GSTC BRINGS THE HOUSE TO CLUB XC NATIONALS The USATF Club XC National Championships, the cornerstone of the fall racing season, have come and gone. After the dust has finally settled, the big question that lingers: how did the GSTC do?
With its seventy-seven runners and thirteen teams, the club set USATF event records in both categories. But this is an event about performance, not attendance ribbons or participation medals. So: how did the GSTC stack up against the best clubs in America?
The answer: pretty damn good.
Sifting through the results of the open men, open women, and masters 40s, 50s, and 60s results, there were five clubs that had a scoring team in nearly every category: Greater Philly TC (PA), Club Northwest (WA), Genesee Valley Harriers (NY), Central Park TC (NY), and Garden State TC (NJ). It was more common to see clubs strong in some areas than in other areas like the HOKA Aggies (CA), Atlanta TC (GA), and Playmakers (MI).
So who was the strongest club overall? GPTC had four masters teams in the top 10, but an incomplete women's team and an open team that was wedged between out D and E teams at 75th place counts them out. GVH was strong in the older categories, but got less competitive with every younger one, including an incomplete women's team and 49th place men's team. So they're out.
Which leaves us with GSTC, CPTC, and CNW. Here's the breakdown of age divisions and male/female team finishes:
Club Northwest: 60s (5, 1), 50s (2, 4), 40s (--, 8), Men (17), Women (12) GSTC: 60s (16, --), 50s (5, 16), 40s (9, 3), M (23, 40, 52, 69, 77), W (23, 40) CPTC: 60s (18, 12), 50s (8, 11), 40s (20, 12), M (26), W (9)
So based on these numbers, it looks like Club Northwest (founded 1972) thus had the best showing, followed by Garden State Track Club (founded 2010) and then by Central Park Track Club (founded 1972, as well).
Scroll down farther for team results and pictures.
ASHENFELTER 8K: One of the Club's Best Team Performances in Club History After nine years of team road racing, it's hard to say, with fidelity, "This was the best overall road performance in club history." But, one can probably make such a case at this year's Ashenfelter 8k, the all-division final team race of the year.
First, look at the open men. Although the club has always dominated the men's race, this year's group (Ryan McGorty, Eric Holt, Ashwin Anantharaman, Stephen Rathbun, Kyle Price) had the fastest five-man team time (24:56) in event history. The previous event record of 25:48, held by the GSTC, included the mighty Alfredo Santana (23:45) on the team from 2015. This year, the men's teams finished 1-2-5-6-7-8. The second place team's average of 26:03, lead by Aditya Singh's 25:22, is the #3 fastest team in event history, ahead of the GSTC's winning teams of 2011 (26:15), 2014 (26:30), and 2017 (26:35).
The masters men also had a banner day. Along with 1-2-4-6 in the M40s race, their best showing ever, the M50s and the M60s won. This is the first time the men have swept all three masters team races. Jonathan Frieder (26:48), John Hogan (28:54), and Gary Leaman (30:18) were the club's top finishers in each age group.
The women were equally as impressive. The open women swept the top three team spots along with adding a fifth place as well. Several ladies ran PRs as their average team times were, respectively, 30:37, 31:22, 31:59, and 36:07. Izzy Gladstone (30:11), Nicole Burlinson (30:32), and Emily Rosario (30:58) were the fastest three open women whereas the club put five in the race's top ten finishers.
The W40s team capped off an undefeated season with just an incredible showing with teams in 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 11th out of twenty-one teams. Elena Rozhko (30:02), Hortencia Aliaga (30:40), and Caoimhe Kilroy (31:01) were the top three women both from the club and in the race. In addition, the GSTC W40s put seven in the race's top ten masters finishers.
And finally, the W50s had a team for the first time ever. Kim Aspholm (34:17) helped the squad finished fourth out of seventeen teams with Barbara Franz, Tracy Marchesi, Behtany Summers, and Stefani Meyers rounding out the team.
M40s Men Upset ATC in the Final Hour Clutch 15k Team Effort Clinches Come-From-Behind National Grand Prix Title Defense After dominating the USATF National Masters Grand Prix in 2018, the M40s team was excited to repeat in 2019. Until injuries reared its ugly head in the spring, putting the squad a distant second behind Atlanta Track Club. ATC could have iced their team title out in the Flint road mile, but the GSTC pulled out a major upset, edging them by just a few seconds. And with guys starting to heal up, there was hope for a comeback.
Five GSTC'ers then traveled to San Diego for the masters 5k XC championships, yet finished a disappointing 5th place. This now meant a final, head-to-head showdown with ATC in the Tulsa 15k, the final championship race of the year. With the team scores 370-365, the winner would take it all.
