Katie Miale racewalk pictures

THANKS TO HOGUE FOR SENDING ME THESE EXCELLENT ACTION SHOTS. 

USATF Indoor 5km Racewalk Championship

At the Upstate NY Holiday Classic

Rochester Institute of Technology

Henrietta, NY

Saturday, December 30, 2017

4. Katie Miale 26:11

1:00, 1:59 (59), 3:03 (64), 4:03 (60), 5:05 (62)

6:07 (62), 7:09 (62), 8:10 (61), 9:12 (62), 10:16 (64)

11:18 (62), 12:20 (62), 13:23 (61), 14:26 (63), 15:32 (66)

16:37 (65), 17:42 (65), 18:43 (61), 19:47 (64), 20:51 (64)

21:54 (63), 22:59 (65), 24:06 (67), 25:09 (62), 26:11 (62)

Kilometer splits: 5:05, 5:11, 5:16, 5:19, 5:20

Great finish to 2017 for racewalker Katie Miale

It was the final USATF national championship of the calendar year and it’s the final Marist track result of the calendar year, and it’s great news for junior racewalker Katie Miale! Competing at the USATF indoor 5km championships up at RIT – with her teammates Alyssa Lafave and Alex Hogue cheering her on – Katie had a tremendous walk, placing fourth overall in 26:11, improving on her high school PR of 27:56 by a whole heck of a lot of time, and punching a ticket to the Millrose Games mile racewalk in the process. It’s been a really strong second half of the year for Katie, and she’s worked very hard (very often, by herself) on her improvement, so this was great to see. She was a bit nervous about her first-ever 25-lap race; her plan was to keep the splits between 60-65 for as long as possible and as you can see, she did a very good job with this; almost flawless, actually, and certainly good enough. Nicely done, Katie, and Happy New Year to everyone!

USATF Indoor 5km Racewalk Championship

At the Upstate NY Holiday Classic

Rochester Institute of Technology

Henrietta, NY

Saturday, December 30, 2017

4. Katie Miale 26:11

1:00, 1:59 (59), 3:03 (64), 4:03 (60), 5:05 (62)

6:07 (62), 7:09 (62), 8:10 (61), 9:12 (62), 10:16 (64)

11:18 (62), 12:20 (62), 13:23 (61), 14:26 (63), 15:32 (66)

16:37 (65), 17:42 (65), 18:43 (61), 19:47 (64), 20:51 (64)

21:54 (63), 22:59 (65), 24:06 (67), 25:09 (62), 26:11 (62)

Kilometer splits: 5:05, 5:11, 5:16, 5:19, 5:20

Winter foxes

Thanks to Marist Running Alum Mike Holinko for sending this wintry run photo after running with freshman Gianna Tedeschi. Hink was Gianna's coach in high school in New Jersey and they run together during school breaks. Go Foxes.

Winter (break) training: Tino and friends

As I was just wrapping up this flurry of year-end posts this morning, I got this picture and text from Marist Running Alum Mark Valentino: "Ate up 9 tasty miles this AM with a great red fox squad!" From left: Mr. and Mrs. Posch, Tino, senior captain Dietrich Mosel. Awesome.

Winter break training: Old man in the sun

Got this photo and text from Shea Bohan last week: “75 degrees here in South Carolina for my workout and this guy did 6x400 during it!” “This guy,” of course, is our good pal and former teammate Ken Bohan, who also happens to be Shea’s dad! Sunshine and 75 sounds pretty good right now … 

In other news! Other winter break training photos are welcome. Email or text. Stay warm out there in this bitter cold. 

Winter break training: Soft surfaces in NJ

Thanks to Kennedy for sending me this photo of him and Henderson after a nice 12-miler over the weekend at Manasquan Reservoir in New Jersey. As Kennedy wrote: “It's a nice park close to the both of us with a perfect 5 mile soft surface loop around a lake.” Very neat.

Another Christmas miracle

Thanks to Most Loyal Alum and Blog Follower Marty McGowan for responding to my Christmas story post with one of his own from Christmas Day on Staten Island:

Here's our Christmas miracle from yesterday, Annie's mom Frances talking to her grandson Marc Alfano via Skype. Marc works for the US Foreign Service in Eretria, Africa. We were able to connect with him about 3 pm our time, 10 pm his time. None of this was possible when I graduated in 1973, for sure. Enjoy and Merry Christmas!”  

Marty’s mother-in-law turned 100 on July 1, 2017. Did she enjoy the holidays? Here’s what Marty sent in a follow-up email: “You wouldn't believe all the cookies and chocolate  she consumed the past few days! She has to use the walker because of a knee problem, but her legs are still strong. Frances never drove a car, but walked all over the place here on Staten Island. Just ask her how she used to walk around Silver Lake Reservoir with her girlfriends back in the day. She is an inspiration.”

Oldest and youngest

We were out for another family dinner in NJ last night, and our youngest son James was sitting next to my mother, and we realized this was the youngest and the oldest of our family. Pretty neat. 

Winter’s here: Ice/gray beard

One of the problems of growing old: When ice on your beard is undetectable due to blending in with rapidly graying facial hair. Such was the case on a hilly, pre-dawn 6-mile run with Davey O this morning. He was laughing at my facial icicles so he snapped this photo. This is a problem I can deal with, as long as I am still blessed to be able to run hills with Davey O in the pre-dawn darkness. Merry Fitness. 

Winter break entertainment: Shows and books

As many of you know, I’m a pop culture illiterate. I rarely watch TV or go to the movies. My main form of “entertainment” is reading the New York Times and an occasional non-fiction book. This made for good fun during my Public Presentations class this fall as the young college students marveled at my lack of knowledge of music artists, movie stars, movies, TV shows, and pretty much anything else related to pop culture. Thanks to my young and maturity challenged 12-year-old son James, however, I have been exposed to two “shows” that I like a lot: 1. Dude Perfect videos on YouTube. 2. Impractical Jokers on TruTV. The first is a group of young guys who have struck it rich by making really cool videos of trick shots and other sports-related fun stuff. The second is a pretty hilarious show featuring four New York area guys pulling candid camera jokes on unsuspecting regular folks … and themselves. Both are laugh-out-loud funny and have actually gotten me to sit down and watch a screen for more than a few minutes.

