Rolek’s splits and jewelry

Here are Mike Rolek’s splits and his fancy Penn Relays watch from the 20km race on Sunday:

Miles 1-3: 15:38

Mile 4: 5:13

Mile 5: 5:15

Mile 6: 5:19 

Mile 7: 5:10

Mile 8: 5:12

Mile 9: 5:16

Mile 10: 5:16 (52:22)

Mile 11: 5:18

Mile 12.42: 7:14 (5:05 pace)

Total: 1:04:53 (5:14 pace)

Flyin’ guacamole

Final thoughts (and photos) on the California trip:

Traveling in such a small group on a long trip can have its challenges. Especially when traveling with a highly energized steeplechaser. If you know what I mean.

On the rental car ride from the hotel to the airport Saturday morning, said steepler (Quimes DelaCruz) was back to his old tricks. He was playfully slapping Will Griffin in the backseat with packets of guacamole. Huh? I know. You can’t make this stuff up.

You know what happened next: Will resisted, Quimes persisted … and the green, goopy vegetable snack went scattering all over our brand new, white Toyota Sienna minivan. Note to the rental car company, athletic administrators and anyone else reading this: We cleaned it up very nicely. Very, very nicely. The only known guacamole smatterings were on our meal money signing sheets and the back of my very nice Nike track jacket.

Photos above are from Addie DiFrancesco’s camera. Mt. SAC is a fun trip and worth the exposure for our program.

Sam McMullen: 2:37:58 at Toledo

Congrats to Marist Running Alum Sam McMullen (Class of 2011) for his excellent marathon debut at Sunday’s Glass City Marathon in Toledo, Ohio. Sam is a graduate student and athletic trainer at the University of Toledo. And apparently, he is finding time to get some good training in out there!

Sam placed fourth overall in 2:37:58, achieving his goal of a sub-2:40 for his first marathon. I was in touch with Sam throughout his training. He worked hard, putting in good mileage and good cross-training.

This is an excellent, redemptive effort for Sam, who spent much of his Marist career on the injured list. We always joked that Sam, an Athletic Training major with a very high GPA, knew too much about all the running injuries he was studying … because he ended up getting most of them!

According to the race results I found, here are some of Sam’s splits:

3-mile: 17:57

10km: 36:54

14-mile: 1:23:58

21-mile: 2:05:37.

Great job, Sam. Holy Toledo! (Sorry. Couldn’t resist).

Rolek wins Penn Relays Distance Classic

Marist Running Alum Mike Rolek captured Sunday’s Penn Relays Distance Classic 20-kilometer race in 1:04:53, an average of 5:14 per mile. Rolek edged the second-place finisher by about 1.5 minutes.

Great race for Rolek, who won a Penn Relays watch for his efforts.

One wonders if Rolek won a Rolex …?

Larry Ellis/Princeton results

I was on an airplane heading back from California when most of these meet was occurring. We had a small but strong contingent of athletes at Princeton.

Most of the women had strong performances, with all the ladies in the 1,500 running season- and/or personal-best times. Briana Crowe had another strong 800-meter performance, and Erin Thompson had a solid 3k race.

On the men’s side, freshman David Marthy won his section of the 800-meter run and essentially equaled his indoor time that was an IC4A qualifier (1:54.57 indoors; 1:54.66 yesterday). This is a good sign, since David has been nursing various leg ailments for most of the outdoor season.

Larry Ellis Invitational

Princeton University, Weaver Stadium

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Women’s results

800-meter run

31. Briana Crowe 2:17.52

1,500-meter run

19. Michelle Gaye 4:45.10

23. Christine Coughlin 4:46.93

41. Erin O’Reilly 4:54.28

45. Kara Lightowler 4:57.58

3,000-meter run

16. Erin Thompson 10:29.10

23. Katie Messina 10:51.20

Men’s results

800-meter run

24. David Marthy 1:54.66 (won Heat 5)

1,500-meter run

33. Tom Lipari 4:00.86

Britt runs strong at Cortland

Congrats to Marist Running Alum Brittany Burns on a strong double on Friday at SUNY Cortland. Britt, now running for our friends at the Syracuse Chargers, won the 1,500-meter run in 4:43.94. She then came back in the 5,000-meter run as a tempo workout, where she placed second in 18:32.63.