For several reasons the Running Prof outlined in his race preview, he was picking ATC to win both Tulsa and thus the team title. After all, the Frieder twins were racing for the first time since an injury, and ATC had three solid guys entered. While the Prof has been wrong before (he did, in fact, pick ATC over GSTC at the road mile in August), but the guy knows his stuff, follows masters athletes closely, and has a great track record. After all, he has been writing about these masters national races now for years.
As expected, the ATC one-two punch of Aaron Totten-Lancester (51:11) and Brian Sydow (52:19) ran brilliantly as they had all year. The twins, in their first race back, both ran incredibly well in their fall debut to neutralize those two, with Jonathan and Elliott running 52:28 and 53:40, respectively.
The "most highly anticipated race of the day" now came down to the #3 man: Brad Slavens (ATC) and Shawn Williams (GSTC). But Williams ran perhaps his finest race as a masters runner, finishing well over 3:00 faster than the Prof's projection, which narrowly secured the overall win, 2:40:32-2:41:42. And with that, the M40s team repeated their Grand Prix team title win!
Goose Qualifies for Olympic Trials at CIM Great GSTC Showing in Sacramento; Goose is Fourth GSTC'er to Qualify 
The GSTC crew had a great day out at CIM highlighted by Shelby Goose's 2:43:59 Olympic Trials qualifier. There were five other PRs this day: Mike Kennedy (2:41:44), Leah Roberts (3:06:15), Maria Metzger (3:07:20), Matt Leingang (3:08:00), and Aya Leitz (3:08:03). Joyjit Kundu ran just a bit off his PR with a 3:13:31.
13-14 Boys Win XC National Title The 13-14 year old boys team headed out to Knoxville, TN with hopes to contend for a national cross country title. Not only did they contend for it--they won it!
The GSTC ran away with the team title with just 60 points averaging 14:10. Derby City was second with 88 points (14:18 average), Pacific Coast Shockwaves third (14:33 average), and the Music City Super Squad fourth (14:36 average).
Max Huang and Ethan Fletcher went 13th and 14th, respectively, with the same time of 13:59. From there, teammates Matt Califano (32nd), Alex Califano (40th), Caleb Brox (47th), Dan Phillips (69th), and Dmitry Cole (85th) rounded out the rest of the national championship team.
USATF Creates Task Force To Tackle GSTC's Proposed "Diversity Bill" 
GSTC's performances extended beyond the track, road, and trails this year as well. In conjunction with Michael Rolek, an attorney at Connell Foley, LLP (and former 66:** half marathoner/2:23 marathoner), GSTC submitted 10 proposed amendments to the USATF Bylaws and Operating Regulations. Collectively referred to as the "Diversity Bill," these proposed amendments aimed at increasing engagement and accessibility to USATF Associations across the country. The Diversity Bill was submitted to the USATF Law and Legislation Committee in September 2019, and thereafter received support from Olympians, coaches, and chairs of various track and field committees and Associations across the country. In December, Michael presented and defended the Diversity Bill at the USATF National Meeting in Reno, NV. Our proposed amendments received a very warm reception. The general vibe: this should have happened a long time ago. Given the importance of the issues discussed in our proposed amendments and the impact it will have on the USATF and its local governing bodies, the USATF Law and Legislation Committee elected to table a vote until next year and form a USATF Task Force on Inclusion and Engagement to further investigate issues of diversity/engagement/inclusion at a local level, develop the language in the proposed amendments and ensure that the amendments are passed expeditiously. While this certainly doesn't impact anyone's day-to-day running, it's important our membership knows how much we care about improving the sport in big-picture ways--and how much we care about this sport being about access and equity. A brief summary of the Diversity Bill is below: One of the stated Purposes of USATF is Diversity; specifically: "promoting diversity of representation at all levels of participation in its activities." (See Article 3(A)(5) of the USATF Bylaws and Regulations). Nevertheless, Associations across the United States maintain homogenous committees that do not reflect its diverse constituencies. The Diversity Bill addresses this issue by requiring Associations to take actionable steps to diversify their governing bodies to ensure that every member has a voice and is being adequately represented. In particular, the Diversity Bill seeks to: (1) ensure that Associations' committees are structured to promote diversity; (2) establish and encourage voting options accessible to all members; and (3) hold Associations accountable for promoting diversity of representation at all levels of participation in its activities.
Teams Crush It at Half Marathon Champs Aditya Singh had an outstanding club debut, as he finished third overall in 72:55, helping lead the Black and Gold to victory at the HM Team Championships. The open men's teams finished 1-4-6. With Allie Niles and Meaghan Driscoll up front, the open women's teams finished 1st and 3rd with the W40s pulling out a 1-2 sweep.
Due to its timing and size (only 317 finishers), it wasn't a focus race for the club, but folks sure look pretty darn good here despite just finishing a half marathon!
Big Day at Northeast Footlocker Champs The GSTC's youth team had an outstanding day at the Northeast Footlocker Championships at the historic Van Cortland Park.
