Luke Shane runs strong in Vermont

Congrats to Marist Running Alum – and good, dear friend of mine – Luke Shane for his outstanding race at Sunday’s Vermont City Marathon in Burlington on Sunday. Luke ran his second fastest time and the fastest spring marathon (by more than two minutes!) in his long and illustrious marathon career, placing 15^th overall in 2:42:48. This race represents his eighth sub-2:50 marathon and 11^th sub-3:00 marathon. Many of you know Luke’s “story” – he was a soccer player growing up, but otherwise was not all that athletic. He likes to remind me that he was that “short, chubby kid” in middle and high school, and when he joined the team at Marist, he was still in the early stages of his running career and not all that competitive. “Not all that competitive” is about the last three words you would use to describe Luke Shane now. Logging that many fast marathon times during the teens (can we call this decade that?) has firmly established Luke as one of the most prolific alumni marathoners in school history. Yeah, I’m biased. Luke’s my boy. I love him like a son and a brother, and about the only thing we argue about is how hard he trains – an outstanding topic over which to bicker. He continues to chase the elusive sub-2:40 time, but even if Luke never ran another step (that’s NOT happening, man!), I’d be proud of what he has accomplished. And oh, by the way? No one is more proud to wear the Marist Alumni Racing Team singlet that Luke (as far as the fancy sunglasses and haircut … well, he’s on his own there … his old coach in the tube socks and same gray Marist track T-shirt doesn’t roll like that). Nicely done, Luke. Long may you run …

Rizzo accolades continue

Steven Rizzo just graduated from Marist, but he continues to represent our program quite well. For the second consecutive year, he was named Academic All District. Here is the release posted on GoredFoxes.com.

Hogue in Puerto Rico

Kudos to rising junior Alex Hogue for his participation in a service trip last week to Puerto Rico. Hogue has made a sport out of testing my limits and annoying the heck out of me – trust me, he KNOWS this – but I have to say I’m really proud of him on this. He found this program – called Adventures in Missions – online and went down there wielding power tools in rebuilding structures that were ravaged last summer/fall in Puerto Rico. Nothing annoying about following the Marist Brothers motto of “do good quietly.” Rather, it’s all good. Nicely done, Hogue!

Tosh in Italy

Thanks to rising junior sprinter Santosh “Tosh” Krishnan for sharing a bunch of pictures from his family vacation in Italy. Here are a few of them. Visiting our branch campus in Florence was a neat side trip for him.

It’s 24 years … you idiot

Sorry for the lack of posts, time to stack a bunch of them up for your reading and viewing “pleasure?” Anyway … guys on the team like to tell me how I am “losing it” – you know, forgetting things, saying things over again, repeating myself, forgetting workouts that I myself actually wrote, losing van keys, stuff like that … Well, this spills over into the real world, where my wife Heidi and I celebrated our “engageaversary” – the anniversary of our engagement, which always makes me remember Memorial Day weekend fondly – with a picnic lunch down by the river last Friday. I wrote her a note about how special it was to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of our engagement. You know. Very touching and heartfelt, some would say out of character for me. Here’s the problem. We got engaged in 1994. For those keeping score at home (and I know you are!), that was 24 (!) years ago. Not 25. In the words of Sturgill Simpson, a country/Americana guy I’ve been listening to a lot lately: “The most outlaw thing I ever done was give a good woman a ring …” Uh, 24 years ago.

Connections

As I stood anxiously in Princeton’s Jadwin Gymnasium, brooding over the impending bad weather (which seemed to follow us throughout the outdoor track season), my cell phone rang. Those who are around me know how my cell phone is a constant source of angst. It’s is a necessarily evil device – literally indispensable for every aspect of our lives, sadly. My ringtone – Gov’t Mule’s version of Soulshine, a beautiful song – makes me grit my teeth: Arrgh. Who’s BOTHERING me now? I grumbled to myself. A quick glance at the phone and I smiled when I saw it was Conor Shelley on the other end of the line. My favorite big doofus, one of the greatest and goofiest and certainly most loyal runners I’ve ever coached, was just checking in. How nice! I knew he wanted to talk to Big Red (as he calls him), senior Dietrich Mosel, who was about to race for the final time in the red and white in the 10,000-meter run at IC4As later that night. I gave the phone to Deet and they laughed and talked for a bit. I talked to Conor for a while, promised to update him later on Dietrich’s race. And that was that. About 30 minutes later, that big doofus showed up at Princeton! He had duped us all, calling on the way, saying he would never miss Dietrich’s last race.

Conor and Dietrich were never teammates. Not even close! Conor turns 30 and gets married, later this year. He and Deet are two cycles removed from each other. And yet, they have a special connection. Both went to Kellenberg Memorial High School on Long Island. As I said, Conor is quite loyal to all things Marist Running, but when he noticed another Kellenberg boy having similar success to what he had in college – actually Dietrich methodically took down most of Conor’s Kellenberg/Marist connection records – Conor was intrigued. They trained together over the summer on occasion. When Deet was down and out with injuries or illnesses, Conor was always there for a pep talk – in person or over the phone. Dietrich, who more than most gets the idea of connecting generations among Marist Running, looked up to Conor. I think at one point early in his Marist career, he actually referred to him as “Mr. Shelley.” This, of course, almost made me spit my coffee out in laughter! Mr. Shelley? That’s Conor’s DAD. Anyway, as I said, they formed a special bond, and it was really neat to see Conor watch Dietrich, as Deet outran Conor’s outstanding 10km PR and become the third-fastest 25-lapper in school history. No one was happier or more proud of this than Conor Shelley. Connections.

