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Masciarelli Fastest at Foot Locker Northeast Since 1984Published by
Masciarelli Serves Notice With Fast Time At Foot Locker NE By Mary Albl of DyeStat BRONX, N.Y. -- It was 34 years ago when legendary runner Cathy (Schiro) O'Brien set the Foot Locker Northeast girls course record of 16 minutes, 46 seconds at Van Cortlandt Park. The record has been untouchable since. On Saturday, Sydney Masciarelli, a sophomore from Northbridge, Mass. clocked 17:12.6 to win the title and produce the fastest time since 1984, when O'Brien went on to win the Foot Locker National title. MASCIARELLI FEATURE "She has this habit of blowing us all away every race," Masciarelli's coach Emily Gaundt said. "I'm thrilled." Unknown to many, Masciarelli came into her first Foot Locker regional race with an undefeated season, hailing from Marianapolis Prep in Thompson, Ct. She ran all of her New England high school races unchallenged, but Gaudet made sure to strategically sprinkle her schedule with elite races that would test her. Saturday, Masciarelli tucked behind defending champion Marlee Starliper of Wellsville, Pa. for most of the race. When she came out of the woods on the 5,000 meter course, it was go time. "I just wanted to go off one runner for as long as I could," Masciarelli said. "She set a really nice pace, and with about 1,000 meters to go, I took the downhill really hard and I was really not that tired, so I pushed it hard to the finish, and I did exactly what I planned to do." Masciarelli's time was the third-fastest ever in the regional history. Behind O'Brien, Janet Smith of Edison, NJ clocked 17:08.1 in 1983. The runner-up, Starliper, who led for most of the race, punched a ticket again to Foot Locker Nationals in San Diego. Her time of 17:17.50 was 30 seconds faster than she ran a year ago. "Even though I may not have come away with first place today, it's really a big confidence builder because I ran a lot faster than last year. I felt much better," Starliper said. "This Northeast team, these girls ... it was such a fun race." Saturday's girls race proved to be one of the more competitive fields in the meet's history. Third-place finisher, Grace Connolly of Natick, MA (17:27.6), who is committed to Stanford, said the conditions were cold but great. "It was very competitive, we were fast the first mile, slower the second cause of the hills, and negative split the last mile." Masciarelli, who is also in the middle of starting her basketball season at Marianapolis, said she knew she could do pretty well, but didn't expect herself to win. "Crossing the tape made me really happy," she said. "I'm proud of myself." In the boys race, Mendham NJ's Jack Stanley's game plan was to finish top 10 and qualify for Nationals. The senior did a lot more than that as he crossed the finish line in first place in a time of 15:30.2. "It was awesome." he said of crossing the finish line. "I knew I had a shot at winning, but it was definitely a surprise." The senior who finished a close second last week at the New Jersey Meet of Champions to Devin Hart, took over the race on the hills and stuck with it till the end. Stanley had a big supporting group of teammates, family and friends cheering him on. "Coming down the finish, seeing a bunch of people I knew, it felt awesome," he said. Second place went to Lucas Aramburu of Brookline, Mass. (15:37.1), as he edged out Connor Nisbet of Wilmington, Del. (15:37.7). Hart finished fifth. |
