Monmouth Season Opener: Time schedule

Our first meet of the outdoor track season is Saturday at Monmouth. Weather forecast right now is calling for relatively mild (mid-60s) and breezy conditions (not surprising, since the campus is very close to the Jersey Shore). For this meet at this time of year, we’ll take it. Here is the time schedule and order of events for the meet.

Monmouth University Season Opener

West Long Branch, NJ

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Order of events

9 a.m.: Women’s 10km (1 heat)

9:45 a.m.: Men’s 10km (1 heat)

10:20 a.m.: Women’s 400 hurdles (3-4 heats)

10:35 a.m.: Men’s 400 hurdles (4 heats)

10:55 a.m.: Women’s 1,500 (5 heats)

11:30 a.m.: Men’s 1,500 (4 heats)

11:55 a.m.: Women’s 4x100 relay (3 heats)

12:05 p.m.: Men’s 4x100 relay (3 heats)

12:25 p.m.: Women’s 100 hurdles (3 heats)

12:40 p.m.: Men’s 110 hurdles (3 heats)

12:55 p.m.: Women’s elite/college 3,000 (1 heat)

1:15 p.m.: Men’s elite/college 3,000 (1 heat)

1:35 p.m.: Women’s 400 (9 heats)

1:55 p.m.: Men’s 400 (9 heats)

2:10 p.m.: Women’s 100 (7 heats)

2:25 p.m.: Men’s 100 (7 heats)

2:40 p.m.: Women’s 800 (5 heats)

3:00 p.m.: Men’s 800 (5 heats)

3:15 p.m.: Women’s 200 (11 heats)

3:35 p.m.: Men’s 200 (11 heats)

3:50 p.m.: Women’s 3,000 steeplechase (1 heat)

4:05 p.m.: Men’s 3,000 steeplechase (1 heat)

4:20 p.m.: Women’s 5,000 (1 heat)

4:45 p.m.: Men’s 5,000 (1 heat)

5:05 p.m.: Women’s 4x800 relay (1 heat)

5:15 p.m.: Men’s 4x800 relay (1 heat)

5:25 p.m.: Women’s 4x400 relay (4 heats)

5:35 p.m.: Men’s 4x400 relay (4 heats)

Happy Opening Day

As I have gotten older, my sports interests have narrowed greatly. Now, the only sport that I follow on a semi-regular basis is Major League Baseball. Today is Opening Day. So, this is a special day in our world. MLB finally got it right. The games in Japan last week notwithstanding, today is a true Opening Day. All teams play today. All teams play day games, the way God intended it. It’s still chilly outside, but with baseball season getting in full swing, the weather should warm up nicely in the coming weeks. I love baseball because it is a constant, daily companion. There’s always a game every day, and with our dual rooting interests in the Yankees and Mets, rarely are they off on the same day. In my personal quest for digital minimalism (see previous post), I have disabled all notifications from my phone … with two exceptions, one of them being the MLB At-Bat app (the other, of course, is Accuweather). So … here we go. Baseball every day. Scores and stats to check. Things to discuss. Having just read several preview articles while my youngest son was getting a root canal (yeah … I know …), here are my takes on 2019:

--My beloved Yankees will be good. Really good. But not as good as the hated Red Sox (yeah, Tosh, they’ll be better).

--My equally beloved Mets will disappoint us once again. Strong pitching, yes; still-too-weak lineup, also yes. Bad news? Not really ... it means cheap seats aplenty at Citi Field starting in July!

--Smart-aleck manager Joe Maddon of the Cubs will get his comeuppance this year (he's really smart, but I've never been a fan ... because he's the first to tell you how smart he is!). The NL Central is the most intriguing division, with no bad teams and all decent to good teams.

--The Rays will not be as good as everyone thinks. Their “opener” strategy will backfire from overuse.

--The Orioles and Marlins will be bad. Really bad.

--The Astros are probably the most complete team in the majors, slightly better than the Red Sox and the Dodgers. The Phillies will be really, really good, and will make it to the World Series … where they will lose to the Astros. In 6 games.

Please feel free to refer to this post often throughout the spring and summer to see how stupid I really am. Play ball!

Let’s talk

We all spend a lot of time with our faces glued to screens. All of us. This is a fact. Whether it be our smartphones (definitely our phones!), Apple watches, iPads, laptops, etc., all of us spend hours a day on screens. Again: These are facts. It is changing the way our brains our wired. It is changing the way we live our lives. I think about this stuff all the time -- because it pertains to me, to my family, to my extended family (all of you on the Marist track/cross country teams, as well as all of our loyal alums, especially younger ones). I think about it also because I just read a new book by Cal Newport entitled “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World.” Last summer, I read another book by this author called “Deep Work” (an excellent read) and it stoked my thoughts about how distracting, intrusive and disruptive our screens can be in our lives. This is not a book review, per se, but let me say this: We all would do well to read this book. (The author probably would not like to know that I ordered the copy you see here out of the library!) Newport makes some compelling, thought-provoking comments, suggestions and suggested practices (hacks?) about how we live and how we can live, in regard to our screen time and screen usage. At the very least, reading this book will allow you to take stock in how you live your screen lives. Perhaps you may alter one behavior as a result of reading it. Maybe more. Maybe not. 

Reading this book was well-timed for me, as it came during Spring Break. During breaks from the team – the three-week interval between semesters, this Spring Break and of course the extended, nearly three-month hiatus from daily team activities during the summer – I become acutely aware of my old-school, semi-disconnected style. In short: I miss my team. I miss my athletes. Unlike most coaches these days who are especially more well-connected coaches (mostly younger than me, but all ages really), I only stay in touch with a sliver of the team – mostly the athletes who text me with questions and updates. Basically, it’s an “as needed” relationship during these breaks. And with this generation of athletes and young adults, I’m not certain this is the most effective way to be their coach. But alas, it is my way. I believe that many student-athletes in this generation expect and crave that constant buzz of connectivity (usually via texting) on their phones. I’m not there. One of Newport’s theses in the book is something he calls the philosophy of “conversation-centric communication” – you know, talking to people. Talking. Not texting. Not connecting on social media outlets like Instagram or Snapchat or Facebook. Talking. Obviously, during these breaks from practice, talking and face-to-face communication are far less possible. And given the penchant for many of us (all ages!) not to actually make and take phone calls these days, talking has been relegated to a quaint relic of past generations.

