Women's team photo from CCSU

Thanks to Kathy Gould for sending in this post-race photo of the team after our victory at the Ted Owen Invitational at Central Connecticut. We had the very nice and comfortable JTR "Marist" bus, with fresh new leather seats. Nicely done!

CCSU Ted Owen Invitational Men's results

Below are results and splits for the men's XC team members that ran at Central Connecticut today. Included are splits -- 1-mile, 2-mile, 3-mile, 4-mile, 5-mile -- provided expertly by Billy Hild, who was not nearly as stressed out given there were fewer men's runners and they were spaced out better. Yes, you read correctly: There is a 5-mile split. The course is long at Stanley Quarter Park -- 5.1 miles. Included are all the splits, and even an 8km conversion time (in parenthesis) for each runner. So for you numbers geeks out there ... enjoy it.

CCSU Ted Owen Invitational

Stanley Quarter Park, New Britain, CT

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Men’s team standings

1-Northeastern 43, 2-UConn 58, 3-Hartford 118, 4-Wagner 125, 5-Rhode Island 136, 6-CCSU 140, 7-Marist 148, 8-Franklin Pierce 187, 9-SCSU 223, 10-FDU 241

Men’s individual results

5.1-mile course (8215 meters)

17-Nick Salek 26:44.67 (26:07)

4:52, 10:06, 15:27, 20:57, 26:16

32-Isaiah Miller 27:33.11 (26:55)

5:03, 10:29, 15:51, 21:31, 27:05

43-Billy Posch 27:53.04 (27:14)

5:09, --, 16:17, 21:55, 27:25

44-Omar Perez 27:56.22 (27:14)

--, 10:35, 16:10, 21:40, 27:25

45-Nick Hughes 27:56.99 (27:18)

5:09, 10:41, 16:19, 21:59, 27:29

52-Charles Ropes 28:05.46 (27:29)

5:02, 10:24, 16:02, 21:50, 27:40

54-Matt Panebianco 28:06.83 (27:25)

5:10, 10:42, 16:21, 22:02, 27:36

63-Will Schanz 28:33.70 (27:48)

5:08, 10:41, 16:21, 22:10, 27:59

69-David Marthy 28:50.70 (28:13)

5:09, 10:40, 16:20, 22:29, 28:24

79-Ricky Willi 29:22.35 (28:43)

5:16, 11:06, 16:57, 23:00, 28:55

83-Pat Deedy 29:45.21 (29:03)

5:13, 11:11, 17:05, 23:14, 29:15

CCSU Ted Owen Invitational: Women's results

Results are below. This would have to be considered one of the best days in program history. I was incredibly pumped and motivated and inspired while watching the ladies sprint with spirit to the finish line. Splits -- 1 mile and 2 mile -- are provided as best as possible by men's team member Billy Hild. They are a bit spotty, but he did the best he could and we appreciate his efforts.

CCSU Ted Owen Invitational

Stanley Quarter Park, New Britain, CT

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Women’s team standings

1-Marist 35, 2-CCSU 83, 3-Hartford 116, 4-UConn 120, 5-Bentley 121, 6-Wagner 124, 7-Rhode Island 173, 8-Northeastern 177, 9-Southern Connecticut 201, 10-FDU 309, 11-Franklin Pierce 318

Women’s individual results

5-kilometer course

2-Michelle Gaye 17:40.46 (school-record time!)

5:37, 11:33

3-Katie Messina 17:59.27

5:38, 11:36

4-Kristen Traub 18:01.57

5:37, 11:35

12-Nicki Nesi 18:46.76

5:52, 12:14

14-Christine Coughlin 18:51.36

5:49, 12:11

TOP FIVE COMBINED TIME/AVERAGE SCHOOL RECORD!!!

15-Erin O’Reilly 18:55.11

5:49, 12:12

17-Erin Thompson 19:02.95

5:42, 12:04

22-Brianna Freestone 19:14.87

5:50, 12:17

37-Rachel Bremer 19:41.67

5:52, 12:21

41-Kelley Gould 19:45.14

6:04, 12:37

44-Brianne Vess 19:54.37

6:04, 12:41

48-Jackie Gamboli 20:07.99

--, 12:55

50-Tara Nuccitelli 20:08.94

--, 13:01

57-Mariella Bilello 20:24.51

--, 13:03

61-Annie Gould 20:31.78

--, 13:05

73-Rachel Lichtenwalner 21:01.34

6:20, 13:30

80-Lizzie Peper 21:32.32

--, 13:36

81-Laura Lindsley 21:33.60

90-Catherine Ferreri 22:16.89

6:30, 13:30

CCSU Ted Owen meet: Women's team wins again!

