Women Clinch First USATF Title
"Gold Team" Finishes 1-2-3-4-7 For Near-Perfect Sweep
Deer Path Park- The Garden State Track Club women's team dominated the field yesterday at the USATF-NJ 8k Cross Country Championships, racking up a mere 17 points for the win and the $500 club nationals stipend. With the victory, the women clinched the 2012 USATF-NJ Open Women's Title with a year's total of 80 points. RVRR, the three-time defending champ who finished fourth yesterday, finished second overall with 69 points.
Cheyenne Ogletree closed out a very impressive 2012 with a convincing 1:00 win over second place Elena Rozhko, 29:14 - 30:14--a time nearly 3:00 faster than her 32:07 of 2011. Her time was the fastest ever recorded in the event's twelve year history, and it marks the first time any woman in the USATF-NJ has broken 30:00. She broke the event record of Jodie D'Ariano, from Asics Club East, of 30:10 from 2002.
From there, her teammates rolled in: Chelsea Callan (30:53), Alyssa Douma (31:01), Lindsey Lambert (31:26), Meghan DeCarlo (32:50), and Karen Auteri (33:13). Special props go to Lambert, who not only drove from East Stroudsburg (PA) to race....but she ran with a stomach-churning food poisoning.
Higgins Leads "Black Team" to Third Place Finish
The GSTC "Black Team" finished third overall, holding back RVRR and falling just short of Garmin for second. Erin Higgins ran the best race of her season, coming in as the team's top finisher at 33:44. Liz Bissell, in just her second GSTC race, was #2 at 34:10, Courtney Stanton was third in 34:58, Rutgers frosh Courtney Connelly- in her GSTC debut- was 4th in 35:33, and Cathy Stutzman was #5 at 36:16--quite an improvement over last year's 38:58 finish. Rounding out the GSTC finishers were Sara Douma (37:07), Nicole Callghan (38:31), Michelle Tuchol (46:20), and Prudence Jones (50:22).
Men Close Out First Perfect Season in USATF-NJ History
Teams Go 1-2-3-4 as Nihen Wins First USATF-NJ Title
Deer Path Park--In 2002, Fleet Feet almost did it-but they got 2nd at the Our House 5 Miler. The Liberty Waterfront Half Marathon got in the way of the Running Company's flawless season in 2003. Very recently, RVRR was oh-so-close in 2009, but settled for a silver at the Ashenfelter 8k.
Yesterday, the Garden State Track Club once again made USATF-NJ history, this time becoming the first men's team to rack up 84 points--or a perfect season--with six road wins (10pts) and two xc wins (12pts) under their 2012 belt. Not only did they win yesterday, they did it in convincing fashion--sweeping the top four team spots--finalizing their bid as the strongest men's club to ever compete in the USATF-NJ Grand Prix.
This was the 12th straight USATF-NJ Grand Prix team victory for the GSTC men. For their win on Sunday, they picked up a $500 team stipend for the upcoming national championships in Kentucky.
Rob Nihen lead a sweep of the top six spots for the Gold, hitting the tape in 25:46.41--working together with teammates Stephen Mennitt (25:46.65) and Ken Goglas (25:47.00). Kyle Price ran an outstanding race, coming in fourth in 26:03. The Milkman Adin Mickle was 5th in 26:44, and the bearded badboy Mike Anis was sixth in 26:53.
Finishing in the top twenty were Tim Morgan (10th/27:22), Ashwin Anantharaman (11th/27:24), Charlie Koontz (12th/27:46), Chuck Schneekloth (13th/27:51), David dos Santos (14th/27:56), Edsel Flores (16th/28:29), and Zak Martins (20th/28:52). It must be noted: Z-Mart, who hasn't had a TMA Nomination in weeks, shaved off 2:00 from his 2011 performance (30:56), while Flores perhaps ran his best race of his career, dropping a minute from his time last year (29:28). The 18-year-old New Brunswick HS senior would have beaten two Rutgers runners at the Big East 8k Championships this Friday afternoon...just sayin'.