Of course, I’m exaggerating. But not by much! Again, it’s why I miss my team and our athletes during the breaks. I look forward to face-to-face conversation. Lately, we have been going out of our way to make it happen – athletes “checking in” with me on Mondays, which are typically off days from practice for our XC/distance crew, is a small example of this. When athletes are student teaching or working (like Hillman) and I don’t see them on a regular basis, something is lost in the coach-athlete relationship, despite the steady stream of lengthy texts back and forth (yeah, Dan, that’s a reference to you!). During this past week, I spent several days reconnecting with my closest friends, men from my past and present who I do not see regularly and to whom I feel less connected despite sometimes frequent texts and less-frequent Facebook messages. I sat down for lunch and for extended coffee conversations with them. I just got back from a brief visit to Fort Myers with my youngest son, and I was able to reconnect in person with my brother-in-law, another one of my best friends on this planet, and his family. We went on walks. We talked. It was good.

Newport would definitely approve of this. He would also approve of the fact that I do not have social media on my smartphone. He would not approve of my constantly checking my phone for texts and emails; some of the hacks (he would hate that classification) that he recommends in this area I may try to implement. Newport’s perspective is backed by research (he’s a computer scientist) but also somewhat flawed (in my humble opinion) in that he criticizes something (social media) that he has never used. That’s right. He’s never been on social media! My somewhat immature view on this: How can you criticize something you’ve never experienced first-hand? He dismisses this logic, probably rightly so. But still … it makes you wonder. He offers several strategies in his book, like a “digital declutter” and old-fashioned ideas like going for long walks (definitely approve of this), keeping a written journal and not “liking” things on social media. Ooops. Sorry. I said I wasn’t doing a book review. I’ll stop there with that. Anyway, what’s the point of this post? I’m not sure. I guess it would be this: Be cognizant of your screen time. I’m not suggesting we all become Luddites and shun it all, go back to a flip phone and go analog (a favorite Newport concept) all day every day. Just have an awareness of it all, note how it makes you feel, how in a subtle way it is changing our human interactions, our lives really! For better or for worse? I’m not smart enough to say. Just think about it. And maybe, just maybe, let's have a good old-fashioned conversation about this topic. Or anything else.

USATF 20km racewalk: Official results and splits

Below are the official results and splits (courtesy of Coach Chuck) from yesterday’s amazing racewalk performances by Lauren Harris and Kayla Shapiro. Two Olympic Trials qualifiers! That’s incredible and the enormity of the accomplishment is still sinking in for all of us. Their splits were aggressive and consistent … and well, just plain NEAT! Very proud of them. Nicely done, Lauren and Kayla!

USATF 20km racewalk championships

Sunday, March 17, 2019

Orange County Sheriff Training Academy

Tustin, CA

1.25km IAAF AIMS certified course

4. Lauren Harris 1:45:17.64 *2020 Olympic Trials qualifier

6:38.09, 6:38.61, 6:32.39, 6:22.50 (5km = 26:11.60)

6:35.39, 6:31.68, 6:25.22, 6:25.75 (10km = 52:09.63)

6:27.40, 6:31.60, 6:28.07, 6:34.93 (15km = 1:18:11.63)

6:44.71, 6:55.44, 6:47.50, 6:38.63 (20km = 1:45:17.64)

5. Kayla Shapiro 1:45:32.97 *2020 Olympic Trials qualifier

6:38.06, 6:38.64, 6:31.96, 6:22.90 (5km = 26:11.60)

6:35.39, 6:31.28, 6:25.25, 6:27.65 (10km = 52:11.10)

6:38.93, 6:23.39, 6:41.14, 6:53.25 (15km = 1:18:47.84)

6:40.75, 6:56.04, 6:42.65, 6:25.67 (20km = 1:45:32.97)

Postcards from California

Coach Chuck Williams sent a bunch of amazing photos from California that he took while exploring around Corona Del Mar, Newport Beach and Tustin after the USATF 20km racewalk championships on Sunday. A much-needed respite for the hardest working coach at Marist!

Racewalkers qualify for Olympic Trials!

We're extremely excited to report that Lauren Harris (fourth place, 1:45:17.64) and Kayla Shapiro (fifth place, 1:45:32.97) have both easily exceeded the 2020 US Olympic Trials standard in the 20km racewalk (1:48:00), based on their amazing performances on Sunday at the USATF 20km Championships out in Tustin, CA. Chuck was sending me splits all morning and the ladies crushed it, averaging between 26 and 27 minutes per 5km. Both easily exceeded the standard. This is so exciting! Congrats to Lauren and Kayla (and Coach Chuck, for guiding them and giving them splits every 1.25km of the 16-lap course)!

Coaching tree

Been meaning to post this photo for a while. My wife Heidi enlisted our Hyde Park neighbor and friend Wendy Gross (a highly skilled art teacher and artist) to make this “coaching tree” drawing/painting for me as a Christmas present. It was a humbling present that brought me to tears. This tree is just a start. We would like to ask Wendy to add several of our awesome women’s alums who are now coaches, as well as a few other men who have joined the coaching ranks (Heidi started this thing surreptitiously!). We are proud of all of our alums, including especially those who follow our path into coaching track and cross country. God willing, we’ll add a few more branches during the next few years.

