2009 Gonzaga meet reviews

Coach Ausema’s meet reviews | results | main Gonzaga XC page

Geraghty Invitational (Mount St. Mary's) Coach A's review | Full results (varsity only) | team pics from Creamers | meet overview from Moco and MD Running

A great start to the season! Billy had a solid race, looked smooth, although not quite able to catch the early-charging Puffett. There will be several other opportunities. Collin started slowly, but came on strong in the end and looked very good down the stretch. The pack of Mike, Ben, and Connor also looked very strong and performed very nicely - it was great to see the summer training pay off for Mike and Connor, and for both of you to show that you can race at this level. Will had a good start and then faltered due to a tight back - hopefully a temporary issue. Fran had a solid start to the season too. In the JV race, the two Kevin's led a strong showing. Pat came on strong at the end after a moderately slow start, while Nathan also looked very good in his first race. JP had a solid time but looked a bit rough. Matt Espo looked very smooth and had a good start to the season, leading a tight pack of runners.

Most Outstanding Performances (MOP) for this meet:

For the varsity race, Connor and Mike - both stepped up nicely to the next level. Mike had a ~1:15 PR and Connors was in the 45-second range!
For the JV, the nod goes to Kevin G (it's tough to win a race and run from the front) and Kevin P (outstanding race for a first 5K!)

Magruder Full results (no times for freshmen) | Gonzaga results with splits | team pics from Creamers | Coverage on Running MD

Another very strong team performance today! Most of you ran as fast or faster than last week, in spite of slippery conditions and a tougher course. Several of you ran faster than at the end of the season last year on this course, which is outstanding given that you were in end-of-season shape then, and the course was in better condition. Billy ran a smart race and stalked McGowan throughout, with just enough to catch him in the end. Collin had another great race and looked very strong on the finishing stretch. Nice to beat the GC guys this time. The pack looked good in general; Ben led the way this time, with Connor and Will close behind. Will fell back a bit in the last mile after a strong start. Kevin Pitts improved significantly with the varsity competition. Fran and KG had solid races, with similar times to last week under tougher conditions. Crozier also had a strong effort, despite falling back to deal with a lost shoe.

The JV (Varsity B) race was exciting down to the end. Pat and Nathan ran a smart race, chasing the leader until the last straightaway. Jimbo had a very nice debut performance, while Ryan Creamers hard work in practice during the week paid off with an improved performance. We had a very nice pack, with Matt Espo providing the tie-breaker by defeating the #6 Churchill runner by 4 seconds. Lot's of strong first-time races by guys further down the pack, such as Brian Leibold and Christian Don, plus some solid races from returning sophomores. The freshmen had a good start to their season, which Charlie carrying the torch as the lone medal-winner. Nice finish on the race - I counted 5 Good Counsel runners head of you at mile ~1.25, and there were only 3 at the end.

Most Outstanding Performances:

Varsity - Collin Leibold
JV - Pat Flaherty and Nathan Thompson
Freshmen - Charlie Quinlan
Practice "stud" for last week - Ryan Creamer

Brentsville Relays Team results (no splits or JV) | Full Gonzaga results | photos | coverage on Milestat

We keep rolling along! Another outstanding team performance today. Conditions were ideal for racing, and we responded with excellent racing. The B and C teams kicked things off, with the B team smashing a team record by 40 seconds. The entire team ran strong, with Mike C looking especially smooth in cruising along with a large lead on the anchor leg. The C team ran a solid 4th, although with some less-than-best performances; we probably could have finished 2nd. Nice work anyway. The A team ran an outstanding race. Ben started things off well in the front pack, and Will worked hard to put us in 3rd (after reaching 2nd at mid-leg). Collin had a strong leg in spite of nearly being knocked over by a spectator. Connor worked his way up to 2nd place with a solid leg, handing off to Billy 38 seconds behind 1st. Billy nearly caught the runner from Mt. View, running a meet record 7:16 in the process. The JV/extra race featured a crazy finish, with lots of purple crowded together. Strong races from Matt Espo and Michael Kelly, who led the pack early, and from Mike Dempsey, who came on strong to be the first Gonzaga finisher (~ 4th overall, based on memory . . no official results). Brenden Kelley also had an outstanding race.

