In the exhibition program, Yvonne Green showed a great return to form. She had been off the scene after giving birth to her son, but clearly had something to prove as she dominated the women's 200, 600 (beating Sarah "Ellie" Mosser, returning from injury, in the process), Long Jump and Triple Jump, while also placing second to Erin Archard in the 100 Meter Dash. Perhaps she ought to make the switch to the Heptathlon? One has to question Don't KnowU Brogan's emotional status after being soundly defeated on multiple occasions by Green, but she did turn in some respectable marks in her effort to dethrone our new multi-eventer. On the men's side of things, both Paul Rupprecht and Chris McCann showed that they're just about over their injury woes, putting down solid 600 times. Rupprecht's performance was especially impressive as he was hardly dressed appropriately for the affair. Kerwin Vega, Mark Coogan, and Avery Bouchard contested a heated battle in the Men's 100 Meter Dash going stride for stride nearly the entire race, but Vega would eventually pull out the win by tenths of seconds over the rest of the field and all three also faced each other in the Long Jump and Triple Jump; Coogan taking the win in the former and Vega the latter.

Once the fans were finally calmed after being truly stunned by the exhibition program, the normal slate of events got underway right around 5:30 PM. The day came off beautifully - hardly a cloud in the sky; temperatures soaring into the high 70s; and the wind mostly negligible. It was the perfect setting for fast mid-distance racing.

The split heat scheduling got the best of most of our 800 meter men, forcing most of them to race well ahead of being adequately warmed up and prepared. As a result, James Weider managed to just break 2 with a 1:59.90 despite arriving approximately 5 minutes before the start of his heat. Max Jack and Colin Lyons did not fare well in their section of the 800 either, but took the whole thing in stride and are already looking forward to the next races. 

With the faster seeded sections going later in the meet, Brendan Collins got things started for the club in the 1500, running a solid 4:05.39 and looking strong the whole way through. Philip Mainwaring executed a race marked with patience as he was not deterred by the slow early pace. Kicking home like he stole something, Mainwaring closed the gap on his section's leaders and ran to a shiny new PR of 3:56.79. Newcomer Tom Robbins fought hard in the top seeded section and ran just a few seconds off of his PR, finishing the 1500 in 3:47.58 and 8th place.

The women's 1500 was a delight to watch for NBB fans as Jess Minty continues to prove that she's not just a marathoner. In a fierce battle for winner of the second section, Minty and Joanna Murphy gunned it home with Minty getting the nod over Murphy, 4:33.02 to 4:33.28. In the top seeded section, Steph Reilly went with the early pace, separating herself from the rest of the pack in a group of four athletes and was rewarded for her aggressiveness with a new PR of 4:18.46 for 3rd place.

While conditions weren't exactly ideal for the 5K, some great racing was still on display nevertheless. Andrea Sorgato, also battling some ups and downs in recent times, made a powerful return to the track, taking the win in the top seeded section of the men's 5000 Meter Run with a 14:32.04, although it should be known that Sorgato admitted to running the 5K instead of the 15 (he was originally entered in both) in order to dodge Mainwaring. When will we see this hotly contested matchup go down? It could be as soon as next weekend, according to sources. Stay tuned on that front! In the other section of the men's 5K, Dan Fidler made a gutsy move to take to the lead and ended up paying for it down the stretch unfortunately. Mark Mayall closed out his race nicely to secure a time well under 16 minutes (15:46.96, to be precise), while Zachary Lankow did not fare as well and finished just over the 16 minute barrier, noting that it just wasn't his day out there, but optimistic for improvement in the coming weeks. Of note, Dan Lounsbury completed the race in a respectable 16:31.46 in the midst of wrapping up his marathon training for Vermont City in a couple of weeks.

The women's 5K saw a strong run from Diana Davis, running within the realm of her PR and grabbing a 3rd place finish with her 17:35.37. The rarely seen, but often spoken of Krystal Douglas came down to Waltham to run the 5K as well and turned in a solid 18:40.24. Karina Johnson didn't have the race that she wanted, but has been making strides in practice and will surely see the gains of her efforts in future races.

All in all, it was a great afternoon and evening for a track meet and plenty of entertainment was delivered both on and off the track. Next week, the meet travels to Lowell, MA and the 10,000 will be featured, so look for many of our distance warriors to get after prime results. For videos of all of the races, click here, and for results, please click here!

NBB's Kate DiCamillo executed a stellar race plan late Friday night to come away with a second place overall finish and Olympic Trials "A" Qualifier with a 32:31.97 in the seeded section of the women's 10k. If you want to watch a clinic in the 10k, this video is worth a look, especially in the last 2k.  Congratulations, Katie!

 

Watch the video:

 

 

 

 

Despite all of the talk of summer weather in March, Saturday morning came in like a lamb with overcast skies and temperatures more typical of an early spring day - perfect conditions for distance races. The opportunity was seized over and again as many furthered their streak of success from the indoor season or reassured themselves in their strength over longer than usual distances. 

At the Marshfied St. Patrick's Day 5K, the tone for the weekend would be set. Kerwin Vega, in the midst of completing his first year with the club, lowered his 5K road PR by a slim margin to 15:41 for a first place finish. Trailing not too far behind him, Brendan Collins clocked a 16:14, which was good for 2nd place, an improvement over the road 5K he ran back in November of last year, and, perhaps most importantly, the first true race effort that he has put in since returning from a hamstring injury that curtailed the better part of his indoor season. Kerry Arouca notched a second woman finish, completing the course in 19:46.

