Gotham Cup: Time schedule (and entries)

NYC Gotham Cup
Friday, January 17, 2025
Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex
Time schedule
Track (women, then men)
12 noon: 60 hurdle trials: Madison LaCreta, Talia Augusto, Nicole Wang; Christopher Lynch
12:20p: 5,000 run: Davis Haines, Kevin Cannon
1p: 60 hurdle finals
1:12p: 60 dash invite (top 32 seeds) trials: Amari Mathis
1:25p: 60 dash open: Makenzy Nielsen, Stephania Granados, Alyssa Dapont; Ramsey Heredia, Will Carroll
2:05p: 60 dash invite final
2:15p: 500 dash: Julie Cristinzio, Nina Florio, Kate Beebe
2:35p: 400 dash: Isabella Milojevic, Julia Kropo, Breelyn McNamara, Rebecca Maclaren; Miracle Okoli, Reed Dexter, Weston LaBrecque, Marcel Stewart
3:15p: Mile: Sierra Fisher; Sanjith Nomula
3:55p: 1,000 run: Kayla Hawkins, Grace Fletcher, Julianna Mirabile; Sean Wilson
4:20p: 800 run: Logan Schaeffler, Patrick Wininger, Joaquin Bell-Andrade
4:48p: 200 dash: Stephania Granados, Makenzy Nielsen, Alyssa Dapont, Isabella Cipolla; Amari Mathis, Ryan Trocolar, Easton Eberwein, Christopher Lynch
5:35p: 3,000 run: Kyra Pellegino, Mallory Holloway; Jackson Borge
6:28p: 4x800 relay: Marist men’s A
6:50p: DMR
7:10p: 4x400 relay: Marist women’s A; Marist men’s A
Field events
12 noon: Women’s pole vault (men to follow): Noah Brown, Daniel Vargas, Simon Advento
12 noon: Men’s and women’s long jump (dual pits): Nicole Wang, Isabella Cipolla; Simeon Washington
12 noon: Men’s and women’s shot (two throwing circles), weight throw to follo
3:30p: Men’s and women’s triple jump: Kiana Pathirana
Following dash: women’s high jump, men to follow

STAC meet: Men's results

 St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartan Invitational
Friday, January 10, 2025
Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex
Staten Island, NY
Men’s results
60-meter dash
3-Amari Mathis 6.95 *IC4A qualifier
200-meter dash
5-Amari Mathis 22.27
400-meter dash
16-Simeon Washington 51.18
27-Miracle Okoli 51.88
32-Christopher Lynch 52.40
44-Weston LaBrecque (53.13)
500-meter dash
3-Ryan Trocolar 1:05.23 *IC4A qualifier
15-Joseph Logan 1:09.00
26-Jacob Anderson 1:11.29
800-meter run
17-Easton Eberwein 2:03.91
22-Neel Viswanathan 2:05.92
Mile run
6-Matthew Ferreri 4:23.05
12-Miles Chamberlain 4:24.67
13-Sean Wilson 4:24.95
3000-meter run
15-Tyler Perry 8:50.02)
22-Raffi Buchakjian 9:04.71
1,600-meter relay
6-Marist (Miracle Okoli 53.19, Matthew Ferreri 53.66, Miles Chamberlain 53.90, Sean Wilson 52.22) 3:32.96
Pole Vault
14-Daniel Vargas 3.42m

