Info
Location: Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
Date: 10/21/17
Departure Time: 6:00 AM
Women 6000m: 10:00 AM
Men 8000m: 11:00 AM
Awards Ceremony: 12:00 PM
Awards: Top 10 individuals, top 3 teams
Goal: Win... and sweep
More info can be found here!
Date: 10/21/17
Departure Time: 6:00 AM
Women 6000m: 10:00 AM
Men 8000m: 11:00 AM
Awards Ceremony: 12:00 PM
Awards: Top 10 individuals, top 3 teams
Goal: Win... and sweep
More info can be found here!
Preview
On Saturday, the UMBC Running Club travels to Lehigh, PA to compete in their first championship meet of the season, NIRCA Mid-Atlantic Regionals. Months of hard training, injuries, highs, and lows have all lead to this moment.
In the women’s race, the battle for #1 between Nicole Dawson (Sr.) and Anna Staats (Fr.) should be a killer. On Tuesday, the two hit the track to do 6x400s with Staats topping off a 10 mile day with some splits in the mid-70s and Dawson just being grateful to hit all 6 repeats sub-100. But the real question is if twins Naomi Corns (Fr.) and Julia Corns (Fr.) can pack up with Dawson and Staats. Julia was only 23 seconds off the club record at Penn State while Naomi broke 29 sleep-running. With the Ciattei’s MIA this week, it’s up to Christina Saba (Sr.) to solidify the scoring 5. She’s a 2-time sub-30 athlete and knows this is her last shot for the glory. Earlier this week we had reports of Facchine chugging full-sized Deer Park water bottles in just south of 10 seconds. It’s great to see our athlete’s practice their pre-race hydrating. After mistakingly being called a Sophomore post-Princeton, the fire in the heart of Sarah Lively (Jr.) has been rekindled to levels of pure hate. I sense a PR about to be demolished. But watch out for Katelyn Gregory (Jr.) who’s been flying under the radar recently, can she pull off the unthinkable?
In the men’s race, we have disappointing news. In fact it’s the most disappointing news. Our one and only Dawit Tegegn will not be racing on Saturday due to his yearly training block in Flagstaff. While, it’s sad to see him go, he’s got more important business to attend to, like increasing his RBC count. Expect great things when he returns. Consequently, the battle for top dawg is completely up in the air. Last week, Brandon Folio (Sr.) was the first retriever behind Dawit and it’s clear he wants to end the season on top. Rumor has it he’s been beet juicing on the reg. But Thomas Ryba (Sr.) will not let up without a fight. He’s been killing workouts but underperformed at Princeton. Perhaps the lack of 400s are catching up to him. But what about Issac Montgomery (Fr.) who’s been the most consistent week after week. If he has a breakthrough it won’t be pretty for Ryba and Folio. At Princeton Drew Bowling (Sr.) pushed Sam Clemens (Fr.) to his true physiological limits. According to many studies, the brain prevents you from running faster long before your muscles do. This was not the case for Clemens who became the first person in human history to override this biological fact. While it wasn’t pretty, it’s been rumored that he busted out 12 sub 80 400s with only 1 minute rest this past Tuesday. As impressive as that may be, it’s also been rumored that on the same day, Bowling closed his last rep of 6x400 in 57! Unfortunately it’s also been reported he said “It’s track season time” right afterwards which does not bode well for Saturday. With Tomas Aker missing due to forgetting his flu vaccine, our #6 and #7 are wide open. On paper, Jeremy Ruta (Fr.) is next in line with his superb sub 34 8k debut at Princeton. But for #7, it remains a mystery whether Justin Hua (Fr.) will finally take down Alex Hulbert (So.). In every race besides Penn State they’ve finished within 10 seconds of each other. Will Hua finally do the deed? But keep an eye out for Justin Drew (So.) who’s been on fire this season. He nearly took down both Hua and Hulbert last week. Could we see the sprint finish of the century this weekend? Rounding out the Retrievers best, Rick Linkous (Sr.) and Jason Winkler (Sr.) are looking to make a statement. That statement for Linkous is “I actually do run but don’t admit it” and for Winkler it’s “My talent is long jump by my heart is XC."