Heading down to Barnstable County, the ladies of NBB were also making their presence felt as they enjoyed ocean breezes pushing them along during the Falmouth 5000. The pancake flat course delivered on fast times as one of NBB's starlets, Steph Reilly, channeled the luck o' the Irish and cruised to a new course record of 16:45 (previously held by NBB's own Jenn Donovan set last year in the inaugural running - 17:49). The effort helped her claim her sport as first woman and, sealing the deal on NBB one-two punch #2 on the day, Jess Minty stopped the clock at 17:07 as the second woman across the line.

The action and temperatures heated up in concert on Sunday morning.

Erin Ballard was the lone NBB entrant in the South Boston Boys & Girls Club St. Patrick's Day 5K, where she claimed a time of 18:29 and the second woman finishing spot.

As much as the color green is associated with St. Patrick's Day, so too is the Ras na hEireann road race. This 5K runs through Somerville and is steeped in Irish tradition as there is team scoring based on runners representing some of the local Irish pubs. Donning the green singlet for NBB, the lone entrant on the men's side made sure the presence was no less mighty. Dan Kramer battled the more distance-oriented crosstown rivals in the BAA and dropped a 15:38 for 5th place. The triumvirate of Laura Kennedy, Joanna Murphy, and Caitlin Malloy decided to make things even more special by completely dominating the women's field and sweeping the top three finishing spots, in the order they were just presented. All three posted times under 18 minutes - 17:36, 17:43, and 17:59. 

Lastly, but certainly not least, the New Bedford Half Marathon always plays host to an excitingly competitive field and produces some excellent times. This year's iteration did not disappoint. Making his half marathon debut, Dan Hocking took home top honors amongst the men's NBB contingent to the tune of 5th place and 68:15. You can read Dan's account of his race here for more details. On the heels of a great indoor track season, Paul Norton showed that his legs love the longer races. His reward was a 14th place finish and a 1:10:34. Rounding out the men's entrants, Dan Lounsbury ran out of steam but still put together a solid race to finish in 36th place and a time of 1:12:29. In women's action, Diana Davis continues to impress as she crossed the line in 1:24:53 and finished as the 14th female runner. Sasha Veranka wrapped things up as she ran to a 1:27:14, granting her the 21st finish spot for women.

With a few scant weeks to go before the outdoor season gets into full swing, the excitement mounts more than ever. The weather beckons for laps at Bentley University and pretty soon the men and women of NBB will have all they want and more. Until then, keep your eyes and ears peeled for more news. We all here hope you had a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day!

Katie DiCamillo never seems to turn in a bad race and once again provided more evidence of the same, finishing 2nd in the women's 3000m with a 9:31.88, a mere two seconds behind first. Also in the 3000, Jessica Minty, returning to the track after a three year layoff (normally one of our resident marathoners), and Erin Dromgoole also provided a strong showing for the team, finishing 4th and 5th and getting under the 10 minute barrier. In fact, the 3000m might have been the most successful distance on the day for both the men and women as Paul Norton ran a stellar race to come away with 2nd place in 8:34.29, a few seconds shy of his PR.

Another marathoner coming down in distance for some speed, Sasha Veranka claimed 5th place in the women's 5000m with a solid time of 19:22.01.

The Mile saw more success for the women's team as Joanna Murphy continues to have a great year, battling to 2nd place with a time of 4:52.81 and absolutely obliterated her previous PR by ~7 seconds. Also finding their way into the top 10 were Sarah "Ellie" Mosser (5th - 5:00.67), Laura Kennedy (8th - 5:09.56), and Tiffany Spearman (10th - 5:15.80).

The corp of the men's mid-distance squad entered the 800 hoping for some signs of good things to come with a move from four laps to two outdoors, but the times were not quite indicative of the capabilities of the group. Dan Kramer rose to the top of the group again, stopping the clock at 1:57.05 for 6th place with Colin Lyons safely under two minutes (1:58.78) and James Weider flirting with the barrier (2:00.90). On the women's side of things, however, fireworks were spewing from the track as Caitlin Malloy had the breakout race in the 800 we were all looking for last year. Dashing to a huge two second PR after some savvy racing in the Mile earlier this season, Caitlin's 2:14.97 was good enough for 3rd place, just barely edged out of 2nd by four tenths of a second.

From here, a select few members of the team may contest the USA Indoor National Championships held in Albuquerque, New Mexico next weekend (February 25th/26th), but, for the most part, the majority of both teams will enter a quiet period through March, racing-wise. The training will be intense, anticipation for outdoor will be high, and the perennially ultra competitive New Balance Boston Twilight Meets will be ready and waiting for not only our own athletes, but many of New England's and the surrounding areas' finest, fastest runners. Stay tuned to this spot, as it's likely we will have some random road racing news and entrants in the ever prestigious Boston Marathon to report on.

See our Race Results page for a direct link to all results from today's meet!

 

NBB's Katie DiCamillo started 2012 off on the right foot, finishing 4th in the very competitive Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in NYC's Central Park.  Katie's time of 21:38 for 4 miles placed her 12 seconds behind Olympian and course record holder Carmen Douma-Houssar of Canada. 

 

Watch for Katie when she runs next for Team USA in the Bupa Great Edinburgh International Cross Country race on January 7th!