STAC meet: Women's results

St. Thomas Aquinas College Spartan Invitational
Friday, January 10, 2025
Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex
Staten Island, NY
Women’s results
60-meter dash
23-Alexandra Samperi 8.17
26-Makenzy Nielsen 8.23
47-Alyssa Dapont 8.49
48-Kiana Pathriana 8.49
56-Madison LaCreta 8.63)
66-Nicole Wang 8.80
200-meter dash
31-Julie Cristinzio 27.27
32-Makenzy Nielsen 27.42
43-Alyssa Dapont 27.97
45-Madison LaCreta 28.21
61-Isabella Cipolla (29.27)
400-meter dash
17-Stephania Granados 1:02.68
20-Breelyn McNamara 1:03.82
22-Nina Florio 1:04.31
29-Mackenzie Schubert 1:05.79
500-meter dash
10-Julia Kropo 1:20.48
13-Isabella Milojevic 1:20.85
25-Kate Beebe 1:26.91
800-meter run
11-Rebecca Maclaren 2:27.54
Mile run
3-Parker O'Brien 5:09.34
8-Julia Zydanowicz 5:18.54
3000-meter run
13-Julia Radjenovic 10:45.82
60-meter hurdles
26-Talia Augusto 10.24
800-meter relay
8-Marist (Grace Fletcher, Julianna Mirabile, Kayla Hawkins and Nicole Wang) 1:55.44
1,600-meter relay
6-Marist (Stephania Granados 1:03.47, Julianna Mirabile 1:00.99, Grace Fletcher 1:00.40, Mackenzie Schubert 1:05.35) 4:10.20
Shot put
23-Jenna Borselle 9.64m
32-Grace Murphy 8.73m

STAC meet entry list

 Here is the entry list (no time schedule yet) for the first meet of the 2025 calendar year, hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas College, at Ocean Breeze.

STAC Spartan Invitational
Friday, January 10, 2025
Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex
Staten Island, NY
Field Events
12 noon
Women’s & Men’s Pole Vault
Flight 1 of 1: Brown, Vargas
Women’s Shot Put
Flight 1 of 5: Murphy, Borselle
12:30 pm
Women’s High Jump
Flight 1 of 1: Ballen
Running Events (Men followed by Women in all running events unless otherwise stated)
11:45 am National Anthem
12 noon
60 Meter Hurdles
Section 4 of 6: Talia Augusto
60 Meter Dash
Section 1 of 19: Mathis
Section 3 of 14: Samperi
Section 6: Nielsen
Section 7: Pathriana
Section 7: Dapont
Section 10: Wang
Section 13: LaCreta
Mile racewalk
Section 1: Pellegrino
3000m
Section 2 of 4: Buchakjian
Section 2 of 4: Perry
Section 1 of 2: Radjenovic
4x200m Relay
Section 3 of 3: Marist A: Fletcher, Mirabile, Hawkins, Wang
Section 3 of 3: Marist B: Cristinzio, Florio, Kropo, Pathriana
500 Meter Dash
Section 1 of 8: Trocolar
Section 2 of 8: Logan
Section 3 of 8: Anderson
Section 2 of 7: Milojevic
Section 3 of 7: Kropo
Section 3 of 7: Beebe
Mile
Section 2 of 5: Ferreri
Section 2 of 5: Chamberlain
Section 2 of 5: Ushchak
Section 3 of 5: Wilson
Section 1 of 4: O’Brien
Section 2 of 4: Zydanowicz
400 Meter Dash
Section 5 of 20: Washington
Section 9 of 20: LaBrecque
Section 10 of 20: Okoli
Section 13 of 20: Lynch
Section 4 of 13: Granados
Section 4 of 13: McNamara
Section 5 of 13: Schubert
Section 8 of 13: Florio
800 Meter Run
Section 3 of 6: Eberwein
Section 3 of 6: Viswanathan
Section 2 of 5: Driscoll
Section 5 of 5: McClaren
1000 Meter Run
No entries
200 Meter Dash
Men: Mathis, Carroll
Women: Cristinzio, Dapont, Nielsen, LaCreta, Cipolla, Samperi)
DMR
No entry
4x400 Meter Relay
Marist A: Logan, Viswanathan, Okoli, Anderson
Marist B: Ferreri, Wilson, Chamberlain, Ushchak
Marist A: Mirabile, Schubert, Fletcher, Granados
Marist B: Beebe, Driscoll, Hawkins, McClaren

Winter warriors

 

Thanks to Citera for sharing this photo of he and fellow Forever Fox Jiggy from their frigid hike up Mount Marcy, the highest peak in the Adirondacks (and New York State) over the weekend. Tony reported wind gusts of 40 mph and a wind-chill of 35 below. Nicely done, men!