Middle school daze

It was a long time ago. Stretching into the deep recesses of my mind, I’m trying to remember seventh grade. That would be the school year of 1976-1977. That’s a long time ago. What was I like in seventh grade? What were my middle school years like? Like most of us who have moved past those three years, my quick, reflexive recollection of middle school was this: It mostly sucked. There was a lot of confusion, a lot of unexpected changes. On a lot of levels. I think. Again, that was a long time ago. Fast forward to the school year of 2018-2019. Our youngest son is in seventh grade. He was in sixth grade last year, the first year of middle school, and it was pretty uneventful as far as I can recall. The word “uneventful” definitely does not fit now, as it applies to him, in seventh grade. The last few months, in particular, have been challenging for us. There have been changes in behavior, mood, attitude. Several people have assured me that this sort of thing is “normal” and “not to be concerned” about it. Yet, I walk around with a pit in my stomach. My sleep is affected. Where did my son go? Who IS this kid? Why does he act as if a simple conversation with me is a huge chore? Why is he on his damn phone so much? Why are we ALL on our damn phones so much? (That’s an entirely different topic). This and so many other questions.

But then? But then … I stretch into the deep recesses of my ever-aging brain. I think back to my adolescence. The only phones had cords and were attached to the walls. Prehistoric, I know. Anyway. Think. Think. Think. My early teen years. My relationship with my father. And you know what I remember? I remember being perpetually annoyed in his presence. Not anything he would say or do … just, I don’t know. I would bristle at anything he would say or do or ask me to do – good, bad, in between. Maybe this is what our youngest son feels around me. But why? Why? Terry Horton likes to refer to middle school years as “hormones with heads” … and that about sums it up. Throw in an iPhone, some Fortnite, and the usual viciousness of middle school relationships (exacerbated by social media, etc.) and you have what you have. Middle school days. Middle school daze. When should I just chalk it up to “this stage” or when should I be legitimately concerned? That’s my dilemma as a parent, our dilemma as parents, right now. The middle school days were not this angst-ridden and challenging with our other two children. Why? Who knows? It just wasn’t like “this” … so what do I say, what do I do, how do we handle the blank stares, the defiant attitude, the one-word answers. Do we just ride it like a bad wave or a thunderstorm? Questions without answers. Middle school days. Middle school daze.

Support Denise and Boushra's service trip to Mexico!

Denise Grohn, one of our outstanding women's track team captains, asked me to post this note and link to a gofundme page for a service trip that she and teammate Boushra Belkhir are taking through Campus Ministry next week to Mexico. In the Marist Brothers spirit of "do good quietly" we are proud of our athletes -- past, present and future -- who have embarked on service trips such as this. You'll notice a photo from a previous trip above, with XC/track captain Mike Kennedy in the front row! Consider helping out the ladies and the group. The link is below. Thank you.

Here's the note from Denise: Boushra and I are traveling to Mérida, Mexico over spring break with a group of eight other students. Our mission work will be done in a small community center on the outskirts of the city. Typically, the past mission trips have worked primarily with physical projects such as building gardens, desks, and greenhouses so the community can grow crops and increase education to their children.This year, in addition to some physical projects that need to be completed around the center, they also asked us to help them expand their outreach to the surrounding community. We will be donating a screen printing machine to make brochures and t-shirts so that they can spread the word to about the center, its services, and their mission.

All good stuff. Here's the link to contribute a donation:
https://www.gofundme.com/marist-college-global-outreach-2019

Wrapping up indoors, looking ahead to outdoors

A few final thoughts on our longest season as we head into our shortest season:

--Our school record board will have a few updates, all of which were accomplished in the last week of the season (photos above of Drew Burns getting congratulations and Gianna Mastromatteo in Saturday's 1km trials). My view on this: The school records are now very strong, and breaking the existing records will become more and more difficult moving forward. This is a great thing for our program, and it makes our athletes’ task of “getting on the board” that much more difficult. Being difficult is a good thing!

--Ending the season on a strong note at ECAC/IC4As is always a great way to propel us into the outdoor track season, and we look forward that in the coming weeks.

--We are already planning for outdoor track, which again jumps on us quickly. The “reset” period between season is measured in days and not weeks. We have to get back on the horse, and quickly. Several of our athletes, whose indoor track season ended at MAACs or prior, have been on that for a few weeks already.

--The outdoor track season begins on Saturday, March 30 at the Monmouth University Season Opener, an event that was canceled due to an early spring snowstorm. Here’s hoping this year’s meet does not face the same fate.

ECAC/IC4A, Day 2: Both 1,000 records fall!

Two of the oldest and greatest middle distance school records fell within minutes on Sunday afternoon -- Susan Golden's (2:52.58, 2003) and David Marthy's (2:26.50, 2014) 1,000-meter run marks! Drew Burns (2:24.79) got third and Gianna Mastromatteo (2:51.70) got sixth and set new standards for future teammates and generations to chase. Both ran phenomenal, gutsy races -- major breakthroughs at exactly the right moment. So big. We are still fueled on adrenaline and pride for both of them. HUGE!

ECAC Championships

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Boston University

Day 2 results and splits

1,000-meter run

6. Gianna Mastromatteo 2:51.70 *school record, old record, Susan Golden, 2:52.58 in 2003

32.80, 66.59 (33.79), 1:40.48 (33.89), 2:15.68 (35.21), 2:51.70 (36.03)

9. Denise Grohn 33.54, 67.82 (34.28), 1:43.46 (35.64), 2:21.37 (37.92), 3:01.08 (39.72)

Distance medley relay

9. Marist (Shea Bohan 3:36.37, Debbie Boerke 57.45, Kerry Gaye 2:18.42, Maria Smith 4:59.14) 11:51.36

Shea Bohan: 34, 71 (37), 1:50 (39), 2:27 (37), 3:02 (35), 3:36.1 (34.1)

Debbie Boerke: 27, 57.45 (30.45)

Kerry Gaye: 32, 66 (34), 1:40 (34), 2:18.42 (38.42)

Maria Smith: 34, 71 (37), 1:48 (37), 2:27 (39), 3:05 (38), 3:44 (39), 4:22 (38), 4:59.14 (37.14)

IC4A Championships

Sunday, March 3, 2019

Boston University

Day 2 result and splits

1,000-meter run

3. Drew Burns 2:24.79 *school record, old record 2:26.50 by David Marthy in 2014

27.70, 55.99 (28.29), 1:25.44 (29.46), 1:55.44 (30.00), 2:24.79 (29.35)

ECAC Championships, Day 1: Women's results and splits

Outstanding afternoon/evening for our women!

