Inter-squad Meet @ Hall High School

On 10/24, it started the day of fun and competitive edge to all athletes.  It was the 2nd Annual Scarlet vs. White Inter-squad meet at Hall High School. A friendly competition to see where the athletes are at as pre-season ended for the track team and championship season started for the XC team.  Teams were drafted by the team's captains Anderson Emerole, Marissa Poleto, Warren Lane, and Nicole Dow.  It was a fun atmosphere while the teams were getting to know each other more, goofing around, and just being who we are.  A great group of people that love to run.  The events that were held at the meet were the 60m dash, the 200m, 400m, the mile, long jump, shot, weight, javelin, and the sprint medley relay.  Some of the athletes were also happy to see some of the Alumni come out and run with the team.  Alumni to mention like LaTasha Jarrett, Ariana Bass, Kaycee Martinez, Wes Melnik, Jordan Pike, Ryan Trupin, and Stephanie Barbosa came out to enjoy the festivities and compete as well.  It was a great time and will definitely be a tradition that will carry on for a long time.

In the end of the day, the Scarlet Team swept the winning board and took home the win.  It was just a matter of time until we knew that we were all Hawks and this was going to be a great year to come for the Hawks.  The track team is still practicing until the first meet of the season December 4th at UVM.  The XC team is in their championship season with America East and NCAA Regionals still on the schedule.  Look for big things to happen this year.  Here are some photos from the meet. Enjoy.

WE ARE HAWKS!!

Conn College Invite @ Harkness Park

The new member of the Hawks Zoey!!

The Hawks were once again on the road for another XC meet. This time in Waterford, CT at Harkness Park for the Connecticut College Invite.  The Hawks left for the meet at 8:15am that Saturday. Charter bus and food awaiting for the Hawks arrival. The hour long ride had a calm and quiet atmosphere. With the athletes listening to their music, reading, or watching Happy Gilmore with Adam Sandler, which was provided by Freshman John Busque, the athletes were ready to run.  The ride had a lot of tired people on the bus since I heard that a lot of the athletes couldn't sleep the night before. Tossing and turning in the beds turns into a bad night for athletes especially runners that run long distances like our very own Hawks.  Bodies are tired, exhausted,  and need the rest. Could have been pre-meet jitters, hunger, or just couldn't sleep at all it was just one of those nights. Well what ever it was the Hawks got over it and slept on the bus ride there.  Reaching Harkness Park the first thing the athletes felt was the gust of wind and cold current coming off the water side of the park.  It was a beautiful park with a flower garden and as Ellen Crandall, our program administrator said, "a 100 year old tree." To see nature at its best during the fall is beauty for any photographer.  Just ask photographer and runner Josh Hummel, a senior here at the university loves to take pictures where ever he goes and even takes pictures while he does his warm-up. The guys went first at this meet and were very happy to get the 8k run over with while the girls ran after in their 6k run.  An extra kilometer than they usually run. As the gun goes off, you wonder the strategy for these runners. How are they going to run this race, what do they want their mile pace to be, and where in the pack do they want to be before making the move to catch runners? I can't tell you, why don't you ask a XC runner and see what they tell you.

The guys getting ready. Wow Are those Pink shoes!!!

The guys 8k race was off and they started towards the beach. A beautiful shot and cool breeze coming off the ocean while hitting the rocks below. The race was a fast faced race and didn't have any demise of being a great race for all competitors running. The winner of the race was Tom Bocchino from the College of New Jersey.  He finished the race in a time of 25:27 with a mile pace of 5:08.  Right behind him was Daniel Gaunya of Southern Connecticut State University in a time of 25:39.  The winner of the team scores was  University of Connecticut with 59 points.  Surprisingly they tied with Tufts University who also scored 59 points. The Hawks had a team score of 206 points which was good for 7th place out of 19 teams. The top runner for the Hawks was Andrew Chalmers who ran the 8k course in 26:32 and placed 26th out of the 225 runners that ran on Saturday.  The second Hawk to come in was Eric Flaman who placed 35th in the field with a time of 26:44. After Eric was Senior Jonas Hampton who finished with a time of 26:53 for 47th place.  Wayne Lawrence was the 4th Hawk to come in for the team.  He finished the 8k course in 27:03 and right behind him finishing was Kevin Brandon who completed the course in 27:12.  This rounded out the top 5 spots for the guys team.  The other runners Bobby Giuliani, John Busque, Josh Hummel, Brian Famigletti, and  Christopher Rodriguez all finished the 8k course with high competitive fashion as they knew they had next weekend off to recover.