Most Outstanding Performances

Billy's split in the relay was certainly one of the highlights of the year so far
Mike D and Brenden in the open race

Oatlands Invitational | results - Milestat | Gonzaga results | photos | more photos

Some excellent performances against strong competition today. Varsity/experienced runners enjoyed their day off and allowed some other guys to take the spotlight. In the Fr/So race, Jimbo did a nice job of staying with one of the front packs for a PR performance. (Some of you know that Coach Daly played football as a freshman too . . lots of potential there!) Many of the freshmen and new sophs improved on their times from Magruder, which was nice to see. Patrick Hisle had a particularly strong performance. Charlie Q seemed to be hobbled a bit by his minor injury. Many of you looked like you were still in "mid-race" mode when I saw you at the 3-mile mark - make sure you are kicking hard at the end! In the Jr/Sr race, JP started off strong but dropped back as he was bothered by a sore quad. Nice to see Anthony and Justin running well and scoring for the team. Jesse had a major PR performance and had another runner to compete with down the finish stretch.

Most Outstanding Performances:

Jesse G in the Jr/Sr race
Jimbo in the Fr/So race

The race today proved your talent, but also revealed some weak points that we need to work on. This means opportunity (!!) to refine things before the championship phase of the season is upon us. The varsity team had a very solid race, but for most of the team it was not outstanding. We managed to beat WJ, ranked first in MD, as well as Battlefield (5th in VA) and Herndon (7th in VA). Collin had an impressive race and continues to improve throughout the season. He ran a major PR and beat the top runner from WJ, among others. Billy had a strong start, but it just was not his day . . still hung on for a 22nd place, which reflects good mental recovery (I have seen runners fade much more spectacularly). Ben led the pack and had a strong finish, pulling Will and Mike in his wake. That pack needed to be ~15 seconds faster to put us in contention for the 1-2 team spots. Connor had a poor start and could not work his way up to the pack. Fran had a solid race and a season PR, but lost his chip so he does not show up in the official results.

The JV teams both had excellent team results. Remember that some teams did not enter two varsity races, so the runners in their JV squads were higher on the depth chart of their particular teams. Brendan and Henry led the way for the fr/so race, both with outstanding races. Brendan especially continues to impress as his season progresses; Henry also had a major PR I think. It looked like everyone was racing aggressively and competitively. In the jr/sr race it was Mike Dempsey that led the way with his best race of the season so far, working from a strong short race at Brentsville. Unfortunately did not have quite enough of a kick to get into medal spots. JP still has not regained early-season form, but finished much more strongly than last week. Ryan looked like he was struggling a bit (I liked the purple headband - made it easier to spot you), while Michael K looked solid. JP Raynal and Ryan M both came close to breaking 20:00 - you should be able to get it at Prep if the conditions are good. The varsity B squad also had an impressive race. Pitts was out aggressively but probably a bit too fast - he was fading quite quickly in the last mile. Greene and Pat F ran together for a good portion of the race, and KG had more left at the end to finish in medal position with a significant PR, while Pat faded a bit and was passed in the finished stretch. Still as PR, I think? Looks like 18:12 was your best last year. Nathan looked like he got lost in the crowd a bit . . but it's a good experience to be in a race this big. Matt Espo and Jimbo continue to look strong as well. Fergus looked wiped out at the end.

I have not seen results from Calverton yet, but early reports indicate that Anthony led the team - good work.

Most Outstanding Performances

Collin in the varsity
B. Kelley in the fr/so JV
Dempsey in the Jr/Sr JV
Greene in the Varsity B
Anthony in the Calverton meet (both for team leadership and race performance)

Glory Days/Bull Run Invitational results and meet coverage | team results and splits | photos

Since I was unable to make it to the meet, I will ask one of the other coaches to write a review. Based on reported performances, I will name MOPs.

Most Outstanding Performances

Tom Fergus and Sean Greene in the JV race
Tom Pullano in the freshmen race

A rough day for racing, but we came through with our best team performance since early season. The course was not friendly to some of the fastest runners, so we had some unusual results, with several guys who were expected in the top 4-5 finishing below 10th. It's hard to say in what other ways things would play out differently under "normal" conditions. Nonetheless, this was a good preview for what to expect at the State championship, with West Potomac and Lee replaced by Good Counsel and Loyola. Collin had the best race of the day, making a courageous move to go after Rowe from Calvert Hall, who had opened up a lead on the chase pack. The rest of the pack seemed to hang together almost to the end, and it was clear that almost nobody could kick -- how often does Billy fail to pass an opponent at the end of a race? Billy hung on nicely to give us some more low points. Will had his best race of the season in leading the pack to a solid mid-20s finish, enough to tie St. Albans. Connor fell mid-race and had a hard time recovering. In the "unofficial" JV race, Ryan powered through an impressive solo performance!

The freshmen had a solid race, but still have room for improvement. Charlie started slowly and had a stronger finish, with Tom and Patrick were solid. At Stallion Stampede, Fran responded to the challenge with his best race of the season, and it looks like Nathan and Jimbo also had strong races.

