Wesleyan Invitational

On December 8, a partial squad from the NYU Men's Track Team traveled to Middletown, Connecticut for the 2001 Wesleyan Invitational. The unscored meet was the only meet the Violets will participate in this semester and served as a checkpoint as the fall training season comes to a close. The NYU athletes that competed did so often in events that were not their specialty. The performances there provided a benchmark as the team points towards more intense competition in January.

Notable performances were achieved by Steve Frattini (1st, 2:40.66) in the 1000 meters; Matt McCloskey (2nd, 1:10.35), Jeff Brennan (3rd, 1:10.73) and Dave Messina (7th, 1:11.41) in the 500m; Thy Nyguen (3rd, 8.36) and Kevin Flynn (5th, 8.53) in the 55m hurdles; and Tris Carver (4th, 23.80/7th, 6.93) in the 200m and 55m respectively. The 4x400 meter relay team of Tris Carver, Jeff Brennan, Matt McCloskey, and Steve Frattini finished second in 3:34.48.

NYU returns to action following the holiday break January 12 at the Lehigh John Covert Classic.

Lehigh Invitational

January 12th's John Covert Lehigh Classic was the first meet for the NYU Men's Track Team as a full squad. After a hard week of practice following the winter break, the Violets used the meet to shake off some rust and assess their conditioning.

Notable performances were achieved by Les Page (4:35) and Vinnie Zarrillo (4:31) in the mile; Thy Nyguen (8.66) in the 60m hurdles and 24.46 in the 200m; and Tris Carver (23.83) in the 200m. Page and Zarrillo doubled up and ran ran strong legs in the 4x800 relay.

Next week, the violets head to Boston for Saturday's Brandeis Invitational and Sunday's Greater Boston Track Club Inviational at Harvard.

Brandeis Invitational

This year's UAA Indoor Championship will be hosted by Brandeis University, so January 19th's Brandeis Invitational allowed the NYU Men's Track Team to experience the Brandeis track for that meet. NYU began the meet well, with the distance medley relay of Joe Clabby (1200 - 3:20.5), Matt McCloskey (400 - 52.1), Les Page (800 - 1:58.8) and Vinnie Zarrillo (1600 - 4:25.4) winning in a total time of 10:37.30. McCloskey began the pole vault, which was cancelled midway, while the remaining three rested the remainder of the meet in order to be ready for the following day's GBTC Invite on the fast Harvard track.

Next up for the Violets was Anthony Maniscalco, who won his heat of the 3000m in a near personal best of 9:22. Thy Ngyuen placed 6th in the 55m HH (8.22), while BJ DeGuzman (5th, 6.81 in the 55m), Steve Frattini (3rd, 1:26.15 in the 600m) and Brian Buechel (3rd, 2:36.54 in the 1000m) completed the scoring for NYU.

GBTC Invite

Vinnie Zarrillo began the GBTC Invite with a personal best 8:39 in the 3000m to win his heat. To end the meet, Tris Carver, Matt McCloskey, Jeff Brennan, and Les Page dropped a season-best 3:31.55 in the 4x440yd relay. In between strong performances were acheived by BJ DeGuzman (7.40) in the 60m Dash, Tris Carver (23.51) in the 200m, Thy Ngyuen (8.71) in the 60m HH and 23.86 in th 200m and Matt McCloskey (52.60) in the 400m.

BU Terrier Classic

On January 25, the NYU Men's Track Team again travelled to Boston, this time for the BU Terrier Classic, which would be run this year for the last time on the famed BU track. Next season they will christen a new indoor facility. NYU began the meet strong with each of four runners acheiving personal bests in Friday night's distance events. Freshman Vinnie Zarrillo set his second school record of the season (the first was his 8:39 3000m last week) with a time of 14:45 in the 5000 meters. The time places him on the provisional list for indoor nationals as well. Also running the 5000m for NYU was Tucker Rader, who finished in 16:00. In the 3000m, Joe Clabby ran 8:58, and Anthony Maniscalco ran 9:17.

On Saturday, several strong performances were again recorded. BJ DeGuzman and Thy Ngyuen ran 6.90 and 6.93 in the 55m, respectively. Tris Carver and Ngyuen ran 23.72 and 23.74 for the 200m, while Carver and Matt McCloskey ran 52.47 and 52.72 for the 400m. Jeff Brennan(1:09.85) and Greg Brown(1:11.33) tackled the 500m, while Les Page(1:58.81) and Joe Clabby(4:31.35) ran season bests in the 800m and 1 mile. Matt McCloskey, in his first vaults of the year, cleared 14-6.

Metropolitan Indoor Championships

The NYU men's track tream continued to show improvement this past weekend at the Metropolitan Indoor Championships held at the 168th St. Armory in Manhattan. Numerous season bests were recorded including: Tris Carver (23.43,200m); Thy Ngyuen (23.56,200m); Jeff Brennan (1:08.1,500m); Greg Brown(1:11.11,500m); Les Page(1:57.07,800m); and Vinnie Zarrillo(4:17.3, 1 mile). Two relays also set seasons best: the distance medley of Zarrillo, Brown, Steve Frattini, and Joe Clabby (10:29.9); and the 4x400 of Carver, McCloskey, Brennan and Page(3:30.8).