A few days later, as I brought my son Joey back to Stony Brook for the day so he could take his last final exam of the spring semester, I had time to kill on Long Island while he was studying for and then taking the exam. I relished this down time on the Island, using it as an excuse to visit two loyal alums in the vicinity of Stony Brook. First stop was to see Kat, who just had her second baby and was home with an active toddler and an infant son, who snoozed beautifully during the entire visit; she used to babysit for our kids when they were young and now she’s got young ones of her own. She was still wiped out from giving birth and from the sleep deprivation that comes with having young children. But she admitted that she keeps up on the current team, reading this very blog while awake in bed, sometimes in the middle of the night. She’s amazed and awed by the current team’s success and how many of our women are running as fast or faster than she and her teammates did during her outstanding time at Marist. She doesn’t know any of these young ladies except as names on a blog post or results links, but she still cares and she’s still a huge fan. Connections.

Next stop was Mikey’s house. No more loyal an alum, he’s been out of Marist for more than 15 years. And yet, this past year, he made it to at least one meet per season – cross country, indoor track, outdoor track. He has no direct connection to our program, other than his loyalty to it and following along with the results on the blog. Through the years, he’s gotten to know current and now former team members and their families, many of whom are from Long Island – again, even though he had no direct connection with them during his time at Marist. His young kids know me as their daddy’s old coach, and it was so great to see him and his family at their beautiful house just a few minutes away from the Stony Brook campus. During his four-year stint at Marist, in which he set records that he saw get broken over the past two decades, he was around for the birth of my son Joey (you know, the one at Stony Brook!) and I recall him stopping by my house and hanging out and playing with Joey on our driveway when Joey was a toddler. Now, that kid’s all grown up and Mikey’s got young ones of his own, but he is still attached to our program in a special way as a loyal alum. Connections.

A few days ago, I received a text from loyal alum Christine Coughlin, now teaching way out in Hawaii. Two current athletes were out there for an education attachment program for a few weeks – Emily Burns and Debbie Boerke. They got together and made each other feel right at home, thousands and thousands of miles away from New York. Although Christine is so far away, she has watched with pride as school records – some of which she was a big part of – have been methodically taken down. Her leadership and influence is still felt on this current team, and they were thrilled to reconnect with each other in Hawaii. Connections.

A few weeks ago, one of our graduating seniors (Steven Morrison) traveled down to NYC for an interview. One of his contacts at the company he was interviewing with was 2008 Marist graduate Tom Dixon. Like Morrison, T-Dix was a middle distance runner. T-Dix was thrilled to hear that some of the traditions his generation started – Jerk Squad, Senior Gifts, etc. – are still going strong, 10 years later. Connections.

This past weekend, we said goodbye to a very special Class of 2018. Hey. Every graduating class is special, right? There was something about this one, though, and how close knit they were. At the Friday night graduate commencement, the senior men who were to graduate in the slop the next day were there to see Spencer Johnson get his master’s degree. Coach Chuck commented on their very morose mood, collectively. They were truly bummed about. “I can’t believe it’s over,” one of the graduating seniors texted me later on Saturday afternoon. In a way, it was probably good that the weather was so miserable, sparing us all of excruciating and awkward goodbyes. This particular ending hit this group very hard. They are sad, depressed and probably a little scared of the uncertainty of what lies next for them. We see this every year, but it seems more acute this year, with this group. I hope those men and women – such a special group – are reading this. I hope they realize that the connections they forged during their four and five years here will last a lifetime, and they may even expand and grow, as you can see by just these few stories I’ve shared here on this too-long post. Connections. They started here, they’ll grow and expand, and they’ll last a lifetime. It’s what makes our program special. Connections.

Toner’s back on the roads

Marist Running Alum Zach Toner proved that less is more in his return to racing. At Sunday’s NYPD Memorial Run along the West Side Highway, Toner got sixth overall and first in his age group in 17:52. “Not bad for my 10 miles per week training regimen.” Indeed! Next on his radar is the Tunnels to Towers 5K. Great to see Toner back in action.

Another commencement

Very proud of Marist Running alum Brianna Freestone, who last week graduated from PA school at Arcadia University. Her email signature now says “Brianna Freestone, Arcadia University, PA-S.” Very cool. Also cool that she has been able to maintain her running through her rigorous studies over the past few years. Neat!

Elizabeth Wasserman: 2:49:20 at Poconos Marathon!

Huge shout-out and congrats to Marist Running Alum Elizabeth Wasserman for her incredible marathon performance at the Run for the Red Poconos Marathon on Sunday. She said it was humid and hilly out there, but that didn’t stop her from running the fastest female alum marathon in school history: 2:49:20 (6:28 pace), second overall woman and ninth overall in the race. And a more than 18-minute improvement on her debut marathon – Philly 2017, 3:08:03. Wow, wow, wow! Nicely done, Elizabeth!