--Debbie Boerke broke her six-day-old school record in the 500-meter dash (1:15.06)

--Denise Grohn and Gianna Mastromatteo grabbed the final two qualifying spots in the 1,000-meter run (2:53.14 and 2:53.17)

--Shea Bohan (4:54.63) ran a personal-best time in the mile (4:54.63) in her final individual indoor race, and Maria Smith broke 5:00 once again in the same race.

--Gianna Tedeschi (17:00.64) ran a big PR and Hayley Collins notched a strong season best (17:11.33) in the 5km. Both times qualify them for the outdoor ECAC Championships.

On Sunday, we have our women’s DMR racing at 11 a.m., and our 1,000-meter athletes racing in the afternoon – Denise and Gianna M. at 1:10 p.m. and Drew Burns at 1:15 p.m. And then we’ll get outta town hopefully before the snowstorm!

ECAC Championships

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Boston University

Day 1 results and splits

500-meter dash

15. Debbie Boerke 1:15.06 *school record, old record 1:15.58 by Boerke last week!

43.45, 1:15.06 (31.61)

1,000-meter run

8. Denise Grohn 2:53.14 *qualified for final

34.00, 68.39 (34.39), 1:43.32 (34.94), 2:18.18 (34.86), 2:53.14 (34.96)

9. Gianna Mastromatteo 2:53.17 *qualified for final

33.36, 67.71 (34.36), 1:42.71 (35.00), 2:18.27 (35.56), 2:53.17 (34.91)

Mile run

17. Shea Bohan 4:54.63

36.73, 73.09 (36.37), 1:50.24 (37.15), 2:27.22 (36.99), 3:04.63 (37.41), 3:40.79 (36.17), 4:17.33 (36.54), 4:54.63 (37.31)

25. Maria Smith 4:59.43

37.39, 73.96 (36.57), 1:51.13 (37.18), 2:28.08 (36.95), 3:05.92 (37.84), 3:43.99 (38.08), 4:22.18 (38.20), 4:59.43 (37.25)

5,000-meter run

12. Gianna Tedeschi 17:00.64

39, 81 (42), 2:01 (40), 2:42 (41), 3:22.5 (40.5)

4:01.9 (39.5), 4:42.7 (40.8), 5:23.2 (40.5), 6:03.3 (40.1), 6:44.0 (40.7)

7:24.8 (40.8), 8:05.5 (40.7), 8:45.8 (40.3), 9:26.7 (40.9), 10:08.1 (41.4)

10:50.1 (42.0), 11:32.0 (41.9), 12:14.0 (42.0), 12:56.0 (42.0), 13:37.6 (41.6)

14:19.4 (41.8), 15:01.5 (42.1), 15:42.2 (40.8), 16:23.4 (41.2), 17:00.64 (37.24)

Kilometer splits: 3:22.5, 3:21.5, 3:24.1, 3:29.5, 3:23.04

19. Hayley Collins 17:11.33

37.2, 78.7 (41.5), 1:59.5 (40.8), 2:39.3 (39.8), 3:19.6 (40.3)

3:59.9 (40.3), 4:40.1 (40.2), 5:20.8 (40.7), 6:01.6 (40.8), 6:42.4 (40.8)

7:23.2 (40.8), 8:05.1 (41.9), 8:46.6 (41.5), 9:27.6 (41.0), 10:08.8 (41.2)

10:50.7 (41.9), 11:33.2 (42.5), 12:15.2 (42.0), 12:57.9 (42.7), 13:41.0 (43.1)

14:23.7 (42.7), 15:05.9 (42.2), 15:48.2 (42.3), 16:30.4 (42.2), 17:11.33 (40.93)

Kilometer splits: 3:19.6, 3:22.8, 3:26.4, 3:32.2, 3:30.33

3,200-meter relay

18. Marist (Kerry Gaye 2:17.67, Kayla Sexton 2:23.89, Rebecca Walters 2:20.98, Debbie Boerke 2:24.35) 9:26.88

Kerry Gaye: 32, 66 (34), 1:42 (36), 2:17.67 (35.67)

Kayla Sexton: 32, 68 (36), 1:46 (38), 2:23.89 (37.89)

Rebecca Walters: 33, 68 (35), 1:44 (36), 2:20.98 (36.98)

Debbie Boerke: 33, 69 (36), 1:46 (37), 2:24.35 (38.35)

IC4A Championships, Day 1: Men's results and splits

Senior Drew Burns ran a personal-best time and squeaked into Sunday’s finals of the 1,000-meter run, posting the seventh-fastest time in the two-heat preliminary round to advance (nine runners advance to Sunday; eight score). Drew ran a smart, tough and gutsy race. He now has about 24 hours to recover and recoup and get ready for one more great indoor race in what has been a stellar indoor career. We look forward to that.

Our DMR ran a solid, season-best time, getting fourth in their section and 16^th overall. Our 4x800 relay DNFed, as leadoff leg Brendan Zeng got tripped up and crashed hard on the infield. It’s been that kind of year for us here at BU, lots of mishaps and crashes, especially in the middle distance races. Here’s hoping that Drew has a clean and strong race on Sunday. We’re in a little break now before the women’s meet begins. Check back later tonight for updtes.  

