Hello, East Distance fans, runners,
alumni, and wakeup from your broken-bubble induced hibernations, because after
a half month delay, the winter track racing season officially began. Christian
Mele, brother of notable Leah Mele, recaps the first meet on January 2nd
below:
This was the introduction that I made 2
months ago after I asked Christian to do the blog post for the first race after
winter break. After about 2 months of waiting for a finalized post, I am
posting this quasi-halfway-there recap for all the meets after the break and
before sectionals. I look forward to seeing Ben Dillon’s and Dan Helfand’s
posts next year. Here’s Christian:
Looks like I was designated as the
blogger for last weeks track meet on 1/2/13 at Toms River all thnx to the all
mighty and powerful Bruce! This is my first blog post so treat me well! I just
wanted to start off by apologizing for the lateness of this post which was due
last week. I just got the chance to type right now while biking due to an
injury! Back to the main topic, last weeks meet was of vital importance to the
team and everyone did a great job! Dan H, and Jared D stood out amongst the
competitors during they're DMR and the 4x800 both showing tremendous effort and
endurance! Dan H. ran a _____ during the _____ for the DMR while he also ran a
____ on the 4x800. Jared ran a ____ during the ____ for the DMR and also ran
a____ for the 4x800! Mike W. did a great job as well during the 4x800 and the
4x400, running a 2:16 for the 4x8 and a _____ for the 4x4! Chris Arnold had a
impressive time of ___ during his 800 DMR while I don't really want to talk
about my time for the 4x8 .My
memory can only go so far back but I believe that was everyone, but please
inform me if I missed anyone on the distance team! Once again, everyone had a
great race and put 100% into they're events! Thank you for reading my post and
hope that everyone is training hard! Also, good luck to all those racing on
1/9/13 at Haddonfield and the upcoming meets.
-Christian
Mele
Note:
Christian blanked on some of the times, if anyone has them, let me know.
On Monday, January 7th,
several members of the distance team hiked up to Tom’s River to the standing
albeit tattered bubble to do some racing. Ben Dillon and Mike Minion lined up
for East first in the 1600m dash, running strong races for 4:45 and 4:39
finishes. Nice job, boys. Right after the 3 boys’ heats came 3 girls’ heats,
one of which consisted of Gill Raines and Rebecca McCormack, who ran 6:23 and 6:16
respectively. An especially nice job was done by Rebecca, who stepped up and
raced at the top of her pack.
Later in the meet, Jeff Braun and
Michael Bruce stepped up to the line, the California start line specifically,
to shimmy 800 meters. Expecting a fast start, and as they were seeded 2 and 3
in the race, they went out with the 1 seed, thinking that he’d start fast.
Unfortunately, he did not and Bruce and Jeff were left to pick their ways
through the pack, competitively. They ran 2:21 and 2:18, respectively. After at
least 5 more heats of the 800m passed, Allie Smith stepped on the line. No, she
was not in a boys’ race, but she was East’s lone female representative in the
800m. In said solitary conditions, she dropped a 2:50. Nice Job Allie.
That Wednesday, January the 9th,
a final meet was held at Haddonfield for the winter; the only real highlight
for the boys was Aaron Zucker’s 2:13.
Moving on, East Distance had a very
successful day at the state relays; KBlanco (2:03), Dan Helfand (2:05), Ben
Dillon (2:10), and Jared Dashevsky (2:09) for a time of 8:29 and 8th
place overall in the 4x800m. Previously, however, Mike Minion (4:34), Dashevsky
(3:23), Helfand (2:09) and Barry (51) ran to another 8th place
finish in the DMR with the best time in memory of 10:57. Nice job boys.