With times like these, wouldn’t it be nice if Britt had a sixth year of eligibility for the Running Red Foxes?

We may be seeing Britt at Penn Relays on Thursday night. Stay tuned …

Vess: 14:31.98 in 5km in California

Congrats to Marist Running Alum and current Northern Arizona grad student Adam Vess on his strong 5,000-meter race Saturday afternoon in California.

Vess ran 14:31.98 at the Beach Invitational at Cerritos, a personal-best time and a conference qualifier for our favorite Lumberjack, who we spent time with out in California over the past few days.

We wish Vess the best of luck in the remainder of his outdoor track season out West.

Heading home today

We are heading home from California today. The trip to this meet is always worth it and we hope to continue to keep it on our schedule on a regular, if not yearly, basis.

We have a small group of athletes at Larry Ellis/Princeton today. I will be in the air across the country while they are competing, but positive thoughts will be sent their way.

Programming note:

Blogger has changed/improved their template/format, so if things look and seem a little funky, it's just this old dog trying to learn new tricks.

Take care and see you all soon.

Visit from a Lumberjack

This above photo was taken in the wee hours of Friday morning here in West Covina at an all-night Denny’s, where we had a bleary-eyed, late night, post-meet meal at about 1 a.m. Pacific.

You might recognize the dude on the left as Marist Running Alum Adam Vess, now a grad student/runner at Northern Arizona.

Vess reunited with his old teammates and friends at Hilmer Lodge Stadium Thursday night, cheering on the Foxes and catching up on things. He is doing well, training hard and running a 5km here on Saturday afternoon.

It was great to see a perennially smirking Vess, mugging for the camera with his old pal Quimes. Despite being lavishly outfitted in Adidas NAU Lumberjack gear from head to toe, Vess will always be a Running Red Fox, and we will root him on no matter what uniform he wears.

Mt. SAC: Men’s 10km

The best way to describe the races here: disappointing (Will Griffin) and very disappointing (Ken Walshak).

I must be careful to stress that in no way am I displeased with the EFFORT both men put in. But the results were not there.

In both cases, the break in pace happened shortly after the 5km mark – more marked in Kenny’s case.

Both men prepared well for the race, which makes the result all the more disappointing.

Olympic Development/Elite section
25. Will Griffin 30:40.20 *IC4A qualifier
74, 2:25 (71), 3:34 (69), 4:44 (70)
5:55 (71), 7:06 (71), 8:18 (72), 9:30 (72)
10:42 (72), 11:55 (73), 13:08 (73), 14:22 (74)
15:37 (75), 16:53 (76), 18:09 (76), 19:24 (75)
20:41 (77), 21:57 (76), 23:14 (77), 24:30 (76)
25:46 (76), 27:00 (74), 28:15 (75), 29:29 (74)
30:40.20 (71.20)
5km: 15:00; second 5km: 15:40.20

Open A section
24. Ken Walshak 31:50.68
74, 2:28 (74), 3:39 (71), 4:51 (72)
6:02 (71), 7:13 (71), 8:25 (72), 9:38 (73)
10:51 (73), 12:03 (72), 13:17 (74), 14:30 (73)
15:45 (75), 17:00 (75), 18:16 (76), 19:35 (79)
20:54 (79), 22:15 (81), 23:37 (82), 25:01 (84)
26:25 (84), 27:48 (84), 29:11 (83), 30:33 (82)
31:50.68 (77.68)
5km: 15:08; second 5km: 16:42.68

Mt. SAC: Women’s 10km

Addie ran a tough and gutsy race, which featured a lot of contact and bumping -- especially over the first few miles. Addie looked and raced tough in the first half of the race, and reported afterwards that she felt great during this time.

Shortly after the halfway point, she experienced breathing-related distress that was rather alarming for her and for all of us watching. Addie admitted to panicking a bit during this time, and who could blame her? It’s stressful when in breathing distress (asthma-type issues) in the middle of a race! There were a few tense laps in which it was not clear if she could continue.