Our women's cross country program enjoyed one of the finest days in school history, repeating as team champions at the Ted Owen Invitational at Stanley Quarter Park in New Britain, Conn., in a meet hosted by Central Connecticut State University.

--The women placed first with 35 points, outdistancing the second-place CCSU team that had 83 points.
--Sophomore Michelle Gaye placed second in 17:40.46, the fastest cross country 5K time in school history.
--Senior captain Katie Messina broke 18:00 for the first time for 5K cross country, placing third overall in 17:59.27.
--The team's top five combined time and average was the fastest in school history.

A great day from start to finish!

Our men's team ran a partial squad and the guys did very well, with numerous personal-best times across the board. Full results from both meets will be posted here as soon as I can compile them ...

CCSU Ted Owen meet: Additional information

Just received additional information on Saturday's meet. Most pertinent for family/friends coming to the park: Starting at 9 a.m., there will be an open XC race and the North Side entrance to the park will be closed. They are asking that we enter via South Entrance off Eddy Glover Blvd. The meet site is Stanley Quarter Park in New Britain, CT.

Teams competing: CCSU, Bentley, UConn, FDU, Franklin Pierce, Hartford, Marist, Northeastern, URI, Southern Conn., Wagner.
Marist entrants, women: Entire roster of healthy runners.
Marist entrants, men (partial squad): Pat Deedy, Nick Hughes, David Marthy, Isaiah Miller, Matt Panebianco, Omar Perez, Billy Posch, Charlie Ropes, Nick Salek, Will Schanz, Ricky Willi.
Race times: 11 a.m., women; 11:30 a.m., men

What's next: CCSU Ted Owen Invitational

Our next meet is Saturday at Stanley Quarter Park in New Britain, CT, hosted by Central Connecticut State University: The Ted Owen Invitational. The park, and this course, brings back memories from our first years as coach back in the early 1990s. I was not able to make it last year when our women's team won in dramatic fashion, so it will be good to be there this year.

We will be racing our full women's squad and a partial (but pretty solid) men's squad, most of whom did not race at the Wolfie meet. Race times: Women's 5km, 11 a.m.; Men's race, 11:30 a.m.

Upon us all, a little rain must fall

One of the favorite pastimes and themes of this fancy blog is complaining about the weather. Not much business there these days, as the weather has been late summer/early fall glorious: Cool evenings and mornings, bright and sunny days with warm temperatures and low humidity. In fact, the Wolfie Invitational at Stony Brook was positively delightful weatherwise.

But alas, all good things must come to an end. A quick check at accuweather.com shows a high wind warning in effect through Wednesday morning and 1.91 inches of rain on tap. For those keeping score at home, that is a good, old-fashioned soaking. Of course, Tuesday being "quality day" for the XC teams, there is some mental hand-wringing (huh?) as to whether we will be able to get in our workouts. We'll see. For those racing on Saturday, an easy adjustment would be to move the workout to Wednesday. For those not racing on Saturday, we will aim to blast through the rain and wind so we can continue with the plan of a hard interval workout on Friday.

What will we do? The answer, my friend, may very well be blowin' in the wind. Or rain.

Stony Brook "Wolfie" Invitational: Men's results

Here are the results from today’s meet. Note that the course was a little more than slightly long (200 meters, although that extra 200m was mostly downhill to the finish!). For Marist finishers, I have put the adjusted 8km times (a difference of between 35 to 40 seconds or so). In addition, considering the national and regional caliber of the field, I have included the top 15 finishers for your interest. Lastly, where available there are the following race splits: 1-mile, 2km, 4km, 5km, 4-mile. Thanks to Doug, Matty P and Hughes for helping out with splits and everything else. Great to have them along for assistance, and look forward to having them back on the race course next week at CCSU, or as soon as possible.