Most Outstanding Performances

Will and Collin in the Prep Classic
Fran and Espo at Stallion stampede

A great day to be purple!! The freshmen set the tone with a surprise victory, with a very strong 1-6 pack. Everyone seemed to be running smart and executing the race plan with confidence. A few times made it onto our all-time list for freshmen on the course. On runners 1-4 we were only down by 8 points to Good Counsel’s strong squad, and the 5^th man made the difference. Nick Recka had an exciting finish, passing two runners from PVI in the final stretch.

The varsity B continued the trend with another dominant performance. Although missing Kevin P, and with Tom F barely able to run after the first 800, we still had a near-perfect 16 points. Kevin G led from the start and never looked back for an outstanding win. Nathan and Pat worked as a nice pair and Nathan especially looked very strong on the closing stretch. Note that our first three would have been in the top-20 in the varsity A race, and that our B squad would have finished ahead of Ireton in the A race. Michael Kelly had his best race of the season, and Nick Lindsay also looked very good.

The varsity A team ran their ideal race, with everyone falling in according to plan. Seeing the pack come through the final 200 meters was one of the highlights of the season so far. Collin and Billy attacked the second half of the course together very effectively. Our pack looked as strong as ever, although Ben faded a bit in the end. I was especially impressed with Connor, who had not raced well since early season. Fran had his best race of the season, finishing with the pack for the first time instead of trailing. 6 runners in the top 10 is outstanding, and a team score of 26 is equally impressive – if Puffett were running for Good Counsel we would still have won the race.

Most Outstanding Performances:

Freshmen: Nick Recka
Varsity B: Michael Kelly
Varsity A: Fran Lewis and Connor Ryan

State Championships results | Gonzaga results with splits | photos

I hate to say this, but we had our worst team performance of the year today, by far. In the varsity race, we were actually still in a position to move for the win with 1200 to go, at the base of the hill; I estimate we were 15-20 points back of St. Albans at that point. Everything fell apart in the last segment though, giving St. Albans an convincing win and allowing Loyola to sneak into 2nd. There were some bright spots individually; Billy had a great finish and was not far back of what could be expected, in spite of struggling with the mud. Collin cramped up a bit in the last mile and lost track of Harrison, but still ended with a very strong 4th place. Fran had probably his best race of the season, and a strong PR.

In the JV race, we were split between great performances and some notable mis-fires. I think we could have won the race, but too many of our "top guns" were having an off day (or in the case of Pitts, injured. Nathan had an outstanding race and a major PR (that's 2 runner-up finishes on the Ag Farm course this year!). Nick Lindsay also had an outstanding race, as did Michael Kelly. Jimbo also had a strong race to take our 4th spot. KG started out strong but apparently had not recovered from earlier illness, while JP struggled with ongoing injuries, and Pat looked flat and never really got "into" the race. Patrick Hisle had a very nice race (first time under 20:00, I think?), and I think Jack had a PR.

Most Outstanding Performances

Varsity: Fran Lewis
JV: Nathan Thompson, Nick Lindsay, Patrick Hisle

Jesuit Championships results | Gonzaga results | photos

Redemption and a return to glory marked the day! This was our first Jesuit championship since 2002, and a very strong performance against some tough competition. St. Joe's finished 8th at the PA state meet; Loyola is ranked 2nd in MD; and McQuaid 8th in NY. Collin and Billy had strong races near the front again, nailing down some low scores for us. Ben was motivated to race against his old teammates and led a strong pack finish, with equally impressive races from Fran, Mike, and Will. Kevin and Kevin benefitted by racing with the varsity squads and had the strongest JV times in memory. Charlie had a great race for the freshmen as well.

Most Outstanding Performances

Varsity - Ben Zeiss
JV - Kevin Pitts and Ryan Creamer
Freshmen - Charlie

Nike SE Regional Championships Results | Meet coverage on Dyestat and Milestat and NXN | Gonzaga results | photos | more photos

A great final effort for the season! Billy and Collin both raced very strongly, Billy tagging on the front pack and Collin with the chasers. Ben got a great start and ended up with a very solid PR, while the rest of the pack also looked very strong. A team finish of 7th place was outstanding. In the open race, Kevin led the way with a major PR. A fast course let to season or career PRs for almost everyone else as well. Charlie was especially impressive, with a 60 second improvement. Drew moved up nicely at the end, and Mike D had his best race of the season, while Nick and Michael K continued to race very well, as they have for the past few weeks. The two teams competed well, especially considering that we were missing 3 of our top 4 JV guys . . I estimate we would have finished around 3rd with them in the race.

Most Outstanding Performances

Championship race - Billy
Open race - Kevin and Charlie