ICAAAA Championships

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Boston University

Day 1 results and splits

1,000-meter run

7. Drew Burns 2:27.12 *qualified for finals

28.3, 58.1 (29.8), 1:28.4 (30.3), 1:57.9 (29.5) 2:27.12 (29.22)

Distance medley relay

16. Marist (Christopher Tibbetts 3:05.87, Josh Hindle 50.69, Brian Henderson 1:55.66, James Moehringer 4:18.06) 10:10.26

Tibbetts: 30, 61 (31), 1:32 (31), 2:04 (32), 2:35 (31), 3:05.87 (30.87)

Hindle: 24, 50.69

Henderson: 27, 55 (28), 1:24 (29), 1:55.66 (31.66)

Moehringer: 31, 63 (32), 1:36 (33), 2:07 (31), 2:39 (32), 3:12 (33), 3:45 (33), 4:18.06 (33.06)

IC4A/ECAC, Day 1 schedule

Greetings from snowy Quincy, MA (hotel) and the greater Boston area as we are here for the weekend for the ECAC and IC4A Championships, today and tomorrow, at Boston University. Here is the schedule of events that we are in today. Check back here later for updates or in real time at pctiming.com.

IC4A/ECAC Championships

Saturday, March 2, 2019

Schedule of events

11:50 a.m.: IC4A 1000-meter trials (Drew Burns)

12:55 p.m. (approximate): IC4A DMR trials

1:10 p.m. (approximate): IC4A 4x800 relay trials

3:35 p.m.: ECAC 1-mile run trials (Shea Bohan, Maria Smith)

4:35 p.m.: ECAC 500-meter dash trials (Debbie Boerke)

5:05 p.m.: ECAC 1,000-meter run trials (Denise Grohn, Gianna Mastromatteo)

5:40 p.m.: ECAC 5,000-meter run final (Gianna Tedeschi, Hayley Collins)

6:05 p.m. (approximate): ECAC 4x800 relay trials

Spots of time

Below is an open letter that I will share with alumni and friends who will gather on Friday and Saturday to mourn one of our own, Eric Bergmann (Class of 1997), who lost his battle to melanoma last week at the too-soon age of 45. I share it here for many blog readers who may not have known our friend and brother. There have been many heartfelt Facebook posts remembering Eric. This is my way. Please pray for peace and comfort for Eric’s family, especially his three young children, at this time. Thank you.

To the members of the Marist Cross Country and Track Family:

The loss of our dear friend and teammate Eric Bergmann (proud Class of 1997) has been very difficult for us all to process. For those of you who were his former teammates, the thought of facing your mortality just as you are growing accustomed to the vulnerability of middle age (your 40s), is troubling and haunting. You know its more difficult to do what you used to do, but you assume you’ve got time to sort it all out. Time. Yeah. That. We’re guaranteed nothing. We are all day to day, my friends.

Life’s not fair! Eric is a guy who by all accounts took care of himself. He never stopped running and he added triathlon to his regimen in adulthood. He reveled in the fact that his oldest son, Ethan, took to the sport as he did. There is a special joy in seeing your own child garner some of the satisfaction we had as beginners all those years ago. Even after melanoma took hold, when Eric’s body allowed, he repurposed himself, had a comeback tri race last spring with the very appropriate F*ck Cancer racing shirt. But as too often happens, cancer comes roaring back and wins.

But you know what? F*ck THAT! Cancer doesn’t win. We win. In this time of great sadness, we win because of the enduring kinship and love we feel for each other in the Marist Cross Country and Track Family. Months and sometimes years go by between times that we communicate. Maybe a PM on Facebook to wish someone happy birthday. A random text. A visit to campus or elsewhere. A chance meeting in the city. Some remain connected to the sport as coaches, parents of runners (like Eric), maybe even an occasional race for ourselves here and there. But always, in the back of our minds and in the front of our hearts, we are all Forever Foxes. We all share the bond, the camaraderie, the kinship, the family vibe that was forged years ago. By me, by Phil, by Chuck, by Terry, on van rides, bus rides, in the parks and tracks and trails of the mid-Hudson Valley that we have to call home because Marist doesn’t give us one -- peeing behind a tree, high-fiving some old guy on the rail trail, thanking the grounds guy at Vassar for unlocking the gate to the track for us, getting yelled at by the National Park Service for running shirtless or parking illegally, being hounded by some deranged lunatic on the Farm Lane trail on an otherwise beautiful fall day, getting our marking cones stolen by some losers on the trail, remembering to bring bridge toll money for the vans, hills and more hills at Bowdoin Park, intervals on that piece of crap track in McCann that we sorely miss now, lifting weights in an old racquetball court or now in a party tent, the Red Baron, grocery store stops on the way to meets, K&D Deli box lunches … I could go on and on with this run-on sentence. You men and women, you get it. You loved it. You love Eric. You love each other. And we love you right back. I haven’t gotten wealthy in my 28 years as coach at Marist, far from it! But I’ve been blessed the riches of your love and friendship, from Eric as much as any of the hundreds of athletes who have come through our team, our program, our family, during that time. We will mourn him, we will miss him, we will remember him.

These are my words. They are all I’ve got, inadequate as they may be. Here, then, I share with you some powerful song lyrics – a beautiful poem, really -- from my favorite musician, Warren Haynes. After proud and loyal alum Ned Kenyon – the glue that holds us all together in this -- called me early on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago, with the news of the cancer ferociously overtaking Eric, this was the first song that popped up on the iPod mix in my car. Spots of Time. When I hear the song and read the lyrics, I think of him, I think of all of you. I never stop thinking about all of you.