Regarding books, this past week I tore through two books in rapid-fire succession: “Stranger in the Woods” and “Lead … for God’s Sake.” The “Lead” book was loaned out by Marist women’s basketball coach Brian Giorgis. It’s must reading for any coach or athlete of a team sport. The story is told in parable form and the message is strong and powerful, albeit a bit redundant – the book could have easily been shortened by 100 pages and been just as effective. It’s a quick read. The “Stranger” book was truly phenomenal, a story about a guy who lived in the woods of central Maine for more than 25 years without human contact. The subtitle is “The extraordinary story of the last true hermit.” The book was extremely well reported and written, another quick read and I definitely recommend it.

Blog stats: Closing in on a million views

It started with a very short post, not creatively entitled “Hello Men!”: Welcome to the TEAM BLOG. Check it frequently for team updates, news, notes, practice information, splits, etc. coach pete

More than 10 years and a few thousand posts later, this blog is closing in on 1 million page views. Is that impressive? I’m not sure and it really doesn’t matter as the number of clicks we get is just a mild curiosity rather than an important metric – it’s not like I make MONEY on this thing, anyway. So … how do we commemorate the upcoming 1 millionth page view? I dunno. How about by just being aware of it with this post? That’s good enough for me.

A Christmas story, circa 2017

My nephew Doug proposed to his longtime girlfriend Heather on Friday night, in Brooklyn. She said YES! This is exciting news for our family, though not totally unexpected given they have been a boyfriend/girlfriend couple for more than five years and they live together out in San Francisco, where he has a great job with a Really Famous Company That You Have Definitely Heard Of (And Probably Even Ordered Stuff From, For Sure!). They’ve been out there for close to two years, so we only get to see them a few times a year. The excitement of their engagement has spread throughout the family, especially my mother, who eagerly anticipates her first grandchild wedding – not to mention, God willing, the arrival of her first great-grandchild, whenever that might be, if she is hopefully still around to witness such a blessing.

On Saturday night down in New Jersey, we had a partial family gathering to celebrate this occasion. We’re simple folks, and my mom isn’t all that mobile, so the celebration was a dinner at a local Friendly’s. En route to the restaurant, my mom shared with me a story that I had never heard before, about how my father proposed to her – 63 years ago on Christmas Eve. How this story slipped through the cracks of our family lore is beyond me. I’m certain none of us had heard it, and I’m certain my mother’s memory is intact when it comes to these things. In fact, since my father died in May of 2016, my mother has been unpacking the memories of their more than 60 years together with beautifully told stories, and a few tears to go with them. Such was the case with the engagement story.

My grandmother, my father’s mother, after whom our daughter Natalie was named, was a Christmas Baby – born at 2 a.m. on Christmas morning (the year of her birth remained a mystery until her death in 1986, and to this day is still shrouded in uncertainty). In any case, the family tradition was to toast the birth of Christ and the birth of my grandmother simultaneously. At 2 a.m. This tradition carried on through my childhood, as we had big family gatherings on Christmas Eve, which spilled late into the night for that 2 a.m. toast, amid much food, wine, walnuts and plenty of second-hand smoke. In December 1954, my mother had been dating my father for about 8 months – things moved fast back then! – and she was over his family’s house on Seymour Avenue in the Bronx on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day to toast her future mother-in-law. Everyone was there. The toast was made; my mother sipped her champagne. My father urged her to sip some more; she did. Sip some more, he implored! Hmmm, she thought, this champagne glass is dirty and stained at the bottom, I shouldn’t say anything? It wasn’t dirty. There was an engagement ring floating in the bottom of it. And that’s how my parents got engaged! Pretty neat story. Who knew?

So my mother was pleased to see the Christmastime engagement tradition rekindled, a few generations and many decades later, with her grandson. Upon arriving back at her room in the assisted living facility, Doug unveiled a special gift for his Nana, something he helped to develop at his Job At The Famous Company. An Amazon Echo Show, so that my mom, who has failing eyesight, can make voice activated calls and listen to music and ask questions of her mysterious new friend named Alexa. Doug did the setup and programmed it; she called me this morning on it, by saying, “Alexa, call Peter.” Thrilling. My 85-year-old mother has joined the 21^st Century. While setting it up, we showed her how Alexa can play any song you could think of. This led to some funny moments as my mother, whose native tongue is Italian, struggled with this. Her wedding song was “Three Coins in the Fountain.” Tell Alexa to play this, we urged!

Mom: “Electra, play Three Coins …”

All of us: No no no, it’s A-lex-a! With an “x”

Mom: “Oh, oh, OK. Alexi, play Three Coins …”

All of us: AlexA. With an “a”

Mom: “Alexa, play Three Coins …

And within seconds, magically, the little electronic cylinder was piping out a crooning Frank Sinatra, playing my parents’ wedding song. My mother sang along, remembering every word, and crying at this magical gift that she cannot possibly fathom.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Christmas 2017: A truly "neat" gift

As many of you know, "maturity" is not my strong suit. I pepper my sentences with "nicely done!" and "in other news!" and "I will say THIS!" and "2:thirsty" instead of 2:30 and of course, the ubiquitous "neat." Well, here on Christmas morning, my oldest son Joey decided to immortalize my immaturity with this incredibly awesome hat, one that surely violates some trademark laws -- unless, of course, we can get THIS trademarked too?! Merry Christmas, everyone.

No "break" from training

Thanks to Rizzo for sharing this awesome photo of several men who got together for a long run out in LaGrange this morning. We might be on winter intersession break, but there is nary a break in training. These guys know it, as do all our athletes. Be Better happens every day, not just when school's in session. From left: Rizz, Stack, CSG, Morrison, Spencer. Neat.

Half and half: Lizzy's November adventure!

Thanks to Marist Running Alum Lizzy Peper for sharing her "peppy post" about two half marathons that she did in one week in late November -- Vegas and Philly. Vegas didn't go so well, but she learned a valuable lesson there and applied it incredibly well at Philly, where she ran an inspired PR time for the half marathon, with several of her favorite Marist people along with her. Very neat!

Here's the link to her awesome blog post, from her awesome blog.

Farewell, Mike Francesa

Today marks the end of an era, one that has spanned pretty much my entire adult, professional life – since the late 1980s. Mike Francesa signs off from Sports Radio WFAN in New York City for the last time. No more #backaftuhdis. No more “first-time, long-time” callers. No more vintage, Rage Monster rants about … whatevuh. Mike’s On … no more.

