Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Inside the numbers: School records are more than just names

As thrilling as it was to see Kathryn Sheehan and Kristen Traub obliterate yet another school record, it is bittersweet for older coaches like me and my longtime compadre, Phil Kelly, when these longtime marks go bye-bye. In this case, the 10-year-old 3,000-meter outdoor record that they laid waste to with such toughness at Yale on Sunday was held for 10 years by Liza Grudzinski.


Many readers of this fancy blog (other than Phil and me) may just know Liza as a name in the record books. For us, she was and is a living, breathing, heart-and-soul member of our Track Family. “Little Liza” came into Marist in the late 1990s from Connecticut, looking more like an eighth-grader than a college freshman. But her diminutive stature belied a talented, fierce and incredibly tough runner who led our program through a true glory era of MAAC Championships and school-record performances, from the time she walked into the McCann Center until her graduation five years later. Liza is not just a name on the school-record pages for us. She lives on in program lore as one of the best athletes we have ever had.

And the cool thing about Liza is that she is still “chasin’ it” a decade after she left Marist. She has become one of the best mountain runners in the United States. Her marathon debut at Philly in 2012 was nothingshort of remarkable when she ran 2:55:58. And most recently, earlier this month, she blitzed a half marathon in Danbury in a stellar time of 1:24:24. Great stuff!

Such is the cycle of our sport. The cliché goes that records are made to be broken. But when they are broken, we feel joy and nostalgia all at once; joy at our current athletes doing their best and doing something no one has done before, and nostalgia as we remember the athletes who set the bar at that level, whose names are gone from the record books but most definitely not forgotten. Here’s hoping that, God willing if I am still coaching and writing this blog in 2023, I type up a post about some new hot-shot runners lowering the 3km record even more -- all the while waxing poetic about the runners back in 2013 who set standards for future runners and maybe still will be chasin’ it on the roads and trails of the future.

There is no finish line …

Senior Awards Banquet 2013

Thanks to Kathy Gould for sharing this photo of some well-dressed men and women (and a couple of old guys) at the Senior Awards Banquet at Christo's in Poughkeepsie. Through some bizarre background effect, the Old Man (me) and Big Man Moss (next to me) seem to have coneheads. The other Old Guy in the photo is Dr. Greg Sand, our faculty mentor who has quickly become a valuable member of our nomadic Track Family. It was great to have him there for the banquet. The evening went well, as we begin the long process of saying goodbye to these wonderful men (even Schanz!) and women who we have been honored to coach for the past 4 years. 

What's next: Vassar and MAACs

The outdoor track season is heading toward its finish line. Friday night, we are at our de facto "home" track for the Matthew Vassar Twilight meet at Vassar College. We will have a large number of men's entries, more than ever. The meet promises to be very strong, as my good pal Nick McDonough's team from the D3 power NYU will be in attendance. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, we go to Rider for the MAAC meet. I will post the final time schedules for both meets once they are finalized. For those that received the order of events I handed out earlier this week, the Vassar time sked will be updated based on entries. Stay tuned. If you are in the area Friday night, we hope to see you at Vassar.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Yale Springtime Invitational: Women's results and splits -- two break SR in 3km!

A 10-year-old school record was shattered – twice in the same race! – at Yale on Sunday. Kathryn Sheehan (10:02.64) won the race and Kristen Traub (10:06.16) was second in the 3,000-meter run. Both times shattered the 10-year-old school record of 10:10.02, set by Liza Grudzinski in 2003. For Kathryn, it was a personal-best time by six seconds over her indoor best. For Kristen, it was her first attempt at the distance in college. In the second section, Kelley Gould dipped under 11:00 for the first time with a monster kick and won the race in 10:59.90. One barrier down, one to go.

In the sprints, Danielle Asaro had a superb trio of races – leading the charge in the 400-meter relay, and then notching season-best times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. She had a phenomenal day.

