Another season has come and gone and it has been a good one.  So many positives from this year it would be tough to list them all but I will try and focus on some of the high lights.  

SUNYAC’s were fantastic this season.  Nichole and Danielle were seconds away from All SUNYAC honors with their 17th and 19th place overall  finishes.  Our fifth place overall team finish was our best to date and bodes well for the future of our program. Kudos to (freshman) Amanda Wolfer, (Sophomore) Christina Bartonicek and (freshman) Andrea Prusik for a strong 3-4-5 finish. 

The Regional meet was no less exciting with Danielle having the best performance of her career in her final collegiate meet.  She set the school record in a personal best time of 23:24.6 for (6K) and finished 37th overall, two place shy of All Region and Academic All American. Nichole,  Christina, Sara and Amanda ran strong enough to move us into 13th overall.   

We had 8 top 10 all time performances posted this season.  On the 5k chart Nichole W. moved into the #4 spot with a time of 19:39. Christina B. moved into the #6 spot with a time of 19:45 and Aubrey Larezza moved into the #10 spot with a time of 20:17.  In the 6k distance Danielle set a new school record of 23.24. Nichole W. moved into the #2 slot with a time of 23:33. Christina B. moved into the #4 slot with a time of 24:03, Theresa Park moved into the #5 slot with a time of 24:24 and Aubrey LaRezza ran a time of 24:53 moving her into the #9 spot overall. 

Our Women have clearly set a high standard for future teams to live up to.  Their commitment and dedication to their team is impressive.  I’m looking forward to our non-traditional season this spring to see what kind of really fast times we can set on the track.  If this fall is any indication of what the future will bring, NPXC fans have alot to look forward to in 2011. 

Coach Trunkes

I think the team really enjoyed running in Liberty State Park.  It was very different then what we are accustomed to in terms of scenery.  Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and lower Manhattan all within a stones throw of this course. 

The day was hot and humid thankfully there was breeze off the water or it would have been miserable.  The course was pancake flat except for a bump that must be part of an old landfill.   The races went off together Women’s 4k/6k.  The runners all went off together and then split off at the 1.5 mile mark.  The ladies looked great they all ran the 4k because we had Paul Short coming up the next Weekend.    Danielle, Aubrey, Christina and Nichole were a tight group with Theresa rounding out the top five.   She is really starting to look good.  Times were great and indicated a strong performance was on the Horizon for Paul Short.

Men ran next and also had the option to run 4k/6k.  NYU looked very strong but the boys ran well.  Joe easily took the 4k and had the NYU “A” guys run the 4k I think he could have handled them.  Nick ran really solid followed by Jeff, Dave, Shawn and Terence.  Harry and Sideburns were next.  They looked good inspite of not having done any real speed work yet.

We still have another week of strength work which should allow everyone the opportunity to run solid at Paul Short.  We begin to switch gears the week after.

Bard has become a feel good meet for us.  there is some good competition up front but with our depth we are able to control the final team scoring results for both the men and the women.   It’s also  good place for us to experiment with race tactics and  strategies.

As I had mentioned previously I was not thrilled with the group running of both our Men’s and Women’s teams at Vassar.  I felt we had enough personel of comparable fitness that we should be able to work together as a team for a substantial part of the race.   This was our strategy going into Bard for both the Men and Women.   I wanted to see the top five Women work together for 2k and then let them race.  The Men were to run at close to threshold pace for 2 miles and then race the final 2.75 miles.  We held Joe back so he could help out with keeping the men together for the first part of the race.

Overall I was very pleased with the results.   The Women executed the race to perfection and easily controlled the overall individual and team victory.  Nichole Wischoff finally stepped out of the shadows and showed what she was capable of.   Danielle, Aubrey, Christina and Andrea put in another solid performance to round out our top scoring five.  Theresa and Amanda were sixth and seventh respectively.  I love when a plan comes together.

The Men put a bit of a scare into us because we were a little bit further off the front then I thought we should be.  However,  it was close enough that we could close the gaps down and seal up the victory.  Joe finished third closing down about a 40 second deficit to 16 seconds over the last  2.5 miles.  Nick P. did a nice job of closing the gap along with Terence, Jeff, Shawn and Dave.  Harry rounded out the top seven.   Robert Webster is starting to show some signs of life finishing four seconds back of Harry.