I’ll admit to being depressed over this news. I never once called into his show, never even considered dialing the toll-free line to talk to the man they call the Sports Pope. He has said that a small fraction of the listening audience, like 1 percent, actually calls in. The rest of us, the silent followers, have been listening intently for the past several decades. Afternoons won’t be the same, listening to Mike’s very distinctive, New Yawk voice. Was he nasty and dismissive with callers? Yes. Does he have an oversized ego? You bet. Is he as good as it gets on the radio, the gold standard by which all others are measured, creating a genre that did not exist before he started? Yes, yes, yes.

Here’s the great contradiction that is Mike Francesa: He can be a self-centered, bloviating, arrogant talk-show host. Most folks who sit behind a microphone for 5.5 hours a day, week after week, year after year, tend to be that way. But what I have always loved about Mike is that his show is not about him. Oh sure, he name-drops all the time. But he keeps the show true about sports, and nothing but sports.

Here’s how Daily News TV/radio columnist Bob Raissman, who I believe first dubbed Francesa the Sports Pope, put it: “In a time when Gasbags fill the air with ancillary babble, talking about themselves while laughing hysterically at their own lame observations, Francesa was Francesa, sticking with what kept him the undisputed king of local sports talk.”

Oh gosh, could he repeat himself. If there was an important point worth making, Mike would make it. Over and over and ovuh. But, this was true, old-school radio. You never know who is just getting into his car for the first time. Same with his interviews, which all – even those who don’t like him, and there are many – can agree is one of his strong points. When he is interviewing someone, he always reminds the listeners who he is interviewing. Few if any interviewers do that anymore. Again, old-school radio: You never know who is tuning in, during the interview.

His voice was my constant companion in the afternoon, driving around the Tri-State area. I’ve never met him, but I feel like I know him really well. His voice has been in my head, in my car, forever. The past few years, his show, his voice, kept me company as I drove endlessly to and from New Jersey to care for my ailing parents. Listening to his show was a soothing, constant distraction during the weeks and months before my father passed away. It kept my mind off things; mumbling to the dashboard about what he was talking about … it got me through those drives.

Similarly, when I was laid up in bed after hip/leg surgery back in 2015, I propped up my laptop with his show playing, as I drifted in and out of the pain-induced fog. My family knows now that when I am home, sitting in my driveway in the car, in the afternoon, it’s because I am finishing up listening to an interview, a caller, a segment on … whatever. I wanted to listen. I needed to listen. Life was on hold; I would wait till the commercial to go inside.

He has been the soundtrack of our lives, mostly male sports fans, through varying stages of our lives. Callers lately have been telling him how they first started listening to him in the back seat of the car, driving around with their dads. Now, they are dads, and their kids are listening to him. Callers have talked about how they have been stuck in LIE traffic for hours at a time, listening to him; how they went from doing term papers in college, to changing diapers, to driving their kids around, to commuting home from work – all the time, with 660 AM on the dial, the know-it-all Sports Pope droning on in the background. He’s always been there for us – more hours than any other talk show out there. He made a lot of money, but he earned every penny. I didn’t always agree with him, but I always respected his opinion, and I always looked forward to his take on anything – and that includes non-sporting events. He talked about how sports is the Toy Store, the distraction from the rest of the real world. But when the real world came crashing in – 9/11, Sandy Hook, 2016 presidential election – there was Mike to talk about it and make some sense of it all for us.

Lisa from Whitestone, a rare woman who was a regular caller to the show, said on the last show this afternoon: “There’s a poignancy that is palpable today,” and she pointed out that his departure will leave a “glaring void” in our afternoons. So true! Thanks for the memories, Mike. We’ll miss you – all of us, even Pete from Hyde Park, who never called in but always, always was listening. Afternoons will be a lot quieter in my car, and for so many other loyal fans.

Marist XC: Circa 1986

Another "empty the vault" post ... saw this vintage photo on Facebook of the women's XC team, circa 1986. I believe this was the second year of the women's XC program, because if memory serves correctly the first season of competition was in the fall of 1985. Front and center is a young coach named Debbie Bell -- she is now Deb DiCaprio, the vice president for student affairs at Marist, and a good friend of our program.

Boys will be boys

As I continue to empty the vault on posts for 2017, here's a photo from a few weeks ago in the gray gym (which, by the way, will be getting torn down in June 2018 ... more on that in the future?), of a smattering of our men's XC/distance team with two 12-year-old boys who stopped by to play some hoops with our team. Alert followers of the blog and the program know how much I despise the idea of our athletes playing basketball. In this case, we made an exception. The youngster on the left is Eamonn, an athletic and energetic 6th grader who has cystic fibrosis (CF), the same medical condition that sophomore sprinter Santosh "Tosh" Krishnan manages with success as a dedicated athlete on our team. Anyway, Eamonn is a "friend of a friend" who suggested a meeting with Tosh, after she read the wonderful profile piece on him in Marist Magazine this summer. We have sort of "adopted" him as one of our own, and we look forward to future fun outings with him. So yeah. For one day, anyway, basketball was allowed.

Last laps: Josh's final relay

One final coda to early graduating senior Josh Siegel (left): Here's a picture of the final 4x400 relay he ran on, with his young teammates Hawker, Hogue and Tosh. We will miss Josh. No. Really. We will!

Wagner Seahawk Shootout: Danisha demolishes 300 dash record!

We were so happy and proud of senior captain Danisha Craig's awesome school record in the 300 dash on Friday afternoon. She blew away the previous mark of 42.56, set most recently by Ashley Haynes at this same meet last December. Her time of 41.20 seconds establishes an extremely strong mark for future sprinters to chase, in a rarely run event. Danisha was nervous before the race, because she hadn't run this event since high school. In truth, it's the perfect mix of the 400 strength and 200 speed that she has, and she went out there and proved it in a big way. Nicely done, D!