Yale Springtime Invitational
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Women’s results
100-meter dash
21-Danielle Asaro 13.04
27-Alexia Santiago 13.77
33-Taylor Mead 14.19
200-meter dash
24-Danielle Asaro 27.08
40-Alexia Santiago 29.30
45-Taylor Mead 30.42
400-meter dash
25-Colleen Meenan 1:06.22
27-Rachael Peterson 1:09.47
800-meter run
29-Catherine Ferreri 2:35.74
37-Lizzie Peper 2:47.77
1,500-meter run
8-Nicki Nesi 4:54.42
74.5, 2:34.3 (79.8) 3:55.9 (81.6), 4:54.42 (79.42 last 400m)
3,000-meter run
1-Kathryn Sheehan 10:02.64 *school record
81, 2:40 (79), 3:59 (79), 5:19 (80)
6:40 (81), 8:04 (84), 9:24 (80), 10:02.64 (38.64)
2-Kristen Traub 10:06.16 *breaks previous school record
80, 2:40 (80), 3:59 (79), 5:18 (79)
6:38 (80), 8:03 (85), 9:26 (83), 10:06.16 (40.16)
16-Kelley Gould 10:59.90
86, 2:52 (86), 4:22 (90), 5:52 (90)
7:20 (88), 8:51 (81), 10:19 (90), 10:59.90 (40.90)
24-Brianne Vess (unattached) 11:48.59
85, 2:54 (89), 4:26 (92), 6:01 (95)
7:40 (99), 9:22 (102), 11:03 (101), 11:48.59 (45.59)
100-meter hurdles
12-Alex McCahill 17.55
400-meter hurdles
9-Alex McCahill 1:10.08
400-meter relay
7-Marist (Alexia Santiago, Danielle Asaro, Colleen Meenan, Alex McCahill) 53.67

Yale Springtime Invitational: Men's results, highlights, splits

It was a solid day at Yale, with the following individual highlights:
--Alex Cunningham had the highest individual finish of the day, placing third in the 110-meter hurdles in a personal-best time of 15.52 seconds. This came a day after he played in the Spring Football Game. Nice job, Alex!
--Charlie Ropes placed fourth in the 5,000-meter run in 15:18.08, an amazing debut at the distance.
--And Zach Berzal placed fifth in the 400-meter hurdles in a personal-best time of 57.80 seconds.
--Other personal-best marks included Ryan Scrudato (12th in the 1,500, 4:06.09 and Pat Deedy (18th in the 5,000-meter run in 15:58.99).

You’ll notice the mob scene in the 5km race again. Most of the guys came up flat. When that happens, an easy target is the coach. I’ll take the blame for most because of perhaps a too-aggressive workout last week, and then move on to our final meets. However, the guys that ran well, ran really well. For the second week in a row, we need to highlight Deedy, who happens to be THE MAN. This time, he finally dipped under the 16:00 barrier. Nicely done.