Commencement 2018: A nicer graduation photo

Thanks to Mariah Christian for sharing this photo of a group of our new alums, taken at rehearsal on Friday before the foul weather came rolling in.

Commencement 2018: As bad as it gets (weatherwise)

We'll always remember this Class of 2018, and we'll certainly never forget the commencement exercises that were marred by incredibly foul weather this afternoon: Heavy, driving, cold, relentless rain. Our men and women were shivering as they prepared to walk on stage to get their degrees. Degrees? We could have used a few degrees warmer today, for sure. Our proud new alums scattered quickly -- during and after the ceremony -- so we weren't able to say goodbye, and we'll post soggy pictures if they become available. We already miss them. Dang.

Commencement 2018: Jenna's big award

Click on this link to read and see a video about Jenna Robinson, who was honored at Friday afternoon's baccaulaureate ceremony. She truly went above and beyond and we are so proud of Jenna.

Commencement 2018: Friday night ceremony

The graduate school commencement on Friday night featured much better weather than today's undergraduate commencement (more on that later). Spencer Johnson (pictured above) was one of several members of our Track Family to walk and soon graduate (grad assistant coach Nicki Nesi also celebrated the completion of her master's degree. Proud of our super seniors and now true alums of the school.

Commencement 2018: Honors medal ceremony

Commencement weekend started on Friday morning with the Honors Program Medal Ceremony. Steven Rizzo (above) and Steven Morrison were both honored (pun intended) at the ceremony. The honors program at Marist is a rigorous addition to already rigorous education, and these guys embody what it's about. Rizz is shown here with me, his good friend and faculty presenter Tim Massie, and honors program director Dr. James Snyder. Good stuff!

ECAC Championships: 4x800 relay record and WIN!!!

History is made step by step -- in every day of training, in every day of core, in every day of rolling out and stretching and ice bathing, and lifting, and the multitude of little things that add up to the big things of an ECAC title. Our women’s 4x800 relay team won the ECAC Championships and shattered last year’s school record by more than six seconds. It happened step by step, leg by marvelous, give-you-the-chills leg. Shea Bohan, doing what a champion leadoff leg does: Going out hard, making it stick, and handing that stick off decisively with a breakthrough leg of 2:13.464. Kerry Gaye, taking it and keeping that lead by going out aggressively and holding off hard-charging teams, 2:16.343. Jenna Robinson, the woman who literally OWNS this record, having been on three consecutive versions of it, running a truly graceful and awesome leg of 2:14.548 and handing off to Denise Grohn, who had Saturday’s school-record 1,500-meter race in her legs, and who held the burden of maintaining and extending that lead with a 2:15.986. But here’s the kicker of this championship. We had to wait 10 minutes to realize it was an actual championship! You see, our awesome relay won the first (“slow”) heat. The second (“fast”) heat came next. We watched impassively, knowing that we would at least score, with six teams in that race. However, as we watched the “fast” heat unfold, we realized that it wasn’t so fast, compared to our 9:00.34. And when the “winner” of the “fast” heat came charging down the finish stretch and crossed the line at 9:00.75, we realized that our win was really a win. As in: First place. In the meet! Wow! What a way to end the season; what a way to cap Jenna’s awesome career on the track. What a way to end an excellent weekend for our team. Neat!

Earlier in the day, in the pouring rain, with lane four drenched in puddles, Debbie Boerke finished a strong second in her section of the 400-meter hurdles, finishing a championship-caliber season with a 14^th-place time of 1:02.49 – pretty good in that slop.

ECAC Championships

Princeton University

Sunday, May 13, 2018

Women’s results and splits

3,200-meter relay

1-Marist (Shea Bohan 2:13.464, Kerry Gaye 2:16.343, Jenna Robinson 2:14.548, Denise Grohn 2:15.986) 9:00.34 *school record, old record 9:06.60 by Shea Bohan, Emily Burns, Jenna Robinson, Denise Grohn, 2017)

400-meter hurdles

14. Debbie Boerke 1:02.49

IC4A Championships: Day 2 results

The men’s outdoor track season ended on Sunday afternoon in Princeton with a season-best time in the 4x800 relay and the second fastest mark in school history. Our guys were disappointed not to have scored or gotten the school record (7:37.37), but this is still a solid effort with much promise for the future. Our anchor leg, Steven Morrison, capped his marvelous middle-distance career with a scintillating final leg of 1:52.945, zooming the team to a sub-7:40.00 clocking. Because of Steven and our deep stable of MD guys, it shows how far we’ve come when 7:39.63 is a mark that is tinged with disappointment. On to 2018-2019. Be Better.

IC4A Championships

Princeton University

Sunday, May 12, 2018

Men’s results and splits

3,200-meter relay

11. Marist (Brian Henderson 1:54.548, Connor St. Germain 1:57.819, Drew Burns 1:54.315, Steven Morrison 1:52.945) 7:39.63

IC4A Championships: Day 1 results

Strong first day at the IC4As for the men, highlighted by a fantastic finish to one of the greatest distance running careers in school history: Dietrich Mosel getting third place (six points!) in the 10,000-meter run in a 21-second PR. Deet is the third fastest 10km runner in school history, trailing only school record holder Will Griffin and indoor 5km/VCP record holder Girma Segni – further cementing his status as one of the all-time greats in Marist Running history. Dietrich went for broke early on, as you can see in his splits. He settled in midrace to a more reasonable pace, and finished with a tremendous final lap, which catapulted him into third place in the race, which was held in a downpour for the last 5km. So happy for Deet and so proud of Deet. Nicely done!