Wagner Seahawk Shootout

Friday, December 8, 2017

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

300-meter dash

8. Danisha Craig 41.20 *school record, old record 42.56, Ashley Haynes (2016)/Holly Burns (2010)

Wagner Seahawk Shootout: Women's results

Wagner Seahawk Shootout

Friday, December 8, 2017

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Women’s results

60-meter dash

20. Lauren Adams 8.35

300-meter dash

8. Danisha Craig 41.20 *school record, old record 42.56 by Ashley Haynes (2016) and Holly Burns (2010)

18. Lauren Adams 44.63

Wagner Seahawk Shootout: Men's results and splits

A small crew and a good work day, with some solid performances. Of note was Andrew Whitney's solid debut in the 1,000, Alex Hogue's insane triple (mile, 1,000, 4x400) and a mile/3k double from Spencer Johnson. On to 2018!

Wagner Seahawk Shootout

Friday, December 8, 2017

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Men’s results and splits

300-meter dash

58. Santosh Krishnan 39.38

600-meter dash

11. Josh Siegel 1:24.93

25.9, 55.2 (29.4), 1:24.93 (29.73)

15. Matt Hawker 1:25.69

25.2, 54.2 (29.0), 1:25.69 (31.59)

1,000-meter run

3. Andrew Whitney 2:34.39

29, 60 (31), 1:31 (31), 2:02 (31), 2:34.39 (32.39)

5. Alex Hogue 2:41.13

31, 63 (32), 1:36 (33), 2:09 (33), 2:41.13 (32.13)

Mile run

6. Spencer Johnson 4:31.37

32, 67 (35), 1:38 (31), 2:13 935), 2:47 (34), 3:22 (35), 3:56 (34), 4:31.37 (35.37)

7. Alex Hogue 4:31.87

33, 65 (32), 1:37 (32), 2:11 (34), 2:45 (34), 3:20 (35), 3:55 (35), 4:31.87 (36.87)

9. Eamonn Beers 4:36.23

32, 66 (34), 1:37 (31), 2:12 (35), 2:47 (35), 3:23 (36), 3:58 (35), 4:36.23 (38.23)

3,000-meter run

6. Spencer Johnson 9:02.18

34, 71 (37), 1:45 (34), 2:21 (36), 2:59 (38)

3:36 (37), 4:14 (36), 4:49 (35), 5:26 (37), 6:01 (35)

6:37 (36), 7:13 (36), 7:50 (37), 8:26 (36), 9:02.18 (36.18)

Kilometer splits: 2:59, 3:02, 3:01.18

7. Conor Stack 9:03.62

35, 71 (36), 1:47 (36), 2:24 (37), 3:00 (36)

3:36 (36), 4:13 (37), 4:49 (36), 5:27 (38), 6:03 (36)

6:40 (37), 7:18 (38), 7:54 (36), 8:32 (38), 9:03.62 (31.62)

Kilometer splits: 3:00, 3:03, 3:00.62

8. Connor Levins 9:04.20

34, 70 (36), 1:45 (35), 2:21 (36), 2:57 (36)

3:34 (37), 4:10 (36), 4:46 (36), 5:23 (36), 6:00 (37)

6:37 (37), 7:15 (38), 7:53 (38), 8:31 (38), 9:04.20 (33.20)

Kilometer splits: 2:57, 3:03, 3:04.20

15. Brian Edsall 9:31.04

37, 77 (40), 1:55 (38), 2:32 (37), 3:09 (37)

3:46 (37), 4:25 (39), 5:02 (37), 5:41 (39), 6:19 (38)

6:58 (39), 7:37 (39), 8:15 (38), 8:54 (39), 9:31.04 (37.04)

Kilometer splits: 3:09, 3:10, 3:12.04

16. Will Duggan 9:32.09

37, 77 (40), 1:55 (38), 2:32 (37), 3:10 (38)

3:48 (38), 4:26 (38), 5:05 (39), 5:43 (38), 6:22 (39)

7:01 (39), 7:39 (38), 8:18 (39), 8:56 (38), 9:32.09 (36.09)

Kilometer splits: 3:10, 3:12, 3:10.09

1,600-meter relay

15. Marist (Santosh Krishnan 57.0, Josh Siegel 52.7, Matthew Hawker 52.9, Alex Hogue 56.0) 3:38.69 

Wagner Seahawk Shootout: See ya, Siegel!

Friday’s meet was a bittersweet, premature ending to the Marist Track career of the inimitable Josh Siegel, who is graduating a semester early and thus forgoing his final semester of eligibility. Josh is one of the more unique athletes to find his way into our program, but he has most definitely made a mark on our sprint crew during his time here. Quite frankly, Josh can come up with some of the most bizarre (and, oftentimes inappropriate) non sequiturs in the history of the spoken word. More than a dozen times, often on the same bus ride, Josh will leave us shaking our head in bewilderment. Where does he come up with this stuff? But all the, uh, uniqueness aside, Josh was a tough athlete for our team over the course of his many track seasons. He overcame Achilles surgery at the beginning of his tenure on the team, and he proved to be a tough and smart racer – several times running rare, negative-split races in the 800 meters. He finished off with a flourish, running a PR time in the 600 and a best split in the 4x400, much to the approval of Coach Horton (Josh is seen here with him, after the races on Friday at Ocean Breeze). It’s a bummer that he has decided to graduate early, but we understand and respect that. And yeah, odd as it is to admit, we’ll miss him. Long may you run, Josh.  

Wagner Seahawk Shootout: Time schedule

Here is the UPDATED time schedule and order of events for Friday's meet at Ocean Breeze:

Wagner Seahawk Shootout

Friday, December 8, 2017

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Time schedule and order of events

Women, then men

2:00 p.m.: 60-meter hurdles

2:20 p.m.: 60-meter dash

3:20 p.m.: Mile run

4:10 p.m.: 300-meter dash

5:10 p.m.: 600-meter dash

5:45 p.m.: 1,000-meter run

6:00 p.m.: 3,000-meter run

6:40 p.m.: Sprint medley relay

7:00 p.m.: 1,600-meter relay

Metro Season Opener: Marty's view

The aforementioned Marty McGowan snapped some photos yesterday with his camera. Here's an impromptu one of the old coach with his young athletes, about to start timing and recording splits for the mile race. We'll be back there again in six days!

Metro Season Opener: Men's results and splits

Any day at a track meet that starts with a visit from the most loyal of Marist Track Alums -- Marty McGowan from Staten Island -- is a good day in our book. And then when the races started, it was even more fun!