The Girls Striding it out

The ladies 6k run was off within 30mins of the guys race was over.  Each and every lady was on the line for their team ready to run and improve times. Running the same way the guys went at the start, the girls were off and ready to beat the competition.  In the front of the pack we see Freshman Megan Barry up with the lead runners.  This is the way she loves to run so we knew she was ready to take on some faster foes.  As the rest of the girls bunched in with the rest of the runners, teamwork was definitely a key player for the race.  To win you have to have the fastest times for the race and the highest placed finishers.  This is how it would all go down for the whole race.  The winner of the race was Alyson Dalton of Cortland State University with a time of 22:12 for the 6k course.  Right behind her was Alina Gatowski of MIT running a time of 22:26.  The winner for the team was Tufts University with a total of 53 points.  The Lady Hawks scored 223 points finishing in 9th  place out of 18 teams.  A high position for the team going into an off week of competition.  For the Lady Hawks, the top finisher was Megan Barry who was 6th overall in the meet finishing the 6k course in a time of 23:11.  The next Hawk to cross the line was Jen Flores finishing the 6k course in 24:05 while crossing the line 38th in the field.  The 3rd Hawk to cross the line was Marisa Poleto. She finished the course in 24:22 placing 48th and right behind her was Kayla Koonz. She finished the course in a time of 24:44 placing 67th out of 199 girls running.  The 5th girl to finish the course for the Hawks was Catherine Carey running a time of 25:10 placing 89th out of the field of girls.  Stephanie Curcio and  Leslie Garabedian both ran competitively finishing with great times for each of them.  Finishing in great fashion for the race that they haven't run all season, each girl was happy with the performance for the day.

The Hawks XC Team minus some people 

As the day ended, the Hawks continued onto the bus for a nice ride home.  Everyone happy that the day was finally over and can relax when back on campus.  Tired and sore, the athletes had a great time and even watched Mean Girls on the way back. Don't know who requested that movie, but I can tell you that not everyone on the bus watched it.

The Hawks have next week off as they join the Track Team for the Annual Intersquad Meet that was started last year.  The weekend after that the Hawks return for the America East Championship meet at Franklin Park in Boston, MA.  Championship Season starts NOW!!

For complete results of the meet click on the links below.
Men's Individual Results
Men's Team Results
Women's Individual Results
Women's Team Results 

CCSU Invite @ Stanley Park

The XC team is well under way with three meets now in the books for the teams.  Coming off strong showings at the past two meets, the teams went through a strong week of practice, and prepared for the meet ahead of them.  Going only off campus into New Britain, CT the teams were ready for the teams that traveled out to the meet to compete with the best of the best.  As the Hawks saw Central the week before at the Hawks Riverfront Festival, it is starting to show a little in-state XC rivalry for the teams. The girls were off first with their 5k and the guys followed behind with the 8k.  A course that goes around a little lake in the middle of the park then into a forest where they come out about 5 mins later.  Just walking in the hills was an adventure and you can easily get lost and hurt if you do not watch your step.  With the coaches there and some of the track and field athlete's there ready to cheer on their teammates, it was Go Time!!

The girls race was up first with a 10 team field on the line and everyone out there just going for that best positions to score the best points for their teams.  The first place team was Northeastern University followed by URI losing by only 1 point. The winner of the race was Caitrin Demchko of URI running  18:10 in th 5k course.  The Lady Hawks placed 6th in the 10 team field with 159 points. The top Hawk was Freshman Megan Barry coming in with a time of 19:08 finishing 18th out of an 80 person field. Following right behind her placing 27th was Senior Marisa Poleto with a time of 19:26.  The top 3 for the Hawks was rounded out by Sophomore Kayla Koonz with a time of 20:09 giving her 33rd in the field.  Catherine Carey and Rebecca Mendes rounded out the top 5 places for the Hawks. The field was very competitive and gave the girls a great push throughout the race.

The guys race went off about 30mins after the girls. With the race filled with fierce competition it was anybodies race from the start.  With this 8 team field the guys were ready and focused.  The first place team for the guys race was Central Connecticut with 29 points.  Following behind them in second was Northeastern with 30 points losing by only 1 point.  The winner of the race was Jenkins Eric from Northeastern running the course in a time of 25:22.  The Hawks finished the invite in 3rd place with 101 points.  The top Hawk was Junior Andy Chalmers finishing the course in 9th out of 75 with a time of 27:01.  Following him strong was Junior Eric Flaman with a time of 27:38 crossing the finish line 16th. Rounding out the top 3 for the Hawks was Sophomore Bobby Giuliani with a time of 28:03 finishing 21st in the field.  Wayne Lawrence and John Busque rounded out the top 5 places for the Hawks to help them score a 3rd place team finish at the meet.

Both teams had strong showings for the races. The teams had the previous week off and were resting up for this week as they travel to Boston, MA for New Englands.

For Complete Team and Individual Results click the links below.
Men's Individual Results
Men's Team Results
Women's Individual Results
Women's Team Results