Yale Springtime Invitational
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Men’s results
100-meter dash
14-Darren Bushey 11.51
400-meter dash
21-Connor Dodge 55.14
800-meter run
23-Bryan Buttigieg 2:00.64
31-Kyle Hannafin 2:02.48
1,500-meter run
8-Ken Walshak (unattached) 4:02.96
64, 2:09 (65), 3:14 (65) 4:02.96 (65.96 last 400m)
12-Ryan Scrudato 4:06.09
65, 2:10 (65), 3:16 (66), 4:06.09 (66.09 last 400m)
5,000-meter run
Note: Due to excessive entries in this event, “Split Bro” Ryan Scrudato recorded kilometer splits and not individual lap splits. We thank him profusely for his efforts, and we congratulate him on his PR in the 1,500 earlier in the day.
4-Charlie Ropes 15:18.08
3:02, 6:08 (3:04), 9:14 (3:06), 12:21 (3:07), 15:18.08 (2:57.08)
7-Johnny Lee 15:28.59
3:01, 6:08 (3:07), 9:15 (3:07), 12:27 (3:12), 15:28.59 (3:01.59)
8-Ryan Colabella (unattached) 15:30.71
3:01, 6:08 (3:07), 9:15 (3:07), 12:27 (3:12), 15:30.71 (3:03.71)
11-Billy Posch 15:33.18
3:00, 6:03 (3:03), 9:08 (3:05), 12:18 (3:10), 15:33.18 (3:15.18)
12-Billy Hild 15:36.63
3:00, 6:03 (3:03), 9:10 (3:07), 12:21 (3:11), 15:36.63 (3:15.36)
15-Kevin O’Sullivan (unattached) 15:44.18
3:01, 6:04 (3:03), 9:09 (3:05), 12:28 (3:19), 15:44.18 (3:16.18)
17-Pat Rynkowski 15:52.31
3:01, 6:08 (3:07), 9:15 (3:07), 12:32 (3:17), 15:52.31 (3:20.31)
18-Pat Deedy 15:58.99
3:08, 6:18 (3:10), 9:31 (3:13), 12:48 (3:17), 15:58.99 (3:10.99)
20-Ian Dorset 16:04.91
3:02, 6:09 (3:07), 9:25 (3:16), 12:44 (3:19), 16:04.91 (3:20.91)
21-Doug Ainscow 16:26.10
3:13, 6:26 (3:13), 9:46 (3:20), 13:07 (3:21), 16:26.10 (3:19.10)
22-Omar Perez 16:32.96
3:08, 6:20 (3:12), 9:42 (3:22), 13:06 (3:24), 16:32.96 (3:26.96)
26-Tommy Lappas 16:38.69
3:13, 6:26 (3:13), 9:50 (3:24), 13:17 (3:27), 16:38.69 (3:21.69)
27-Will Schanz 16:40.43
3:10, 6:24 (3:24), 9:46 (3:22), 13:11 (3:25), 16:40.43 (3:29.43)
31-Ricky Willi 17:20.30
3:13, 6:32 (3:19), 10:05 (3:33), 13:47 (3:42), 17:20.30 (3:37.30)
110-meter hurdles
3-Alex Cunningham 15.52
400-meter hurdles
5-Zach Berzal 57.80
7-Rob Marone 59.45
3,000-meter steeplechase
3-Mark Valentino (unattached) 9:48.95
78, 2:38 (80), 3:59 (81), 5:24 (85), 6:48 (84), 8:13 (85), 9:37 (84), 9:48.95 (11.95)
6-Chris Reynolds 10:17.45
80, 2:44 (84), 4:12 (86), 5:40 (88), 7:09 (89), 8:38 (89), 10:05 (87), 10:17.45 (12.45)
1,600-meter relay
3-Marist (Zach Berzal 52.6, Bryan Buttigieg 55.0, Connor Dodge 53.9, Darren Bushey 53.9) 3:35.56
Long jump
11-Aaron Kippins 5.33 meters

Penn Relays, Saturday results and atmosphere

First things first: Our men's 4x800 relay team placed 27th out of 33 teams entered in the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 7:49.51. This time was well off our goal of an IC4A qualifying mark of sub-7:43.00. However, team captain Matt Panebianco accurately pointed out that this time would have represented a school record at the beginning of the 2012 outdoor season. So this relay has come a long way. Leadoff man Chris Vanzetta went out aggressively and had the lead after a lap. But about 100 meters into the second lap, he hit the inside rail, got tripped and never regained his momentum. His leadoff leg of 1:58.2 effectively ended our hopes of an IC4A qualifying mark. However, the rest of the relay did an excellent job of keeping us in the race and salvaging a passable overall time. Here are the numbers on the relay legs, courtesy of Coach Chuck's iPad split taking app:

Chris Vanzetta 1:58.2 (54.8 opening 400)
David Marthy 1:55.5 (55.5 opening 400)
Matt Panebianco 1:57.1 (56.5 opening 400)
Mark Vuono 1:58.5 (55.4 opening 400)

This was my first time at Penn Relays on Saturday. It is quite an atmosphere at Franklin Field, far different than the rather low-key Thursday Distance Night. The weather was perfectly splendid, brilliant sunshine and warm weather. Couldn't have been any better. Of specific note was the incredibly energetic crowd support for Team Jamaica. Wow! Jamaica fans were everywhere, in their brightly colored yellow shirts and pants. It was awesome.

Also, congrats to Emily Lipari of Villanova (brother of Marist Running Alum Tommy Lipari) for her incredible meet and winning the College Women's Athlete of the meet for relay events. Nicely done, Emily! It was great to see Tommy there; he was cheering on our relay from the upper deck, and Matty said he was the only one he heard while he was racing. At one point, Tom's dad called him on the cell phone and asked where he was. He screamed into the phone: "I'm with my team!" Yeah man. Once your team, always your team. Great stuff.