Stony Brook “Wolfie” Invitational

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Stony Brook University campus

Men’s team results

1-Wisconsin 20 (National ranking: 1; Great Lakes Regional ranking: 1)

2-Providence 47 (National ranking: 32; Northeast Regional ranking: 4)

3-Marist 76

4-Stony Brook 91

Men’s individual results

8,200-meter course

Top 15 finishers

1-Shane Quinn (Providence) 25:24.45

2-Rob Finnerty (Wisconsin) 25:35.41

3-Neal Berman (Wisconsin) 25:35.41

4-Alex Hatz (Wisconsin) 25:35.41

5-Michael Brice (Wisconsin) 25:35.41

6-Jake Erschen (Wisconsin) 25:42.24

7-Eric Speakman (Stony Brook) 25:45.02

8-Arquimedes DelaCruz 25:47.98 (25:10)

9-Ahmed Ali (Providence) 26:01.63

10-Liam Hillery (Providence) 26:03.66

11-Christian Costello (Providence) 26:04.19

12-Sam Hacker (Wisconsin) 26:04.40

13-Jack Stapleton (Wisconsin) 26:04.59

14-Ken Walshak 26:05.64 (25:27)

15-Jacob Naylor (Wisconsin) 26:12.77

Marist finishers

8-Arquimedes DelaCruz 25:47.98 (25:10)

4:49, 6:09, 12:29, 15:27, 20:08

14-Ken Walshak 26:05.64 (25:27)

4:53, 6:10, 12:31, 15:35, 20:05

18-Ryan Colabella 26:40.41 (26:00)

4:53, 6:11, 12:35, 15:46, 20:46

19-Joel Moss 26:57.67 (26:18)

4:51, 6:11, 12:47, 16:03, 21:19

20-Patrick Rynkowski 27:12.21 (26:32)

5:00, 6:20, 13:02, 16:17, 21:22

22-Johnny Lee 27:20.77 (26:40)

4:51, 6:18, 16:03, 13:06, 21:00

23-Billy Hild 27:28.09 (26:48)

--, --, 13:14, 21:23

26-Kevin O’Sullivan 27:36.73 (26:56)

--, 6:20, 13:02, 16:16, --

30-Mark Vuono 27:44.86 (27:05)

4:58, 6:18, 13:07, --, --

31-Ryan Scrudato 27:46.75 (27:05)

5:03, 6:18, 13:07, 16:28, 21:30

32-Justin Tampellini 27:53.47 (27:06)

--, --, 16:36, 21:46

33-Mike Nicoletti 27:53.83 (27:13)

--, 6:19, --, 16:35, 21:48

35-Ty Gamble 28:10.40 (27:13)

5:00, 6:19, 13:07, 16:37, --

36-Tommy Lappas 28:13.55 (27:29)

--, 6:29, 13:17, 16:35, --

40-Mark Valentino 28:22.51 (27:41)

5:01, 6:21, 13:13, 16:38, 22:00

41-Ian Dorset 28:24.01 (27:43)

--6:29, 13:21, 16:36, 22:04

42-Chris Reynolds 28:30.83 (27:49)

--, 6:28, 13:22, 16:50, 22:08

43-David Marthy 29:07.03 (28:27)

--, --, 13:31, 17:09, 22:44

44-Mike Keegan 29:10.23 (28:30)

5:07, 6:33, 13:32, 17:03, 22:33

46-Billy Posch 29:21.39 (28:41)

5:07, 6:30, 13:41, 17:20, 22:51

Stony Brook "Wolfie" Invitational: Women's results

Here are the results from today’s meet. Note that the course was slightly long (50 meters). For Marist finishers, I have put the adjusted 5km times (a difference of between 11 and 13 seconds or so). In addition, considering the national and regional caliber of the field, I have included the top 10 finishers for your interest.

Stony Brook “Wolfie” Invitational

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Stony Brook University campus

Women’s team results

1-Providence 24 (National ranking: 7; Northeast Regional ranking: 1)

2-Stony Brook 40 (Northeast Regional ranking: 10)

3-Marist 58

Women’s individual results

5,050-meter course

Top-10 finishers

1-Shelby Greany (Providence) 17:41.58

2-Laura Nagel (Providence) 17:42.11

3-Sarah Collins (Providence) 17:42.30

4-Olivia Burne (Stony Brook) 18:02.24

5-Annie Keown (Stony Brook) 18:17.08

6-Sam Roecker (Providence) 18:38.87

7-Michelle Gaye (Marist) 18:41.85 (18:30)

8-Christina Melian (Stony Brook) 18:47.83

9-Kristen Traub (Marist) 18:49.94 (18:38)

10-Kristal Conklin (Stony Brook) 18:53.38

Marist finishers

7-Michelle Gaye 18:41.85 (18:30)

9-Kristen Traub 18:49.94 (18:38)

11-Katie Messina 18:54.41 (18:43)

16-Christine Coughlin 19:39.32 (19:28)

17-Rebecca Denise 19:42.60 (19:31)

18-Nicolette Nesi 19:44.45 (19:33)

19-Erin O’Reilly 19:49.48 (19:38)

21-Brianna Freestone 20:14.90 (20:02)

