Back porch musings

And just like that? It’s over. Done. Another academic year, 2023-2024, is in the books. A week ago, Marist College held its commencement exercises. Graduation. On the biggest front lawn you can find, they call it the Campus Green. All week leading up to the big day, there was talk of a cool rainy day. It was neither. It was warm, muggy but not oppressive. And no rain.
 
Good. Good for the Class of 2024, the majority of whom were robbed of real graduation celebrations four years ago. President Kevin Weinman invited – urged – the senior class to pop a cork and toast some champagne in front of Greystone, where he works. He noted, wryly, that these seniors had been doing just that, uninvited, all week leading up to graduation. He said this with a smile on his face. A few moments earlier, Kevin pulled out his phone – this is a college president, remember! – scanned the Class of 2024, made a video and posted it on Instagram. Amazing. Kevin created this wonderful, light-hearted, celebratory tone. Just what the Class of 2024 deserved.
 
A week prior to Marist’s graduation – two weekends ago now, already – we were up in Albany for our daughter Natalie’s commencement exercises from Siena College. Another uplifting, celebratory atmosphere, maybe more so than most years. Again, given all that this high school Class of 2020 had lost or had altered, these young men and women had every right to party hard. They had made it to the finish line, after a really ragged starting line in Fall 2020. It happens, this commencement thing, every year. This year just seemed a bit sweeter.
 
Good for them. Good for all of them.
 
As three-season sport(s) – we are constantly grinding from cross country preseason, to cross country season, blending right into indoor track season, and finally finishing up at outdoor track season. The ebb and flow of the academic year has a constant thrum to it. So, when it ends, that ending seems so much more abrupt. That’s because, we have been going since mid-August right through to mid-May, with little or no time to catch our breath, and definitely no time to stop, ponder, pause, reflect.
 
And then, poof, it’s done. Another (academic) year completed. You would think, after having been through this three-season cycle now for going on 34 years, I’d adapt to it. And yet, it’s still a shock to the system. Here on Memorial Day weekend, suddenly there’s nothing imminent on the daily calendar: No practices, no meets, no meetings, no end-of-semester awards ceremonies, they’ve all run their course.
 
Alas, the cycle does seem endless; in the next few days and weeks, we’ll be hitting the road, going to high school meets to recruit, looking for the best, brightest and fastest of what will, eventually, become the Class of 2029. The Class of 2029. Just typing those three words together, in that order, seems like science fiction. As I sit here on my back porch, ceiling fan whirring on a gently warm late spring evening, dogs lounging around and begging for food, it’s a time to reflect upon what transpired and to plan for what’s to come.
 
Another year over, and a new one about to begin. No, this is not a holiday tune, but rather the reality of where we’re at on these long days of daylight. It goes by so fast, doesn’t it? Alums with whom I remain in touch are reminding me that they had their commencement 10 years ago, almost to the day. A decade is a long time, but it can whiz by as you prepare for the next incoming class, the next season, the next wave of emails and visits for the next incoming classes. It seems to never end.
 
But for now, for this one moment in time, we’re stopping that spinning globe for a few paragraphs of reflection. These cycles are all special in their own way. And, as a result, they should be acknowledged as such. Thank you.

Honors medal ceremony

 

Congrats to team captains Anthony Citera and Easton Eberwein for being honored at the Honors Medal Awards Ceremony at the McCann Center on Friday morning. Undergraduate graduation is Saturday morning/afternoon. Hopefully, there will be reasonably OK weather. 

ECAC/IC4A Championships: Easton's school record!

 Congrats to Easton Eberwein for finishing his season on a strong note on Sunday at the IC4A Championships at George Mason University. Easton placed 25th in the 400-meter dash in 49.05, a school record to match his indoor 400-meter school record, which was also set at the IC4A Championships (indoors, at Boston University). Easton breaks Brian DeMarco's 19-year-old outdoor mark in the event, which was 49.30 (from 2005). Next up for Easton: Chasing a sub-49.00! That'll have to wait till the 2024-2025 season. On Saturday, sophomore Parker O'Brien completed her season at the ECAC Championships by placing 24th overall in the 800-meter run in 2:17.38. Parker had a strong sophomore year in all three seasons and we look forward to her continued success in 2024-2025. And so ends the 2023-2024 cross country/track journey. 

West Point Twilight: Pax's fantastic farewell!

Christopher Paxis ended his collegiate track career in fantastic style, going out with a personal-best and school-record time at 1,500 meters on a perfect night at West Point. Pax's 3:48.61 broke Adam Vess' 15-year-old school record by exactly one second. Check out Pax's splits = perfectly executed race. This has been a challenging year for Pax in terms of injury and illness, and it was gratifying to see him put it together one final time in a Marist uniform. We will miss him!

Other highlights: Freshman Matthew Ferreri PRed by four seconds at 1,500 meters. Class of 2019 alum Drew Burns ran a stellar 800, especially considering he got to the track with 15 minutes to spare for his race, due to a back-up at the security line entering the USMA. 

This was definitely worth the short trip down the Hudson River. Neat.  