But to her credit she battled through it. When Addie reached the 8km mark, she seemed to relax her breathing and she was able to finish strong with an ECAC qualifying mark. We are proud of the effort here.

Open A section
22. Addie DiFrancesco 37:02.53 *ECAC qualifier
87, 2:52 (85), 4:17 (85), 5:44 (87)
7:09 (85), 8:35 (86), 10:03 (88), 11:30 (87)
12:57 (87), 14:25 (88), 15:53 (88), 17:22 (87)
18:49 (87), 20:19 (90), 21:47 (88), 23:18 (91)
24:51 (93), 26:23 (92), 27:57 (94), 29:29 (92)
31:01 (92), 32:32 (91), 34:04 (92), 35:35 (91)
37:02.53 (87.53)
5km: 18:06; second 5km: 18:56.53

Mt. SAC: Quimes 12th in steeplechase

Junior Arquimedes DelaCruz just completed his 3,000-meter steeplechase race at the Mt. SAC Relays under a blazing hot sun. Quimes did well, but was hoping for a better time than his 9:08.58, good for 12th place out of 24 entrants in the Open B race.

Through the first 2,000 meters, Quimes was on school-record pace. His pace slowed a bit during the last few laps. But the scary moment happened on the last barrier, where our guy nearly fell. The tough hurdle and missed timing led to a complete stop, which probably cost him a PR and a school record. It’s a bummer, but he did lower his season-best time by about 2 seconds (Q ran 9:10.05 at Princeton two weeks ago).

Bottom line: He was competitive in a very competitive field at a very competitive meet (and did much better than his race here last year!). But at this stage of his outstanding career, he was hoping for more; and rightfully so. There is more season and more fight left in him. Of that we are sure. We are proud of his effort.

Here are the numbers:

Mt. SAC Relays
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Hilmer Lodge Stadium, Walnut, CA
3,000-meter steeplechase, Open B race
12th place out of 24 entrants: Arquimedes DelaCruz, 9:08.58 *IC4A qualifier
70.3, 2:21.0 (70.7), 3:32.0 (71.0), 4:43.6 (72.6), 5:56.5 (72.9), 7:11.1 (74.6), 8:27.2 (76.1), 9:08.58 (41.38)

Check back later for details on the 10,000-meter races. Real-time results can be found at www.mtsacrelays.com

UPDATED Mt. SAC racing schedule

The Mt. SAC Relays schedule has been updated, and it affects the times that Marist athletes will be competing. It could be past bedtime for a lot of Marist Running followers ...

Men's steeple, Arquimedes DelaCruz: 5:15 p.m. Pacific, 8:15 p.m. Eastern
Men's Oly Development/Elite 10km, Will Griffin: 8:50 p.m. Pacific, 11:50 p.m. Eastern
Men's 10km, Ken Walshak: 10 p.m. Pacific, 1 a.m. (Friday) Eastern
Women's 10km, Addie DiFrancesco: 10:30 p.m. Pacific, 1:30 a.m. (Friday) Eastern

Quick notes from the Left Coast

--Those times for today’s races that I posted late last night/early this morning (depending on your time zone) are Pacific time. So for those literally keeping score at home, keep that in mind – specifically for our 10km men, who will be racing late night by East Coast standards.

--We are staying this year in West Covina, in a row of hotels and restaurants that is just a quick drive up to Mt. San Antonio College. Much closer to the meet than last year. There are many teams sharing our hotel – Air Force, Arkansas, Marquette … to name a few.

--Good to see our old pal Mick Byrne last night at the Hilmer Lodge Stadium track. Mick was the longtime coach and architect of the wildly successful Iona College distance program. He left several years ago to take over the Wisconsin men’s cross country team. I’d say he’s doing OK out there, as his Wisco men won the NCAA XC title in 2011.

--Quick note on the Larry Ellis/Princeton meet: We will only have a limited number of competitors on Saturday at Princeton and none on Friday. The majority of the team will be back in action at Yale on Sunday, April 29, with a small contingent at Penn Relays on Thursday and Friday. More on that next week.