Next up: Yale meet on Sunday.

Friday, April 26, 2013

From Penn Relays, to Tiger Relays, and back to Penn Relays again ...

Check out this cool photo that my wife Heidi took from the Tiger Relays at Dietz Stadium in Kingston this afternoon. On the left is our son Joey, who ran leadoff leg of the Haviland Middle School 4x800 relay team. He is handing off to his teammate, John-Ryan, with a BLIND HANDOFF! Pretty fancy stuff for eighth-graders, huh? Joey is one of four boys who have christened themselves the "D-Squad" for "distance." Good stuff. I was not there; instead, I was at our youngest son James' Little League game (dude went 3-for-4!). Sorry, I do not have the HMS relay splits; you know if I was there they would be posted here! After a quick roundtrip to Philly for Penn Relays Thursday/Friday for the distance races, it's back down there tomorrow for the big-boy 4x800 relay. Look for results, splits, comments, late Saturday night, followed by the Yale meet on Sunday.

Penn Relays, Thursday night distance results: Vess notches strong PR

Congrats to Marist Running Alum Adam Vess for his stellar showing in the Olympic Development 5km race at Penn. Vess has been training well up at Flagstaff, and his return to the East Coast was nearly triumphant but nonetheless very successful. As you will see by the numbers, Vess (competing for Run Flagstaff) had a monster kick that was just one-upped by the race winner (Frank Devar of Pacers New Balance). His last kilometer of 2:40 was vintage Vess. After all he has been through, it is great to see him return to form with a nearly 30-second PR at this distance. We are hopeful he stays healthy and strong and continues to build on this excellent effort. Nicely done!

Olympic Development Men’s 5,000-meter run
2-Adam Vess (Run Flagstaff) 14:04.85
68, 2:16 (68), 3:25 (69), 4:34 (69)
5:44 (70), 6:51 (67), 7:58 (67), 9:07 (69)
11:15 (68), 11:24 (69), 12:31 (67), 13:33 (62)
14:04.85 (31.85)
Kilometer splits: 2:51, 2:53, 2:49, 2:51, 2:40

Penn Relays, Thursday night distance results: Three IC4A qualifiers in one race

It was a long but perfect night, weather-wise, for the distance races at Penn Relays. In the men's 10km, Will Griffin, Quimes DelaCruz and Joel Moss all qualified for the IC4A Championships. For Quimes and Joel, the times were personal-best marks. For Joel, it represented sweet vindication after his oh-so-close, less-than-a-second near miss at Penn last year. Nicely done, Big Man Moss! In the women's 5km, Katie Messina had a solid but so-so race in the Olympic Development section. The time was 9 seconds slower than her PR set at Colonial, but it should be noted that it is her second-fastest ever. Splits provided by team captain Matt Panebianco, who will be on the 4x800 relay on Saturday. If there are errors, let me know, as I was bleary-eyed in typing these ...

College men’s 10,000-meter run Championship
15-Will Griffin 30:17.35 *IC4A qualifier
69, 2:22 (73), 3:32 (70), 4:44 (72)
5:56 (72), 7:09 (73), 8:21 (72), 9:36 (75)
10:48 (72), 11:59 (71), 13:12 (73), 14:23 (71)
15:35 (72), 16:47 (72), 18:01 (74), 19:14 (73)
20:27 (73), 21:42 (75), 22:57 (75), 24:12 (75)
25:27 (75), 26:40 (73), 27:54 (74), 29:06 (72)
30:17.35 (71.35)
First 5km: 15:00; second 5km: 15:17.35
18-Arquimedes DelaCruz 30:30.01 *IC4A qualifier
69, 2:22 (73), 3:32 (70), 4:44 (72)
5:56 (72), 7:09 (73), 8:21 (72), 9:36 (75)
10:48 (72), 11:59 (71), 13:12 (73), 14:23 (71)
15:35 (72), 16:47 (72), 18:01 (74), 19:14 (73)
20:27 (73), 21:43 (76), 22:58 (75), 24:12 (74)
25:29 (77), 26:44 (75), 28:03 (79), 29:20 (77)
30:30.01 (70.01)
First 5km: 15:00; second 5km: 15:30.01
30-Joel Moss 31:04.35 *IC4A qualifier
72, 2:25 (73), 3:36 (71), 4:48 (72)
6:01 (73), 7:14 (73), 8:27 (73), 9:41 (74)
10:54 (73), 12:08 (74), 13:24 (76), 14:39 (75)
15:54 (75), 17:10 (76), 18:27 (77), 19:43 (76)
20:59 (76), 21:15 (76), 23:31 (76), 24:47 (76)
26:04 (77), 27:22 (77), 28:38 (77), 29:54 (76)
31:04.35 (70.35)
First 5km: 15:16; second 5km: 15:48.35