West Point Twilight
Shea Stadium
United States Military Academy
Thursday, May 9, 2024
400-meter dash
8-Weston LaBrecque 53.00
800-meter run
20-Drew Burns (ARE Racing Team) 1:52.35. 55.58, 56.77
1:52.35
1,500-meter run
12-Christopher Paxis 3:48.61 *school record, old record 3:49.61 by Adam Vess in 2009
45.01, 1:02.42, 1:02.57, 58.62
23-Matthew Ferreri 4:00.31 (personal best)
48.17, 1:03.88, 1:04.59, 1:03.68
27-Tyler Perry 4:07.93

Correction: Not Hayley's first marathon

 Thanks to the anonymous commenter for pointing out that Hayley Collins had already raced a marathon and her stupendously successful race in Maine was not her first go-round at 26.2 miles. My apologies to Hayley and to the anonymous commenter who urged me to fact check. Hayley is awesome. She ran 2:56:20 at Hartford in October 2023 and improved by nearly 11 minutes in Maine on Sunday. Great work, Hayley!

What's next: West Point + IC4A/ECAC (meets)

A handful of athletes will be competing over the next few days as we wrap up the 2023-2024 track/cross country journey. Here’s a lineup (of who is racing, and where they are racing):
 
West Point Twilight
Shea Stadium
U.S. Military Academy
Thursday, May 9, 2024
1750: Men’s 800, section 4, Drew Burns, Albany Racing Exchange
1815: Men’s 400, section 2, Weston LaBrecque
19:30: Men’s 1,500, section 2, Christopher Paxis and Tyler Perry; section 3, Matthew Ferreri
 
ECAC/IC4A Championships
George Mason University
Saturday, May 11
5:20p, ECAC 800-meter run, Parker O’Brien
Sunday, May 12
11:50a, IC4A 400-meter run, Easton Eberwein

Draney + Hayley = solid marathon debut (runs)

Congrats to Marist Running alums Hayley Collins and James Draney for solid marathon debut efforts on Sunday. Hayley placed second overall at the Maine Coast Marathon in 2:45:23 (6:19 per mile pace). Her splits are below. Draney was third in the Hudson Valley Marathon at the Walkway Over the Hudson in 2:35:09 (5:55 pace). He ran some really fast closing splits over the last several miles (as you can see). Nicely done.
 
Hayley’s splits
2:45:23/6:19 per mile
6:05
6:07
6:16
6:10
6:09
6:15
6:18
6:06
6:14
6:14
6:18
6:09
6:08
6:03
6:07
6:19
6:15
6:21
6:25
6:27
6:19
6:24
6:30
6:24
6:31
6:18

HERE ARE DRANEY'S SPLITS

MAAC Championships: Men's results, Day 2

Pax finished his final MAAC meet very strong, with a fourth-place finish in the 1,500 and a strong anchor leg on the 4x800 relay. TP also had a solid meet. Amari remains a steady presence in the sprints, even leading off both relays, a true MVP performer when it counts. OK!

 

MAAC Outdoor Championships 
Michael P. Brady Track Complex
Sunday, May 5, 2024
Men's Day Two Results
100-meter dash
6-Amari Mathis 10.84
400-meter hurdles
8-Christopher Lynch 1:00.19
1,500-meter run
4-Chris Paxis 3:54.27 - season best
12-Raffi Buchakjian 4:08.22
5,000-meter run
18-John Ignacz 15:28.03
20-Steven Viera 15:39.53
26-Dylan Perkinson 16:20.20
Triple Jump
10-Kevin Lee 12.54m (41 feet, 1.75 inches)
4x100-meter relay
5-Marist (Mathis, LaBrecque, Lynch, Lee) 44.37
4x400-meter relay
4-Marist (Mathis, Eberwein, LaBrecque, Lee) 3:26.18 
4x800-meter relay
4-Marist (Anderson 2:00.973, Perry 1:56.235, Ferreri 1:59.846, Paxis 1:56.793) 7:53.79
Team Results
1-Rider 267, 2-Mount St. Mary's 135, 3-Manhattan 125, 4-Iona 114, 5-Siena 52, 6-St. Peter's 48, 7-Marist 39, 8-Canisius 22

MAAC Championships: Women's results, Day 2

Thanks to sports information's Sam Higuera for formatting these results. Still trying to dry out from two days of pretty consistent rain. Congrats to senior Grace O'Neill for going out with a podium finish in the high jump, and our 4x800 relay also made it up to the podium, which was really exciting!

 

 MAAC Outdoor Championships 
Michael P. Brady Track Complex
Sunday, May 5, 2024
Women's Day Two Results
1,500-meter run
8-Adele Alexander 4:43.11
9-Sierra Fisher 4:47.42
5,000-meter run
5-Samantha Kehler 17:53.92 - personal record
10- Kaitlyn Murtagh 18:22.96 - personal record
13-Paige McCaul 18:57.33 - personal record
19-Kaylee Copenspire 20:34.89 - personal record
High Jump
3-Grace O'Neill 1.52m (4 feet, 11.75 inches)
Triple Jump
11-Kiana Pathirana 10.99m (36 feet, 0.75 inches)
4x100m relay
7-Marist (Alyssa DaPont, Nina Florio, Isabella Cipolla, Sydney Villani) 52.50
4x400m relay
5-Marist (Granados, McNamara, Horton, Kropo) 4:06.20 
4x800m relay
3-Marist (Hawkins 2:18.724, Fletcher 2:22.169, Stanet 2:22.974, O'Brien 2:17.246) 9:21.12
Team results
1-Rider 227, 2-Quinnipiac 170, 3-Mount St. Mary's 113, 4-Manhattan 88, 5-Siena 44, 6-Niagara 43, 7-St. Peter's 37, 8-Iona 36, 9-Canisius 33, 10-Marist 27