--I know it’s an obvious and outdated statement, but it still amazes me how the world has shrunk. With a cell phone and a laptop with Internet access, we are pretty much accessible as though we were at home. The only difference is three hours … and the fact that we are not physically home.

OK. More later, probably not till after all racing is complete. I’m sure you can track real-time results online before I post them here …

Mt. SAC event schedule

Here are the events and times for our athletes here at the Mt. SAC Relays at beautiful Hilmer Lodge Stadium in Walnut, Calif.

Thursday
Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, Open B race, 3:50 p.m.: Arquimedes DelaCruz
Women’s 10,000-meter run, Open B race, 5:30 p.m.: Addie DiFrancesco
Men’s 10,000-meter run, Open A race, 7:25 p.m.: Ken Walshak
Men’s 10,000-meter run, Olympic Development Elite, 10 p.m.: Will Griffin

Middle distance success: Steve would be proud

My college running coach for the final three years of athletic participation at Marist was the late Steve Lurie. Steve passed away a few years ago. He left behind a long and very interesting legacy through his journey in our sport – as a coach, journalist and very active and informed commentator and fan.

During his relatively brief tenure as Marist coach, Steve imparted a passion for middle-distance training, racing and relays. Steve loved the 4x800 and the DMR. Much like my tendency in coaching is to move athletes up to longer race distances, Steve’s penchant was to move us all DOWN to the 800.

This posed a problem for me at the time, since I was then, am now, and forever will be “speed challenged.” After cross country season ended, Steve turned us all into tracksters. We were on the track early and late and often, doing interval workouts. Again, given my biomechanical flaws and lack of speed, this was a big issue. And it was a big reason I began training for and racing in marathons at the age of 19. No need for 3-4 track workouts a week if you are going to be a marathoner, right?

Steve agreed, and I was set free to run long and hard and hilly courses outside on most days. Oh sure, I did my share of interval workouts on the old McCann track and our various old-school venues (Dutchess Community College’s old cinder track, Poughkeepsie High School when it was a beat-up macadam surface, various golf courses until we were kicked off by angry duffers). But I certainly did not do as many interval days as Steve’s beloved middle distance men.

It is certainly true that middle distance runners need to train a bit differently than long distance runners. These days, middle distance athletes almost have to train like “long sprinters,” as the race and feel of the 800 can sometimes resemble a sprint. Want proof? Elite-level 800-meter races outdoors START IN LANES!

Anyway, looking at how well our middle distance core of athletes is running, I think Steve would be proud. I could hear him saying, in that gravelly, staccato voice of his: “Peter … Ha Ha! 1:54-point, followed by 1:55-point, 1:55-point, 1:55-point … that’s a heckuva relay you have there. For what it’s worth. Ha Ha!”

I think Steve would also be proud that one of his Five Star Running Camp alumni, Matt Panebianco, was on that record-setting 4x800 relay from Bucknell.

And although throughout the majority of his career Steve coached boys and men in high school and college, I bet he would be pretty stoked to notice that our women’s indoor 4x800 team set a school record and ECAC qualifier, and that our women’s DMR ran so well last winter.

As a side note on this topic, a common thread through all our middle distance success is graduating senior Briana Crowe, who had a great breakthrough effort in her 2:16-point down at Bucknell; we will miss Bree quite a bit when she graduates – every middle distance success our program has attained in the past four years, she has been part of in some way.

Sometimes you have to let life play out. A year ago at this time, we were fretting about the possible negative effects of losing our indoor track facility in McCann, and how it would have a less-than-positive impact on the sprint and middle distance crew. Since that time, all those athletes have been doing is setting school records, achieving personal-best times and raising the bar for future teams, individuals and relays. It is a testament to the hard work, dedication and no-excuses attitude of these women and men.

Once again, we’d like to think Steve would be proud.

Vassar meet: Summing it up

In the “better late than never” category …

--My apologies to freshman high jumper Siobhan Pokorney, who I inadvertently omitted from the original Vassar results post. Siobhan got fourth overall with a leap of 1.43 meters (4 feet, 8.25 inches). She deserves much credit for sticking with her event despite the ability to practice it.