Any win is a good win and we are happy to put this one in the bank and savor it for a little while.  Congratulations to both the Men and Women’s teams for a solid performance.

I love to run at Vassar because it’s always  a great early season meet and Vassar has some really strong runners that will test our teams and give everyone a good hard race and a sense of where they’re at.  This year was no exception.

Vassar Men once again taught our guys that fitness is not always the defining factor of who will  win a race.  The guys went out hard and paid the price losing narrowly by ten points to Vassar.  Albeit, it was the closest  finish in my tenure here but we had the personel to win.  Joe took first for the 2nd year in a row by as narrow a margin as he won last year.  Joe likes to keep coach Harris and I in suspense.  Jeff Raab got the award for smartest race of the day with his steady 4th place finish overall.   Harry Collins definitely got the surprise performance of the day.  Harry definitely does not train up to his capacity to race yet still a bit too frisky early on.  Shawn Gannon, Harry Collins, Nick Paolozzi, Terence Corrigan and Dave Lukas rounded out the top seven respectively.   Alot of good freshmen runners are a good thing but there’s alot of reconditioning that goes along with it.

In the Women’s race Danielle had a solid performance with a slight improvement over last seasons time.   Christina B.  ran a nice race finishing just 9 seconds behind Danielle with nearly a two min improvement from 09′.  Nichole Wischoff was third for us with a one minute improvement from last fall.  Freshman Andrea Prusik was five seconds back and looked strong along with junior transfer Aubrey LaRezza rounding out the top 5.  Freshmen Amanda Wolfer and Theresa Park were 6th and 7th for us.

I thought we looked a bit disorganized at the start.  I would have liked to see a better grouping of our top three or four runners by the 1k mark but we were too spread out.   First meet jitters and rust is to be expected.  I think you will see the ladies  better organized through 2k at Bard.

Vassar Women looked like the top 5 regional team that they are, placing five runners in front of our one and two and another three in front of our three, four and five.

This is the second year we’ve implemented to 3k time trial to the begining of the season.  Last year we ran it on the rail trail but I decided to do it on the track so we can get a more accurate read. 

We do the time trial for several reasons but primarily to see who is fit and who is not.   The times are not crucial because the runners are coming off of a block of mostly easy aerobic training.  They have not taxed their anaerobic systems and most have not pushed the upper  end of their aerobic threshold so they will not run anywhere near what they are capable of running for the 3k.  The 3k,  is a bench mark and it will give us an idea of how people are progressing through out the course of the season.  We can also get a sense of what some of the early season training paces should be for easy aerobic runs as well as tempo or lactate threshold paces.

Some team members are still recovering from Summer training related injuries and did not participate in the time trial.

Time Trial Results:  Women

Daniell Harmon 11:27, Nichole Wischoff 11:27, Amanda Wolfer 11:42, Aubrey LaRezza 11:44, Christna Bartonicek11:55, Andrea Prusik 11:59, Nikki McCarthy 12:01, Theresa Park 12:09, Sara Wenger 12:26, Joanna Goldfarb 12:36, Maggie Mocete 12:45, Saira Kahn 12:48, Rachel Sanborn 12:59.

Men

Joe Gentsch 9:04, Jeff Raab 9:24, Nick Paolozzi 9:28, Shawn Gannon 9:30, Terrence Corrigan 9:40, Harry Collins 9:51, Ethan Cohen 10:00, Dan Caruso 10:16, Greg Hanusch 10:18, Rob Webster 10:44

Way behind on my blogging this season so I’ve got alot of information for those that are interested.  We don’t have the vans today so the teams are running from campus and I’ve got a couple of hours to get caught up.

The season officially began on August 23rd which was our first day of practice.  The teams look strong and highly motivated for a successful run this fall.  Lots of talented freshmen and a solid core of upperclassmen and transfers.

Our Men have four notable returners: Joe Gentsch(2009 All Conference), Jeff Raab, Shawn Gannon and Doug Templeton.  All have appeard to put a solid summer of training in and should play and important role in the teams success.  New additions Dave Lukas, Nick Paoloazzi, Terence Corrigan and Harry Collins are our most talented incoming group to date.  Dave Terence and Nick have all run sub 4:35 miles and 16:30 or better for 5k.  The Freshman look poised to shake things up a bit.