In the same race, junior Mike Kennedy had a strong effort start to finish and earned a nearly 20-second PR and broke 31:00 for the first time (note: photo above has the wrong time listed on the scoreboard; maybe next year!). Kennedy has had a challenging junior year in terms of injury, but he has found a way to step up in a big way on the biggest of stages – the sign of a truly tough runner and a team leader on and off the track. Graduate student Spencer Johnson finished out his long and distinguished career with a solid effort (a second-half cramp hampered him); Spencer enjoyed support from his graduating senior classmates from last year, who convened in Princeton to see off his old friend with love and affection. Sophomore Chris Rivas struggled but fought hard in the 10km, ending a strong sophomore year of distance running. Earlier in the day, junior Drew Burns went out crazy hard and hung on for a very impressive third-place finish in his heat of the 800-meter run. The men’s season concludes on Sunday afternoon (forecast = rainy and miserable, a fitting ending to this weather-challenged spring season) in the 4x800 relay.

IC4A Championships

Princeton University

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Men’s results and splits

800-meter run

29. Drew Burns 1:53.88 (54.28, 59.61)

10,000-meter run

3. Dietrich Mosel 30:23.19 *IC4A All-East

71, 2:22 (71), 3:33 (71), 4:44 (71)

5:55 (71), 7:06 (71), 8:19 (73), 9:30 (71)

10:42 (72), 11:55 (73), 13:08 (73), 14:22 (74)

15:35 (73), 16:49 (75), 18:03 (74), 19:18 (75)

20:33 (75), 21:48 (75), 23:04 (76), 24:20 (76)

25:35 (75), 26:30 (75), 28:05 (75), 29:18 (73)

30:23.19 (65.19)

1600m splits: 4:44, 4:46, 4:52, 4:56, 4:56, 4:58

10. Michael Kennedy 30:59.01

74, 2:27 (73), 3:40 (73), 4:55 (75)

6:09 (74), 7:23 (74), 8:37 (74), 9:50 (73)

11:06 (76), 12:20 (74), 13:34 (74), 14:49 (75)

16:04 (75), 17:18 (74), 18:34 (76), 19:48 (74)

21:02 (74), 22:16 (74), 23:32 (76), 24:47 (75)

26:03 (76), 27:19 (76), 28:33 (74), 29:48 (75)

30:59.01 (71.01)

1600m splits: 4:55, 4:55, 4:59, 4:59, 4:59, 5:01

15. Spencer Johnson 31:25.19

73, 2:26 (73), 3:39 (73), 4:54 (74)

6:08 (74), 7:22 (74), 8:37 (75), 9:50 (73)

11:06 (76), 12:20 (74), 13:34 (74), 14:49 (75)

15:03 (74), 17:18 (75), 18:34 (76), 19:50 (76)

21:06 (76), 22:12 (76), 23:39 (77), 24:57 (78)

26:15 (78), 27:32 (77), 28:52 (80), 30:10 (78)

31:25.19 (75.19)

1600m splits: 4:54, 4:56, 4:59, 5:01, 5:07, 5:13

20. Chris Rivas 31:52.25

74, 2:27 (73), 3:41 (74), 4:56 (75)

6:10 (74), 7:24 (74), 8:39 (75), 9:52 (73)

11:08 (76), 12:23 (75), 13:37 (74), 14:54 (77)

ECAC Championships: Day 1 results

Really excellent first day at ECACs for the women, with the following awesome highlights in multiple events:

--Denise Grohn (photo above, by Jenna) breaking Emily Burns’ school record in the 1,500 by 0.27 with a time of 4:33.08. Emily came close as well, finishing a few ticks behind at 4:34.00. Great race for both.

--Freshman Maria Smith earning a scoring spot in the 3,000-meter run that featured very slow, tactical racing in the beginning and the middle. Classmate Gianna Tedeschi rolled with the up-and-down pace very well also, nearly PRing in less-than-ideal racing from the field.

--Junior Jordan Casey finishing a truly awesome junior year with a six-second PR in the steeplechase race.

--Freshman Hayley Collins finishing about as good a freshman year as we can remember with a PR in the 5,000-meter run.

Sunday’s entrants are Debbie Boerke in the 400-meter hurdles and our 4x800 relay.

ECAC Championships

Princeton University

Saturday, May 12, 2018

Women’s results and splits

1,500-meter run

20. Denise Grohn 4:33.08 *school record, old record 4:33.35 by Emily Burns, 2018

Coach Pete splits: 71, 2:26 (75), 3:39 (73), 4:33.08 (55.08)

Finish line splits: 53.71, 2:07.37 (73.66), 3:20.95 (73.59), 4:33.08 (72.13)

24. Emily Burns 4:34.00

Coach Pete splits: 73, 2:26 (73), 3:40 (74), 4:34.00 (54.00)

Finish line splits: 55.32, 2:07.76 (72.44), 3:20.80 (73.05), 4:34.00 (73.21)

3,000-meter run

6. Maria Smith 10:00.65

82, 2:39 (77), 3:59 (80), 5:18 (79), 6:40 (82), 8:02 (82), 9:22 (80), 10:00.65 (38.65)