Remembering a record holder

 

Thanks to alert and loyal alum Peter VanAken for emailing me the news of the passing of Hank Blum, Marist track and field, Class of 1972. Hank holds the distinction of owning the oldest track school record on the books, in the discus. If you read his obituary, you will see that Hank was a family man and a man of great faith. Although I never met Hank, he remains a vital link to our program's history, and I hope his huge extended family knows that he remains immortalized on our school-record board in the McCann Center. 

Intersession training: Back in Pok!

 No picture to go with this post, but just a (quick) update that our speed and power athletes (sprints, hurdles, jumps, throws and some middle-distance athletes) have returned to campus and have started their winter intersession training. This may be a record for the earliest return date and longest stretch of intersession training, as classes for the Spring 2025 semester do not begin until Wednesday, 22 Jan! We're excited to have these athletes back on campus and we look forward to welcoming the remainder of the team over the coming days and weeks. Neat!

Intersession training: Lenox, MA

 

Thanks to Dennis Love for taking this picture of his teammates (Raffi and Jackson), who were visiting Dennis in Lenox, MA. Dennis was on his bike. Happy New Year.

10 years after ...

 

Top photo is from New Year's Eve, 2014 -- me in the middle, John McKee to the left, Neil Grencer to the right.

Bottom photo is from New Year's Eve, 2024 -- me in the middle, Dave O to the left, Neil Grencer to the right.

So much has changed in the past decade. Going for a morning run on the last day of the year has not.

See you in 2025!

How was your year?

Note: This was originally posted earlier on my Substack running column, petecolaizzo.substack.com -- please consider subscribing (to it) at the very economical price of $30/year (less than 25 cents per post!)

How was your year?
 
It was an innocuous question, uttered out of the blue by a friend as we were walking and talking indoors last week on a bitterly cold morning.
 
How was your year?
 
I was flummoxed, at a loss for words, which is rare for someone like me who talks and talks and talks (verbally or through the written word).
 
How was your year?
 
Context matters. Before my friend showed up, I had been walking by myself, the same 135-meter indoor track laps that I traverse over and over and over again during the cold-weather months. While there, I’m usually listening to audiobooks. Or, in this case, thinking. Usually about everything surrounding the academic calendar year, of which we are smack dab in the middle. Fall 2024 semester just concluded, busy Spring 2025 semester beckons.
 
That’s where my mind was at, thoughts swirling endlessly, before my walking buddy showed up. And then, the question …
 
How was your year?
 
Now you see, the context threw me off. My year? Whatchu mean, man! We’re right in the middle of my year! What year? Ask me in May, or maybe June!
 
Of course, by now, you realize what a dolt I can be sometimes. There’s less than one week left in the calendar year 2024. So, the end-of-year question, and the introspective thoughts that go with that question, they are everywhere.
 
How was your year?
 
In running, for those that keep track of mileage, the end of the year can be a time to celebrate literal milestones. I know a runner -- a serious, hard-core marathoner -- who just topped 4,000 miles of running for 2024. For those keeping score at home, that’s an average of more than 80 miles per week for an entire calendar year – that’s a lot of mileage!
 
My walking friend keeps track of his steps on an app. He’s constantly “getting steps” whenever and wherever he can throughout the day. The “10,000-steps-a-day” thing that you hear about all the time? He exceeds that total, most days, by 12 noon. And then, he keeps going.
 
Two popular apps – Strava and Spotify – provide year-end summaries called “wrapped.” It’s pretty neat to have an app summarize things for you – you know, while you’re busy actually DOING them! In Strava’s case, it’s your activity logs – run, walk, hike, cycle, etc. In Spotify’s case, it’s your listening habits – tells you what songs and what artists you listen to the most, month by month.
 
So here, in the last week of December, “how was your year?” thoughts can be pervasive. Recapping 2024, looking ahead to 2025. In truly thinking about it? I think I’m at a stage of life where … I don’t really think about it. I take each day and each week as it comes. “Be present” and “stay in the moment” are two popular phrases shared among busy and stressed-out college students, and I try to live by both.
 