The Lehigh course is flat for the first 2 miles and then rolling hills to the finish. This course is extremely fast so keep an eye out for some PR shattering. The weather is projected to be 58 degrees and partly cloudy at race time, perfect weather for distance running. Family and friends are encouraged to attend! Stay tuned for results, recap, and video after the race. Let’s go dawgs!!
In the women’s race, the battle for #1 between Nicole Dawson (Sr.) and Anna Staats (Fr.) should be a killer. On Tuesday, the two hit the track to do 6x400s with Staats topping off a 10 mile day with some splits in the mid-70s and Dawson just being grateful to hit all 6 repeats sub-100. But the real question is if twins Naomi Corns (Fr.) and Julia Corns (Fr.) can pack up with Dawson and Staats. Julia was only 23 seconds off the club record at Penn State while Naomi broke 29 sleep-running. With the Ciattei’s MIA this week, it’s up to Christina Saba (Sr.) to solidify the scoring 5. She’s a 2-time sub-30 athlete and knows this is her last shot for the glory. Earlier this week we had reports of Facchine chugging full-sized Deer Park water bottles in just south of 10 seconds. It’s great to see our athlete’s practice their pre-race hydrating. After mistakingly being called a Sophomore post-Princeton, the fire in the heart of Sarah Lively (Jr.) has been rekindled to levels of pure hate. I sense a PR about to be demolished. But watch out for Katelyn Gregory (Jr.) who’s been flying under the radar recently, can she pull off the unthinkable?
In the men’s race, we have disappointing news. In fact it’s the most disappointing news. Our one and only Dawit Tegegn will not be racing on Saturday due to his yearly training block in Flagstaff. While, it’s sad to see him go, he’s got more important business to attend to, like increasing his RBC count. Expect great things when he returns. Consequently, the battle for top dawg is completely up in the air. Last week, Brandon Folio (Sr.) was the first retriever behind Dawit and it’s clear he wants to end the season on top. Rumor has it he’s been beet juicing on the reg. But Thomas Ryba (Sr.) will not let up without a fight. He’s been killing workouts but underperformed at Princeton. Perhaps the lack of 400s are catching up to him. But what about Issac Montgomery (Fr.) who’s been the most consistent week after week. If he has a breakthrough it won’t be pretty for Ryba and Folio. At Princeton Drew Bowling (Sr.) pushed Sam Clemens (Fr.) to his true physiological limits. According to many studies, the brain prevents you from running faster long before your muscles do. This was not the case for Clemens who became the first person in human history to override this biological fact. While it wasn’t pretty, it’s been rumored that he busted out 12 sub 80 400s with only 1 minute rest this past Tuesday. As impressive as that may be, it’s also been rumored that on the same day, Bowling closed his last rep of 6x400 in 57! Unfortunately it’s also been reported he said “It’s track season time” right afterwards which does not bode well for Saturday. With Tomas Aker missing due to forgetting his flu vaccine, our #6 and #7 are wide open. On paper, Jeremy Ruta (Fr.) is next in line with his superb sub 34 8k debut at Princeton. But for #7, it remains a mystery whether Justin Hua (Fr.) will finally take down Alex Hulbert (So.). In every race besides Penn State they’ve finished within 10 seconds of each other. Will Hua finally do the deed? But keep an eye out for Justin Drew (So.) who’s been on fire this season. He nearly took down both Hua and Hulbert last week. Could we see the sprint finish of the century this weekend? Rounding out the Retrievers best, Rick Linkous (Sr.) and Jason Winkler (Sr.) are looking to make a statement. That statement for Linkous is “I actually do run but don’t admit it” and for Winkler it’s “My talent is long jump by my heart is XC."