9. Gianna Tedeschi 10:02.14

82, 2:39 (77), 4:00 (81), 5:20 (80), 6:41 (81), 8:02 (81), 9:23 (81), 10:02.14 (39.14)

5,000-meter run

9. Hayley Collins 17:02.53

3,000-meter steeplechase

13. Jordan Casey 10:45.78

80, 2:43 (83), 4:09 (86), 5:36 (87), 7:03 (87), 8:31 (88), 9:58 (87), 10:45.78 (47.78)

ECAC/IC4A Championships: Day 1 in pictures

Thanks to senior Jenna Robinson for taking a multitude of incredible photos from the action on Saturday afternoon/evening at Princeton. Here is a smattering of the photos from the races.

ECAC/IC4A Championships: Schedule and entrants

As just mentioned in the previous post, we are proud to have our largest contingent yet at the outdoor ECAC/IC4A meet, with numerous individual qualifiers to go along with both the women's and men's 4x800 relays. Here is the order of events and time schedule, with our entrants/events in bold. There is a chance that the Saturday evening distance races could be moved to later times if heat is a factor, but as of now we have not heard of any plans. A quick check of the forecast just now reveals that thunderstorms may be more of a threat than heat at this point, but we'll see.

IC4A/ECAC Championships

Saturday and Sunday, May 12 and May 13

Time schedule and order of events

Saturday, May 12

2:30 IC4A 4x100 Relay Final

2:45 ECAC 4x100 Relay Final

3:00 IC4A 800 Final: Drew Burns

3:15 ECAC 800 Final

3:35 IC4A 1500 Final

4:00 ECAC 1500 Final: Emily Burns, Denise Grohn

4:30 ECAC 3000 Final: Maria Smith, Gianna Tedeschi

5:00 IC4A 3000 Steeplechase Final

5:30 ECAC 3000 Steeplechase Final: Jordan Casey

6:00 IC4A 5000 Final

6:30 ECAC 5000 Final: Hayley Collins

7:00 IC4A 10,000 Final: Dietrich Mosel, Spencer Johnson, Mike Kennedy, Chris Rivas

7:40 ECAC 10,000 Final

Sunday, May 13

10:00 ECAC 100 Meter Dash Trials

10:15 IC4A 100 Meter Dash Trials

10:45 ECAC 100 Meter Hurdles Trials

11:00 IC4A 110 Meter Hurdles Trials

11:25 ECAC 100 Meter Dash Final

11:35 IC4A 100 Meter Dash Final

11:45 ECAC 400 Meter Dash Final

12:00 IC4A 400 Meter Dash Final

12:15 IC4A 110 Meter Hurdles Final

12:30 ECAC 100 Meter Hurdles Final

12:40 ECAC 200 Meter Trials

1:00 IC4A 200 Meter Trials

1:15 ECAC 400 Meter Hurdles Final: Debbie Boerke

1:40 IC4A 400 Meter Hurdles Final

1:55 ECAC 200 Meter Final

2:05 IC4A 200 Meter Final

2:20 ECAC 4x800 Meter Relay Final: Shea Bohan, Kerry Gaye, Jenna Robinson, Denise Grohn (order subject to change)

2:45 IC4A 4x800 Meter Relay Final: Brian Henderson, Drew Burns, Connor St. Germain, Steven Morrison (order subject to change)

3:05 ECAC 4x400 Meter Relay Final

3:30 IC4A 4x400 Meter Relay Final

Bell laps

Under the blazing sun yesterday morning, our 10km guys (from left, Kennedy, Rivas, Spencer, Dietrich) did their final workout in preparation for Saturday night's IC4A Championships. For Spencer and Deet, this was their final track workout at the Vassar track after all these years; oddly enough, for Kennedy and Rivas, this was their first (and only) track workout of 2018 (they have been doing their speed exclusively on the roads and trails with tempo and segment runs). As mentioned previously, this time of year is bittersweet as the series of goodbyes continues. We are proud to have four men qualify for the 25-lap race at Princeton, and we look forward to our weekend there, with the largest number of qualifiers in school history. 

MAAC Championships: Women's results ... two school records!

Where do we start? How about at the end: What a way for the greatest sprinter in school history to go out -- with yet another school record. Danisha Craig ended perhaps the greatest and classiest sprint career in school history by being part of a third-place 4x400 relay team that finished with a school reocrd. Earlier in the day, Danisha hoisted herself on the podium for the first time with a third-place finish in the 400, just an eyelash off her school record in that event. Her teammate and friend Debbie Boerke broke her own school record in the 400 hurdles and was a MAAC Champion (see podium shot) in thrilling fashion. Debbie came back and was on the 4x400 relay as well. Great meet for Debbie! Our MD/D squad earned some hard-earned points in the 800 (Shea Bohan), 1,500 (Emily Burns) and 5,000 (freshmen Hayley Collins and Gianna Tedeschi). Great finish to a great meet. Nicely done, ladies!!!!

