Dutchess County Classic: Ridin' that Fox Wave

The above picture features newly minted half marathon finisher Kelley Gould (white singlet, fancy medal around her neck) surrounded by the best support crew a runner could ever have. Kell killed it out there today at the Dutchess County Classic, completing her first 13.1-mile race in 1:35:05 (7:16 pace) and winning her age group. More on her truly inspired effort in another post soon. This post is about the great support she had out there from Coach Chuck and several members of the Red Fox Distance Crew. Several of these ladies are freshmen who technically were never teammates with Kelley, who just graduated in May. But we are all family, and they proved that today.

This old guy was also the beneficiary of the Fox Wave. While I won't bore you with the details of my race -- some middle-aged, middle-of-the-pack guy clicking off 7:50ish a mile is hardly blogworthy or all that interesting, for that matter -- I will tell you that the wall of cheers and pacing procession I received on the final few strides along Stringham Road is something I won't soon forget. Not sure which women were running alongside and behind me -- my eyes were painful and sweaty slits at that point -- but rest assured that I felt their presence. I hope they know that we have their back, every day in practice and competition, now and always. For one morning, it was nice to know that they have our back too.

Palio Half Marathon in Saratoga: Lisa D'Aniello runs PR time

Congrats to Marist Running (and Crew!) alum Lisa D'Aniello, who ran the Palio Half Marathon in Saratoga Springs on Sunday in 1:29:33 (an average of 6:51 per mile for 13.1 miles!), a personal-best time by three minutes! Here is a link to the complete race results.

NYC Marathon tuneup 18-miler: Luke Shane rocks it!

Congrats to Marist Running Alum Luke Shane for placing sixth overall and first in his age group in the 18-mile NYC Marathon Tuneup Race in Central Park on Sunday. Luke's time of 1:47:58 was exactly 6:00 pace, and he closed with a 5:52 mile. Here is a link to the complete results.

Wolfie Invitational, women's converted times

Here are the women's converted times down to 5,000 meters. A much more significant difference than the men's conversions. 

Wolfie Invitational

Stony Brook University

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Women’s results

5,200-meter course (converted times to 5,000 meters)

16-Kristen Traub 19:17.97 (18:33.43)

19-Michelle Gaye 19:32.24 (18:47.15)

25-Erin Thompson 19:54.79 (19:08.83)

26-Janelle Solviletti 19:57.60 (19:11.53)

32-Nicki Nesi 20:17.82 (19:30.98)

41-Brianna Freestone 20:59.89 (20:11.43)

42-Bryn Gorberg 21:19.17 (20:29.97)

44-Taylor Mueller 21:25.52 (20:36.07)

45-Jackie Gamboli 21:30.41 (20:40.77)

46-Jaime Durso 21:32.25 (20:42.54)

47-Bianca Luparello 21:34.60 (20:44.81)

48-Tara Nuccitelli 21:40.30 (20:50.29)

49-Kim Schwartz 21:41.84 (21:51.77)

50-Christine Coughlin 21:42.31 (21:52.22)

52-Annie Gould 22:01.76 (21 :10.92)

53-Olivia Lappas 22:25.72 (21 :33.96)

55-Jacqueline Bunce 23:21.22 (22 :27.32)

56-Allison Dellicarri 23:33.53 (22:39.16)

57-Lizzie Peper 23:53.01 (22:57.89)

58-Catherine Ferreri 24:19.82 (23:23.67)

59-Kristi Licursi 24:28.01 (23:31.54)

Wolfie Invitational, men's converted times

Here are converted times for the men today, about 20 seconds long for most guys. Solid debut for our freshmen crew at this distance.  
Wolfie Invitational

Stony Brook University

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Men’s results

8,100-meter course (converted times to 8,000 meters)

34-Jake Hensler 27:08.80 (26:48.69)*

36-Johnny Lee 27:11.07 (26:50.93)

39-Brian Edsall 27:16.26 (26:56.06)*

41-Saad Baig 27:19.95 (26:59.70)*

44-Ian Dorset 27:32.64 (27:12.23)

45-Spencer Johnson 27:36.72 (27:16.26)*

46-Stefan Morton 27:39.54 (27:19.05)*

48-Zach Toner 27:44.40 (27:23.85)*

49-Pat Ginty 27:55.13 (27:34.44)*

50-Nick Salamone 27:58.03 (27:37.31)*

51-Omar Perez 28:00.88 (27:40.13)

52-Doug Ainscow 28:30.05 (28:08.93)

53-Billy Posch 28:38.34 (28:17.12)

54-Tommy Lappas 29:04.66 (28:43.12)

55-David Marthy 29:37.89 (29:15.94)

56-Eddie White 29:54.60 (29:32.44)*

*freshman, debut at the 8km distance

Wolfie Invitational, women's results

Here are today's women's results. Will update with converted times, etc., in a bit.

