Freshmen Spoil Alumni
Turnout - Wentz and Serene Win
September 4, 2010
Despite the best turnout of alumni in the history
of the meet, the varsity, led by the core performance of
a trio of freshmen for both the men and women, outlasted
the alumni by a score of 24 to 31 in the women's 5K event,
and 20-31 in the men's 8K race.
On a windy, but warm day of 80 degrees, 10
alums lined up against six varsity harriers in the women's
race at Franklin Park. The
pre-race favorite was Jacqui Wentz '10, All America winner
in cross country and national champion in the 3000 meter
steeplechase. The alumni were well represented with
a supporting cast of Adrienne Bolger '09, Andrea Bradshaw
'09, Martha Buckley '04, Karen Condon '07, Betsy Eames '06,
Elizabeth Finn '08, Liz Labuz '09, Rachel Niehuus '07 and
Alisha Schor '07. However, as we all discover, it is
more difficult to train consistently for races like this
when one is no longer with the team. The spirit and
ability were there, but the training not quite.
As predicted, Wentz led at the start. Tania
Morimoto '12, started off conservatively, but moved up and
pulled even with Wentz by the mile mark, coming through with
a split of 6:08. The alumni were spread out a bit,
but Bradshaw was running just ahead of the three freshmen,
Olivia Papa, Claire O'Connell and Martina de Geus, all of
whom came through in 6:13. The second mile was where
Morimoto tried to make her move, but Wentz was just too good
on this day and she pulled away, with a very impressive 6:10
second mile on the uphill portion of the course. Morimoto
managed a very strong 6:15 and continued to look strong. The
freshmen had caught Bradshaw and began to push the pace as
they came through the second mile in 6:32.
Wentz continued to pull away, winning with
a strong 19:09. Morimoto faded a bit in the final mile
with a 6:28, but managed an excellent second place with an
overall time of 19:37. O'Connell made a strong move
in the Wilderness but took a wrong turn, negating her break
and putting in a catch-up position. Papa took advantage
and made a move of her own, running a 6:14 third mile to
claim third in 19:44. O'Connell recovered and appeared
to have fourth place locked up, but Bradshaw's kick was too
much. Bradshaw earned fourth in 19:50 while O'Connell
ran 19:52. de Geus finished well, placing sixth in
19:54. Finn was the third Alumni finisher, placing
seventh in 20:32. Juliann Lajoie '13, was the fifth
finisher for the Varsity, placing eighth in 21:05. Bolger
and Niehuus were the final scorers for the Alumni with respective
times of 21:11 and 21:27.
In the men's race, Dan Harper '12, with Stephen
Serene '12, trailing, took the pace out, coming through the
first mile in 5:13. Serene was close behind in 5:15
with Carlos Renjifo '04, following and looking intent on
reeling them in. The three freshmen, Roy Wedge, Eric
Safai and Jay McKenna were together at 5:33 along with Bill
Phipps '10. New dad, Ben Schmeckpeper '05, and Trevor
Rundell '09 followed closely.
In the second mile, Renjifo took a solid lead
going into the third mile with Harper still ahead of Serene. Wedge
was starting to edge away from the group, although Phipps
was hanging tough. Schmeckpeper, Chris Wong '08, and
Eric Khatchadourian '06, were not the chase group for the
Alumni. During the third mile, Renjifo had built a
four second lead over Harper, who was three seconds ahead
of Serene. Wedge and Safai had pulled away from Phipps,
who had in turn pulled away from McKenna. Khatchadourian
was pulling away from Schmeckpeper and Wong, but Joe Christopher
'12, a Cambridge University student on a year abroad to MIT,
was closing in on Khatchadourian.
Serene made the move of the race, throwing
down a 5:25 fourth mile to catch and pull away from both
Renjifo and Harper by a sizeable margin. Wedge and
Safai were still close together, but Khatchadourian had passed
Phipps and was right with McKenna, who was just ahead of
Christopher. Chris Wong, Terry McNatt '87, and Bob
Collins '82, were now the chase group, taking advantage of
a conservative start.
The order of things really did not change much
in the final mile. Serene won in 26:39 to Renjifo's
26:53 and Harper's 27:14. Wedge had the fastest final
mile, running 4:57 to close within nine seconds of Harper. Safai
held onto fifth, but Khatchadourian moved into sixth, defeating
McKenna by three seconds. Phipps held onto eighth although
Christopher closed to within two seconds for ninth. Closing
out the scoring for the Alumni were Wong and McNatt, running
28:24 and 28:30 respectively.
Also representing the "Has Beens" were Fivos
Constantinou '06, Ian Driver '05, Joe Roy-Mayhew '08, Tyler
Abrams '09, Bob Zak '86, Peter Mulligan '08, Ashley Clayborne
'99, Neal Karchem '99, Don Shobrys '75, and Jeff Lukas '82. In
addition, many alums came to watch and cheer on their teammates.
Afterwards, everyone enjoyed the great weather as they
shared old stories and pizza, promising to be in better shape
in 2011.
Next Saturday, MIT is back at Franklin Park
to compete against RPI and WPI, starting @ 12:00 for the
women and 12:30 for the men. MIT will run most of those
who were held out of this weekend's race.
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