The women of CPTC were the national runners-up for the team title at the USATF National Club Championships this past weekend, falling just five points short of the winner, Greater Boston Track Club. The men’s squad placed came in the top five out of more than thirty teams, giving CPTC third place in the overall team competition.
If there was a theme to the meet, which ran smoothly and on time over two thankfully rain-free days, it was the depth and versatility of the club. It seemed as though we had athletes competing in every single event, not to mention all the CPTC’ers who could be found at the expo booth, helping out with the hurdles or the field events, and behind the microphone. (During one desultory leg of the men’s 4 x 800 relay, most of the drama came from MC Joe Bolster‘s running commentary.)
By late Saturday afternoon, as the sprint and distance medleys closed out the meet, I began to experience deja vu while watching runners compete several times, often at the same distance, in order to help score valuable team points. There were doubles, triples, quadruples, etc., and long-distance specialists running 400 meters (Lauren Esposito deserves special credit in this regard). Lisa Daley, for example, ran in the 200, the 400, the 4 x 100, the 4x 400, and the sprint medley.
One of the most impressive performances was the new national age-group record in the 4 x 800 (8:09.46) set by Neil Fitzgerald, Anselm LeBourne, Gladstone Jones, and Chris Potter, who picked up team points in the process. The women’s 4 x 800 A team — consisting of Melissa Salerno, Natalie Gingerich, Joy Romulus, and Caryn Gehrke — cruised to victory in their relay, gaining points on the first-place Greater Boston Track Club.
Kate Irvin won the 1500m (4:26) and the 5000m (17:04). In both races, she was closely followed by a teammate — Natalie Gingerich in the 1500, and Aileen Conlon in the 5000m. Chris Spooner took third in the men’s 5000m, running just under fifteen minutes. Carl Dambkowski, Brian Gertzen, and Atilla Sabahoglu all ran multiple distance races over the course of the meet.
In the field events, valuable points came from John Langhauser and Joanel Lopez in the shot put. Kateema Riettie scored in the javelin (which she won), shot put, and discus, and Blessing Egwu took second in the shot put and in the hammer throw. Finally, Oronde Vassell picked up some points in the men’s long jump.
Please see the USATF’s results page for full results, and here for the USATF’s news story on the meet. Much credit goes to Coach Devon, who was the meet director, and to all those who sponsored races, coordinated volunteers, volunteered, and showed up to cheer their teammates even if they weren’t running.