Track season begins (in a week!)

 Hello. Hope you all had a reasonably OK Thanksgiving and you are (currently) enjoying a long weekend. It's a safe bet that MANY of you ran a Turkey Trot race yesterday. Back in the salad days of this blog, there would be MANY posts about Turkey Trot results. Alas, we are getting old, and (in case you haven't already noticed?) the number of posts has decreased with the years. However! We have been posting (here) for close to 20 years, so that has to count for SOMETHING!

Anyway? The 2025-2026 track journey through indoor and outdoor track seasons begins a week from today. The majority of the team will be heading down to Ocean Breeze for the Fastrack Season Opener, hosted by our good friend Nick McDonough, next Friday afternoon/evening. Some men's XC runners will have a much shorter commute, as Coach Billy is bringing them to West Point for a (flat-track) 5km -- also on Friday evening!

That will be it for the December portion of our season, with a full slate of meets in January and February for our indoor track season. Our outdoor track season follows closely on the heels of indoors, taking up the second half of March, all of April and the first half of May. Of note, we will be hosting our inaugural home track meet on Saturday, April 18, 2026. We are (quite) excited about this! We hope you will attend.

NCAA Northeast Regional: Women's results

NCAA Northeast Regional
Friday, November 14, 2025
New Hampshire State Fairgrounds
Contoocook, NH
Team results
22^nd of 41 teams
Progression
2km: 33^rd place, 887 points
4km: 25^th place, 746 points
6km: 22^nd place, 682 points
(2024 finish = 29^th with 836 points)
Individual results, 6km course
109-Abigail Kowalczyk 21:41.6
132-Emily Litke 21:52.4
136-Mallory Holloway 21:58.4
141-Parker O’Brien 22:02.7
174-Julia Zydanowicz 22:31.0
229-Edy Livingston 23:34.9
242-Isabella Colabatistto 24:21.7
251 finishers

NCAA Northeast Regional: Men's results

 NCAA Northeast Regional
Friday, November 14, 2025
New Hampshire State Fairgrounds
Contoocook, NH
Team results
26^th of 41 teams
Progression
2km: 23^rd place, 652 points
4km: 26^th place, 705 points
6km: 26^th place, 728 points
8km: 26^th place, 709 points
10km: 26^th place, 713 points
(2024 finish = 28^th with 777 points)
Individual results, 10km course
103-Logan Schaeffler 31:11.1
136-Kieran Donnelly 31:39.9
145-Miles Chamberlain 31:44.9
165-Raffi Buchakjian 32:02.9
172-Justin Schwartz 32:06.4
208-Jackson Borge 32:47.7
212-Isaac Gross 32:50.8
263 finishers

NCAA Northeast Regional

 The (2025) cross country season concludes on Friday in New Hampshire with the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship (races). Women at 11a, men at 12 noon. Millenium timing will have live results (for those interested in following along). This is the same course as the 2024 meet, a great spectator course as it is a continuous 2km loop (3x for women, 5x for men). Team goal is to improve upon the 2024 standings. OK!

MAAC XC Championships: Men's results

Three-place improvement from 2024, 1-5 spread of 14 seconds, 1-7 spread of 23 seconds.

MAAC Championships
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Twin Ponds on the Farm
Montgomery, NY
Men’s team standings
1-Iona 15, 2-Siena 67, 3-Marist 85, 4-Rider 141, 5-Canisius 142, 6-Merrimack 166, 7-Fairfield 183, 8-Quinnipiac 228, 9-Sacred Heart 234, 10-Manhattan 276, 11-Niagara 335, 12-St. Peter’s 362, 13-Mount St. Mary’s 387
Men’s individual results, 8km course
18-Logan Schaeffler 24:54.9
19-Raffi Buchakjian 24:57.6
20-Jackson Borge 24:58.3
22-Miles Chamberlain 25:02.2
26-Kieran Donnelly 25:09.0
27-Isaac Gross 25:11.2 *All-Rookie
30-Justin Schwartz 25:18.7
43-Matthew Ferreri 25:41.9
45-Kevin Cannon 25:46.5
50-Kaleb Stoeckmann 25:54.0
51-Davis Haines 25:54.9
58-Dennis Love 26:03.3
65-Chase Kober 26:14.4
72-Ryan Wisker 26:19.1
86-Pierce Francis 26:34.1
102-Jack Dovaras 26:54.5
122-Mason Mayer 27:20.1
124-Sanjith Nomula 27:21.6
139-Steven Viera 27:42.3
145-Sam Tellefson 27:55.4
175 finishers

MAAC XC Championships: Women's results

 Two-place improvement from 2024, 1-5 spread of 26 seconds.