With love,

Coach Pete Colaizzo

Spots of Time, by Warren Haynes

Spots of time flash before my eyes
Like ribbons of light
Helplessly I try to touch them
Before they disappear into the night

Running fearlessly as in a dream
Headlong into the wind
Cool night air, blowing through our hair
Moonlight dancing on your skin

Do you remember
How young we were or is it just me
Imagining like I always do
When we were once wild and free

Young man yearning for days gone by
Innocence once removed
Familiar feeling of a front porch swing
And a song, always soothes

Spots of time like windows appear
You can look out or in
But you can't get to the future I regret
By going through the past, my friend

Do you remember
How young we were or is it just me
Imagining like I always do
That we were once wild and free

A mother's tears, a sparrow's wing
A lover's eyes softly glistening
Memories that to me are everything
But to others maybe only ashes and dust

Do you remember
How young we were or is it just me
Imagining like I always do
When we were once wild and free

BU Last Chance: Women's results and splits

Several highlights:

--Senior Debbie Boerke added another school record to her collection, and got an IC4A qualifying mark in the process, in the 500-meter dash.
--Kerry Gaye got a strong second-place finish in the 1,000-meter run.
--Samantha DeStefani notched a PR in the mile, as did Marist Alum Janelle Solviletti, now racing for Battle Road TC.
--Jill Laliberte had an excellent season-best effort in the 800-meter run
Boston University Last Chance Qualifier

Sunday, February 24, 2019

BU Track and Tennis Center

Women’s results and splits

200-meter dash

36. Camille McHenry 26.40

400-meter dash

43. Grace Cepeda 1:03.03

500-meter dash

3. Debbie Boerke 1:15.58 *school record (old record by Molly Weeks, 1:16.08, 2014), **ECAC qualifier

800-meter run

39. Jill Laliberte 2:25.71

33.774, 70.891 (37.117), 1:48.333 (37.443), 2:25.706 (37.374)

43. Jess Howe 2:29.59

34.026, 70.794 (36.768), 1:49.720 (38.927), 2:29.589 (39.869)

1,000-meter run

2-Kerry Gaye 2:59.66

34.470, 71.078 (36.608), 1:48.685 (37.608), 2:24.720 (36.035), 2:59.657

Mile run

4. Janelle Solviletti (Battle Road TC/Marist Alum) 4:53.37

38.961, 76.303 (37.343), 1:52.077 (35.775), 2:28.696 (36.619), 3:05.446 (36.751), 3:41.791 (36.345), 4:18.568 (36.777), 4:53.370 (34.802)

28. Samantha DeStefani 5:33.12

40.742, 80.422 (39.680), 2:01.756 (41.435), 2:43.360 (41.505), 3:25.563 (42.203), 4:08.333 (42.770), 4:52.120 (43.788), 5:33.118 (40.998)

3,000-meter run

15. Jordan Casey 10:13.22

Kilometer splits: 3:20.451, 6:46.987 (3:26.536), 10:13.22 (3:27.21)

21. Boushra Belkhir 10:34.93

Kilometer splits: 3:23.354, 6:57.669 (3:34.315), 10:34.93 (3:37.27)

23. Emily Burns (unattached) 10:37.52

Kilometer splits: 3:22, 6:54 (3:32), 10:37.52 (3:43.52)

BU Last Chance: Men's results and splits

Drew Burns had another great 800 but fell just short of the school record once again. James Moehringer ran a maddeningly neg-split mile (2:13/2:06!) in a heat that never seemed to get rolling. Same for Chris Tibbetts in the 1,000. The night ended with Dan Hillman notching a 5km PR in his last collegiate indoor race.

Boston University Last Chance Qualifier

Sunday, February 24, 2019

BU Track and Tennis Center

Men’s results and splits

200-meter dash

58. Jeremy Mooney 23.17

400-meter dash

57. Santosh Krishnan 52.27

800-meter run

15. Drew Burns 1:52.77 *IC4A qualifier

27.585, 56.509 (28.924), 1:24.483 (27.975), 1:52.762 (28.280)

57. Cole Ziskind 2:01.16

29.230, 58.859 (29.630), 1:29.556 (30.697), 2:01.152 (31.597)

1,000-meter run

3. Christopher Tibbetts 2:30.27

28.351, 59.283 (30.932), 1:30.268 (30.985), 2:00.899 (30.631), 2:30.265 (29.366)

Mile run

36. James Moehringer 4:19.32

34.429, 67.690 (33.262), 1:40.574 (32.884), 2:13.411 (32.838), 2:45.747 (32.336), 3:17.271 (31.525), 3:48.282 (31.011), 4:19.311 (31.030)

5,000-meter run

20. Dan Hillman 15:36.70

36, 74 (38), 1:51 (37), 2:28 (37), 3:04 (36)

3:40 (36), 4:17 (37), 4:54 (37), 5:31 (37), 6:07 (36)

6:43 (36), 7:20 (37), 7:59 (39), 8:38 (39), 9:17 (39)

9:56 (39), 10:34 (38), 11:13 (39), 11:51 (38), 12:29 (38)

13:08 (39), 13:48 (40), 14:31 (43), 15:05 (34), 15:36.70 (31.70)

Kilometer splits: 3:04, 3:03, 3:10, 3:12, 3:07.70)

22. Conor Stack 15:39.72

34, 71 (37), 1:49 (38), 2:25 (36), 3:01 (36)

3:38 (37), 4:14 (36), 4:51 (37), 5:29 (38), 6:05 (36)

6:42 (37), 7:21 (39), 8:00 (39), 9:19 (39)

9:57 (38), 10:37 (40), 11:15 (38), 11:54 (39), 12:34 (40)

13:13 (39), 13:52 (39), 14:32 (40), 15:08 (36), 15:39.72 (31.72)

Kilometer splits: 3:01, 3:03, 3:14, 3:15, 3:04.72

25. Riley Hughes 15:49.18

35, 72 (37), 1:50 (38), 2:27 (37), 3:04 (37)

3:40 (36), 4:17 (37), 4:54 (37), 5:31 (37), 6:08 (37)

6:45 (37), 7:23 (38), 8:01 (38), 8:40 (39), 9:19 (39)

9:57 (38), 10:37 (40), 11:15 (38), 11:54 (39), 12:34 (40)

13:13 (39), 13:52 (39), 14:32 (40), 15:10 (38), 15:49.18 (39.18)

Kilometer splits: 3:04, 3:04, 3:09, 3:15, 3:15.18

BU Last Chance: Brushes with greatness

You never know who'll you run into at the Track and Tennis Center, where world-class races are always on tap. Our athletes posed with two of the best -- Edward Cheserek (King Ches) and Shalane Flanagan -- on Sunday night. Neat!