MAAC Outdoor Championships, Day 2 results

Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ

Sunday, May 6

Women’s results

400-meter dash

3-Danisha Craig 57.85

800-meter run

7. Shea Bohan 2:15.54

1,500-meter run

7. Emily Burns 4:35.35

9. Denise Grohn 4:37.69

12. Maria Smith 4:43.51

5,000-meter run

5. Hayley Collins 17:12.78

7. Gianna Tedeschi 17:19.41

17. Mariah Christian 18:29.82

400-meter relay

4. Marist (Lauren Adams, Debbie Boerke, Danisha Craig, Grace Cepeda) 49.14

1,600-meter relay

3. Marist (Grace Cepeda 61.4, Debbie Boerke 57.9, Danisha Craig 57.7, Shea Bohan 60.3) 3:57.67 *school record, old record 3:28.29 by Courtney Cartwright, Danisha Craig, Molly Weeks, Jenn Horner, 2015

3,200-meter relay

5. Marist (Kerry Gaye 2:17.7, Jenna Robinson 2:15.5, Emily Burns 2:20.5, Denise Grohn 2:21.0) 9:15.00

400-meter hurdles

1-Debbie Boerke 1:01.25 *school record, old record by Boerke, 1:01.70 in 2016

High jump

11. Fallon Quigley 1.50 meters

Women’s team standings

1-Monmouth 261, 2. Rider 160.5, 3. Manhattan 109, 4. Iona 99, 5. Quinnipiac 96.5, 6. Marist 46, 7. Siena 16, 8. Niagara 13, 9. St. Peter’s 8, 10-Canisius 5

MAAC Championships: Men's results, 5th place!

There were several neat highlights today, culminated with scintillating relays -- second place for 4x800 (see podium shot) and fifth place in a rousing season best for 4x400. Toss in Sean Patterson's superb hurdle race, Drew Burns' great 800 final (and relay leg), Dietrich Mosel breaking up the vaunted Iona pack in the 5km and even a passable 4x100 relay team ... and it all added up to the seemingly improbable, almost random 5th-place finish. That's right. Our favorite Foxes scored more points than three other teams in the MAAC. For those keeping score at home and elsewhere, that's pretty cool.

MAAC Outdoor Championships, Day 2 results

Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ

Sunday, May 6

Men’s results

400-meter relay

6. Marist (Santosh Krishnan, Josh Hindle, Sean Patterson, Cole Lucaszcyk) 45.35

800-meter run

6. Drew Burns 1:53.73

5,000-meter run

4. Dietrich Mosel 14:41.60

9. Michael Kennedy 15:06.35

16. Chris Rivas 15:27.92

17. Conor Stack 15:30.53

26. Dan Hillman 16:07.71

29. Will Duggan 16:23.60

400-meter hurdles

4. Sean Patterson 55.19

1,600-meter relay

5. Marist (Cole Ziskind 51.7, Josh Hindle 50.9, Drew Burns 50.5, Tanner Senius 52.1) 3:25.59

3,200-meter relay

2. Marist (Steven Rizzo 1:56.6, Steven Morrison 1:53.9, Connor St. Germain 1:57.5, Brian Henderson 1:54.5) 7:42.75

Men’s team standings

1-Monmouth 270, 2-Rider 165, 3. Manhattan 150, 4. Iona 129, 5. Marist 30, 6. St. Peter’s 29, 7. Siena 22, 8. Canisius 17

MAAC Championships: Together

The MAAC Outdoor Championships always brings together a jumble of emotions. It's the end of the line for our senior class, and it's the end of our long three-season run. It's emotionally charged and today it was awesome, as our athletes did amazing things. We'll try to chronicle them all in the upcoming posts, but the biggest takeaway is the togetherness and camaraderie of the team, on display in these post-championship team photos. Hopefully, these are the snapshots they'll remember as our seniors move on to the next phases of life.

MAAC Championships: Day 1 results and photos

Some strong first-day results across the board, with several individuals advancing to Sunday's final and several more with personal- or season-best times. Thanks to Jess Howe for sharing these photos as well -- great one of Joey Miller's one and only 10km, with a rabid fan in Matthew Ronan (who PRed and scored in the steeple!) as well as a few group shots as well.