--The 800-meter race was a virtual intrasquad scrimmage, and no one was willing to take it until Drew Burns threw down a monster neg split to start the season well. Hawker and Tanner followed with strong sub-2:00s.
--In the mile run, we had some solid early-season times from all four guys, led by freshman James "Moe" Moehringer.
--In the 3km, Rizz led wire to wire -- it wasn't even close -- and junior Dan Hillman had the oddest/toughest double of the day, coming back with a blazing finish after having raced the mile earlier.
--The 5km was a similar intrasquad tempo run, with our guys going 1-2-3.

Back at it next week at Ocean Breeze again, before we look ahead to the calendar year 2018. Neat.

Metro Season Opener

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Friday, December 1, 2017

Men’s results and splits

200-meter dash

14. Sean Patterson 23.60

24. Josh Hindle 24.66

26. Cole Lucaszcyk 25.01

28. Santosh Krishnan 25.20

800-meter run

1-Drew Burns 1:56.61

29, 59 (30), 1:28 (29), 1:56.61 (28.61)

3-Matthew Hawker 1:59.06

29, 60 (31), 1:29 (29), 1:59.06 (30.06)

4-Tanner Senius 1:59.32

29, 60 (31), 1:29 (29), 1:59.32 (30.32)

5-Connor St. Germain 2:01.52

29, 60 (31), 1:30 (30), 2:01.52 (31.52)

6. Josh Siegel 2:01.83

29, 59 (30), 1:30 (31), 2:01.83 (31.83)

8. Nick Brady 2:02.88

29, 60 (31), 1:31 (31), 2:02.88 (31.88)
1,000-meter run
3-Cole Ziskind 2:36.59
30, 61 (31), 1:33 (32), 2:05 (33), 2:36.59 (31.59)

Mile run

8. James Moehringer 4:25.34

32.2, 67.5 (35.5), 1:39.7 (32.2), 2:12.4 (32.7), 2:44.4 (32.0), 3:17.6 (33.2), 3:53.2 (34.6), 4:25.34 (32.14)

13. Andrew Whitney 4:33.35

34, 68 (34), 1:42 (34), 2:16 (34), 2:52 (36), 3:28 (36), 4:00 (32), 4:33.35 (33.35)

14. Eamonn Beers 4:34.59

33, 68 (35), 1:43 (35), 2:18 (35), 2:52 (34), 3:27 (35), 4:01 (34), 4:34.59 (33.59)

16. Dan Hillman 4:35.19

35, 68 (33), 1:44 (36), 2:18 (34), 2:52 (34), 3:26 (34), 4:02 (36), 4:35.19 (33.19)

3,000-meter run

1-Steven Rizzo 8:44.50

32, 66 (34), 1:41 (35), 2:15 (34), 2:50 (35)

3:24 (34), 3:59 (35), 4:33 (34), 5:08 (35), 5:43 (35)

6:18 (35), 6:54 (36), 7:31 (37), 8:08 (37), 8:44.50 (36.50)

Kilometer splits: 2:50, 2:53, 3:01.50

4. Dan Hillman 9:08.14

35, 72 (37), 1:49 (37), 2:26 (37), 3:03 (37)

3:41 (38), 4:18 (37), 4:55 (37), 5:33 (38), 6:10 (37)

6:47 (37), 7:25 (38), 8:00 (35), 8:34 (34), 9:08.14 (34.14)

Kilometer splits: 3:03, 3:07, 2:58.14

5. Connor Levins 9:11.22

35, 71 (36), 1:47 (36), 2:24 (37), 2:59 (35)

3:35 (36), 4:12 (37), 4:48 (36), 5:25 (37), 6:03 (38)

6:41 (38), 7:20 (39), 7:59 (39), 8:37 (38), 9:11.22 (34.22)

Kilometer splits: 2:59, 3:04, 3:08.22

7. Conor Stack 9:13.85

33, 69 (36), 1:47 (38), 2:24 (37), 3:00 (36)

3:37 (37), 4:14 (37), 4:51 (37), 5:29 (38), 6:06 (37)

6:45 (39), 7:24 (39), 8:02 (38), 8:40 (38), 9:13.85 (33.85)

Kilometer splits: 3:00, 3:06, 3:07.85

5,000-meter run

1-Spencer Johnson 15:30.97

35, 72 (37), 1:49 (37), 2:26 (37), 3:03 (37)

3:40 (37), 4:16 (36), 4:53 (37), 5:29 (36), 6:06 (37)

6:43 (37), 7:20 (37), 7:58 (38), 8:36 (38), 9:14 (38)

9:52 (38), 10:30 (38), 11:08 (38), 11:46 (38), 12:24 (38)

13:01 (37), 13:39 (38), 14:17 (38), 14:54 (37), 15:30.97 (36.97)

Kilometer splits: 3:03, 3:03, 3:08, 3:10, 3:06.97

2-Elias Platanias 16:14.00

37, 76 (39), 1:53 (37), 2:30 (37), 3:07 (37)

3:46 (39), 4:24 (38), 5:02 (38), 5:39 (37), 6:18 (39)

6:56 (38), 7:35 (39), 8:14 (39), 8:53 (39), 9:32 (39)

10:12 (40), 10:52 (40), 11:33 (41), 12:14 (41), 12:54 (40)

13:34 (40), 14:15 (41), 14:55 (40), 15:34 (39), 16:14.00 (40.00)

Kilometer splits: 3:07, 3:11, 3:14, 3:22, 3:20

3-Brian Edsall 16:28.85

37, 76 (39), 1:53 (37), 2:30 (37), 3:07 (37)

3:46 (39), 4:24 (38), 5:02 (38), 5:39 (37), 6:18 (39)

6:57 (39), 7:37 (40), 8:17 (40), 8:57 (40), 9:38 (41)

10:19 (41), 10:59 (40), 11:41 (42), 12:22 (41), 13:04 (42)

13:45 (41), 14:27 (42), 15:09 (42), 15:49 (40), 16:28.85 (39.85)

Kilometer splits: 3:07, 3:11, 3:20, 3:26, 3:24.85

1,600-meter relay

1-Marist B (Nick Brady 54.1, Connor St. Germain 52.0, Matthew Hawker 52.3, Josh Siegel 53.8) 3:32.62

2-Marist A (Sean Patterson 52.8, Cole Ziskind 53.3, Cole Lucaszcyk 52.7, Santosh Krishnan 57.6) 3:36.47

Metro Season Opener: Women's results and splits

As much fun as XC season was for us in 2017, it sure feels great to be back in the track mode for 2017-2018. The mood and vibe was great for our rust-busting season opener and the results were promising, for sure: 

--Graduate student Janelle Solviletti returned from her long Marist racing absence with a solid performance in the mile, leading much of the race and running a near PR time. Janelle has been working very hard this summer and fall and the results will continue to show. Also in the mile, racewalker Katie Miale broke 6:00 for the first time -- by a lot -- and proved to us that she's a pretty good runner as well.

