Millrose Games: Marist presence

We were thrilled and proud to have Marist Running represented on Saturday afternoon at the Millrose Games at the Armory. Despite the snowy day, it was a stellar meet with some incredible elite performances that had the track universe buzzing. Two of our Olympic Trials racewalkers – Katie Miale and Kayla Shapiro – were in the 3,000-meter racewalk at Millrose. Katie placed sixth (14:38.49) and Kayla placed ninth (15:05.76). And in the most unlikely scenario, 2020 graduate Christopher Rivas – for whom even an 800-meter repeat in a workout would be considered a sprint – race in the distance medley relay as part of a curiously named track club called the Dashing Whippets. Again, keep in mind that during his stellar four-year career at Marist, Rivas never once raced a mile and rarely raced shorter than 5km, and predictably has gravitated toward the marathon and half marathon since graduation. So what on earth was our boy doing, racing all out for four laps (800 meters) in the DMR? Hey. He’s a team player! Chris split 2:10.01 and his team ran 11:28.04, good for ninth place. Earlier in the day, Chris excitedly texted me that he had split 2:09 -- this, according to the club coach’s watch, but alas the electronic eye doesn’t lie and he just missed the sub-2:10 by an eyelash.