Olympic Development Women’s 5,000-meter run
26-Katie Messina 17:46.08
83, 2:46 (83), 4:13 (87), 5:36 (83)
7:02 (86), 8:28 (86), 9:54 (86), 11:21 (87)
12:48 (87), 14:15 (87), 15:40 (85), 17:06 (86)
17:46.08 (40.08)
Kilometer splits: 3:29, 3:33, 3:35, 3:38, 3:31

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

What’s next: Penn Relays and Yale

Looking for your favorite Running Red Foxes? Here’s where we will be this weekend …
Thursday night: Our usual spot at Penn Relays for distance races. We have four athletes -- and one prominent alum -- entered.
Saturday afternoon: Penn Relays, for the men’s 4x800 relay.
Sunday: Yale Invitational, the majority of the team.
Hope to see you here, there and anywhere. We'll post results and splits as we can, in between long bouts of van driving ...

Train in vain: When injuries invade a team ...

With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, who has made a living on this type of humor … today, on behalf of dedicated assistant coach Terry Horton and the rest of our beleaguered staff, I present to you a list that we all can certainly appreciate: You might be a stressed-out coach!

Before I start the list, there was one point during Saturday’s meet at Stony Brook in which Coach Horton had about a half-hour stretch of bad news that was truly dizzying. For someone who has been around our sport for nearly half a century, he said he does not remember such an incredible run of misfortune in such a short span of time. Anyway … without further ado … here’s the Foxworthy-inspired list!

--When the leadoff leg of your 4x100 relay pulls up with a muscle injury early in the season, thus sending that relay into a constant state of flux  … you might be a stressed-out coach.
--When your record-setting sprinter busts out what might be the best long jump of his career, but fouls by a nano-centimeter, and oh by the way tweaks his groin in the process … you might be a stressed-out coach.
--When that same record-setting sprinter and long jumper is on your 4x100 relay that is supposed to run Penn Relays in a few days … you might be a stressed-out coach.
--When the 4x100 relay that has so much promise is on the verge of a very high placement at the Stony Brook meet, but the last baton pass winds up with the stick on the track … you might be a stressed-out coach.
--When your record-setting female jumper (who also happens to be a key cog on the women’s 4x100 relay) pops her hamstring and then fractures her ankle as a result of the hamstring pull and an awkward landing … you might be a stressed-out coach. (Might? Are you KIDDING me! This may have been one of the cruelest twists of fate I can ever remember befalling an athlete at a single moment in a single event).
--And finally … when the majority of your team is on a first-name basis with every member of the training room staff – I mean everyone, full-time trainers, part-time trainers, student workers – you might be a very, very stressed-out coach.

Oh. Please understand that this is only a partial list! Our distance team is not immune to such maladies -- judging by the number of crutches, heat packs, ice packs, ice baths, physical therapist appointments, podiatrist appointments, chiropractic appointments, orthopedic surgery appointments, allergy specialist appointments, emergency room visits, health services visits, blood tests, antibiotic prescriptions, and who knows what else – we have endured for the past several weeks and months. After a relatively injury-free cross country season, track and field has more than made up for lost time. Call it law of averages, Murphy’s Law, whatever … we might be stressed-out coaches for good reason! Here’s hoping we can make it through the final few weeks of the season with a little less stress.

