If you're on the GSTC, you're bound to be doing something this weekend. By far the biggest weekend in club history is just two days away, and here's a sneak peak, in chronological order, at what's just around the corner. Jacket orders are being made at 1:00 today...so you have two more hours to email an order!
Saturday 8:00am EST
Perrella Leads GSTC Charge to National Championships
Seattle, WA- For the first time in club history, the GSTC is sending a group to the USATF Club Cross Country Championships. After taking 7th overall at the USATF track and field national club championships in NYC's Icahn Stadium this past July, six GSCT'ers will board a flight this evening to head west. Once there, they will lock horns with some of the best distance runners in America, including Oregon TC's Olympian Ian Dobson in the 10k championship race at Jefferson Park Golf Course.
Jeff Perrella, half-mortal half-myth, will lead the black and gold into battle Saturday afternoon. 4:10 miler Chris Heibell, one of the club's most exciting track athletes, will join him up front, as will team superman Mike Dixon, who is coming off two big PRs a few weeks ago. Mark Del Monaco and Adin Mickle, elite distance athletes from LaSalle and Temple respectively, will round out the team's scoring top five. Mike Anis will provide important insurance as the #6 man, as the group hopes for a top-ten finish in the USA.
More information about the event can be found here: http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USATFClubXCChampionships/.
Saturday 9am EST
Big Group Set for Fun @ Big Chill 5k
New Brunswick, NJ- Rutgers engineering sophomore Mike Obsuth captains a sizable contingent of gold and black set to enjoy another Big Chill 5k race this Saturday. With the entry fee being a mere holiday present of $10 or more in value, the event attracts thousands of runners, many Rutgers students, to the race that starts and ends on College Avenue. Joining one of Fairlawn's finest graduate are Kyle Flyer, Mel Bandler, Lindsey Michaliszyn, Tom Segear, Nick Verano, Keith Flyer, Edsel Flores, Nick Waclowski, Corey Smith, Ryan Vance, and Jay Fuhrman.
We are also super psyched to announce that Chelsea Mapa's Couch to 5k runners will be running as well! This group has gone from beginner runner to 5k-ready in just two months, and we're excited to see how they do after many weeks of consistent training and hard work.
Saturday 2:00pm EST
Strongest GSTC Sprint Crew Ever to Open in NYC
Bronx, NYC- Club records will fall this Saturday, as the strongest ever sprint crew in club history assembles for its season opener, The Brother Jasper Invitational, at Manhattan College.
The day should start strong for the group, as long jumpers Matt Sunga (23'8" PR) and Jason Staggers (22'6") will surely make noise in both the LJ and TJ. The club's best jumper, former University of Kansas standout Eric Babb (25'9" PR), looks to open up in January or February.
Hybrid Tony Harris will race his first 1500m, and a legion of half milers will look to crack 2:00 soon afterward. Former Long Island University standout Shay Warren will race for the first time in black and gold, while all eyes will be on a superstar 4x400 relay of Mike Brito, Duval Sewer, Alan Broussard, and Ricardo Garcia. After Saturday's time trial, they could eclipse the club 4x400 record (3:22.63) in their first attempt, while also looking to win the event as well.
Also competing are Fordham, So Conn. State, Manhattan, St. Peter's, Marist, Wagner, CCNY, ad Lehman.
Sunday 10:00am EST
10 Miler to Decide 2011 NJ-USATF Open Men's Team Title
West Windsor, NJ- The GSTC will send a full men's and women's team down for the final event of the NJ-USATF Grand Prix, the Grand Finale 10 Miler at Mercer County Park.
The women's team, the defending 8k NJ-USATF XC Open Women Champions, will consist of Karen Hill, Claire Tafelski, Cathy Stutzman, Meghan DeCarlo, Cheyenne Ogletree, and Nicole Corre. Ogletree, after an impressive second place finish in the 8k race, should be the team's front runner with hopes to challenge for the win.
In the men's race, the outcome will decide the 2011 NJ-USATF Open Men's Team Champion. Currently, both the GSTC and Sneaker Factory have 50 points each- despite the GSTC not even competing at the first two Grand Prix races of the year.
The Garden Gold will look to Taylor Burmeister, Ashwin Anantharaman, and Alex Fowlie to storm the front pack. All three have an excellent chance of placing in the top five, as all three are very fit after solid fall seasons of training.
However, team scoring is based on total team time, not place, so the top five finishers will all play huge roles in the team win. Indeed, the team title may come down to two Rutgers students- Dan Teichmann and Zach Speigel- who both have had record seasons this fall. Newcomer and post-collegiate Ken Walsh, seasoned veteran Jeremy Stratton, and GSTC marathon coach Rob DeCarlo all have a legitimate chance to break the GSTC top five and thus help clinch the club's first team title. The presence of sub-2:30 marathon Ken Goglas would make this one a blowout, but he's still recovering from NYC and his status is undecided as of today.
More race info can be found here: http://www.usatfnj.org/ldr/2011_USATF-NJ_10_Mile.pdf
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