Wolfie Invitational

Stony Brook University

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Women’s results

5,200-meter course

16-Kristen Traub 19:17.97

19-Michelle Gaye 19:32.24

25-Erin Thompson 19:54.79

26-Janelle Solviletti 19:57.60

32-Nicki Nesi 20:17.82

41-Brianna Freestone 20:59.89

42-Bryn Gorberg 21:19.17

44-Taylor Mueller 21:25.52

45-Jackie Gamboli 21:30.41

46-Jaime Durso 21:32.25

47-Bianca Luparello 21:34.60

48-Tara Nuccitelli 21:40.30

49-Kim Schwartz 21:41.84

50-Christine Coughlin 21:42.31

52-Annie Gould 22:01.76

53-Olivia Lappas 22:25.72

55-Jacqueline Bunce 23:21.22

56-Allison Dellicarri 23 :33.53

57-Lizzie Peper 23 :53.01

58-Catherine Ferreri 24 :19.82

59-Kristi Licursi 24:28.01

Women’s team standings

1-Providence 26 (National Ranking = 1; Northeast Regional ranking = 1)

2-Columbia 42 (Northeast Regional ranking = 7)

3-Stony Brook 79 (Northeast Regional ranking = 12)

4-Marist 93

Wolfie Invitational, men's results

Here are today's men's results. Will update with more thoughts, converted times and paces, and whatever else I can think of, at some point.

Wolfie Invitational

Stony Brook University

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Men’s results

8,100-meter course

34-Jake Hensler 27:08.80

36-Johnny Lee 27:11.07

39-Brian Edsall 27:16.26

41-Saad Baig 27:19.95

44-Ian Dorset 27:32.64

45-Spencer Johnson 27:36.72

46-Stefan Morton 27:39.54

48-Zach Toner 27:44.40

49-Pat Ginty 27:55.13

50-Nick Salamone 27:58.03

51-Omar Perez 28:00.88

52-Doug Ainscow 28:30.05

53-Billy Posch 28:38.34

54-Tommy Lappas 29:04.66

55-David Marthy 29:37.89

56-Eddie White 29:54.60

Men’s team standings

1-Providence 27 (National Ranking = 33; Northeast Regional ranking = 5)

2-Columbia 30 (National Ranking = 18; Northeast Regional ranking = 3)

3-Stony Brook 86 (Northeast Regional ranking = 12)

4-Marist 108

Generations of Foxes ...

Junior Michelle Gaye is flanked by her Harborfields High School coach and Marist alum Timmy Russo and the old man who convinced Russo to change course and come run in Poughkeepsie way back in the day. Timmy was a teammate of Coach Chuck back in the late 1990s. It was great of him to stop by on Saturday at Stony Brook.

Tailgating on Long Island

Just got back from a wonderful day at Stony Brook University for their now annual early-season Wolfie Invitational. Today's roster of high-powered teams to take us to the woodshed were Providence (top-ranked women's team and nationally-ranked on the men's side too!), Columbia (nationally-ranked on men's side and regionally ranked in both genders) and host Stony Brook (regionally ranked in both genders). Results to follow in a few minutes.

But first, a quick and sincere THANK YOU to all the parents who contributed to our awesome tailgate after the race. Louise Valentino was the brains behind it, and so many contributed with so much food. The bus was about 100 pounds heavier with the extra grub our always hungry athletes were able to bring back to Poughkeepsie. If I could do an electronic group hug on this blog, I would. Let these words act as such. See you all next week at Vanny.

Blame it on the waterboy

Yesterday was hot. Unusually hot for September. Mid-summer hot. Crazy, 100-degree heat index hot. Fortunately, it was not a quality workout day for our distance crew. They just needed to proceed with caution on their distance run. This was not an easy task, given the 11 a.m. practice time for the entire program. So, being the forward thinking guy that I am, I filled up a cooler with Gatorade and stationed it in front of the McCann Center. Big cooler. Filled almost to the top with ice-cold Gatorade mix.

