How we got here: Marist and racewalking

So here we are, at the much-anticipated United States Olympic Trials track meet, the one that was supposed to happen in 2020 and the one that was feared not to happen in 2021. We know about last year and boy, we don’t need to rehash any of THAT anymore. We know about the beginning of this year. Well. We made it to the other side. The Olympic Trials meet is here, it’s now, it’s great, and we’re grateful to be here. How did we get here? The literal me wants to tell you about our predawn drive down to JFK, a long and uneventful flight to Seattle, a much shorter and equally uneventful flight to Portland, and a sunny and uneventful drive down here to Springfield, just across the river from Eugene. A long and grateful day of much awaited traveling. But no. I’m not talking about “how we got here,” but rather how we got to the point where we have Olympic Trials caliber racewalkers. At Marist College. But for starters, a little background. First, we actually have history in the racewalk, and his name is Mike Morris. Alert, older readers of this blog (especially one guy with the initials ‘PVA’) will remember Mike Morris, an Our Lady of Lourdes High School graduate and later a national caliber racewalker here at Marist and post-collegiately for a few years. Morris’ late dad Noel, a retired Poughkeepsie police sergeant, was a loyal parishioner at our church (St. Peter’s in Hyde Park). Mr. Morris was a true gentleman, and he used to regale me with stories and bring me memorabilia from his son’s glory days.

The “modern” history of women’s racewalking at Marist is a story of accidental serendipity, followed by a domino effect with a parade of dedicated and talented young women who have put their heart into a unique niche in our sport. It started a little less than a decade ago, when Kristi Licursi showed up for an accepted students day at Marist in April of 2013. She had reached out to me via email, expressing interest in our program. She was a racewalker and a runner from Somers. She made it clear that she was attending Marist. She made it clear that she wanted to run. She made it clear that she wanted to racewalk. I met her at that accepted students day, as I have with dozens and dozens of young women and men through the years. Run? On our team? Certainly, no problem, I said. Racewalk? On our team? Huh. Wait a minute. Racewalking is not an NCAA sponsored event in track and field! How would that work? Would it work? Could it work? We talked some more. I thought some more, including some rare (for me) outside-the-box thinking. I’ve always been intrigued by the racewalk, back from my sportswriting days when we had a national caliber racewalker (Teresa Vaill of Pine Plains) about whom I wrote frequently. I told Kristi that we would support her racewalk training and racing to the best of our abilities, while also not promising her anything remotely approaching expert racewalk coaching.

Good heavens, in hindsight we couldn’t have had a better pioneer for our fledgling racewalking pursuits than Kristi Licursi. Always cheery and positive, never demanding, fiercely loyal, hard-working in her solitary racewalking pursuits in training and racing, she put us on the racewalk map. She raced at Penn Relays. She raced at Millrose Games. She did other USATF meets, including USATF Juniors. She had a maniacally loyal dad, Doug Licursi, who was a true fan favorite of our coaching staff. He was such an over-the-top enthusiastic force – he made his daughter blush with embarrassment and her coaches smile with appreciation. Kristi was our racewalking ambassador, and there was no one better at it. This led to interest from a Section 9 racewalker (Katie Miale), who also competed at USATF championships (Juniors, Seniors, Indoors), Millrose Games, Penn Relays and now the Olympic Trials. Kristi’s and Katie’s success at Marist led national high school record holder Lauren Harris to become interested in attending Marist, which she eventually did. Now, we were REALLY thrust into the racewalking spotlight! Lauren competed at USATF Championships and represented Team USA at world competitions, including in faraway places like China. And then Kayla Shapiro noticed this, transferred into Marist and got on the fast-moving racewalk train, qualifying for this meet, representing us at big meets.

From humble beginnings, improbably and somehow we have become a hub for national-caliber women’s racewalkers as a safe landing space to train and compete during their collegiate years. Along the way, Coach Chuck Williams also emerged as a coaching force in the unique racewalking community. He’s a known quantity within the cozy confines of the racewalk tribe. As a result, our program is also known quantity in this quirky little outpost on the edge of the track and field universe. And when I say “quirky little outpost,” I mean it: Saturday’s race will NOT be in the historic and newly renovated Hayward Field. Rather, it will be on a rather anonymous 1km road loop in an equally anonymous neighborhood in far-from-glamorous Springfield, Oregon. But you know what? It’s the U.S. Olympic Trials. And we’re here. And that’s pretty darn neat. OK!