MAAC Outdoor Championships

Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ

Saturday, May 5

Day 1 results

Women’s 400-meter dash trials

Danisha Craig 57.94 *qualified for final

Women’s 800-meter run trials

Shea Bohan 2:15.85 *qualified for final

Jenna Robinson 2:19.58

Maddie Tooker 2:21.17

Jill Laliberte 2:22.83

Christine Gambell 2:24.85

Jess Howe 2:27.07

Women’s 1,500-meter run trials

Denise Grohn 4:37.68 *qualified for final

Emily Burns 4:39.34 *qualified for final

Maria Smith 4:40.25 *qualified for final

Janelle Solviletti 4:41.61

Kerry Gaye 4:41.91

Boushra Belkhir 4:50.74

Talia Cutrone 5:10.35

Women’s 400-meter hurdle trials

Debbie Boerke 1:02.06 *qualified for final

Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase

6. Jordan Casey 10:54.31

7. Alyssa Lafave 10:59.42

Men’s 400-meter dash trials

Santosh Krishnan 52.93

Men’s 800-meter run trials

Drew Burns 1:52.64 *IC4A qualifier, qualified for final

Brian Henderson 1:54.77

Steven Morrison 1:55.32

Connor St. Germain 1:55.99

Tanner Senius 1:59.79

Andrew Whitney 2:00.94

Cole Ziskind 2:00.94

Men’s 1,500-meter run trials

Steven Rizzo 4:02.81

James Moehringer 4:03.47

Eamonn Beers 4:10.55

Connor Levins 4:12.25

James Pratt 4:13.54

Men’s 400-meter hurdle trials

Sean Patterson 55.28 *qualified for final

Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase

7. Matthew Ronan 9:43.59

Men’s 10,000-meter run

9. Spencer Johnson 31:53.60

11. Joe Miller 32:02.64

12. Alex Hogue 32:18.66

13. James Draney 32:24.68

17. Riley Hughes 32:56.45

18. Palmer Weimann 33:02.81

MAAC Championships: Drew Burns qualifies for IC4As in 800

Very pumped for junior Drew Burns, who ran a blistering 1:52.64 in the preliminary round of the 800-meter run and qualified for Sunday's final as well as for next week's IC4A Championships in that event. The 800 was a strong event for our men, with several guys notching season- or personal-best times. Nicely done, Drew!

MAAC Championships: Sunday schedule

Here is an updated schedule for Sunday, reflecting our athletes who advanced. We will have relay teams in all the relays listed.

MAAC Outdoor Championships

Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ

Sunday, May 6

12 noon: Women’s high jump: Fallon Quigley (Flight 1 of 1)

12:00 p.m.: Men’s 4x100 relay: Heat 1 of 1

12:05 p.m.: Women’s 4x100 relay: Heat 1 of 2

12:10 p.m.: Men’s 1,500 run: No entries

12:17 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 run: Emily Burns, Denise Grohn, Maria Smith

12:30 p.m.: Women’s 100 hurdles: No entries

12:40 p.m.: Men’s 110 hurdles: No entries

12:55 p.m.: Men’s 400 dash: No entries

1:00 p.m.: Women’s 400 dash: Danisha Craig

1:15 p.m.: Men’s 100 dash: No entries

1:20 p.m.: Women’s 100 dash: No entries

1:30 p.m.: Men’s 800 run: Drew Burns

1:35 p.m.: Women’s 800 run: Shea Bohan

1:50 p.m.: Men’s 400 hurdles: Sean Patterson

2:00 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdles: Debbie Boerke

2:10 p.m.: Men’s 200 dash: No entries

2:15 p.m.: Women’s 200 dash: No entries

2:25 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 run (1 section): Dietrich Mosel, Conor Stack, Elias Platanias, Dan Hillman, Will Duggan, Michael Kennedy, Christopher Rivas

2:50 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 run (1 section): Hayley Collins, Gianna Tedeschi, Mariah Christian

3:10 p.m.: Men’s 4x800 relay

3:25 p.m.: Women’s 4x800 relay

3:40 p.m.: Men’s 4x400 relay

3:55 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay

MAAC Championships: Updated/final schedule, with heat assignments

Here is an updated time schedule (very slight modifications) along with our entries and heat assignments for Saturday.

MAAC Outdoor Championships

Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ

Saturday and Sunday, May 5-6

Final time schedule and heat assignments

Saturday, May 5

2:15 p.m.: Men’s 1,500 trials (3 heats): James Pratt (Heat 2), Eamonn Beers (Heat 2), Connor Levins (Heat 3), Steven Rizzo (Heat 3), James Moehringer (Heat 3)

2:30 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 trials (3 heats): Talia Cutrone (Heat 1), Kerry Gaye (Heat 1), Maria Smith (Heat 2), Janelle Solviletti (Heat 2), Emily Burns (Heat 2), Boushra Belkhir (Heat 3), Denise Grohn (Heat 3)

2:50 p.m.: Men’s 110 hurdle trials: No entries

3:00 p.m.: Women’s 100 hurdle trials: No entries

3:10 p.m.: Men’s 400 dash trials: Santosh Krishnan (Heat 4 of 4)

3:20 p.m.: Women’s 400 dash trials: Danisha Craig (Heat 1 of 3)

3:30 p.m.: Men’s 100 dash trials: No entries

3:40 p.m.: Women’s 100 dash trials: No entries

3:55 p.m.: Men’s 800 run trials (4 heats): Connor St. Germain (Heat 1), Brian Henderson (Heat 2), Cole Ziskind (Heat 2), Steven Morrison (Heat 2), Drew Burns (Heat 3), Tanner Senius (Heat 4), Andrew Whitney (Heat 4)

4:10 p.m.: Women’s 800 run trials (5 heats): Jenna Robinson (Heat 1), Jess Howe (Heat 1), Maddie Tooker (Heat 2), Gianna Mastromatteo (Heat 3), Jill Laliberte (Heat 3), Christine Gambell (Heat 5), Shea Bohan (Heat 5)

4:30 p.m.: Men’s 400 hurdle trials: Sean Patterson (Heat 2 of 2)

4:45 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdle trials: Debbie Boerke (Heat 3 of 3)

5:00 p.m.: Men’s 200 dash trials: No entries

5:10 p.m.: Women’s 200 dash trials: No entries

5:25 p.m.: Men’s 3,000 steeplechase final (1 heat): Matthew Ronan

5:40 p.m.: Women’s 3,000 steeplechase final (1 heat): Jordan Casey, Alyssa Lafave