22-Rachel Bremer 20:33.70 (20:21)

25-Brianne Vess 20:50.86 (20:38)

27-Jackie Gamboli 21:03.10 (20:51)

28-Mariella Bilello 21:04.21 (20:52)

29-Annie Gould 21:05.05 (20:53)

30-Kelley Gould 21:47.53 (21:35)

32-Rachel Lichtenwalner 21:55.55 (21:43)

33-Catherine Ferreri 22:25.26 (22:12)

34-Laura Lindsley 22:41.25 (22:38)

35-Lizzie Peper 22:55.30 (22:42)

Stony Brook: Fan of the Day

Thanks to Kathy Gould for sending the above picture of Marist Running Alum (and former school record holder) Mike Nehr with his adorable daughter Sophia. Sophia put a smile on everyone's face with the many smiles on her cute face. Great to see Mikey, and hard to believe he will be up at Marist next weekend for Alumni Homecoming, celebrating his 10th Reunion!

Many, many, many thanks to all the parents/family members and friends who made our post-race tailgate so much fun.

Working on results now, will post them shortly.

Stony Brook course update

I received an email this morning from Stony Brook coach Andy Ronan (sorry, I was off campus for practice and did not check it till later in the afternoon; remember, I do not have a smart phone) regarding the course for Saturday's meet.

Women's course distance: 5,050 meters
Men's course distance: 8,200 meters

Not to worry! I already have finish time conversion charts, which I will hand out on the bus in the morning. For those keeping score at home, the women's course differential to 5,000 meters is between 10 and 12 seconds. For the men's course, the differential is greater (obviously) to 8,000 meters, with the range being between 37 and 42 seconds longer.

See you bright and early.

A day in the life: Pete's shuttle service

Phew. A lot of driving today. Just getting a breather now to sit down and check email and update the fancy blog. I was on the road a lot today. I'm not complaining at all. I enjoy driving. Here's a brief breakdown of a day in the life of Coach Pete's Shuttle Service:

After teaching Track and Field Coaching Class at 9:30 a.m., it was time to get the vans loaded and ready for men's XC practice at 11 a.m. We shuttled over to Vassar Farm for an easy run on the trails and some drills/strides on the rugby field. Our good pal Krys was back from visiting grandchildren in Florida and stopped by with coffee and good cheer.

After returning to campus with the men, we had a quick breather before women's practice at 2 p.m. ... back to Vassar Farm for the same deal! While the ladies and Coach Chuck were running, I took a quick trip to Red Oaks Mill for some errands -- gassing up the van and getting more coffee.

After the afternoon practice, it was back to campus to return the cooler, clean out the van ... and head off to the third cross country practice of the day: My son Joey's modified team practice at Mills Mansion. I picked up Joey and his teammate John-Ryan (we car-pool!), dropped off John-Ryan, and went home for a 15-minute dinner before ... practice #4 of the day! My daughter Natalie and her friend Sierra (more car-pooling!) needed to be shuttled to cheerleading practice.

After cheer dropoff, there was time for another quick coffee, a few quick recruiting calls, and then off to the elementary school for Meet the Staff night. And then, it was time for cheer pickup, bring the girls home and ... here we are!

That's a lot of local driving, and so it was great to have WFAN sports talk and Radio Woodstock for company, and of course Stewart's coffee for refreshments.

Hope to see some of you at Stony Brook on Saturday morning.

Directions to Stony Brook meet

Following are directions to Saturday's meet at Stony Brook from Stony Brook head coach Andy Ronan:

The course is adjacent to the campus.

--Best route to take is the Long Island Expressway to exit 62 (97 north) bus has to take this route.  Follow 97 North to 347(Nesconset Highway), take a left on 347, drive a 1/4 of mile and take a right on Stony Brook Road( Hess gas station on corner), go approximately 2 miles, entrance to course  (Stony Brook University Research and Development park) will be on the left. Follow road for 3/4 of a mile, course and parking will be on your left.

--Vans/Cars can take Northern State Parkway(Bus cannot) to 347, follow 347 east, turn left on Stony Brook Road, then follow  the directions above.

Hope this helps one and all ...

Stony Brook meet on Saturday

Since many friends and family of Marist Running live in the vicinity of Saturday's meet at Stony Brook, here is some basic information.
Meet site: State University at Stony Brook. Yes. On the campus. NOT at Sunken Meadow. At Stony Brook.
Men's race: 10:30 a.m.
Women's race: 11:15 a.m.
Teams expected to attend: Wisconsin (defending NCAA men's XC champs), Providence, Stony Brook, Manhattan
Friends and family: We are planning an informal post-race tailgate, with Tom and Louise Valentino (parents of Mark) coordinating the effort. They can be reached at val109@optonline.net

Hope to see you there.

