Winter Wrap up

It has been a while since the last post, and since then, there has been a couple meets and a time trial. The East Distance team for the most part has been training hard through the final months of this unseasonal winter.

In late January, the track team went to the bubble to compete in a Olympic conference meet. Freshman Dan Helfand pr'ed in the 800, running a 2:19. In the 1600, Junior Mike Minion ran a pr of 4:48. Also in that race, seniors Ben Helfand and Russell Beatty ran 4:50 and 4:56. In the 3200, Seniors Ricky Zhao and Tyler Russ finished 7th and 8th with times of 10:25 and 10:30.

Weeks later, the team traveled to the Armory, in New York City, in which everyone ran a 1600. Sophomore Jared Deshevsky ran a great race which led to a pr of 4:46. Freshman Dan Helfand had a race that he will always remember, breaking 5 minutes in the 1600 for the first time, running a 4:56. Freshman Jeff Braun also pr'ed, and it was a 10 second pr. He ran a 5:32. These three runners really stood out, not that everyone else raced like junk, but they were not as impressive and were not close to their pr's. It was one of those meets where for most people, it made you re-think your goals and realize there is still a lot of hard work to put in.

In early February, there was a 1600 time trial held right on the east track. It was a chilly day, probably around 43 degrees. Senior Tyler Russ won it in 4:57. Other notable races were run by Junior Jack Fiedler, running a 5:14, Senior Kevin Walder, who ran a 5:18 which is about a 25 second improvement from his last race, freshman Dor Tillenger had a nice pr of 5:35.

On February 11th, a small group of distance runners went to the bubble for sectionals. In the 800, Senior Joe Pallegrino qualified for states with a time of 2:01, Junior Joey Andalora pr'ed running a 2:05, and Senior Brad Krell, whose last 800 before this was close to a year ago, ran a 2:07. In the 1600, all 3 runners ran pr's. Sophomore Ben Dillon ran a 4:40, Sophomore Jared Deshevsky and Senior DJ Rodriguez both ran 4:42's. All three of those runners came back to run the 3200. DJ Rodriguez ran 10:11, Ben Dillon ran 10:32, and Jared Deshevsky ran a 10:48. After a long day, only sprinters and a jumper advanced to states.

With Spring track practice already in full swing, it is time for everyone to look at their goals and really think of why we come to practice everyday and what we need to do in order to get those goals.

As always, Keep on runnin'.