5:55 p.m.: Men’s 10,000 run final (1 heat): Spencer Johnson, Graham Strzelecki, James Draney, Alex Hogue, Riley Hughes, Palmer Weimann, Joe Miller

6:35 p.m.: Women’s 10,000 run final: No entries

Sunday, May 6

12 noon: Women’s high jump: Fallon Quigley (Flight 1 of 1)

12:00 p.m.: Men’s 4x100 relay: Heat 1 of 1

12:05 p.m.: Women’s 4x100 relay: Heat 1 of 2

12:10 p.m.: Men’s 1,500 run

12:17 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 run

12:30 p.m.: Women’s 100 hurdles

12:40 p.m.: Men’s 110 hurdles

12:55 p.m.: Men’s 400 dash

1:00 p.m.: Women’s 400 dash

1:15 p.m.: Men’s 100 dash

1:20 p.m.: Women’s 100 dash

1:30 p.m.: Men’s 800 run

1:35 p.m.: Women’s 800 run

1:50 p.m.: Men’s 400 hurdles

2:00 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdles

2:10 p.m.: Men’s 200 dash

2:15 p.m.: Women’s 200 dash

2:25 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 run (1 section): Dietrich Mosel, Conor Stack, Elias Platanias, Dan Hillman, Will Duggan, Michael Kennedy, Christopher Rivas

2:50 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 run (1 section): Hayley Collins, Gianna Tedeschi, Mariah Christian

3:10 p.m.: Men’s 4x800 relay

3:25 p.m.: Women’s 4x800 relay

3:40 p.m.: Men’s 4x400 relay

3:55 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay

MAAC Championships: Time schedule

MAAC Outdoor Championships

Rider University, Lawrenceville, NJ

Saturday and Sunday, May 5-6

Time schedule and order of events (note: may be updated after final entries)

Saturday, May 5

2:15 p.m.: Men’s 1,500 trials

2:30 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 trials

2:50 p.m.: Men’s 110 hurdle trials

3:00 p.m.: Women’s 100 hurdle trials

3:10 p.m.: Men’s 400 dash trials

3:20 p.m.: Women’s 400 dash trials

3:30 p.m.: Men’s 100 dash trials

3:40 p.m.: Women’s 100 dash trials

3:55 p.m.: Men’s 800 run trials

4:10 p.m.: Women’s 800 run trials

4:25 p.m.: Men’s 400 hurdle trials

4:40 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdle trials

4:55 p.m.: Men’s 200 dash trials

5:05 p.m.: Women’s 200 dash trials

5:20 p.m.: Men’s 3,000 steeplechase final

5:35 p.m.: Women’s 3,000 steeplechase final

5:50 p.m.: Men’s 10,000 run final

6:30 p.m.: Women’s 10,000 run final

Sunday, May 6

12 noon: Women’s high jump

12:00 p.m.: Men’s 4x100 relay

12:05 p.m.: Women’s 4x100 relay

12:10 p.m.: Men’s 1,500 run

12:17 p.m.: Women’s 1,500 run

12:30 p.m.: Women’s 100 hurdles

12:40 p.m.: Men’s 110 hurdles

12:55 p.m.: Men’s 400 dash

1:00 p.m.: Women’s 400 dash

1:15 p.m.: Men’s 100 dash

1:20 p.m.: Women’s 100 dash

1:30 p.m.: Men’s 800 run

1:35 p.m.: Women’s 800 run

1:50 p.m.: Men’s 400 hurdles

2:00 p.m.: Women’s 400 hurdles

2:10 p.m.: Men’s 200 dash

2:15 p.m.: Women’s 200 dash

2:25 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 run

2:50 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 run

3:10 p.m.: Men’s 4x800 relay

3:25 p.m.: Women’s 4x800 relay

3:40 p.m.: Men’s 4x400 relay

3:55 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay

Bryn wins! Stellar effort at Delaware Half Marathon

Wow! What a trophy, what a time, what a race! Marist Running Alum Bryn Gorberg won the Delaware Half Marathon (and was third overall in the entire race!) with an amazing time of 1:29:10. She won this huge trophy, out of which she enjoyed some post-race beer (no Dry Season for HER, either!). Her friend and former teammate Lizzy Peper finished third in her age group (1:49:33) and knocked off another state in her nascent attempt at half marathons in all 50 states (that makes 5 … but she’s young!). Lizzy circled back and paced her dad, John, in to a strong finish in 2:09:38. Good stuff!

Swift/Vess, age-group winners in CT: What about dry season?

Got this Mr. Bucket picture text (above) on Saturday, of Brie Vess and her uncle David Swift drinking post-race beers at the MahoneySabol 5K at Travelers Championship in Cromwell, CT … and my immediate reaction was, “Hey, what’s the big IDEA? It’s Dry Season!” Oh. Wait. Swift (who would have cringed at the concept of Dry Anything in college) graduated more than 20 years ago; Brie graduated in 2016 (undergrad) and 2017 (graduate) and no longer has to abide by such arrangements. And besides, both won their age group – Bucket, 18:37, first in 45-49; Brie, 22:33, first in 20-24, so I guess we’ll allow it. Not that my opinion MATTERS. Looks like it was a nice family outing as well (see group photo), with proceeds going to a cause near and dear to them all, ALS research. Bottoms up!