Fett Leads Rutgers Runners; Breaks Teichmann's Record
In his first USATF-NJ race for the GSTC, Rutgers freshmen David Fett was the first RU finisher, rolling through in 29:00--breaking Dan Teichmann's RU record of 29:15 from last year. Fett, a Delaware resident, is a pharmacy student at Rutgers. Overall, the Scarlet Knight contingent ran exceptionally well, including Tyler Foss (29:43), Robert Klink (30:18), Kevin "The Russian Rocket" Ivanov (30:14), Kyle Flyer (30:16), Wilfredo Benitez (30:20), Mark Parisen (31:19), Mohamed "Mo Money, Mo Problems" Bahri (33:14), Sean Cust (34:04), Akhil Sankar (34:32),and Keith "Keith" Anacker (35:24).
GSTC Teams
1st (31pts)- Nihen, Mennitt, Goglas, Mickle, Foss, Benitz
2nd (53pts)- Price, Anis, Anantharaman, Koontz, Klink
3rd (80pts)- Schneekloth, dos Santos, Martins, Jaris Rousseau (29:35), Franco Guevara (29:46), Ivanov
4th (99ps)- Morgan, Flores, Fett, Wismith "Bill Willy Style" Francois (30:25), Mark Parisen (31:13)
5th (119pts)- RVRR
6th (164pts)- Sneaker Factory
7th (189pts)- Flyer, Bahri, Woody Kongsamut (33:31), Cust, Sankar, Anacker
8th (217pts)- Nick Waclawski (33:19), Pete Klapsogeorge (34:26), Norbert Kuter (33:23), Corey Smith (34:09), Kapil Sathyukumar (32:57)
9th (226pts)- Shore AC
10th (267pts)- Clifton RC
11th (292pts)- Do Run Runners
12th (317pts)- Morris County Striders
Masters Finish 5th in XC Debut
The GSTC Mighty Masters 40s team finished 5th out of 11 teams, the club's USATF-NJ cross country debut. Leading the charge was the dynamic trio of Marty Doherty (30:43), Jeremy Stratton (30:49), and Kenny Huryk (31:18), who were the 7th, 8th, and 11th masters finishers, respectively. The Pompton Lakes duo of Francis Beideman (36:46) and Peter Auteri (36:55) rounded out the team's finishers.
Speaking of Cross Country 8ks...
Scroll to the 10th place Rutgers team: Chuck, Tafelski, Geiger, Navlen....a motley (slow) crew for sure. And, looking even closer, this was the first Chuck vs Goglas showdown....it was closer than you might think!
Margolis Runs 3:00 at MCM
You don't know him yet, but you will soon: Jay Margolis ran 3:00:40 in the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend, while we were all buying AAA batteries and stocking up on water. Out in 1:27, back in 1:33, Jay is Ken Goglas' homeboy who will be joining us once he recovers! Congrats Jay!
Team Meeting Saturday
Here's the deal: team run at 4:00 from the DeCarlo house. Then, we'll have dinner at 5:30ish (pizza? potluck? stay tuned on FB). During dinner, the team meeting will consist of the following agenda items:
1. Club Nationals team selection
3. January fundraisers (2013 year dues; Road Runner Sports)
4. GSTC Banquet/Awards Night
GSTC Pullovers
This is a much-needed update to the club's racing gear. However, we are buying them ASAP so we have them for nationals. Email Alyssa to place order (we are ordering by Wednesday): alyssadouma@gmail.com.
Quotes of the Week
"It's incredible, the 1st and 2nd split looks identical, the pack, the position of the runners, and the time spread. at the front anyway." -Mike Anis, catching a small editing error in Rob DeCarlo's first iMovie of the 8k race
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"What will this meeting be about? If it has nothing to do with Cats or Halloween, u can count me out. Thanks" -Cheyenne Ogletree, responding to FB post about a team meeting.
"Huge upset...Parisen takes first." -Mark Parisen, response to FB post "Any predictions on tomorrow's 8k race?"