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Wolfie Inviational at Stony Brook: Men's results

Solid day at Stony Brook: 
Top finisher: Alex Cunningham, second in the high hurdles in a personal-best time
Personal-best times: Nick Salek and Ryan Scrudato, 1,500 run; Pat Rynkowski and Charlie Ropes, 3,000 run; Ty Gamble and Pat Deedy, 5,000 run.
How to you spell inspiriation? D-E-E-D-Y: Junior Pat Deedy’s monster PR in the 5,000 (previous best more than 30 seconds slower) was inspired by the events of earlier in the week in Boston. As mentioned in a previous post, Deedy was working the athletic training area of the Marathon and was front-and-center to the terror on Monday afternoon. He channeled his emotions into one of the most goose-bump-inspiring races you will ever see. If you were there, you know what I mean. If you were not there, my words cannot come close to capturing it.
Wolfie Invitational
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Stony Brook University Track
Stony Brook, NY
Men’s results
100-meter dash
8-Darren Bushey 11.58
200-meter dash
15-Alex Cunningham 24.07
19-Darren Bushey 24.51
800-meter run
18-Mark Vuono 2:01.05 (58, 63.05)
20-Bryan Buttigieg 2:01.75 (59, 62.75)
23-Kyle Hannafin 2:02.48 (59, 63.48)
1,500-meter run
5-Ken Walshak (unattached) 4:01.26
62, 2:07 (65), 3:11 (64), 4:01.26 (66.26 last 400m)
6-Nick Salek 4:01.57
61, 2:05 (64), 3:10 (65), 4:01.57 (67.57 last 400m)
11-Ryan Scrudato 4:07.07
64, 2:10 (66), 3:18 (68), 4:07.07 (65.07 last 400m)
23-Mark Valentino (unattached) 4:21.33
68, 2:18 (70), 3:28 (70), 4:21.33 (69.33 last 400m)
26-Billy Hild 4:24.80
69, 2:19 (70), 3:30 (71), 4:24.80 (71.80 last 400m)
27-Nick Hughes 4:28.25
69, 2:19 (70), 3:32 (73), 4:28.25 (74.25 last 400m)
3,000-meter run
6-Pat Rynkowski 8:53.47
69, 2:21 (72), 3:33 (72), 4:44 (71)
5:58 (74), 7:11 (73), 8:22 (71), 8:53.47 (31.47)
7-Billy Posch 8:53.79
69, 2:21 (72), 3:33 (72), 4:44 (71)
5:58 (74), 7:10 (72), 8:21 (71), 8:53.79 (32.79)
8-Charlie Ropes 8:54.54
70, 2:22 (72), 3:35 (73), 4:46 (71)
5:59 (73), 7:12 (73), 8:23 (71), 8:54.54 (32.54)
10-Johnny Lee 9:01.18
69, 2:21 (72), 3:34 (73), 4:47 (73)
6:00 (73), 7:14 (74), 8:27 (73), 9:01.18 (34.18)
11-Ian Dorset 9:01.54
69, 2:21 (71), 3:35 (74), 4:47 (72)
6:00 (73), 7:14 (74), 8:27 (73), 9:01.54 (34.54)
5,000-meter run
11-Ty Gamble 15:55.03
72, 2:25 (73), 3:38 (73), 4:51 (73)
6:07 (76), 7:24 (77), 8:41 (77), 10:01 (80)
11:21 (81), 12:41 (80), 14:01 (80), 15:19 (78)
15:55.03 (36.03)
1600-meter splits: 4:51, 5:10, 5:18
12-Pat Deedy 16:01.64
73, 2:26 (73), 3:41 (75), 4:56 (75)
6:14 (78), 7:32 (78), 8:50 (78), 10:09 (79)
12:29 (80), 12:44 (75), 14:05 (81), 15:25 (80)
16:01.64 (36.64)
1600-meter splits: 4:56, 5:13, 5:16
13-Justin Tampellini 16:25.33
72, 2:26 (74), 3:40 (74), 4:56 (76)
6:15 (79), 7:33 (78), 8:54 (81), 10:17 (83)
11:40 (83), 13:02 (82), 14:25 (83), 15:45 (80)
16:25.33 (40.33)
1600-meter splits: 4:56, 5:21, 5:28
14-Will Schanz 16:26.10
73, 2:26 (73), 3:41 (75), 4:57 (76)
6:16 (79), 7:35 (79), 8:57 (82), 10:19 (82)
11:41 (82), 13:03 (82), 14:26 (83), 15:48 (82)
16:26.10 (38.10)
1600-meter splits: 4:57, 5:21, 5:29
110-meter hurdles
2-Alex Cunningham 15.58
400-meter hurdles
8-Zach Berzal 58.26
11-Rob Marone 59.35
3,000-meter steeplechase
6-Chris Reynolds 10:14.13
74, 2:32 (78), 3:53 (81), 5:16 (83)
6:40 (84), 8:05 (85), 9:28 (83), 10:14.13 (46.13)
1,600-meter relay
7-Marist (Zach Berzal 52.4, Chris Vanzetta 50.6, Connor Dodge 53.0, Rob Marone 52.8) 3:29.04