What’s next: A busy Sunday

As we enter the “postseason” portion of indoor track, we have several athletes competing on Sunday in Boston and New York. First, we are sending a partial squad to BU for their Last Chance Qualifier. And in the afternoon, our racewalkers – Lauren Harris, Katie Miale, Kayla Shapiro (unattached) – will be toeing the line at the USATF Indoor Championships at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex. Their race begins at 3:21 p.m. Below is the order of events and list of entrants for the BU meet on Sunday.

Boston University Last Chance Qualifier

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Time schedule and Marist entries

12:00pm Women’s Distance Medley Relay: No entry

12:13pm Men’s Distance Medley Relay: No entry

12:25pm Women’s 60m Hurdles Trials: No entry

12:28pm Men’s 60m Hurdle Trials: No entry

12:32pm Women’s 60m Dash Trials: No entry

12:37pm Men’s 60m Dash Trials: No entry

12:42pm Women’s 400m Dash: Grace Cepeda

1:10pm Men’s 400m Dash: Santosh Krishnan

1:45pm Women’s 60m Hurdle Finals: No entry

1:48pm Men’s 60m Hurdle Finals: No entry

1:55pm Women’s 800m Run: Jess Howe, Jill Laliberte

2:12pm Men’s 800m Run: Drew Burns, Matthew Hawker, Cole Ziskind

2:40pm Women’s 60m Dash Finals: No entry

2:42pm Men’s 60m Dash Finals: No entry

2:45pm Women’s 500m Dash: Debbie Boerke

2:50pm Men’s 500m Dash: No entry

3:00pm Women’s Mile Run: Samantha DeStefani

3:18pm Men’s Mile Run: James Moehringer, Brendan Zeng

3:52pm Women’s 200m Dash: Camille McHenry

4:15pm Men’s 200m Dash: Jeremy Mooney

4:40pm Women’s 1000m Run: Kerry Gaye

4:45pm Men’s 1000m Run: Christopher Tibbetts

4:50pm Women’s 3000m Run: Jordan Casey, Boushra Belkhir

5:15pm Men’s 3000m Run: No entry

5:45pm Women’s 4x400m Relay: No entry

5:55pm Men’s 4x400m Relay: No entry

6:15pm Women’s 5000m Run: No entry

6:55pm Men’s 5000m Run: Conor Stack, Riley Hughes, Dan Hillman

7:30pm Men’s Invitational 5k (Seed times under 13:30): No entry (duh)

7:55pm Women’s 4x800m: No entry

MAAC Indoor images, part 2

MAAC Championships in all our sports – cross country, indoor track, outdoor track – are emotionally charged events usually tinged with a bit of finality for the seniors in our program. With one more MAAC Championship to go, outdoors at Monmouth in a few months, the series of goodbyes that comes with senior year in college has already started, and the MAAC indoor meet this past weekend was one of them. These two images – the first a collage – do a decent job of expressing the emotions and the long journey of our sport. The collage is of three seniors – Brian Henderson, Tanner Senius, Drew Burns – good friends, housemates, captains, middle distance brothers, taken each year at the MAAC Championships at the Armory. Freshman, sophomore, junior, senior. Pretty cool. The second one is of those three guys and fellow senior captains Shea Bohan and Jordan Casey. Jordan texted it to me with the note: “The squad has just one more MAACs … time goes too fast.” Amen, sister. We have a few more months together, seniors. Let’s savor every practice, every meet, every van and bus ride. It’s been a good ride, with a few more chapters to write.

MAAC Indoor images, part 1

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who know me, but I’m not a big fan of over-the-top celebrations in sports – stylin’ … or whatever other names that can be attached to such behavior. At the end of our thrilling men’s DMR victory at the MAAC Indoor Championships the other night, anchor leg James Moehringer let his emotions take over and he celebrated the extremely rare victory for our men’s program. Normally, this would be frowned upon. But if you know Moe like we do, you know that there was zero showboat and 100 percent pure joy in his reaction. Coaches from other MAAC schools went out of their way to say how cool they thought the victory was. We agreed! Again, we don’t condone the kind of showboating you see in the NFL and other professional sports. Moe’s was different, entirely appropriate, and pretty awesome to see. This photo was posted on armorytrack.com and we are proud to display it here.

MAAC Indoor Championships: Day 2, men's results

The 800-meter race was a bruising affair, with Zeng getting tangled up in the final lap with another racer and that impeded his progress. Drew Burns had a strong sprint to the final and earned a top-3 medal. Our 3km guys battled well and ran some fast times, and that was gratifying to see. And the 4x800 relay was a down-to-the-wire thriller as well. On to the rest of championship season!