The 13-14 boys, with Max Huang and Matt Califano up front finishing 3-4, averaged 18:33 (3k course) and dominated the race by scoring just 15 points for the win. Their top six runners were either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd team Foot Locker All-Northeast.
Two 13-14 girls finished as 2nd Team All-Northeast, Ines Lemee and Dorothy Wong, as did one 11-12 boy, Todd Smith.
In the 10 and under race, Will Van Etten won the race 11:03.0, making him the fastest boy to race the famed 3,000m cross course course at Van Cortland Park. Even more unbelievable is that he broke it by just .3 seconds! His teammate Ryan Hirschorn finished second, thirty-three seconds behind him, with Harry Smith finishing 15th and thus earning 2nd team All-Northeast honors.
Fastest HM Day in Club History at Mohawk In the fastest day of half marathoning in club history, all athletes PRed and several cracked the club's top 15 list in an outstanding day at the mohawk Half Marathon up in Albany, New York.
Sean Donohue lead the charge with his 67:23 silver medal effort, or 5:09 pace, good for #3 on the all-time GSTC list. Stephen Rathbun's 67:58, also a big PR, got him third place and #5 on the club's list. Ashwin Anantharaman's 68:51, good for fourth, puts him 11th on the all-time list, ahead of GSTC legends Chris Croff, Ken Goglas, and Sean Stetler.
Kyle Price (70:38), Will Appman (71:16), Evan Ward (72:57), Brendan Conway (74:31), Wismith Francois (82:18), and Aidan Taylor (85:39) all had great races, too.
Club Travel Hours to Run at "Dream Park" The course was hours away, was uneven, bumpy, and gave people blisters, and it was hot af out there. But outside of that, it was great.
The open men and open women did win the USATF travel stipends for their win, so there was that too, along with a solid diner team outing afterward.
The USATF-NJ also lost about $920 in entry fees this year by having it so early and in deep South Jersey. In 2018, there were 219 finishers, but in 2019 there was just 165.
Van Etten Voted USATF-NJ 9-10 Track & XC Athlete of the Year
The USATF-NJ selected three GSTC youth for their track athletes of the year: Will Holman (9-10 sprinter), Will Van Etten (9-10 distance), and Kennan Byers (11-12 distance).
For cross country: 9-10 XC Youth Chair Will Van Etten Highlights: Region 2 Champion, All-American 9th in National 11-12 XC Youth Chair Kennan Byers
Highlights 3rd in the State, All-American 11th in the National 13-14 XC Youth Chair Max Huang
Highlights: 3rd in State, 2nd at Regions (lost by under 2 seconds)
GSTC's W40s Go Undefeated in 2019
GS10 Donates $21,500 to Cancer Call Out However, USATF-NJ Rejects Its Grand Prix Bid for the 2020 Team Championship Series The Garden State 10 continues to be an event that is both fun and fast for runners--along with charitable for a good cause. In September, the GS10 provided a check to the Nick Magos Cancer Call Out, making the total raised for the charity $21,500.
In 2019, there were 531 finishers for the 10 Miler and 373 finishers for the 5k. But unfortunately, the USATF-NJ did not select it again as part of the Grand Prix. Instead, they selected the Spring Classic 15k (a race that doesn't exist yet, doesn't have a website, a registration portal, etc. just three months before) and the 12k (238 finishers).
Jang Longs for the Dog Days of Warm Summer Running "I could then wear my green striped shirt any day I want and ponder the existential crisis of our earth." 
LOCAL MAN DOCUMENTS HIS CLUB RECORD 283 STRAIGHT DAYS OF RUNNING WITHOUT A WORKOUT "Day, Night, Cold, Heat, Tornados, Hurricanes. Bring it on! I'll be out there crushing an easy run. Not a workout, mind you, but I will run 7:25 (maybe 8:00 depending on the dew point) miles even during the Earth's fire-burning apocalypse."
Hogan Vying for "Most Patriotic Member" for 2019 Club Banquet
If Only GSTC Runner Took His Running as Seriously as His Post-Race Flexing
Parisen Eyes 2020 Donut Race After Fall Injury Setback "Hey cool story bro about your PR. I'm sure you worked hard for it. Just wait until I finish 3rd AG next year at the Donut Run." Young Open Runners Pretend Interested in Masters Teammate's Story About the Grocery Store That Existed About a Mile That Way Before Closing in 1987
GSTC Sprinter Can't Figure Out Why He Hasn't Had a Date Since 2015
Inspired by Older Masters Teammates, Rathbun Begins Running Like Them
FRIEDER TWINS NOT IMPRESSED WITH YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE PICS "Dude. Seriously. You call that thing a tree? I don't even celebrate the holiday, but those shitty ornaments look like empty beer cans. Also, I ran faster at Ashenfelter when I was 46 than you did this year. But anyway, Happy Holidays to you and your family."
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