Wolfie Invitational at Stony Brook: Women's results

Solid day at Stony Brook …

--Top finisher of the day: Nicole Scicolone, second place in the long jump, before her season came tumbling to a halt with a pair of devastating injuries after her excellent and gutsy day of competition.
--Personal-best times: Nicki Nesi, steeplechase; Erin Thompson and Becca Denise, 3km; Katie Messina, 1,500.
Wolfie Invitational
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Stony Brook University Track
Stony Brook, NY
Women’s results
100-meter dash
13-Danielle Asaro 13.60
17-Alexia Santiago 13.83
200-meter dash
15-Danielle Asaro 27.69
27-Alexia Santiago 28.57
800-meter run
20-Kathryn Sheehan 2:24.40 (70, 74.40)
24-Colleen Meenan 2:25.99 (69, 76.99)
31-Catherine Ferreri 2:37.25 (75, 82.25)
1,500-meter run
8-Katie Messina 4:57.17
79, 2:39 (80), 3:59 (80), 4:57.17 (77.17 last 400m)
19-Mariella Bilello 5:45.46
82, 2:56 (94), 4:34 (98), 5:45.46 (94.46 last 400m)
3,000-meter run
4-Erin Thompson 10:25.31
82, 2:44 (82), 4:07 (83), 5:31 (84)
6:58 (87), 8:24 (86), 9:41 (84), 10:25.31 (37.31)
6-Rebecca Denise 10:28.70
83, 2:48 (85), 4:12 (84), 5:36 (84)
7:00 (84), 8:25 (85), 9:48 (83), 10:28.70 (40.70)
12-Christine Coughlin 11:00.31
83, 2:48 (85), 4:12 (84), 5:38 (86)
7:09 (91), 8:45 (96), 10:20 (95), 11:00.31 (40.31)
16-Annie Gould 11:38.03
84, 2:50 (86), 4:20 (90), 5:55 (95)
7:31 (96), 9:10 (99), 10:50 (100), 11:38.03 (98.03)
5,000-meter run
11-Brianna Freestone 18:56.41
87, 2:53 (86), 4:24 (91), 5:51 (87)
7:19 (88), 8:49 (90), 10:21 (92), 11:55 (94)
13:29 (94), 15:05 (96), 16:40 (95), 18:13 (93)
18:56.41 (43.41)
1600-meter splits: 5:51, 6:04, 6:18
12-Kelley Gould 19:30.00
89, 2:57 (88), 4:28 (91), 5:58 (90)
7:30 (92), 9:04 (94), 10:40 (96), 12:17 (97)
15:31 (97), 17:08 (97), 18:45 (97)
19:30.00 (45.00)
1600-meter splits: 5:58, 6:19, 6:28
14-Rachel Lichtenwalner 20:21.33
90, 3:00 (90), 4:34 (94), 6:09 (95)
7:46 (97), 8:26 (100), 11:06 (100), 12:48 (102)
14:31 (103), 16:13 (102), 17:54 (101), 19:33 (99)
20:21.33 (48.33)
3,000-meter steeplechase
3-Nicki Nesi 11:36.19
85, 2:55 (90), 4:29 (94), 6:04 (95)
7:38 (94), 9:13 (95), 10:46 (93), 11:36.19 (50.19)
Long jump
2-Nicole Scicolone 5.16 meters (16 feet, 11.25 inches)