--Junior sprinter Candhace Forrest qualified for the finals in the 60 dash by tying her PR time in the event, and then she followed it up with a strong 200 dash race.

--In the 400 dash, senior Danisha Craig (59.02) and junior Debbie Boerke (59.40) put down strong first-meet times. 

Again, it was great to be back on track -- literally and figuratively. 

Metro Season Opener

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex

Friday, December 1, 2017

Women’s results and splits

60-meter dash

8. Candhace Forrest 8.03 in finals (7.97 in preliminary)

22. Grace Cepeda 8.34

24. Lauren Adams 8.43

200-meter dash

9. Danisha Craig 26.30

11. Candhace Forrest 26.48

20. Debbie Boerke 26.87

26. Grace Cepeda 27.37

400-meter dash

3. Danisha Craig 59.02

5. Debbie Boerke 59.40

19. Abby Smith 1:06.66

1,000-meter run

10. Gianna Mastromatteo 3:06.90

32, 68 (36), 1:46 (38), 2:25 (39), 3:06.90 (41.90)

Mile run

3. Janelle Solviletti 5:10.20

38, 77 (39), 1:54 (37), 2:33 (39), 3:12 (39), 3:52 (40), 4:52 (40), 5:10.20 (38.20)

8. Katie Miale 5:47.20

41, 80 (39), 2:02 (42), 2:45 (43), 3:29 (44), 4:15 (46), 5:01 (46), 5:47.20 (46.20)

Metro Season Opener: Order of events/time schedule

Metro Season Opener

Friday, December 1, 2017

Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex, Staten Island

Order of events and time schedule

Women, then men

3 p.m.: 60 hurdle trials

3:18 p.m.: Mile run

3:45 p.m.: 60 hurdle finals (men, then women)

4 p.m.: 60 dash trials

4:25 p.m.: 400 dash

4:45 p.m.: 60 dash final

5 p.m.: 500 dash

5:25 p.m.: 800 run

5:40 p.m.: 1,000 run

5:55 p.m.: 200 dash

6:30 p.m.: 3,000 run

6:55 p.m.: 4x800 relay

7:20 p.m.: 4x400 relay

7:47 p.m.: 5,000 run (men only)

Nicki Nesi wins Pelham 10km

Graduate assistant coach Nicki Nesi sent me this photo of her hometown 10km race, where she finished third overall and first woman in 39:05: "I got lost and added a minute to my time," she texted. Great job, Coach!

Turkey Trot races: Long Island results

A few results from Marist Running on Long Island:

--At the 5-mile Garden City Turkey Trot, senior Dietrich Mosel got third place overall in 25:04.1. Sophomore Elias Platanias was sixth in 27:00.6. Freshman James Moehringer was seventh in 27:05.2.

--At the 5-mile Port Washington Turkey Trot, Bianca Luparello debuted her Marist Alumni Racing Team singlet in fine fashion, winning her age group in 32:08.

--At the Massapequa 5K Turkey Trot, freshman Matt Ronan was a strong fifth place in 16:39. 

Turkey Trot races: Manchester Road Race

The biggest Turkey Trot of them all is the Manchester (CT) Road Race and freshman Hayley Collins represented our program extremely well. She took first place in her division (14-18) out of 477 runners and was 13^th overall out of 5,349 women, running 27:54 (5:53 pace) for the 4.748-mile race. It was a family affair as her father John (29:25, fifth in his division) and sister Jessica also raced. Just a few days earlier, 51-year-old Mr. Collins ran 3:06:22 at the windy Philadelphia Marathon, placing fifth in his age division. 

Turkey Trot races: Spencer's ginormous trophy

Spencer Johnson won this trophy that is about as big as he is, at the O'Briley 5K Turkey Trot in Collinsville, CT.

Turkey Trot races: MHRRC at Arlington HS

Our Thanksgiving morning started out as it has so many times, at Arlington High School for the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club's Turkey Trot races. Our oldest son Joey, home on break from Stony Brook University, got seventh overall out of 483 finishers in the 5-mile race (5.1 miles on most runners' watches, as the start/finish line was moved back but the out-and-back turnarouind inexplicably stayed the same)) in 31:31. Our younger son James got 10th out of 101 in the kids' 1-mile race in 7:02 (he thought he broke 7:00, based on the finish line clock, but he didn't cross the timing mat till a few ticks after that). Afterwards, James went inside to shoot some baskets while waiting for his brother to finish.

Track schedule, 2017-2018

Indoor track, 2017-2018

Friday, December 1, 2017: Fastrack Season Opener, Ocean Breeze

Friday, December 8, 2017: Wagner Seahawk Shootout, Ocean Breeze

---

Friday, January 12, 2018: Spartan Regional Preview Invitational, Ocean Breeze

Friday, January 19: NYC Gotham Cup, Ocean Breeze

Friday/Saturday, January 26-27: John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University

Friday, February 2: Metro Championships at Ocean Breeze

Friday/Saturday, February 9-10: David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University

Saturday/Sunday, February 17-18: MAAC Championships at Armory

Saturday, February 24: Fastrack Last Chance, Ocean Breeze

Saturday/Sunday, March 3-4: ECAC/IC4A Championships at Boston University *qualifiers only

Outdoor track, 2018

Saturday, March 24: Monmouth University Season Opener

Friday/Saturday, March 30-31: Raleigh Relays, NC State *qualifiers only

Thursday/Friday/Saturday, April 5-7: Colonial Relays, William and Mary

Saturday/Sunday, April 14-15: Bison Outdoor Classic, Bucknell University

Saturday, April 21: Wolfie Invitational, Stony Brook University

Thursday-Saturday, April 26-28: Penn Relays *qualifiers only

Sunday, April 29: Yale Invitational

Saturday/Sunday, May 5-6: MAAC Championships at Rider

Saturday/Sunday, May 12-13: IC4A/ECAC Championships at Princeton *qualifiers only