ARMORY Collegiate INVITATIONAL

The NYU men's track team entered 4 individuals and 2 relay squads in this past weekend's prestigious Armory Collegiate Track Invitational. Highlighting the meet for the violets was the distance medley squad of Joe Clabby (1200m), Matt McCloskey (400m), Les Page (800m) and Vinnie Zarrillo (1600m). This quartet won their heat in a division iii provisional qualifying time of 10:10.27.

On Saturday, Les Page and Steve Frattini competed in the 800m, Vinnie Zarrillo and Joe Clabby competed in the mile, and Tris Carver, Jeff Brennan, McCloskey and Page ran in the 4x400m relay.

Collegiate Track Conference Championships Meet

On Sunday, February 10, the NYU Men's Track Team competed in the Collegiate Track Conference Championships, a meet held at the 168th St. Armory in New York. Capturing the 4x200m relay title was the team of Thy Nyguen, Matt McCloskey, BJ DeGuzman and Tris Carver. Nyguen also set a season best in the preliminaries of the 55m High Hurdles (7.99) en route to a third place finish (8.00) in the finals. Three was the magic number for the Violets, as Steve Frattini (2:33.22-1000m), Jeff Brennan (2:00.92-800m) and Matt McCloskey (pole vault-4.10m 13'05.25) also recorded third place finishes. Rounding out the scoring for the violets was Jon Mummolo (6th, 4:36.47) in the mile.

Keough Invite @ Haverford

After 3 consecutive weekend's of big meets, the NYU Men's track team finished a week of intense training with a day meet at Haverford, a meet they used more for training than for fast times. Pace through the first 1600m by fellow freshman Joe Clabby, Vinnie Zarrillo ran 8:41 to win the 3000m. Earlier in the day, Clabby was enroute to a solid 800m finish when he was clipped Zola Budd style and took a hard plunge to the ground. Another solid performance was achieved by senior Anthony Maniscalco in the 1500m, an event he does not often run. Others running events not typical for them were Les Page (4:09) in the 1500 and Steve Frattini (53.6) in the 400m. The team is off this coming weekend as they put the final touches on their training for the UAA Indoor Championships, March 1-2 at Brandeis.

UAA Indoor Championships

The NYU men's track team finished the indoor season with by far their best performance as a team and placed 3rd, with 82 points, their highest finish ever in UAA competition. Nearly every athlete ran a season best, and many athletes qualified for the finals and captured event titles.

NYU ended day 1 with 22 points. Qualifying for the finals were tris carver and matt mccloskey in the 400m, les page and steve frattini in the 800m, vinnie zarillo in the 1500m, and thy ngyuen in the 55m HH. Scoring for NYU were Vinnie Zarrillo (1st, 3000m, 8:38) and Joe Clabby (5th, 3000m, 8:44). NYU completed their scoring on day one by winning the distance medley relay in a time of 10:35. Runnning on the DMR were Steve Frattini (1200m), Greg Brown (400m), Jeff Brennan (800m) and Les Page (1600m).

Vinnie Zarrillo got things started for NYU on day 2 by taking 3rd in the 1500m (4:01). Thy Nyguen took 2nd in the 55m HH (7.89) while Tris Carver (52.16) and Matt Mccloskey (52.64) went 3,4 in the 400m. Les Page (2:00.08) and Steve Frattini (2:01.46) went 2,3 in the 800m, Zarrillo (15:01) and Clabby (15:08) went 2,5 in the 5000m, and Matt McCloskey took 2nd in the vault. The 4x400m relay team of Tris Carver, Les Page, Jeff Brennan, and Matt McCloskey completed the scoring for NYU with a 4th place finish.

Hurricane Invitational

NYU kicked off the outdoor season with a week of training in Miami that lead to the Hurricane Invitational. Following a week of intense training, the team did not expect many outstanding performances in this unscored meet; however, Steve Frattini, Tucker Radar, and Tris Carver set the tone for what should be a promising season for the Violets. Controversy once again found Steve in the 800m, where combined heats made the race look more suited for the roads. As a consequence, despite numerous hand times at 1:57, Steve's official result after reviewing the tape was 1:58.17. Tucker ran a near personal best in the steeple (10:19) while Tris recorded strong times of 51.7 and 23.1 in the 400m and 200m.

Monmouth Invitational

What a difference a week makes. In Miami, the NYU men were fighting the heat and burned feet as well as their opponents. Monmouth posed a different challenge: the wind and cold of late March on the Jersey shore. Despite the conditions, a few individuals had notable performances: Karl Schmidt surpassed twenty feet in the long jump, Tucker Rader matched his steeple time from sunny Miami, and Thy Nyguen ran 15.57 in his 110 hurdle debut despite missing the last 2 weeks of practice. NYU closed the meet with three strong sprint medley relays (200-200-400-800). Meanwhile, Cougar did his best impression of Tucker. The Monmouth Invite was also parent's weekend, and the team thanks the many parents who braved the elements to see their sons compete.