It went fast, as you might imagine. And as the final group of men came in, from the longest distance run, the cooler was reduced to a greenish colored ice mix. Ironic, since the longer you run the more you need it. On this hot day, we just ran out. Blame it on the waterboy/coach, I guess. Fortunately, everyone got through their run with no incident. Cold showers and ice baths were a welcome relief. Speaking of relief, a major cold front is blasting in today, with autumn arriving on schedule soon.

This morning's vocabulary lesson

The new school year has begun. As stated previously, our three children are in three different schools, which makes for three different departure times, which makes for an interesting morning. Our daughter, Natalie, has perhaps the biggest transition as the middle school day starts more than an hour earlier than the elementary school day. Which means she needs to get in gear a lot earlier and a lot quicker around the house. Which led to the following exchange this morning.

Idiot Dad: Natalie! Come on. Chop-chop. Shake a leg. Let's get going!
Natalie: I can't find my hairbrush.
Idiot Dad: Come on man, you are already running late. You need a sense of urgency!
Natalie: Sense of urgency? What's THAT?
Idiot Dad: Exactly.

9/11, 12 years later

Much is being said and done on yet another sad anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, so I won't pile on with too many thoughts and words. I think often of the phrase the "post-9/11 world" and it really resonates. Our current group of freshmen athletes were in kindergarten or first grade on Sept. 11, 2001. Their whole world view has been shaped, in one way or another, by the events of that day.

As humans, we all try to make sense out of the senseless, and it is virtually impossible. In those times, we look to the most creative of our kind to help us sort out our complex emotions. Bruce Springsteen's album, "The Rising," may be the single most important tribute work to 9/11 there is. I just heard a moving song from that album on the radio, and I share with you the lyrics to that song here.

"You're Missing" by Bruce Springsteen

  Shirts in the closet, shoes in the hall

Mama's in the kitchen, baby and all
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you're missing

Coffee cups on the counter, jackets on the chair
Papers on the doorstep, you're not there
Everything is everything
Everything is everything
But you're missing

Pictures on the nightstand, TV's on in the den
Your house is waiting, your house is waiting
For you to walk in, for you to walk in
But you're missing, you're missing
You're missing when I shut out the lights
You're missing when I close my eyes
You're missing when I see the sun rise
You're missing

Children are asking if it's alright
Will you be in our arms tonight?

Morning is morning, the evening falls I have
Too much room in my bed, too many phone calls
How's everything, everything?
Everything, everything
You're missing, you're missing

God's drifting in heaven, devil's in the mailbox
I got dust on my shoes, nothing but teardrops

Stan the Man: Rob Gorski leads SUNY New Paltz

We don't make a habit of bragging about other team's performances on this fancy blog, but today we make an exception. Rob Gorski (left), who ran his freshman year at Marist before transferring to SUNY New Paltz, led his Hawks to victory at the Ron Stonitsch Invitational at Vassar College on Saturday. "Stan," as we like to call him, won the 6km race in a record time and led his team to the title. Even though he is wearing different laundry these days, we still consider him a part of our running family. Nicely done, Rob.

Last point: We are huge fans of both SUNY New Paltz and Vassar, as we have friends and alums that have worked and run there through the years. They do so much to help our programs throughout the year. We wish both the Hawks and the Brewers all the best of success this fall as they continue their cross country journeys.

What's next: Stony Brook

Cross country season resumes on Saturday as we travel to the friendly Long Island terrain of Stony Brook for the Wolfie Invitational. Men's race is at 10:30 a.m. Women's race is at 11:15 a.m. We are expecting lots of friends and family of the program to be in attendance. Tom and Louise Valentino (junior Mark Valentino's parents) have asked me to include their email address -- val109@optonline.net -- in case you want to contact them to coordinate our pre- and post-race tailgate. We look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday.

Red Fox Trot 5K, women: The Great 8 leads the way

Kathryn Sheehan shows off her record-setting form (not to mention some cool socks)

How awesome was THIS? The top 8 finishers in the women's race were very recent Marist Running Alums. Kathryn Sheehan set a course/race record, and her friends gobbled up the rest of the awards, as you will see. Here's a list of Marist women's alums from Saturday:
14-Kathryn Sheehan 18:12 (1)

29-Katie Messina 19:34 (2)

32-Briana Crowe 19:52 (3)

39-Dayna McLaughlin 20:40 (4)

40-Rebecca Denise 20:40 (5)

41-Erin O’Reilly 20:48 (6)

42-Rachel Bremer 20:49 (7)

43-Kelley Gould 20:55 (8)

73-Laura Furlong 24:11

151-Caitlyn Dixon 29:36

152-Kaitlyn Dixon 29:36