MAAC Championships
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Twin Ponds on the Farm
Montgomery, NY
Women’s team standings
1-Quinnipiac 36, 2-Iona 64, 3-Sacred Heart 106, 4-Marist 125, 5-Fairfield 128, 6-Merrimack 140, 7-Rider 187, 8-Mount St. Mary’s 221, 9-Manhattan 233, 10-Siena 242, 11-Niagara 302, 12-Canisius 337, 13-St. Peter’s 428
Women’s individual results, 6km course
21-Abigail Kowalczyk 21:52.9 *All-Rookie
23-Parker O’Brien 21:55.6
25-Emily Litke 22:01.9
27-Julia Zydanowicz 22:07.7
35-Mallory Holloway 22:18.9
93-Isabella Colabatistto 23:56.8
98-Edy Livingston 24:09.7
103-Melina Montgomery 24:15.3
110-Christina Diorio 24:29.8
124-Evelyn Hoak 25:03.6
150 finishers

MAAC XC Championships on Saturday

 Once again, the MAAC meet with by at Twin Ponds on the Farm in nearby Montgomery, on Saturday, November 1. Race times are 11a for women's 6km and 12 noon for men's 8km.

Shagging flies at North Field

 One of the many, many unique and cool things about having on-campus track practice is that we share our North Field space with the wildly successful softball team. Their Field of Champions is just north of the Track at Gartland Commons. When legendary coach Joe Ausanio is pitching batting practice to his outstanding young players, the right-handed hitters launch missile-like home runs over the left-field fence ... and onto our track! Well-meaning administrators (and others) expressed concern over this. Pffft. I think it's awesome! It hasn't caused an issue with our athletes and it's fun to watch these home runs soar toward the high jump mats. If I have time, I'll even collect the bright yellow softballs and retrieve them to the softball field, until my aching left shoulder allows. Maybe one day I'll bring my baseball mitt! Again, this is Highly Neat!

Up late with (Uncle) Terry

 Did you stay up to watch Game 3 of the World Series the other night? My guess = NOT. The game went 18 innings and finished at close to 3a here on the East coast, when Freddie Freeman (one of my favorite MLB players) ended it with a home run. You know who WAS up for most (but not all) of the game? Legendary track coach Terry Horton, aka "Uncle Terry" to generations of Marist track athletes. Terry made it till around 2a, before he finally conked out. Terry is a Dodgers' fan. Can you guess WHY? Because he is part of a rapidly shrinking cohort of men who remember when the Dodgers actually played in Brooklyn!

The series is now tied at 2-2, which is great because it means there will be at least two more games remaining in the MLB season. I love baseball and I don't want it to end. Of course, with my (current) sleep schedule, I'm lucky to be awake in the middle innings!

Alumni (and virtual) Jerks

 Apparently! The alumni (Citera and current fifth-year Steven Viera) and virtual alum (Neel) were upset not be included in the lovely Jerk Squad collage of the previous post. So ... here you GO

(the triumphant return of) Jerk Squad (circa 2025)!

 

IC4A/ECAC Championships results

 IC4A Championships
Friday, October 17, 2025
Van Cortlandt Park
Team standings
1-Northeastern 58, 2-St. Joseph’s 83, 3-UMBC 136, 4-American 137, 5-Colgate 149, 6-Siena 151, 7-Bucknell 186, 8-Fordham 203, 9-George Mason 207, 10-Marist 248, 11-Iona 263, 12-Brown 316, 13-NJIT 395, 14-Lafayette 401, 15-Fairfield 428, 16-LIU 451, 17-Manhattan 500, 18-Wagner 521, 19-UAlbany 544, 20-FDU 591, 21-Quinnipiac 592, 22-St. Peter’s 633
Individual results, 8km course
31-Logan Schaeffler 25:12.2
42-Jackson Borge 25:20.5
44-Raffi Buchakjian 25:23.5
63-Kieran Donnelly 25:39.9
69-Miles Chamberlain 25:45.0
85-Matthew Ferreri 25:59.4
115-Ryan Wisker 26:20.8
136-Dennis Love 26:37.3
174-Steven Viera 27:02.2
 
ECAC Championships
Friday, October 17, 2025
Van Cortlandt Park
Team standings
1-Brown 81, 2-Bucknell 83, 3-UMass Amherst 143, 4-Iona 173, 5-Delaware 183, 6-Northeastern 195, 7-George Mason 248, 8-Lafayette 251, 9-American 282, 10-St. Joseph’s 293, 11-Marist 310, 12-UMBC 321, 13-Colgate 344, 14-Fairfield 346, 15-Wagner 357, 16-Fordham 407, 17-NJIT 421, 18-Harvard 476, 19-Siena 485, 20-Manhattan 506, 21-St. John’s 607, 22-UAlbany 661, 23-LIU 667, 24-FDU 758, 25-St. Peter’s 797
Inidividual results, 6km course
39-Emily Litke 22:17.9
44-Mallory Holloway 22:21.6
49-Abigail Kowalcyk 22:27.5
96-Parker O’Brien 23:01.7
104-Julia Zydanowicz 23:06.0
168-Edy Livingston 24:07.3
183-Isabella Colabatistto 24:38.6
186-Christina Diorio 24:40.9