--Men’s distance splits follow. Thanks to the men who took the time out to do this for us while we were away at Bucknell.

1,500-meter run
Patrick Rynkowski 4:11.52
66, 2:14 (68), 3:32 (68), 4:11.52(49.52 last 300 m)
Mike Keegan 4:31.72
66, 2:19 (73), 3:36 (77), 4:31.72 (55.72 last 300m)

5,000-meter run
Ryan Brown 16:17.15
80, 2:35 (75), 3:51 (76), 5:09 (78)
6:27 (78), 7:44 (77), 9:03 (79), 10:22 (79)
11:41 (79), 13:02 (81), 14:23 (81), 15:41 (78)
16:17.15 (36.15)
Nick Hughes 16:17.64
80, 2:37 (77), 3:51 (74), 5:08 (77)
6:25 (77), 7:43 (78), 9:00 (77), 10:20 (80)
11:39 (79), 13:00 (81), 14:23 (83), 15:41 (78)
16:17.64 (36.64)
Chris Reynolds 16:27.71
80, 2:37 (77), 3:53 (76), 5:11 (78)
6:30 (79), 7:46 (76), 9:07 (81), 10:28 (81)
11:48 (80), 13:10 (82), 14:31 (81), 15:50 (79)
16:27.71 (37.71)
Pat Deedy 16:50.56
81, 2:37 (76), 3:53 (76), 5:11 (78)
6:31 (80), 7:52 (81), 9:15 (83), 10:37 (82)
12:01 (84), 13:26 (85), 14:50 (84), 16:11 (81)
16:50.56 (39.56)
Doug Ainscow 17:00.10
81, 2:37 (76), 3:53 (76), 5:11 (78)
6:31 (80), 7:54 (83), 9:17 (83), 10:41 (84)
12:06 (85), 13:31 (85), 14:56 (85), 16:19 (83)
17:00.10 (41.10)
Mike Nicoletti 17:01.29
80, 2:37 (77), 3:53 (76), 5:11 (78)
6:31 (80), 7:52 (81), 9:15 (83), 10:37 (82)
12:03 (86), 13:30 (87), 14:56 (86), 16:21 (85)
17:01.29 (40.29)
Dominick Corradi 17:36.41
82, 2:38 (76), 3:59 (81), 5:20 (81)
6:43 (83), 8:06 (83), 9:34 (88), 11:02 (88)
12:30 (88), 13:58 (88), 15:27 (89), -- (missed)
17:36.41

Excellent talk coming to Vassar

Thanks to Marist Track Alum Peter VanAken for passing along the information on a fantastic speech coming to Vassar College on Monday, April 23. Those interested in track history should make their way to Vassar to see John Carlos speak.

Carlos became famous when, on the medal stand at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he raised a gloved fist in silent protest as part of the “Black Power” salute and movement. Understand that I was 4 years old at the time, so I clearly do not remember this. But the late 1960s/early 1970s was a powder keg of racial tension in this country, and Carlos’ silent protest has gone down in the lore of our sport.

Check this link for more information. Sprinters, and others on our team, would do well to attend this talk.

Off to California for the Mt. SAC Relays. Will be posting from there …

Luke in Boston: 2:54:38

We have been feverishly tracking the progress of Luke Shane at the sizzling hot Boston Marathon. Our guy just finished in 2:54:38, good for 320th overall. For those keeping score at home, Luke was 333rd last year -- so he improved in that area by 13 spots!

I have not spoken to Luke yet and I sincerely hope he got through this OK. His first half split was 1:21:01 -- pretty much his PR pace. Obviously, the heat and the hills took their toll. Here are his split paces from start to finish -- an obvious, gradual slowdown for very, very obvious reasons.

6:00
6:05
6:12
6:24
6:28
6:32
7:03
7:15
7:22
7:43

Note that the 7:43 was from 40 kilometers to the finish at 42-and-change kilometers.

We are very proud of Luke. We know he will be disappointed in the time. Even though I have not talked to him yet, I will tell him that I am we are extremely proud of his effort in these extreme conditions.

More updates later ...