The Women are looking strong and deep.  Danielle Harmon, Christina Bartonicek, Nichole Wischoff and transfer Aubrey LaRezza are clearly in great shape and will be a force throughout the season.  Add Freshman Andrea Prusik, Theresa Park and Amanda Wolfer to the mix and it rounds out our top 7 very nicely.    Dark horses to look for are Junior, Sara Wenger, Sophomores Nikki McCarthy,  Megan Ehrlich and Oswego transfer Rachel Sanborn.  Rachel placed 21st at SUNYAC’s in 2009 and 70th at Regionals (23:59). The Women are coming off an outstanding 2009 fall season with a 6th place finish at SUNYAC’s and 16th place finish at regionals.

At the 2010 New Paltz Athletic Award Ceremony Danielle Harmon and Joe Gentsch were named their respective teams MVP’s for the 2009 Cross Country Season. 

Danielle Led her team throughout the season setting school records along the way in both the 5k distance (19:05) and 6k distance (23:25).  Danielle won her first collegiate invitational at Bard and placed second overall to All American Johanna Spangler at the Vassar Invitational.  Danielle placed 29th at SUNYAC Championships leading the team to a 6th place finish overall.  At NCAA Regionals Danielle placed 60th out of 239 runners to help her team to a 16th place finish out of 42 teams.

This spring Danielle set a new school track record for the 5k run in a time of 19:14 seconds finishing in 3rd at the New York Relays.

Joe Gentsch had an outstanding XC season winning the first three meets overall and leading his team to victories at Mt St Mary’s,  Bard and second place at Vassar.  Joe went on to place 8th overall at the Paul Short White Race in Bethlehem PA.  He placed 16th at the Albany invite where he set a new school record in the 8k in a time of 25:29.  Joe capped off his season with a 14th place finish at SUNYAC Championships earing him a spot on the 2nd Team All SUNYAC.

May 15, 2010

UMass Lowell,  New Balance Twilight Meet:   Joe Gentsch shattered his own personal best in the 1500 meter run en route to dipping below the NCAA DIII  National provisional qualifying mark of 3:54.50 in a time of 3:54.46.  Joe’s run placed him 6th overall in a highly competitive field of 29 DI and DII Collegiate runners.

Joe’s previous best was set at the recent Mathew Vassar Invitational where he won in a time of 3:58.09.   The  new mark would currently rank Joe 33rd in the Nation for DIII Collegiate 1500 meter runners.  This  outstanding performance capped off a goal that Joe has been focused on throughout the past six months.   Although Joe knew he would not be able to compete in the National Championship he wanted to set the goal and prove to himself that he was capable of besting the National standard. 

This year has been one of many accomplishments for Joe.  This past winter he set indoor Personal Best Marks in the 800 @ 1:56.43, the 1500 @ 4:02 and the mile @ 4:18.  Outdoor Joe continued his assault on the record books setting personal bests of 1:54.69 in the 800, 15:18 for the 5000 and 3:54.46 in the 1500.

Congratulations Joe on outstanding Winter and Spring seasons:

Joe Gentsch has been quietly chasing the NCAA DIII indoor track national qualifying marks this winter.  Joe ran the 800 meter in 1:56.43 placing 4th at the Armory Holiday Classic on Dec 27.  His time is less then 2 seconds shy of the national provisional cut of 1:54.90.   Joe followed up this performance on Jan 21st at NYC Armory “Thursday Night at the Races” with a victory in a time of 4:02.4 in the 1500 meter run.  This time converts to 4:21.72 in the mile run.   The national provisional cut is 4:16. 

Joe has already met the qualifying standards for both the SUNYAC and ECAC indoor Track & Field Championships. 

Congratulations to Joe on his recent accomplishments and Good luck to him on his continued

persuit of athletic excellence.

The New Paltz Women’s Cross Country Team moved up one place from last year to take the 6th place team slot in the SUNYAC Championships at Cortland.  The Hawks were lead by Junior captain Danielle Harmon who placed 29th overall and followed by Senior Captain Lisa Cassaro in 34th place.  Freshman Nichole Wischoff finished 45th followed by freshman Jessica Abrams 55th place and Soph Sara Wenger 62nd place. The top seven was rounded out by Chanelle Santilli (63) who has been hampered with an IT Band problem for over a month and first year cross country runner Kate Frick (68) who is having an outstanding season.

The Women will be competing at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championships in Geneseo New York this Saturday the 14th.