Saturday, September 5, 2009

Today's home meet: Crunching the numbers

To paraphrase (butcher, really) Dickens ... it was a tale of two September 5ths.

Last year: Our home meet was on Friday, September 5. Hot, humid, dusty.
This year: Our home meet was on Saturday, September 5. Sunny, dry, seasonably warm.

To be sure, the weather was better this year, and as a result returning runners tended to run much faster than 2008. However, if you check out the comparisons from last year, the improvement is startling in some cases ... especially among women's entrants for the Running Red Foxes.

Here are today's results, with last year's results or status in parenthesis.

Check it out, along with some unsolicited Coach Pete commentary ...

Women
Brittany Burns
19:39 (21:17). Stunningly better, nicely done!
Kathryn Sheehan 20:02 (20:11). Solid effort this year.
Katie Messina 20:04 (freshman, DNR this meet). Fast start, but hung tough.
Julie Hudak 20:26 (21:39). Awesome improvement!
Jackie Gamboli 20:41 (freshman, DNR this meet). Solid effort, great kick.
Sarah Keating 20:57 (DNR). Good start to a great season hopefully.
Sarah Parsloe 21:17 (27:14). A nearly 6-minute improvement, wow!
Kara Lightowler 21:19 (DNR). Nicely done, great start.
Ashley Jensen 21:21 (freshman, DNR). Great debut on tough course.
Jillian Corley 21:23 (22:59). Better than last year, but still can be better.
Kelley Hanifin 21:31 (22:12). Solid start.
Erin O’Reilly 21:45 (freshman, DNR). Welcome!
Katie Topalian 21:47 (21:50). Almost identical to last year.
Dayna McLaughlin 21:53 (21:44). About the same.
Allyson O’Brien 22:05 (23:33). Big jump from 08
Colleen Smith 22:41 (freshman, DNR). Welcome!
Rebecca Denise 22:58 (freshman, DNR). Welcome!
Kelley Gould 23:08 (freshman, DNR). Welcome! Can be better at Bowdoin.
Rachel Bremer 23:15 (freshman, DNR). Welcome!
Shannon Farrell 23:33 (24:50). Big boost from last year.
Elizabeth O’Brien 23:53 (DNR). Decent start.
Rachel Lichtenwalner 24:12 (freshman, DNR). Welcome!
Meaghan Lass 25:10 (25:23). A little better, after a rough summer.

Men
Adam Vess
16:12 (DNR). Not bad for being sick.
Matthew Flint 16:17 (16:49). Big jump, looking good.
Conor Shelley 16:21 (16:34). Solid start.
Curtis Jensen 16:24 (16:57). Awesome. Will only get better.
Nick Webster 16:41 (16:50). Decent start.
Quimes DelaCruz 16:49 (freshman, DNR). Welcome, nicely done!
Zak Smetana 16:50 (17:36). Star of the meet.
Tim Keegan 16:54 (17:28). Much better than last year.
Sam McMullen 16:56 (17:33). Great bounce back after tough spring.
Tom Lipari 17:06 (17:09). All things considered ... excellent.
Billy Posch 17:07 (freshman, DNR). Welcome, nice start.
Pat Duggan 17:18 (17:55). Huge effort.
Joel Moss 17:30 (freshman, DNR). Welcome. Tremendous!
Mike Nicoletti 17:31 (freshman, DNR). Welcome, nice job.
Matt Janczyk 17:31 (18:27). Not as awful as last year.
Matt Panebianco 17:37 (freshman, DNR). Welcome!
Mike Keegan 17:50 (freshman, DNR). Welcome! Pretty strong.
Ryan Fitzsimons 17:52 (transfer, DNR). Welcome! Will get better.
Ryan Brown 17:56 (18:30). Not bad, will get much better.
Sean Nestor 18:09 (freshman, DNR). Get well soon.
Colin Johnson 18:17 (first year XC, DNR). Welcome to xc.
Greg Masto 18:25 (18:19). About the same.
Mike Holinko 19:19 (19:29). About the same.
Brendan Green 19:28 (freshman, DNR). Welcome!
Luke Shane 20:01 (first year XC, DNR). Welcome to hills!

Men's note: 9 guys sub-17:00 at Bowdoin. With no Will Griffin. That's pretty darn good.

David Raucci 16:02 (16:41). Would be nice if you had another xc season of eligibility. Still great to see you running strong. See you in the winter.

Great day all around. Thanks to all for their efforts and sportsmanship. Great to see all the family and friends in attendance.

Back to work as we tackle important meets down the road ...

Final note: Thanks to Terry Horton for all the work he put on to make this meet a success. Without him, there would be no Bowdoin Park xc course. Thanks, Terry!

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