"Wait when did I miss this rule 25 you can longer where hoodies?" -Liz Bissell, on FB group, in response to future GSTC clothing order
"REWARD (!!!) Did anyone find a garden state singlet under the pavillion after the race?" -Steve Mennitt, October 7 on FB
"REWARD (!!!) Did anyone find a "stick" w/ white handles after the race?" -Steve Mennitt, October 29 on FB
"9 miles through Sandy!!!! I refuse to be mediocre." -Ashwin Anantharaman, via text
TMA: Why We All Exist
The first and obvious nomination goes to Steve Mennitt, who seemingly can't go to lunch without forgetting his appetite. First his uniform, then his massage stick....he supposedly said afterward, "I don't remember being so absentminded."
Second, we're gonna give the nod to Shore AC. These guys are a USATF Elite Development Club, and the best they could muster for this final USATF-NJ championship race was 5th (of 8 teams) on the woman's side, and 9th/12 teams for open men. The GSTC put the "F Team" ahead of the SAC "A Team." Five words: step up your game, son!
On a similar note, a TMA goes to the USATF-NJ for all the last-minute, pre-race updates of anxiety. We get it--a hurricane was coming--but we also all knew that it wasn't coming for a while. Sending out emails canceling the post-race cookout, updating the website (and we are using that term loosely here) making it sounds like Deer Path Park was the possible site of a nuclear explosion, etc. was just way too much. It caused several of you to call GSTC headquarters in panic, which interfered with valuable volunteering time at the local library (sike). So, similar message to the USATF-NJ, as not a single drop of rain fell on Sunday: step up your game!
You know what, let's throw a TMA to RVRR. It's their choice to not race, or not race seriously, or not even participate in USATF-NJ events. But they get a TMA for having the most critical voice of GSTC proposals to help make the USATF-NJ more appealing to younger runners. Hey, maybe we should put forth another proposal they can shoot down: you can't vote on proposals for the USATF-NJ unless you actually participate in USATF-NJ events!
Finally, Nick Waclawski gets a TMA for Sunday's race. Hey--the guy is running very well--but we've never seen anyone pre-register and then post-register for the same race. C'mon big Nick- you've done this before- just give them a pound and we'll all be cool!
A note of guilt: Timmy Morgan just called us, and he spent the hurricane night at his 91 year old grandmother's house, making sure she'd be okay. We kinda feel guilty about calling it the TMA Award this week, but then we thought about the time when he was running late for the 2011 USATF-NJ 5k Team Championship Race (the President's Cup), and instead of using the final thirty minutes to actually warm-up upon his late arrival, he instead decided to burn ten of those minutes waiting on line to get the mother %$^&^$g free cotton race shirt. Ahhh, now we feel much better. TMA it is.
Team Runs
Rutgers/New Brunswick Runs
Wednesday: 5:30 Rutgers Student Center (RSC)
Thursday: 5:30 Rutgers Student Center (RSC)
Friday: 4:00 Rutgers Student Center (RSC)
Saturday: 4:00 at DeCarlo's House (Saddle Brook)
Sprinters/Half Milers
Saturday: 10am @ Highland Park HS
Upcoming Team Races
Looks like we're gonna hit up a Thanksgiving Day 5k, then the Big Chill 5k at Rutgers, and of course--club nationals in Kentucky. More details to come, but this season isn't quite over yet (just the USATF-NJ part)
This Week in Training
Be smart! Be safe! Whatever days you miss, just jump into the training plan on the first day you can. A few missed days aren't going to kill you - they may even help you long term if you have little aches and pains that need some healing.
Monday - recovery run and strides
Tuesday - fartlek run - do what you can, if anything. Just get some turnover going based on feel, especially if you ran the race on SUnday.
Wednesday - moderate run of 75% long run duration
Thursday - super easy 40-60mins
Friday - 4-5x mile at T pace with 1:00-1:30 recovery. You want these to be less than 7 mins, so run 1200m repeats if miles will be longer than that. Finish it with 4x200 - first 2 at mile pace, then drop down for the last 2.
Saturday - comfortable run + 8x80m strides or 8x8-10s hill sprints
Sunday - long run