Wolfie Invitational: Thank you, thank you, thank you

As predicted, the Wolfie Invitational at Stony Brook turned into a de facto home meet for Marist Track, as our family, friends, alumni turnout was strong. Thank you wishes of gratitude go out to the following:

--All who brought food for the tailgate under the big red tent – in particular the Buttigiegs for the incredibly delicious 6-foot subs, and the Hannafins for the one and only Staten Island bagels. All others who brought food … it was greatly appreciated as well!
--Faculty mentor Dr. Greg Sand for coming out and supporting the team for the first time at a competition. Dr. Sand is a regular supporter of ours during Wednesday midday practices.
--Junior team member Doug Ainscow for taking care of all splits in all races. It allowed this old coach to go hands’ free all day. Nicely done.
--Everyone for their support. There is nothing nicer than having a cheering section for every race.

Confirmation: Big night in our household

April is a blur of activity in our track world. But on Friday afternoon/evening we stepped off the speeding train for a very special night as our oldest son Joey was confirmed in the Catholic church. It’s a big deal in our world. You’ll notice several things in the photo above, which my wife Heidi posted on Facebook:

--The women of the house are truly beautiful, aren’t they? Certainly in the eye of this beholder …
--The star of the night grows about a half-inch seemingly every day. He is creeping up on his old man, as you can see.
--Our youngest son, James, is caught in a rare moment of non-activity. Trust me, he was poised for motion as soon as the photo was taken.
--Lastly, the old guy on the right … you may not notice him without the customary running cap. Or, as my old pal Charlie Sprauer commented on Facebook about me: “Is that old man with the white hair the grandfather?” Nicely done.

Quimes finishes in top third of field in steeplechase at Princeton

Sorry for the delay in posting this result from Friday night: Senior Arquimedes DelaCruz place 11th out of 34 competitors in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton University. His time of 9:12.16 was six seconds slower than his school record that he set earlier this season. Quimes’ next crack at lowering his school record will come at the MAAC Championships in two weeks. This time was still well faster the IC4A qualifying mark. Quimes has set the bar high for himself: When a substandard race still qualifies him for ICs, that shows you how far he has come.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

UPDATED: Wolfie Invitational at Stony Brook time schedule

Here is a more detailed time schedule. I will print out copies for the team to distribute at practice Friday and/or bus on Saturday. Bus leaves McCann parking lot at 6:15 a.m. Saturday. Be there or be left behind ...

Time Schedule: Track Events
4x100 Relay – Women                                 11.30am
4x100 Relay –  Men                                     11.35am
1,500 – Women                                           11.40am             2 heats
1,500 – Men                                                 11.50am            3 heats
100 M Hurdles – Women                             12.05pm            3 heats
110 M Hurdles – Men                                  12:15pm             2 heats
3000M – Women                                         12.25pm            1 heat
3000M – Men                                               12.40pm            1 heat
400 M – Women                                           12.55pm           3 heats
400 M – Men                                                  1.05pm            3 heats
100 M – Women                                             1:15pm            3 heats
100 M – Men                                                  1.25pm            3 heats
3000M Steeple – Women                               1.35pm            1 heat
3000M Steeple – Men                                    1.50pm             1 heat
800 M – Women                                             2.05pm             4 heats
800 M – Men                                                  2.20pm             4 heats
400 M Intermediate Hurdles – Women          2.35pm             1 heats
400 M Intermediate Hurdles – Men               2.40pm             2 heats
200 M - Women                                             2.50pm             5 heats            
200 M – Men                                                 3.00pm             3 heats
5,000 M – Women                                         3.10pm             1 heat
5,000 M – Men                                               3.30pm            1 heat
4x400 M Relay – Women                              3.50pm             2 heats
4x400 M Relay – Men                                   4.00pm             2 heats
Jumps:
11.00am: Men's Long Jump followed by men's Triple Jump
11.00am: Women's Long Jump followed by Women's Triple Jump
11.45am: Women's Pole Vault followed by Men's Pole Vault
11.45am: Men's High Jump followed by Women's High Jump