And on that note, as I write this, our entire family is under one roof. That’s a rare occurrence these days, at this stage of their lives. They all surprised me by finding their way under this very same roof to be here for my 60^th birthday back in the late summer.
 
How was your year?
 
On that late-summer weekend, and today, I’d say pretty good! As for the other 350-something days? Replace the word “year” with “day” and ask me, and I’m sure I’ll have an answer ready for you. Broaden it out to the entire calendar of days under a four-digit number representing the year? Well then, you’ll lose me.
 
How was your year?

Two million page views!

Being a Numbers Guy, it’s really neat to see that this blog is at the 2,000,000 page-view mark. I remember being told by a team member when it hit the 1,000,000 mark (not sure when, not sure if I did a post about it!) but here we are now at 2 million. Who knows if this blog (or I!) will be around to eclipse the 3 million mark, but this is pretty cool. Thanks for the continued clicks!

2025, a sneak peek

As we close out the Fall 2024 semester, we eagerly anticipate the Spring 2025 semester – which could very well be the final semester in which we do NOT have an on-campus track facility for practice. This is another way of saying, our days of driving vans to track practice(s) are numbered. For someone who has been driving vans to practices and meets for the better part of 40 years (1982-1986 as an athlete, 1991-present as a coach), that is a hard concept to grasp. I think I’ll get used to it!
 
In anticipation of our spring semester, here is the (remainder of our) indoor track schedule. Mostly similar meets, some new meets, and definitely a different look to our meet entries (fewer distance runners and more non-distance runners entered in most meets as we transition to a more complete track program – also exciting!).
 
Friday, January 10: St. Thomas Aquinas College meet at Ocean Breeze – during intersession
Friday, January 17: NYC Gotham Cup at Ocean Breeze – during intersession
Friday/Saturday, January 24-25: Dr. Sander Scorcher at Armory
Friday/Saturday, January 31-February 1: Terrier Invitational at Boston University

Friday, February 7: Fastrack National at Ocean Breeze
Friday/Saturday, February 14-15: Valentine Invitational at Boston University
Saturday/Sunday, February 22-23: MAAC Championships at the Armory
Friday, February 28: Last Chance at Ocean Breeze

Saturday/Sunday, March 8-9: IC4A/ECAC at Boston University

Marist University (coming soon)

 By now, I would assume most of you have heard that Marist College will be officially Marist University, with the change happening with a big celebration in late January (I'm too lazy to look up the Actual Date). This was announced on Wednesday to much excitement and enthusiasm. So. What does this MEAN? A lot. And not a lot. 

For context? Many other MAAC schools have changed status from College to University -- most recently, Manhattan and Iona. But within the past decade (or so) also Canisius and St. Peter's. In fact! By my count? The only two MAAC schools that remain "College" are Siena and Merrimack. In almost all cases, the Universities were once Colleges. So? It's definitely a TREND. 

While there are many "reasons" for this change (and please, don't ask me! I'm just the idiot holding the stopwatch over here), one of the primary ones (in my mind) is the global perception. In other countries, higher education means "going to university" while college connotes secondary education (more like, you know, high school). Now that we have a branch campus in Florence, Italy, and we have been expanding our international footprint, the change makes sense. 

In terms of "designation"? It goes by state, and in New York, the only "requirement" is having a certain number of post-graduate degree programs. We have met or exceeded that threshold for a long time. So it's not like we just "qualified" for university status recently.

A few other thoughts: 

--This won't affect enrollment. We're not looking to grow enrollment. University status does not mean we will have a student body like Penn State. The MAAC schools that are now universities are no bigger than they were as colleges, or if there was growth it was "normal" growth (if that makes sense).

--We won't have new athletics logos. Nothing changes there. In my case, this means my "Marist flannels" don't need to be updated (phew).

--Athletic funding (scholarships) won't increase because we are a university. I've been asked that a LOT.

--If you are an alum, your diploma/degree remains valid as "Marist College" = you won't need a new one that says Marist University. 