On Monday, January 14th,
several distance runners who had not raced on the previous Friday traveled to
Tom’s River for another Olympic conference race. In the 1600, Chris “Jamar
Javarison-Lamar” Arnold took out a huge lead and kept at least a slim lead over
Sean “D’Squarius” Taylor to finish the race in first with a crusin’ 5:04. Sean
took third with a 5:10. In the 800, Michael “J’Dinkalage” Wang dropped a 2:14,
as he continues to drop his time by 1 second each race; you’ll be at sub-2 in
just over 7 more miles of racing! Aaron “Zucker” Zucker continued to prove that
his 2:13 was not an anomaly by replicating his pr from last year, keep up the
hard work Zuckeroo. Earlier, 25 minutes after the Cherry Hillian bus arrived at
the bubble, the boys 3200 went off, and with it Mike “Buckshank” Bruce. In his
first 3200 in 21 months, he disappointingly ran a 10:44 after running the first
mile close to 5 minute pace; I guess that’s what happens when you drop a 34 in
the 5th 200 of the race, silly.
On a further note, Caroline Sawn ran to a strong finish with a 6:11 in
the 1600m, just edging out Jill Raines, who dropped big time for a 6:13. Nice
job girls.
Subsequently, 5 distance runners on
Saturday the 19th once again traveled up to Tom’s River to possibly
run the best races of their careers to this date. In the 800m, Chris Arnold
dropped a 2:08, winning him 1st place in his heat; Wang continued in
his “1 second per race” streak with a 2:13. In the 1600m, Jared Dashevsky and
Dan Helfand both ran to 4:39s, with Jared (3rd) edging out Dan (4th)
at the end; thank the lord, for we’d never hear the end of it if Dan had won.
In the 3200, Ben Dillon (9:46) and Mike Minion (9:50) dropped huge time for
great races, coming in a narrow 2nd and third, respectively; nice
job Mike on shattering 10 minutes for the first time. Nice job Ben for negative
splitting at each mile.
That Wednesday, a group of distance
runners journeyed through the potent, oil-slicked meadow lands of North Jersey
to race at the Armory; nearly every distance runner was in attendance.
Unfortunately, however, the day was marked by a general lack of accomplishment
in the 1600m in spite of great success in the Varsity DMR. In the 1600, Michael
Bruce led the team with a 5-flat finish, which was followed by Jeff Braun’s
5:12 and Sean Taylor’s 5:14 in the same race. One of the few notable 1600
highlights of the meet was Jason Decker’s 5:26, which tied his PR in conditions
that, for whatever reason, threw everyone else off. Nonetheless, the Varsity
DMR ran like “bull[s] on steroids” –Benjamin Dillon, dropped 5 seconds for a
10:52; the race consisted of BAD’s 3:21, KBlanco’s dependable 51, Dan Halfend’s
2:05, and Mike Minion’s 4:35. Great job DMR.
The very next day, another (smaller)
group of individuals traveled to Tom’s River for another Olympic Conference
meet; while we took a small group and expected a small group to show up, we
were somewhat disappointed when the meet went 90 minutes longer than expected.
Nethetheless, a good talk with Brahime about the murder and teenage pregnancy
rates in Bridgeton passed a night that was otherwise characterized by mediocre
performances. To start off the day, Michael Bruce dropped 6 seconds off his
3200 to hit 10:38, and continued to work on staying relaxed throughout the
race. In the 800, and actually the 400 as well, the notable racer was no other
than Chris “Elkan” Arnold, who dropped a competitive 2:09 in the half before
nailing a 56.4! You’re a sprinter Arnold! Other highlights included Jared
Athias’ first competitive meet since his injury and Ian Dunn’s big 400m to win
his heat. Nice job boys.
Now here is Christian with the recap
from the Armory that next Wednesday (1/30/13)
O wait he didn’t do it. Moving on. If
anyone wants to do this for kicks, let me know
The Spring Track season officially
starts in about 20 minutes. Let’s keep our streak alive.
Run Fast. Run Strong. Win.
Don’t just keep running; start winning:
from daily struggles to the Meet of Champions, every day can be won.
