March 27, 2011
WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. - Led by dominating performances by young distance runners, the Marist College men's track team opened its outdoor season Saturday at the cold and windy Monmouth University Season Opener.
In the day's first track event, Red Fox runners swept the top three spots in the 10,000-meter run. Sophomore Mike Nicoletti (Lynbrook, N.Y.), who qualified for the 2010 USA Junior Championships in the event as a freshman, was the overall winner in a personal-best time of 32:31.90. "Mike had to do a lot of work on his own, leading the race in a strong headwind,'' head coach Pete Colaizzo said. "He ran a great race and it was an excellent effort.''
Freshmen Kevin O'Sullivan (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Nick Salek (Morris Plains, N.J.), running their first-ever 10,000-meter races on the track, finished second and third respectively. O'Sullivan's runner-up time was 32:54.73. Salek just dipped under the 33-minute barrier (32:59.18). Freshman Billy Hild (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) rounded out the scoring pack with a seventh-place finish in 33:55.97.
In the 5,000-meter run, sophomore Billy Posch (Wantagh, N.Y.) - running his second race on the day, after a ninth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run earlier - took first place with a strong finishing kick. His winning time of 15:17.16 was a personal-best time by more than 40 seconds. "It was a great breakthrough effort for Billy,'' Colaizzo said. In the same event, sophomore Mike Keegan (Huntington, N.Y.) ran a 10-second personal-best time, placing sixth in 15:30.66.
Other top-10 finishers included freshman Nick Hughes (Stony Point, N.Y.) in the steeplechase (fourth place), senior captain Pat Duggan (Rockville Centre, N.Y.) in the 5,000 (eighth place), sophomore Will Schanz (Latham, N.Y.) in the 10,000 (ninth place), and the 400-meter relay (fourth place) and sprint medley relay (seventh place).
The Red Foxes return to action Friday and Saturday at the Sam Howell Invitation at Princeton University.
Men's results
100-meter dash
11. Mike McCloskey 11.66
13. Darren Bushey 11.89
400-meter dash
20. Chris Vanzetta 52.22
22. Chris Coscio 52.98
40. John Kristie 54.93
1,500-meter run
9. Billy Posch 4:09.66
20. Andrew James 4:15.29
23. Pat Duggan 4:17.68
25. Joel Moss 4:20.47
26. Zak Smetana 4:20.82
36. Isaiah Miller 4:26.75
5,000-meter run
1-Billy Posch 15:17.16
6. Mike Keegan 15:30.66
8. Patrick Duggan 15:37.39
13. Zak Smetana 15:55.27
15. Isaiah Miller 16:02.30
10,000-meter run
1-Mike Nicoletti 32.31.90
2-Kevin O'Sullivan 32:54.73
3-Nick Salek 32:59.18
7. Billy Hild 33:55.97
9. Will Schanz 34:24.01
11. Doug Ainscow 34:46.57
15. Brendan Green 36:09.19
400-meter hurdles
18. Mike Clifford 1:01.11
3,000-meter steeplechase
4. Nick Hughes 10:13.76
400-meter relay
4. Marist (Jesse Aprile, Darren Bushey, Mike McCloskey, Connor Dodge) 45.17
Sprint medley relay
7. Marist (Mike McCloskey, Jesse Aprile, Connor Dodge, Andrew James) 3:42.58
1,600-meter relay
11. Marist (John Kristie, Chris Coscio, Chris Vanzetta, Mike Clifford) 3:33.47
Long jump
12. Jesse Aprile 5.95
Triple jump
10. Jesse Aprile 11.88
Javelin
20. Jake Akey 39.83