Thursday-Saturday, May 24-26: NCAA First Round, East, Tampa, FL *qualifiers only

TBA: USATF Junior Championships *qualifiers only

Final words on XC

A memorable fall 2017 cross country season has come to a close. Astute followers of this fancy blog don’t need an extensive recap, so a few sentences here will do. For the women’s XC team, we went to places never before reached by a women’s program, and it’s a season we will never forget. From early season victories, to school records, to best-ever finishes at meets, it seemed that each meet the ladies outdid themselves from week to week; and the work ethic in practice was stellar, each and every day. For the men’s XC team, we had many strong performances (especially from our lead runner, Dietrich Mosel) and highlights that we will take away from the season. Although we fell a little shy of some goals, it wasn’t from a lack of effort or race-day toughness. As a coach I can say that the day-to-day process of the program has never been as focused and dedicated as it is now, and that’s important to us all – in the present and moving forward. The final photo is of our graduating seniors, and The final words on the season belong to Coach Chuck Williams, courtesy of GoredFoxes.com, after Saturday’s ECAC meet:  

“Our goal today was to finish the season on a high note. The women in the open race set the tone by winning the team title. Then, the women in the championship race went out and raced to a strong 4^th-place finish while setting a school record by having our top 7 women break the 19:00 barrier at the famed VCP course. Words can't describe how proud I am of this group. Our goal in preseason was to be the greatest team in school history and today's performance left no doubt. In my 22 years of being associated with this program, I can't remember a season that was this special. It is something that we are all truly lucky to have been a part of.’’

Marist alums at Philly marathon

Strong winds in Philly, strong day for the red and white. In the women’s race, 2017 graduate Elizabeth Wasserman had a stellar debut, placing 31^st overall and fourth in her age group in 3:07:49. Elizabeth was an ECAC qualifier at 10,000 meters, so we knew that the move up to the marathon was a natural progression for her. Nicely done!

In the men’s race, 2012 grad Luke Shane cracked the top-100 overall with a time of 2:45:58. A strong effort from a consistent marathon runner. David Marthy, who still owns middle distance records, had a strong debut at the long distance, running a negative-split (1:27:36/1:25:53) 2:53:29. In post-race texting, I asked him about the wind. He said: “Wind was wind. Ain’t no thang.” Vintage Marthy, as was this pre-race selfie of him and Luke. 

VCP men's all-time list, updated

Here is the updated, all-time VCP men’s 5-mile times list. Great way for Dietrich Mosel to end his XC career, and neat that junior Palmer Weimann forged his way onto the list. Extra special for our guys to see and meet Girma Segni, who is at the top of this list and will forever be a legend within our program.

All-time VCP list, sub-26:30 (through 2017)

1-Girma Segni 25:01.4, 2008

2-Will Griffin 25:03.4, 2011

3-Matt Flint 25:04.0, 2011

4-Mike Melfi 25:11, 1998

5-David Raucci 25:13, 2008

6-Arquimedes DelaCruz 25:17, 2011

7-Jerry Scholder 25:25, 1976

8-Conor Shelley 25:33.8, 2008

9-Kirk Dornton 25:38.1, 2002

10-Dietrich Mosel 25:38.2, 2017

11-Ken Walshak 25:47.8, 2010

12-Tim Keegan 25:49, 2008

13-Don Reardon 25:51, 1987

14-Mike Nehr 25:52.2, 2001

15-Pete Pazik 25:54, 1984

16-Ben Hefferon 25:58.6, 1998

17-Jason Grady 26:02.8, 2000

18-Matt Cole 26:02.9, 1978

19-Jamal Padgett 26:03.5, 2001

20-Greg Salamone 26:03.9, 1999

21-Mike Rolek 26:04.0, 2007

22-Matt Baffuto 26:04, 2016

23-Ron Gadziala 26:05.2, 1978

24-David Swift 26:07, 1994

25-Ryan Colabella 26:08.2, 2012

26-Spencer Johnson 26:10, 2016

27-Justin Harris 26:10.9, 2006

28-Johnny Lee 26:12.4, 2014

29-Geoff Decker 26:12.5, 2003

30-Curtis Jensen 26:12.6, 2009

31-Bob Coufal 26:14, 1977

32-Adam Vess 26:14.2, 2009

33-Fred Kolthay 26:15, 1976

34-Glen Middleton 26:15, 1984

35-Steve Hicks 26:18, 2004

36-John Keenan 26:18.4, 2006

37-Pat Driscoll 26:18.6, 2001

38-Tommy Lipari 26:19.1, 2011

39-Marty Feeney 26:23

40-Palmer Weimann 26:27.3

41-Brian Townsend 26:27.5

42-Tom Williams 26:27.8

43-Pat Rynkowski 26:28.7

Marist alums sizzle in Philly half

Great showing by our Marist Alumni Racing Team family at the Philly Half Marathon on Saturday morning. Phone was blowing up with texts and photos, very thrilling! Here are the results, along photos. Neat.

Billy Posch, 1:16:38, 46^th overall, 11^th in division, 5:50 pace

5:55, 5:41, 5:52, 5:53, 5:52, 5:52, 5:42, 5:48, 5:48, 5:49, 5:46, 5:37, 5:49, 1:07

Annie Gould, 1:30:57, 50^th overall, 12^th in division, 6:56 pace

Nicki Nesi, 1:31:15, 55^th overall, 13^th in division, 6:57 pace

Lizzy Peper, 1:36:58, 129^th overall, 29^th in division, 7:23 pace

Kelley Posch, 1:38:10, 162^nd overall, 43^rd in division, 7:29 pace

ECAC Championships: Women's results

In what was clearly the finest women’s XC season in school history, it was fitting that we went out with some more firsts in the newly created ECAC Championships format (one championship division). Our women brought home the hardware with a fourth-place finish (top 5 teams got trophies), we had four All-East (top-40) performances, and we had seven sub-19:00 races, the first time that’s ever happened. Coach Chuck’s “word of the day” was “unforgettable” and that aptly describes this season. So much to remember, and so much to look forward to. We will never forget 2017 women's cross country. Nicely done, ladies!