--This has nothing to do with the track construction. Which, by the way! Is going REALLY REALLY well and it's EXTREMELY EXCITING. 

--A lot of students (while mostly giggling?) have brought up that we will be MU -- you know, like Monsters University from Monsters Inc. This should surprise no one who knows me well but ... I don't get this reference at all. I've never seen Monsters Inc., or any of their spinoff movies, etc. Or, more accurately, it may well have been playing on our TV set when our kids were younger and I may well have started watching the movie, only to drift, uninterested, into an inappropriate nap.

You see? You don't get this sort of incisive analysis just anywhere, do you!

So yeah. There you go. Marist College will become Marist University. (I guess that's) Neat!?!?

Fastrack Season Opener: Women's results

UPDATED with official FAT times

Fastrack Season Opener
Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex
Friday, December 6, 2024
Women’s results
60-meter dash
15-Alexandra Samperi 8.06
31-Makenzy Nielsen 8.29
35-Alyssa Dapont 8.39
43-Kiana Pathirana 8.53
44-Nicole Wang 8.72
200-meter dash
35-Alyssa Dapont 27.52
39-Makenzy Nielson 27.56
46-Madison LaCreta 28.00
400-meter dash
3-Isabella Milojevic 59.63
4-Julia Kropo 1:01.01
7-Stephania Granados 1:01.70
10-Kate Beebe 1:02.48
12-Julie Cristinzio 1:03.36
500-meter dash
12-Nina Florio 1:23.51
800-meter run
2-Kayla Hawkins 2:21.41
3-Grace Fletcher 2:21.76
4-Julianna Mirabile 2:24.59
10-Mackenzie Schubert 2:32.74
Mile
18-Sydney Driscoll-Gannon 5:28.47
60-meter hurdles
8-Madison LaCreta 9.46
16-Talia Augusto 10.70
1,600-meter relay
4-Marist A 4:07.88
5-Marist B 4:10.34
Long jump
4-Alexandra Samperi 5.43 (17 feet, 9.75 inches)
24-Nicole Wang 4.68m (15 feet, 4.25 inches)
Triple jump
7-Kiana Pathirana 10.76m (35 feet, 3.5 inches)
 
 

Fastrack Season Opener: Men's results = Easton school record in 400m!!!

UPDATED WITH OFFICIAL FAT times

Fastrack Season Opener
Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex
Friday, December 6, 2024
Men’s results
60-meter dash
22-Amari Mathis 7.07
34-Maxwell Sylver 7.15
200-meter dash
12-Amari Mathis 22.38
23-Maxwell Sylver 23.09
43-Ramsey Heredia 23.42
51-Simon Advento 23.65
78-William Carroll 24.78
400-meter dash
2-Easton Eberwein 49.06 * school record!
3-Ryan Trocolar 49.98
24-Weston LaBrecque 52.45
500-meter dash
2-Miracle Okoli 1:07.74
11-Christopher Lynch 1:11.51
800-meter run
7-Joseph Logan 1:59.86
9-Marcel Stewart 2:00.29
21-Josiah Sierra 2:10.06
24-Jacob Anderson 2:11.46
Mile run
8-Sean Wilson 4:29.42
5,000-run
3-Matthew Ferreri 15:33.47
4-Kevin Cannon 15:41.90
6-Justin Schwartz 15:52.39
60-meter hurdles
10-Christopher Lynch 8.95
1,600-meter relay
3-Marist A 3:22.28
11-Marist B 3:30.39
Pole vault
7-Noah Brown 3.95 meters (12 feet, 11.5 inches)
12-Daniel Vargas 3.65 meters (11, 11.75)
Long jump
8-Simeon Washington 6.62 (21 feet, 8.75 inches)
18-Ramsey Heredia 6.24 (20 feet, 5.75 inches)

Fastrack Season Opener: Time schedule

Fastrack Season Opener

Friday, December 6, 2024

Ocean Breeze, Staten Island, NY

Time schedule

Women then men, all running events

Track

1p: 60 hurdle trials

1:16p: Mile

1:55p: 60 hurdle final

2p: 60 dash trials (invite, then open)

2:40p: 500

3:05p: 400

3:40p: 800

4:14p: 200

4:50p: 3,000

5:25p: 4x800 relay

5:45p: 4x400 relay

6:15p: 5,000

Field

1p: men's and women's LJ (TJ to follow)

1p: women's pole vault (men to follow)

1p: women's shot, men's shot (weight throw to follow)

1p: women's high jump (men to follow)

Track construction has begun!