Battleground Invitational

With the bus ride a definite exception, things were looking brighter at the Mary Washington Battleground Invitational in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Les Page, Greg Brown, Jeff Brennan and Tucker-Tucker-Tucker Rader pushed Vinnie Zarrillo, Tris Carver, Steve Frattini, and Travis Keany to victory in the distance medley relay. The 'A' squad ran 10:24.9 while the 'B' squad ran 10:41.0. A third DMR of John Mummolo, Angelo Chiarelli, Mike Urbanovich, and Anthony Maniscalco also eclipsed the 11:00 barrier (10:55.7). Kevin Flynn dropped a second off his 110H debut from the previous week (16.43) and Travis Keany came back to run 15:46 for 5k. The 4x100m team of Matt McCloskey, Tarek Moaz, Tris Carver, and BJ DeGuzman made its debut (44.48) and NYU once again closed the meet with three strong sprint medley teams. This week, Cougar was busy imitating Kenny.

Christopher Newport Captains Classic

Cold weather returned even as the Violets traveled to Newport News for the Christopher Newport Captain's Classic. Travis Keany (1500m-4:05), John Mummolo (1500-4:15), and Tucker Rader (Steeple-10:07) each ran personal bests. Steve Frattini avoided mishap to win the 800m in 1:58. Kevin Flynn looked much stronger in the 400m hurdles as he points towards UAA's. Matt McCloskey, although he didn't vault, looked good in the open 400 (51.96) and the 4x400 relay. Cougar was no to be found this week, but he and the rest of the Violets will be at the UAA Championships, April 19 and 20. The meet is in Atlanta and is hosted by Emory University. The team looks forward to dinner on Mr. Page's tab.

uaa outdoor championships

The NYU men had a rough day at the UAA Outdoor Conference Championship. Hosted, by Emory University in Atlanta, the team was subjected to the warmest weather conditions of the season. While such conditions were favorable to sprinters Matt McCloskey (400m/50.08), BJ DeGuzman (100m/11.41) and Tris Carver, who ran at or beyond their season bests, distance runners like Tucker Rader (steeplechase) and Vinnie Zarillo (5k) found the going a bit tougher.

Highlighting the meet for the men was a second place finish by Steve Frattini in the 800m (1:55-PR). Others contributing to the scoring were: Travis Keany (6th, 1500m, 3:59-PR), Matt McCloskey (3rd-pole vault, 4th-400m), bj deguzman (5th-100m), les page (7th-800m), tris carver (7th-200m), tucker rader (8th-steeplechase), the 4x100m relay team of karl schmidt, carver, deguzman, and mccloskey, and the 4x400m team of jeff brennan, mccloskey, page and frattini. Also running PRs were Jon Mummolo (1500m-4:13) and Angelo Chiarelli (400m-53.9).

penn relays

injuries and exams forced the nyu tracksters into taking only one team to this year's penn relays. the quartet of les page(1200m), jeff brennan(400m), steve frattini(800m) and travis keany(1600m) finished in a time of 10:22.

kings point invitational

ideal weather conditions greeted the nyu tracksters when they arrived at the merchant marine academy at king's point, long island. this, combined with the beginning of the end of season taper permitted nearly every athlete to set a personal best at this meet. starting off the personal best list were les page(4:02) and jon mummolo(4:10) in the 1500m, then angelo chiarelli(2:05) in the 800m, kevin flynn(59.5) in the 400m hurdles, and karl schmidt(6.49m) in the long jump and 11.72 in the 100m. travis keany had strong performances in both the 800m(2:01) and 3000m(8:55). the quote of the day belonged to retro steve, who upon learning his time in the 800m was 1:55.70 not 1:55.07 and a new pr said, "1:55 is my new 1:59".

metropolitan championships

nine athlete competed for nyu at this year's metropolitan championships hosted by st. john's university. highlighting the days events were personal bests by steve frattini (1:55.02/2nd) and les page (1:55.84/3rd). angelo chiarelli (800m) nearly pr'd again, as this week saw him run 2:05.22. travis keany(4:13) and jon mummolo(4:14) ran the 1500m, tucker rader completed his season with a 10:13 effort in the grueling steeple, which karl schmidt (5.99m) and justin renna (5.55m) completed their final jumps of the year.

Seamus McElligott Invitational

4 NYU tracksters travelled to haverford, pa for the fourth annual Seamus McElligott Invitational. the non-scoring meet gave athletes a last chance to achieve national marks or to close out their season against amongst strong competition. travis keany and jon mummolo ran the 1500m while angelo chiarelli and steve frattini ran the 800m. angelo finished his season with a pr (2:04) while steve ran his fourth consecutive 1:55 800m.

ecac championships

the nyu track team completed its season by sending two athletes to the division iii ecac championships in springfield, ma. travis keany competed in the 1500m, finishing seventh in 4:04. steve frattini competed in the 800m, finishing fifth in 1:57.