Wrapping up the Fox Trot: Schab's 100th 5k

Loyal Marist Running Alum Mike Schab texted yesterday to reveal that the Fox Trot 5k was his 100th 5k race of his life. He ran his first one at the age of 6. He also said that his finishing time, which placed him 8th overall, ranked 39th on his list of 5k finishes. Pretty cool statistics. Below are a few race photos: Conor Shelley showing his winning form; Coach Pete with Marist Running Alums Maynes, Decker, Pat Driscoll and Schabby; Coach Pete in the golf cart at the start of the race, it's the closest I get to leading a race!

Justin Harris: Ironman

Congrats to Marist Running Alum, and good friend to the program, Justin Harris for his phenomenal debut at the Ironman Triathlon distance on Sunday in Sandusky, Ohio. Jut placed 12th overall in the pro division with an overall time of 9:03:21. Here are his splits:

Swim (2.4 miles): 1:07:28
Swim/bike transition: 2:34
Bike (112 miles): 4:46:25
Bike/run transition: 1:29
Run (26.2 miles): 3:05:25

Justin has made a tremendous professional and financial sacrifice to pursue being a full-time pro triathlete. This effort continues to validate the bold life decision he made, and we are all very proud of him.

Red Fox Trot 5K: A cool moment

As the runners were lining up at the starting line, I noticed Marist Running Alum "CT" (Matt Szymaszek). A good friend of the program, a medical school student and someone we are extremely proud of. We do not get to see CT much these days due to his extensive studies and travel, so it was great to have him back in Poughkeepsie. When I mentioned how exciting it was to see CT at the race, one of our current athletes said: "Oh. CT. Like the 12-mile course?"

Yes. Exactly. Like the 12-mile course (CT's loop) that is named after him.

This is the beauty of a long-running (pun intended), continuous program like ours. None of our current team members could spot CT in a lineup. But they know who he is, indirectly, because a training loop that is named after him.

Red Fox Trot 5K: Some results

Here are some results from today's race. You'll notice A LOT of Marist Running Alums in these listings. They are listed in bold
1 Conor Shelley 15:53.3

2-Brian Townsend 16:05

3-David Raucci 16:09.4

4-Matthew Szymaszek 16:26.3

5-Tom Lipari 16:45.2

6-Chris Collins 16:51.4

7-Mike Chow 16:51.8
(side note: Chris and Mike are two top local runners and their kick to the finish was a stirring duel!)

8-Mike Schab 17:14.6

9-Zak Smetana 17:17.1

10-Nick Webster 17:25.8

11-Pat Duggan 17:26.8

12-Matt Maynes 17:44.6

13-Colin Johnson 18:03.4

14-Geoff Decker 18:04.2

15-Anthony Ferreri 18:25.0 (first in 50-59 age group)

16-Joe Tarantello 18:28.2

17-DJ Paulson 18:29.6

19-Tom Dixon 18:36.0

20-Alex Emerel 18:39.4

21-Kyle Havard 18:50.0

22-Kate Cushing 18:53.7 (top overall female; Geoff Decker's girlfriend)

23-Dominick Corradi 19:09.6 (current Marist student; former team member)

24-Tim Murray 19:11.1 (Marist Athletic Director!)

26-Pat Driscoll 19:31.6

28-Chris Gould 19:49.4 (second in age group!)

30-Teddy Marak 19:58.7

33-Brandon Cartica 20:25.7

34-Brendan Green 20:45.2 (current Marist student; former team member)

36-Dayna McLaughlin 21:05.5 (second in age group)

41-Caitlin Garrity 21:34.1 (third in age group

44-Pete Startz 22:01.9

48-John Kristie 22:19

49-Alex Cuesta 22:21.4

51-Christian Coscio 22:39.9 (current Marist student; former team member; now coaching track at John Jay East Fishkill)

56-Eric Schwark 22:47.6 (Carmel coach and friend of our program)

61-Jessica O’Brien 23:13.9 (Marist alum and women's lax coach)

83-Judith Creedon 25:28.7 (first in age group)

94-Thomas Valentino 26:02

111-Rebekah Schmidt 26:58.1 (Marist Athletic Trainer)

153-Ginny Townsend 29:32.3

157-Jeremy Kersten 30:03 (Marist Athletics Business Manager)

190-Louise Valentino 34:12.5

Link to complete results here ...