The Lehigh course is flat for the first 2 miles and then rolling hills to the finish. This course is extremely fast so keep an eye out for some PR shattering. The weather is projected to be 58 degrees and partly cloudy at race time, perfect weather for distance running. Family and friends are encouraged to attend! Stay tuned for results, recap, and video after the race. Let’s go dawgs!!
The Race
Meet Recap
On Saturday, the UMBC Running Club competed at the NIRCA Mid-Atlantic Region meet with the hopes of winning the whole thing. Months of training, hard work, and sacrifice were needed to find the true limits of human performance.
In the women’s race, the retrievers were lead by Nicole Dawson (Sr.) who obliterated the club record by well over a minute, finishing 42nd in 24:40. Hanging on just 80m back was our very own Brooks sponsored pro soccer player, Anna Staats (Fr.) who forgot how to taper but miraculously had a massive PR of well over a minute to finish 50th in 24:56. Keeping the PR train a’rollin, Julia Corns (Fr.) and Naomi Corns (Fr.) ran like true veterans, clicking off even splits and taking down the noobs who went out too fast. Julia finished 70th in 25:48 and Naomi 99th in 26:32. Keep in mind folks, the club record before today was 26:01. Almost 4 retrievers broke that today! Scoring 5th for the retrievers was confirmed pro-baby-sitter Christina Saba (Sr.) who used her signature sneak attack to go from nearly last at 400m to a 1 minute PR and scoring for us once again. She finished 156th in 29:10. With the PR train still a’rollin, hydration queen Bella Facchine (Sr.) had a monster performance demolishing her old personal best by almost 2 minutes. She finished 177th in 30:47. But the real shocker was Sarah “lane 1" Lively (Jr.) who reportedly closed the last 3k at sub 30 pace! She finished in a big 2 minute PR in 189th with a 32:21. Rounding out our elite 8 is Katelyn Gregory (Jr.) who hammered the pace from the start to improve 3 minutes from Penn State 2 weeks earlier. She finished 195th in 34:33. The women finished 10th out of 16 teams beating the likes of Villanova, William & Mary, Georgetown, etc. Definitely the best performance in club history!
In the men’s race, the retrievers were lead by Brandon Folio (Sr.) who after outkicking Thomas Ryba (Sr.) at the line sadly resulted in Ryba transferring schools for his last semester. Due to court marshaling errors, places and scores were invalidated but Folio finished in 30:27 and Ryba in 30:33. Holding onto 3rd was Issac Montgomery (Fr.) who’s race results this season have a standard deviation of 0. After flying through the first mile in 5:25, he couldn’t beat statistics and thus finished in 30:42. Placing 4th for the team was Sam Clemens (Fr.) who finished just outside of his PR with a 31:48. Had he not eaten so much beforehand, he would’ve had a much better showing. The race of the year goes to Justin Drew (So.) who came into the season with a PR of 37:58 and then ended the season with a 5+ minute improvement finishing in 32:42. On top of that, he scored for the team for the first time ever! Seeing performances like these is what makes all the hard work worth it. Like everything in life, you gotta take the good with the bad. Today Drew Bowling (Sr.) took all the bad as a broken heart resulted in a 33:05 performance. Thinking that regionals was a lost cause, he went through all 5 stages of grief followed by desperate ambition for track season to begin. Rumor has it he had a dream of himself running through quicksand at a cadence of only 28 bpm. Rounding out our top 7 is Alex Hulbert (So.) who’s duct taped hip and stapled ankle held up enough for him to PR with a 33:41. While Hulbert remained whole, Justin Hua (Fr.) unfortunately did not. Thanks to a disgruntled walnut, Hua’s ankle is still missing somewhere on the course. SWAT team members and CIA investigators are still working on the case. Stay tuned for updates. The KOTW goes to Jason Winkler (Sr.) who on top of a 2+ minute PR kicked with impeccable sprint form that brought tears to the eyes of all who witnessed. He ran an impressive 41:52. Last but certainly not least was Rick Linkous (Sr.) who ran a 4+ minute SB with a sub-50. After the race he could barely contain his excitement that he kinda “oozed” a sight you had to be there to understand.
