarkable 3:04.6 in a fast and packed field. However, what I will always remember from the end of his leg was the handoff to Tim Johnson, who gamely moved from the outside of the track to the inside and made for a seamless handoff. Tim grabbed the stick and went out at a suicidal 22-point split. We all held our breath to see if he could carry it through to the finish. He did, with a 49.1-second split. Tim had never approached sub-50 on a relay or open. Monstrous. Drew Burns continued his masterful progression -- and look at those splits! -- with a tremendous closing lap and a 1:54.9; keep in mind that Drew started the season back in December with 800-meter times and splits north of 2:00 ... so this is simply huge stuff. And Stefan, the quarterback of the relay, brought it home in daring and gutsy style -- going out in 2:02 and hanging on for dear life. Earlier in the week, we all surmised he would need a 4:12 or so for us to have a chance at a school record, and he delivered.

Now, these guys have to rest, rehydrate and regroup for one more run, tomorrow afternoon. Nine teams make it to the final, and we had the eighth time of nine. Eight score. All nine teams are really good; all will be tired, too. It will be tough, but we are incredibly proud to be in the race with a shot at scoring.

Four relay legs. Four guys exceeding expectations. Literally and figuratively, poetry in motion. 

IC4A Championships, Day 1

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Boston University

Distance medley relay

Marist (Brian Henderson 3:04.6, Tim Johnson 49.1, Drew Burns 1:54.9, Stefan Morton 4:12.1) 10:01.03 *school record, old record 10:04.20 by Will Griffin, Colin Frederickson, Tom Lipari, Adam Vess, 2009; advances to finals

Brian Henderson 30, 61 (31), 1:32 (31), 2:03 (31), 2:33 (30), 3:04.6 (31.6)

Tim Johnson: 22.5, 49.1

Drew Burns: 26, 56 (30), 1:26 (30), 1:54.9 (28.9)

Stefan Morton: 28, 59 (29), 1:31 (32), 2:02 (31), 2:34 (34), 3:06 (32), 3:39 (33), 4:12.1 (33.1)

IC4A, Day 1: Hakim and the 4x800 relay

Hakim Cunningham ended his 60-meter hurdle career with a Marist Track first: He became the first hurdler to advance to the semifinal round, with a time that would have been a school record prior to his breakthrough performance at MAACs that earned him the trip to Boston this weekend. His semifinal round race wasn't as fast, and so his career ends there. We are proud of what he has accomplished, and we look forward to bigger and better outdoors.

Our 4x800 relay team ran well, too, with a respectable 7:54.44. This relay marks the end of the indoor career for two of our favorite relay runners of all time -- Mark Vuono and Nestor Taylor. They are pictured above with Nate Lungarini and Josh Siegel after the 4x800 relay on Saturday.

IC4A Championships, Day 1

Saturday, March 5, 2016

Boston University

3,200-meter relay

20. Marist (Nestor Taylor 1:57.7, Mark Vuono 1:57.8, Nate Lungarini 1:58.2, Josh Siegel 2:00.4) 7:54.44

Nestor Taylor: 28, 57 (29), 1:26 (29), 1:57.7 (31.7)

Mark Vuono: 25, 55 (30), 1:25 (30), 1:57.8 (32.8)

Nate Lungarini: 26, 55 (29), 1:26 (31), 1:58.2 (32.2)

Josh Siegel: 27, 57 (30), 1:29 (32), 2:00.4 (31.4)

60-meter hurdles, preliminaries

14 of 27. Hakim Cunningham 8.26 seconds (qualified for semifinals)

60-meter hurdles, semifinals

16. Hakim Cunningham 8.31 seconds