Masciarelli Opens Season in Connecticut With 17:07 Clocking

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

NEW MILFORD, Ct. -- Sydney Masciarelli's charge to national title defense started off with a strong opening statement on Saturday afternoon. The reigning Foot Locker National Cross Country champion opened her season with a dominating victory at the Canterbury Invitational.

On a warm day, the junior from Marianapolis Prep (Thompson, Conn.) won the Division 2 5,000-meter race in 17 minutes, 7 seconds. She was just three seconds off her course record she set from a year ago and tied for the fifth-fastest time in both the girls and boys races combined.

"I feel a lot fitter," Masciarelli said. "I know this course last year I ran 17:04, but it was also 20 degrees hotter this year, but I felt a lot stronger running up the hills, and I don't really run well in the heat, but I think this was a good debut for my season, and I feel good about it."

Masciarelli, who is from Northbridge, Mass., ended her sophomore season with two national titles on the track in June, when she won the New Balance Nationals Outdoor 5,000 (16:16.20) and 2-mile (10:11.99). She spent most of the summer training with her brother Sal, who finished in second place in the boys Division 2 race on Saturday.

"After New Balance Nationals, I took about a week off from running, slowly got back into it, then Sal put together a really good summer training program with workouts," she said. "I upped my mileage to about 45-50 miles a week, and we just trained really hard."

The rest of the fall for Masciarelli will mirror a similar race schedule to a year ago. Last cross country season, beside her prep schedule, her coach, Emily Gaudet, added a few elite races to the lineup to make sure Masciarelli was getting tested physically and mentally.

"I think we're looking into doing one or two more bigger invitationals that I haven't done before," she said.

Masciarelli, No. 2 in the lastest DyeStat rankings, said she would love to race No. 1 ranked Kateyln Tuohy of North Rockland, N.Y., but isn't sure yet if their paths will cross this fall.

Masciarelli is set to race this Wednesday in a home invitational.