The season was full of highs and lows but without a doubt, this season will go down in the history books as one of the best. Thanks for a great XC season dawgs!! It’s track time now folks...
In the women’s race, the retrievers were lead by Nicole Dawson (Sr.) who obliterated the club record by well over a minute, finishing 42nd in 24:40. Hanging on just 80m back was our very own Brooks sponsored pro soccer player, Anna Staats (Fr.) who forgot how to taper but miraculously had a massive PR of well over a minute to finish 50th in 24:56. Keeping the PR train a’rollin, Julia Corns (Fr.) and Naomi Corns (Fr.) ran like true veterans, clicking off even splits and taking down the noobs who went out too fast. Julia finished 70th in 25:48 and Naomi 99th in 26:32. Keep in mind folks, the club record before today was 26:01. Almost 4 retrievers broke that today! Scoring 5th for the retrievers was confirmed pro-baby-sitter Christina Saba (Sr.) who used her signature sneak attack to go from nearly last at 400m to a 1 minute PR and scoring for us once again. She finished 156th in 29:10. With the PR train still a’rollin, hydration queen Bella Facchine (Sr.) had a monster performance demolishing her old personal best by almost 2 minutes. She finished 177th in 30:47. But the real shocker was Sarah “lane 1" Lively (Jr.) who reportedly closed the last 3k at sub 30 pace! She finished in a big 2 minute PR in 189th with a 32:21. Rounding out our elite 8 is Katelyn Gregory (Jr.) who hammered the pace from the start to improve 3 minutes from Penn State 2 weeks earlier. She finished 195th in 34:33. The women finished 10th out of 16 teams beating the likes of Villanova, William & Mary, Georgetown, etc. Definitely the best performance in club history!
In the men’s race, the retrievers were lead by Brandon Folio (Sr.) who after outkicking Thomas Ryba (Sr.) at the line sadly resulted in Ryba transferring schools for his last semester. Due to court marshaling errors, places and scores were invalidated but Folio finished in 30:27 and Ryba in 30:33. Holding onto 3rd was Issac Montgomery (Fr.) who’s race results this season have a standard deviation of 0. After flying through the first mile in 5:25, he couldn’t beat statistics and thus finished in 30:42. Placing 4th for the team was Sam Clemens (Fr.) who finished just outside of his PR with a 31:48. Had he not eaten so much beforehand, he would’ve had a much better showing. The race of the year goes to Justin Drew (So.) who came into the season with a PR of 37:58 and then ended the season with a 5+ minute improvement finishing in 32:42. On top of that, he scored for the team for the first time ever! Seeing performances like these is what makes all the hard work worth it. Like everything in life, you gotta take the good with the bad. Today Drew Bowling (Sr.) took all the bad as a broken heart resulted in a 33:05 performance. Thinking that regionals was a lost cause, he went through all 5 stages of grief followed by desperate ambition for track season to begin. Rumor has it he had a dream of himself running through quicksand at a cadence of only 28 bpm. Rounding out our top 7 is Alex Hulbert (So.) who’s duct taped hip and stapled ankle held up enough for him to PR with a 33:41. While Hulbert remained whole, Justin Hua (Fr.) unfortunately did not. Thanks to a disgruntled walnut, Hua’s ankle is still missing somewhere on the course. SWAT team members and CIA investigators are still working on the case. Stay tuned for updates. The KOTW goes to Jason Winkler (Sr.) who on top of a 2+ minute PR kicked with impeccable sprint form that brought tears to the eyes of all who witnessed. He ran an impressive 41:52. Last but certainly not least was Rick Linkous (Sr.) who ran a 4+ minute SB with a sub-50. After the race he could barely contain his excitement that he kinda “oozed” a sight you had to be there to understand.
The season was full of highs and lows but without a doubt, this season will go down in the history books as one of the best. Thanks for a great XC season dawgs!! It’s track time now folks...