From Nicole Falcaro:
Hey CPTCers,
Cat is busy geologizing in the Mediterranean right now so you’ll be getting this weekend’s recap from me! Cat does deserve credit for writing the Paul Short Recap before taking flight!
Friday, September 28: Paul Short Invitational, Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA:
The ladies of CPTC were simply too excited about xc to wait until the weekend so a group traveled to the Paul Short Invitational (Lehigh University, PA) on Friday morning. The team was lead by 2nd and 3rd place finishes from Cat Beck (21:07- Paul Short PR) and Ivette Mejia (21:49), with Ivette crushing her previous PR of 23:07 by a whopping 1 minute and 18 seconds!!!! They were closely followed by Andrea Bradshaw in 13th (22:13- watch out 22-minute barrier, she’s coming!), Kristan Dietz (23:15 for another Paul Short PR on the day!), and Sarah Schillaci (23:44 with a perfectly paced race!). The team got super muddy, felt really old, I mean “seasoned”, being surrounded by so many collegiates, but we crushed it anyway! All and all we had a fabulous day 🙂
Saturday, September 29:
Everyone who raced enjoyed a painful recovery run, likely from returning from a long hiatus of not wearing spikes. Those who did not race relished in the delightfully brisk, fall-like, sometimes sunny-sometimes overcast weather.
Sunday, September 30:
A few ladies trekked up to Van Cortlandt Park, grateful that the 1 train is running past 168th St this year. In an anticipated high-50’s weather, high 60’s with full sun felt like summer again, and warmups were shed long before the warmup. Nicole Falcaro was the first female in 25:02, with Kristel Adler first in her age group in 26:37, Sue Pearsall first in her age group in 29-flat, Wanda Wang third in her age group, and Judy Tripp also 1st in her age group!
When asked about the course, which went up cemetery hill twice, Nicole said,
“I’ve never run up Cemetery Hill before, and I purposely avoided it during the warmup, because ignorance is bliss! When going up the hill, it felt like that scene in the Titanic where the sinking ship gets closer and closer to 90 degrees, and everyone is trying to find a pole to grab onto. But in my case, there were trees instead of poles, and stopping would’ve hurt my time. Plus, I knew women and children were going first, so I wanted to get to the finish line and to my safety boat ASAP!”
The women (and men!) return to action [jackson] this coming Sunday, October 7th at the Get the Gorilla 5K in Buccleuch Park in New Brunswick, NJ at 10:00am EST.
Your CPTC Cross Country Subordinate Assistant to the Captain Co-captain,
Nicole Falcaro
From Matt Lacey:
It was a busy weekend for the Open Men’s XC team, with excellent early season performances in three different states on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Stan Berkow, Matt Lacey, and Will Davis started things off in the Open Race at the Paul Short XC Invitation in Bethlehem PA. It was a “cross country” type of day, with plenty of mud, puddles, and intermittent showers, but not enough to deter the squad. Stan Berkow led the way with a 38th place finish (out of 394) in 26:08. Matt Lacey was close behind at 26:14 in 46th place. Will Davis, running his first EVER cross country race (in road racers), rounded out the team in 27:22, placing 144th.
Ross Weller kept things going on Saturday, notching a victory in the three mile race at the Shore AC cross-country series. He completed the three mile course at Thompson Park in Lincroft, New Jersey, in 16:45.
Finally, there was a strong CPTC contingent at the Henry Isola XC classic, a 4 mile race in Van Cortland Park, which is no longer under construction. Romain Mareuil led the way to a second place team showing with his 4th place finish in 23:07. Also scoring were John Milone, Thomas Raymond, John Affleck, and Pedro Agostini.
Next weekend we will have a strong team racing the Get the Gorilla 5k/8k in New Brunswick NJ on Sunday, it’s not too late to sign up! Also let me know if are planning on racing anywhere else so it can be included in the next recap. Until then, happy training.
Matt Lacey, XC Captain