A
few parting thoughts from the NCAA Regional meet yesterday at Van Cortlandt
Park:
--The
day at Van Cortlandt Park started with a pleasant surprise visit from Marist
Track/XC Royalty Girma Segni, who still lives in Kingsbridge, about a mile away
from Van Cortlandt. Girma was a multiple school record holder during his time
at Marist, and he still holds the VCP school record for 5 miles as well as the
indoor 5km mark. Although none of our current athletes had met him, they sure
knew about it and viewed him with a mix of reverence and awe. They know of his
legacy, and a huge picture of him racing is outside my office in McCann. One by
one, the men were introduced to Girma or introduced themselves to him. He
talked to them, took an interest in their training and racing, and even imparted
some wisdom as to how to race at the famed course. Having him there was a treat
and it showed our athletes the connectivity of past, current and future
generations of Running Red Foxes. He’s one of the greatest we’ve ever had, for
sure. We hope to see him again next week for the season ending IC4A/ECAC meet
back at Van Cortlandt.
--Our
men equaled the 2015 performance at this meet, almost to the point total. While
we were slightly disappointed to have just missed out on 15th place,
we were thrilled with the effort in this highly competitive field. The
sentiment is similar to what we felt after the MAAC Championships two weeks
prior at Disney: Fell just short of our very aggressive goal, but proud of the
effort and the execution of the race. Glass half full, for sure.
--The
regional meet is a pressure cooker atmosphere unlike even the MAAC
Championships, because of the sheer number of teams on the starting line – 41
for men, 40 for women. Trying to gauge how your team is doing is very
difficult. I try to count places as best as possible. But nothing can prepare
you for THIS: When the men came out of the back the second time, around the
halfway point of the 10km race, I’m looking beyond the lead pack for our lead
runner, Matt Baffuto. Hmm. Where IS he. Where IS he? Oh. Wait. There he is. In
the lead pack, the place we’d least expect to find him. LEADING THE RACE. Huh?
What’s the big IDEA? Yeah. Not the smartest of moves, but the early pace was
slow and Matt was feeling it, tasting it. Of course, he didn’t maintain it, but
his finishing time was a PR (not that times matter, but that’s impressive) and
his finishing place was the best we’ve had in four years, since Quimes DelaCruz’s
26th place finish in 2012. Good stuff.
--Once
again, unfortunately, our women’s team performance was below what we were
expecting for sure. We are all searching for answers as to why these past two
meets have not gone according to plan. We know it’s not a lack of effort. This
is a great group of ladies. They work hard, do what we ask of them, and care an
awful lot about what they do. The results just have not mirrored that, and for
that we are truly bummed. However! We do have one more meet in which to end the
season on a positive note, and that is what we are aiming for, next Saturday at
the ECAC Championships.
--Speaking
of that: It’s next Saturday, November 19, at Van Cortlandt Park. Race times for
our team: women’s open 5km, 9:15 a.m.; men’s open 5-mile, 9:30 a.m.; men’s
University 5-mile, 11:30 a.m.; women’s University 5km, 12:15 p.m.
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