32^nd annual ECAC Championships

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx

Individual results, 5km course

23. Shea Bohan 18:26.0 *ECAC All-East

26. Maria Smith 18:30.7 *ECAC All-East

34. Hayley Collins 18:36.6 *ECAC All-East

38. Emily Burns 18:42.6 *ECAC All-East

41. Gianna Tedeschi 18:46.0

44. Mara Schiffhauer 18:49.8

52. Jordan Casey 18:57.3

69. Jenna Robinson 19:13.0

106. Denise Grohn 19:45.6

Team standings

1-James Madison 60, 2. Richmond 73, 3. Temple 116, 4. Marist 162, 5. St. Joseph’s 199, 6. Iona 204, 7. Columbia 210, 8. Sacred Heart 219, 9. Fordham 220, 10. Holy Cross 228, 11. Manhattan 296, 12. St. Francis PA 296, 13. George Mason 317, 14. Northeastern 342, 15. Siena 403, 16. Central Connecticut 440, 17. Seton Hall 463, 18. Monmouth 475, 19. Rider 599, 20. Canisius 645, 21. Mansfield 653, 22. Colgate 679, 23. Fairfield 687, 24. NJIT 737, 25. St. Peter’s 831.

32^nd annual ECAC Championships, Coaches Association Race

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx

Individual results, 5km course

2. Boushra Belkhir 19:48.3

4. Kerry Gaye 19:58.8

5. Maddie Tooker 20:00.2

10. Alyssa Lafave 20:15.6

17. Jess Howe 20:29.0

19. Roxy Novo 20:33.0

26. Hannah Albert 20:47.1

37. Ashley Wallace 21:10.7

40. Talia Cutrone 21:23.8

46. Lauren Harris 21:38.9

65. Shannon Gildea 23:21.5

71 finishers

Team standings

1-Marist 36, 2. Holy Cross 78, 3. St. John’s 79, 4. St. Francis PA 100, 5. St. Joseph’s 102, 6. Fordham 109

IC4A Championships: Men's results

The end of a cross country season is always bittersweet. For senior Dietrich Mosel, it was a lot more sweet than it was bitter, as he ended one of the best seasons for a Marist XC runner with a stellar race at IC4As. He placed 12^th overall in 25:38.2, in the process recording the 10^th fastest time in school history (we’ll update the list in a later post) on the historic Van Cortlandt Park course. Keep in mind that Marist men’s XC runners have been racing here for more than 50 years. After that, our scoring pack compression of 20 seconds (26:27.3 to 26:47.3) was excellent, but needed to be a few strides up in the race. Palmer Weimann got himself onto that all-time list with his time of 26:27.3 (40^th all-time, the cutoff is 26:30.0). This meet ended a strong, solid, good season for the men. We are very much anticipating track season. We will post the meet schedule in a few days. Thanks to all family and alumni for your support today. We felt your love.

109^th annual IC4A Championships

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx

Individual results, 5-mile course

12. Dietrich Mosel 25:38.2 *IC4A All-East, 10^th all-time at Marist

49. Palmer Weimann 26:27.3

63. Chris Rivas 26:38.7

68. Mike Kennedy 26:43.0

74. Alex Hogue 26:47.3

77. Steven Rizzo 26:48.9

88. James Draney 27:04.1

99. Riley Hughes 27:14.1

101. Joe Miller 27:15.3

110. Eamonn Beers 27:22.4

203 finishers

Team standings

1-Temple 43, 2-Columbia 112, 3. St. Joseph’s 132, 4. Rutgers 198, 5. Manhattan 199, 6. UMass 220, 7. Fordham 230, 8. Siena 242, 9. Monmouth 252, 10. Marist 254, 11. Central Connecticut 256, 12. Northeastern 266, 13. George Mason 273, 14. Sacred Heart 354, 15. Stony Brook 433, 16. Rider 435, 17. Seton Hall 455, 18. Canisius 460, 19. NJIT 484, 20. Holy Cross 588, 21. St. Francis PA 597, 22. Colgate 641, 23. Iona 674, 24. Mansfield 677, 25. St. Peter’s 816, 26. Richmond INC

109^th annual IC4A Championships, Coaches Association Race

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx

Individual results, 5-mile course

3. James Moehringer 26:59.6

12. Elias Platanias 27:26.5

13. Connor Levins 27:29.3

14. Conor Stack 27:31.0

15. Will Esposito 27:33.1

18. Graham Strzelecki 27:43.4

20. Connor Fitzpatrick 28:10.7

24. Will Duggan 28:20.6

39. Matt Ronan 29:58.0

50 finishers

Team standings

1-St. Joseph’s 25, 2. Marist 44, 3. Fordham 77, 4. Manhattan 117, 5. Rider 121

Final XC workout of the season, part 3

In the afternoon, it was off to Bowdoin Park for a progressively fast interval workout in the "horseshoe" section of the course down by the start/finish area. As we arrived, the Two Old Men of the Course -- Terry Horton and Ken Kraft -- were setting up the finish line chute area for Saturday's New York State Federation XC Championships. As we experienced with the men, the women had plenty of pep in their step as well -- a very spirited and FAST workout from a spirited and FAST group of women, in the midst of an epic, historic season, one we hope to end in fine fashion at Van Cortlandt Park.

Final XC workout of the season, part 2

As with the 8 a.m. group, the 11 a.m. group did 2 sets of 5 "Great Lawn" hills at the Mills Mansion. This is a tradition we have tried to keep with -- finishing our season at the same venue and same workout as we started. Way back in August, nearly three months and about 45 degrees warmer ago, we did 3 sets of 5 at Mills. It was much colder today, obviously, but the pep in their step was still there, all these weeks and all these workouts and races later.

Final XC workout of the season, part 1

Today was our final quality day (hard workout) of the cross country season for men and women. As is the custom for Tuesdays, there are three distinct practices: 8 a.m. for a select group of men who cannot make the usual 11 a.m., due to class conflicts; 11 a.m., for the majority of the men; and 2 p.m., for the majority of the women. Above is a photo from Mills Mansion (with the mansion in the background) of the 8 a.m. group.