 

It's getting real, folks! Construction on the new North Field track and turf facility has begun in earnest, meaning that putting our feet on the track at some point in the summer of 2025 is getting closer (and closer) to reality. Neat!

Liftsmas

 This morning was the final men's XC/distance lift of the semester with our energtic new strength and conditioning coach, Ben Fleet. Because of this, he decided (with my mild protestations) to play "holiday music" during the lift. This was met with (mostly) glee from team members. Hey. Listen. If music choices in the weight room were directed by the Old Grump in charge of the program? No one (except, maybe, Neel) would be thrilled by this. Throughout the entire semester, there was Great Energy in the weight room and we look forward to carrying that through to 2025. Merry Fitness!

(Indoor) track schedule announced

 And ... just like that? It's track season! We open up next Friday at Ocean Breeze for the Fastrack Season Opener, hosted by our good friend Nick McDonough. Nick has given me grief for heading up to BU for their season opener the past few years. Well, Nick, we'll be at ALL of your Ocean Breeze meets this winter season 2024-2025. 

In fact! If interested? Check out this link to the GoredFoxes.com release of our schedule. Neat. 

Turkey Trot photo

 

There was a time (back in this blog's heyday) when there would be multiple Turkey Trot results/photos posts. But alas, I'm getting older, slower and more weary. But when an awesome photo like THIS appeared among many Thanksgiving texts, I had to include it here! Three alums from three different graduating classes -- Kutch 2022, Czop 2023, Citera 2024. All Forever Foxes. Neat!

(The return of) Jerk Squad

 

A fine tradition resumed on Thursday night with the circa 2024 edition of Jerk Squad. Here are a few pictures sent from Neel. Jerks galore!

NCAA Northeast Regionals: Men's results

 The men improved on the 2023 meet by one place. In addition, the 1-5 spread of 32 seconds was the tighest in the field. Just too far back. This represented the final XC races for seniors/fifth-years Gabe Rodriguez, Tyler Perry, Jeremy Mbogo and Steven Viera. Onto track!

NCAA Northeast Regional
Friday, November 15, 2024
Hopkinton State Fairgrounds
Contoocook, NH
Men’s individual results, 10km course
143-Logan Schaeffler 32:33.62
150-Gabe Rodriguez 32:40.55
156-Kieran Donnelly 32:48.98
157-Tyler Perry 32:49.97
176-Jeremy Mbogo 33:05.16
213-Dennis Love 33:43.19
230-Steven Viera 34:34.45
256 finishers
Men’s team standings
28 of 39 teams
777 points

NCAA Northeast Regional: Women's results

 Our women's season came to a close with a hard-fought finish at the regional meet at an awesome new site in southern New Hampshire. Great course, spectator friendly, and very fair. As she has been all season, junior Sierra Fisher was our undisputed leader out there. She ran tough and strong. Onto track!

NCAA Northeast Regional
Friday, November 15, 2024
Hopkinton State Fairgrounds
Contoocook, NH
Women’s individual results, 6km course
115. Sierra Fisher 21:59.01
132. Kyra Pellegrino 22:08.73
176. Julia Zydanowicz 22:45.95
203. Paige McCaul 23:12.96
224. Edy Livingston 23:25.71
228. Mallory Holloway 23:28.66
240. Emily Litke 23:44.31
268 finishers
Women’s team standings
29 of 42 teams
836 points

Team dinner (formal wear)

 

The men's cross country team decided earlier in the week that they would dress formally for our team dinner on the night before today's NCAA Northeast Regionals. Unbeknownst to them, their idiot coach waited too long to get dinner reservations! But Coach Billy came to the rescue and found an Italian restaurant that was willing to deliver to the hotel. Undaunted, the guys (with the notable exception of TP, and of course the coaches) got into their formal wear for dinner -- in the hotel lobby! Shades of Jerk Squad (which, yes folks, still happens)! Neat.