MAAC Indoor Championships

Armory Track and Field Center

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Men’s results and splits, Day 2

800-meter run

3-Drew Burns 1:54.91

28.662, 57.653 (28.991), 1:26.538 (28.885), 1:54.910 (28.373)

8-Brendan Zeng 1:59.12

29.503, 57.813 (28.310), 1:26.934 (29.121), 1:59.116 (32.182)

3,000-meter run

9-Michael Kennedy 8:37.51

33, 69 (36), 1:43 (34), 2:18 (35), 2:52 (34)

3:26 (34), 4:01 (35), 4:34 (33), 5:08 (34), 5:43 (35)

6:17 (34), 6:52 (35), 7:28 (36), 8:04 (36), 8:37.51 (34.51)

Kilometer splits: 2:52, 2:51, 2:54.51

11. James Moehringer 8:46.79

33, 70 (37), 1:46 (46), 2:22 (36), 2:57 (35)

3:32 (35), 4:08 (36), 4:43 (35), 5:18 (35), 5:55 (37)

6:29 (34), 7:04 (35), 7:40 (36), 8:14 (34), 8:46.79 (32.79)

Kilometer splits: 2:57, 2:58, 2:51.79

12. James Draney 8:47.39

33, 70 (37), 1:46 (36), 2:22 (36), 2:57 (35)

3:32 (35), 4:08 (36), 4:43 (35), 5:18 (35), 5:54 (36)

6:29 (35), 7:04 (35), 7:40 (36), 8:14 (34), 8:47.39 (33.39)

Kilometer splits: 2:57, 2:57, 2:53.39

18. Eamonn Beers 8:56.93

35, 71 (36), 1:47 (36), 2:24 (37), 2:59 (35)

3:35 (36), 4:11 (36), 4:47 (36), 5:23 (36), 5:59 (36)

6:34 (35), 7:10 (36), 7:47 (37), 8:22 (35), 8:56.93 (34.93)

Kilometers splits: 2:59, 3:00, 2:57.93

23. Dan Hillman 9:04.70

33, 70 (37), 1:46 (36), 2:23 (37), 2:57 (34)

3:32 (35), 4:09 (37), 4:44 (35), 5:19 (35), 5:54 (35)

6:29 (35), 7:05 (36), 7:44 (39), 8:24 (40), 9:04.70 (40.70)

Kilometer splits: 2:57, 2:57, 3:10.70

1,600-meter relay

6-Marist (Santosh Krishnan 53.276, Cole Ziskind, 54.017, Matthew Hawker 53.023, Josh Hindle 52.314) 3:32.63

3,200-meter relay

4-Marist (Brian Henderson 1:56.114, Drew Burns 1:57.489, Brendan Zeng 1:58.941, Christopher Tibbetts 1:56.578) 7:49.12 *IC4A qualifier

Team standings

1-Monmouth 271.5, 2-Rider 116.5, 3-Iona 112, 4-Manhattan 73, 5-Siena 40, 6-Marist 25, 7-St. Peter’s 13, 8-Canisius 12

MAAC Indoor Championships: Day 2, women's results

A solid final day of competition at MAACs. The mile race was reminiscent of the 1,000 at the BU Valentine meet, with three ECAC qualifiers in the same race and one of the most memorable individual events in school history. It's a testament to how fast and competitive the league is when all three ladies were in the bottom half of the 10-person final. Wow! Great return to the track after injury for Jordan Casey, who got an assist from teammate Maria Smith, who set the pace for the first half of the race before stepping off the track. The championship season has started strong and we look to continue it in the next two weeks at Boston University.

MAAC Indoor Championships

Armory Track and Field Center

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Women’s results and splits, Day 2

Mile run

6. Denise Grohn 4:56.98 *ECAC qualifier

36.300, 72.850 (36.550), 1:50.883 (38.033), 2:28.839 (37.957), 3:06.723 (37.884), 3:44.521 (37.799), 4:21.604 (37.084), 4:56.979 (35.375)

7. Shea Bohan 4:57.01 *ECAC qualifier

36.185, 72.688 (36.503), 1:50.701 (38.013), 2:28.681 (37.980), 3:06.676 (37.996), 3:44.742 (38.066), 4:22.297 (37.556), 4:57.010 (34.713)

10. Maria Smith 4:57.96 *ECAC qualifier

35.319, 72.341 (37.022), 1:50.516 (38.176), 2:28.843 (38.328), 3:06.783 (37.940), 3:45.045 (38.263), 4:21.810 (36.765), 4:57.953 (36.144)

3,000-meter run

10. Jordan Casey 10:11.92

38, 79 (41), 1:59 (40), 2:41 (42), 3:22 (41)

4:03 (41), 4:44 (41), 5:26 (42), 6:07 (41), 6:48 (41)

7:29 (41), 8:11 (42), 8:52 (41), 9:33 (41), 10:11.92 (38.92)

Kilometer splits: 3:22, 3:26, 3:23.92

18. Boushra Belkhir 10:27.73

40, 80 (40), 2:02 (42), 2:44 (42), 3:25 (41)

4:07 (42), 4:49 (42), 5:31 (42), 6:14 (43), 6:56 (42)

7:39 (43), 8:21 (42), 9:03 (42), 9:46 (43), 10:27.73 (41.73)

Kilometer splits: 3:25, 3:31, 3:31.73

21. Alexandra Bartolotta 10:43.50

40, 83 (43), 2:05 (42), 2:46 (41), 3:27 (41)

4:07 (40), 4:48 (41), 5:29 (41), 6:13 (44), 6:58 (45)

7:44 (46), 8:30 (46), 9:16 (46), 10:00 (44), 10:43.50 (43.50)

Kilometer splits: 3:27, 3:31, 3:45.50

1,600-meter relay

5. Marist (Grace Cepeda 62.386, Jess Howe 65.562, Camille McHenry 63.025, Debbie Boerke 57.883) 4:08.86

3,200-meter relay

5. Marist (Kerry Gaye 2:20.915, Shea Bohan 2:14.716, Rebecca Walters 2:24.178, Denise Grohn 2:22.930) 9:22.74

Team standings

1-Monmouth 187.5, 2-Rider 133, 3-Manhattan 117.5, 4-Quinnipiac 105.5, 5-Iona 64, 6-Marist 22, 7-Siena 18, 8-Canisius 7.5, 9-St. Peter’s 6