Mets Championships results

 

Metropolitan Championships
Saturday, Oct 8, 2025
Branch Brook Park
Newark, New Jersey
Team standings

1-Seton Hall 52, 2-Hofstra 57, 3-Marist 69, 4-NJIT 132, 5-Columbia 153, 6-Fordham 160, 7-Ramapo 172, 8-St. Peter’s 181, 9-Monroe 200
Individual results, 8km course

4 - Isaac Gross, 24:45
13 - Sanjith Nomula, 25:28
14 - Justin Schwartz, 25:31
18 - Davis Haines, 25:40 (2024 time - 26:21)
20 - Kevin Cannon, 25:43 (2024 time - 26:38)
25 - Pierce Francis, 25:47 (2024 time - 26:43)
26 - Kaleb Stoeckmann, 25:49
52 - Mason Mayer, 27:06
53 - Jack Dovaras, 27:10

Metropolitan Championships
Saturday, Oct 8, 2025
Branch Brook Park
Newark, New Jersey
Team standings

1-Columbia 44, 2-Seton Hall 46, 3-Hofstra 77, 4-St. John’s 126, 5-Fordham 134, 6-Ramapo 148, 7-Marist 175, 8-NJIT 196, 9-Monroe 259

Women’s individual results, 5km course

33 - Christina Diorio, 19:24 (2024 time – 20:24)
35 - Isabella Colabatistto, 19:28
41 - Melina Montgomery, 19:35
48 - Evelyn Hoak, 19:47
55 - Nora White, 20:18

Mets Championships on Saturday

 Metropolitan Championships will be Saturday morning at Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. We will be racing 10 men and 5 women in the meet. Women's 5km at 10a, men's 5 mile at 10:45a. OK!

Paul Short results

Paul Short Run
Friday, October 3, 2025
Lehigh University
Men’s results
Team standings
6 of 38 teams, 248 points
Individual results, 8km course
19-Jackson Borge 24:59.7
41-Kieran Donnelly 25:28.3
52-Raffi Buchakjian 25:36.8
64-Miles Chamberlain 25:40.7
74-Matthew Ferreri 25:45.8
94-Steven Viera 25:59.2
157-Logan Schaeffler 26:32.2
160-Ryan Wisker 26:33.9
178-Dennis Love 26:44.6
Women’s results
Team standings
29 of 39 teams, 697 points
Individual results, 6km course
53-Mallory Holloway 22:07.2
66-Emily Litke 22:19.6
168-Abigail Kowalcyzk 23:24.1
183-Sierra Fisher 23:44.1
299-Nora White 26:06.3

Victory Lap - More Photos

 

Thanks to our loyal sports information supporter Caitlin Bombassei, a sophomore at Marist, for providing these photos from Saturday's memorable day. I was texting with an alum earlier today and he called the day "surreal, amazing and memorable." Agree x3!

What's next = Paul Short Run

Our annual pilgrimage to Lehigh University for the Paul Short Run is this week - college/university races are on FRIDAY. 

Men's Brown race is at 2p

Women's Brown race is at 2:45p

Hope to see you there!

Personal tour = Dan Kuffner

 

Dan Kuffner, Class of 1968, was back on campus on Monday morning, joined by his classmate Joe Walsh and his son. Mr. Kuffner was a member of the first track teams back in the late 1960s. He had a long and distinguished teaching career in nearby Hyde Park. Through it all, he has remained a loyal Marist Athletics supporter as a longtime Red Fox Club member. Mr. Kuffner no longer lives in the area -- he splits time between Arizona and Long Island. He very much wanted to be at the Victory Lap celebration, but his schedule wouldn't permit. I told him, as I have told many others who couldn't make it back on Saturday, that whenever he was able to make it here, I would give him a personal tour. And, that's exactly what we did on Monday morning. Showing off our (new) track = it will never get old. Neat.

Drone photos = INCREDIBLE

 The following drone images were taken by Marist professor of communication Jeff Basinger. These photos are HIS property so please do not share until I get permission from him to share. There will be more. THESE ARE AWESOME PICTURES

Victory Lap = it's about the kids

 

Thanks to Mark Valentino for sending this picture via text. When we do another alumni gathering at the track -- WHEN, not IF -- we will focus on alumni children and do many more kids' dashes.

More REALLY GREAT drone photos coming soon.