NCAA Northeast Regionals

 Sorry for the lack of posts. The cross country team concludes its season at the NCAA Northeast Regional, which will be at the Hopkinton (NH) Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, NH. UMass Lowell is the host. The original site was Franklin Park in Boston but it was relocated due to (ongoing) construction in the Franklin Park area. Women's 6km race is at 11a and men's 10km race is at 12 noon o'clock. More details/results will follow in the coming days. We are driving vans to the meet, so post-race results and notes will have to wait until we get back to Marist. OK!

NYC Marathon 2024

 

Thanks to loyal alums, blog followers and avid group texters Omar Perez and Billy Hild for constantly updating me on the NYC Marathon on Sunday. Good thing! My piece of crap phone is so old that I failed to download the marathon app, which was the only way to track the runners (of course, this could yet another "user error" scenario too). Anyway! Omar took this awesome photo of Spencer Bossi-Johnson, apparently startling him. Here is an email I sent to folks across campus who might be interested in our Forever Foxes still running strong.

--Spencer Bossi-Johnson was 25th American finisher (43rd overall) in 2:23:14. Earlier this year, Spencer competed in the US Olympic Team Trials Marathon in Orlando. Spencer and his wife Lauren just moved to Poughkeepsie, and Spencer occasionally trains with the current Marist team. Lauren was just hired as an assistant track coach at Vassar College. Picture attached taken from Marist alum and teammate Omar Perez.

Other Marist alums who finished in the top 1,000 out of more than 55,000 finishers: 

169-Sam Goldzweig 2:32:38

207-Graham Strzelecki 2:34:03

587-Bryan Buttigieg 2:43:52

639-Christopher Rivas 2:44:39

Other Marist alums that I could find (with help from Billy and Omar):

--Will Duggan 2:52:59

--Anthony Ferreri 3:40:55 (139 of 1,378 in 60-64 age group)

--Kathryn (Sheehan) Hayes 3:49:36

--Kent Rinehart 4:04:35 (dean of admission, pacing the 4:05 pace group)

--Rachel Lichtenwalner 4:17:03

If I come across more results and additional pictures, I will post (them) here. 

MAAC Championships: Men's results

This was a disappointing finish for the men. We technically "tied" Canisius for fifth place, but in the head-to-head, 1-through-5 tiebreaker, they prevailed 3-2, so the official finish place = sixth. Which stinks. It's a bigger and better league. Merrimack placed fourth and they are new to the league. So sixth place out of 13 is "technically" in the top half of the field, but it doesn't feel great. Because? It wasn't. 

MAAC Championships
Saturday, November 2, 2024
Twin Ponds on the Farm
Montgomery, NY
Men’s team standings
1-Iona 15, 2-Rider 73, 3-Siena 83, 4-Merrimack 129, 5-Canisius 151, 6-Marist 151, 7-Mount. St. Mary’s 233, 8-Fairfield 243, 9-Manhattan 270, 10-Niagara 282, 11-Quinnipiac 302, 12-Sacred Heart 312, 13-St. Peter’s 428
Men’s individual results, 8km course
24-Tyler Perry - 25:16.4
34-Gabriel Rodriguez - 25:32.3
36-Kieran Donnelly - 25:34.8
41-Jeremy Mbogo - 25:42.0
42-Logan Schaeffler - 25:42.1
50-Matthew Ferreri - 25:52.2
51-Steven Viera - 25:52.9
61-Jeremiah Lanum - 26:03.3
67-Dennis Love - 26:06.5
69-Joaquin Bell-Andrade - 26:12.6
72-Miles Chamberlain - 26:15.5
74-Kevin Cannon - 26:16.7
75-Justin Schwartz - 26:17.7
78-Davis Haines - 26:18.3
79-Raffi Buchakjian - 26:19.1
82-Sanjith Nomula - 26:23.7
96-Sean Wilson - 26:43.3
103-Patrick Wininger - 26:50.6
106-Alexander Ushchak - 26:51.8
110-Alexander Pattison - 26:59.1
118-Jackson Borge - 27:09.2
121-Francisco Mendonca - 27:13.1
126-Pierce Francis - 27:20.6
130-Ryan Wisker - 27:28.0
132-Jack Dovaras - 27:29.5
156-David Laubenheimer - 28:31.6
173 finishers

MAAC Championships: Women's results

Results below include times (in parentheses) from the Jasper Invitational on the same course six weeks prior. You'll notice some improvements in the times, which is great. Not great? Our team finish today. It was a disappointing sixth place, just an eyelash away from seventh place. Not what we were hoping for. Bummer. On a positive note, our alumni, family, friends, track team support was superb!  

MAAC Championships
Saturday, November 2, 2024
Twin Ponds on the Farm
Montgomery, NY
Women’s team standings
1-Quinnipiac 31, 2-Iona 68, 3-Rider 110, 4-Siena 117, 5-Canisius 142, 6-Marist 169, 7-Sacred Heart 172, 8-Merrimack 209, 9-Fairfield 209, 10-Niagara 285, 11-Manhattan 289, 12-Mount St. Mary’s 329, 13-St. Peter’s 434
Women’s individual results, 6km course
18-Sierra Fisher - 21:28.7
32-Julia Zydanowicz - 22:09.6 (22:14.0)
34-Kyra Pellegrino - 22:11.6 (22:09.8)
44-Adele Alexander - 22:23.3 (22:44.6)
45-Edy Livingston - 22:23.9 (22:50.4)
57-Paige McCaul - 22:36.9 (23:07.8)
62-Mallory Halloway - 22:40.6 (23:16.1)
64-Emily Litke - 22:43.7 (23:18.2)
68-Addy Thibodeau - 22:56.8 (22:09.2)
76-Isabella Colabatistto - 23:09.4 (24:33.5)
'78-Raven Stanet - 23:10.8 (24:02.6)
83-Kate Murtagh - 23:23.6 (23:52.7)
96-Mary Dougherty - 23:42.6 (24:52.0)
97-Rebecca Maclaren - 23:43.0
111-Tori Mariano - 24:12.8
113-Christina Diorio - 24:14.0
137-Rachael Turek - 25:38.1
149-Madison Whited - 27:03.0
156 finishers

Halloween #2 = 2p practice group (photo)

 

Several themes presented here, a few of which escaped my limited pop culture knowledge (Despicable Me + Bruno Mars?). Also noted, "Pete costumes" were not permitted this year.

Halloween #1 = Morning lift

 

Halloween spirit started early (6:45a) with sprinter morning lift = highlighted by Coach Alisha's birthday. Neat!

Theme Week #2 = Ben Fleet (Appreciation) Day

 

In perhaps one of the most original and creative themes in recent memory? On Wednesday, the women's XC team had "Ben Fleet Appreciation Day" in honor of our new strength and conditioning coach, who has motivated and inspired our distance athletes. (Forever Foxes, do not despair: Coach Suma is still the head strength and conditioning coach, working with the track athletes). Ben has the classic strength coach look: Muscular and tattooed, and our ladies followed suit. Although I wasn't there (I was at the track with the middle-distance athletes), word is that Ben actually ran one mile with the women. That's putting the "conditioning" in strength and conditioning, for sure. Neat!

Theme Week #1 = Pink Day

 

Our women's XC team likes to have "Theme Week" before every MAAC Championship. We started off on Tuesday at the (Vassar) track with "Pink Day" (an alert/snarky follower of the program called it "Pepto Bismol Day" after seeing this picture). Anyway? Lots of spirit and energy (out there)!

What's next: MAAC Championships

 Our next cross country meet is the MAAC Championships on Saturday at Twin Ponds on the Farm in Montgomery, NY. Race times are men's 8km at 11a and women's 6km at 12 noon o'clock.