Hurricane Invitational
March 21, 2002
CORAL GABLES, Fla (www.hurricanesports.com) – Cobb Stadium for Soccer, Track and Field played host to the 2002 Hurricane Invitational, Saturday, March 16.
After red-shirting indoors, I was itching to lace up the spikes and toe the line again. After much deliberation with Coach (Mike) Ward, we decided I’d be best off racing a pair of 1500s to open the first two weeks of the season.
I hit the track early to check out the javelin. Gerard Wise was our lone representative in the event and was scheduled to throw in the second flight. Wise ended up chucking a Big East qualifying mark of 53.19m.
Freshman Danish Ahmad and I warmed up together a little before 1 pm. The sun was high in the sky and the temperature was blazing. Ahmad, a graduate of Ransom Everglades in nearby Coconut Grove, was nervous, making his collegiate outdoor debut in front of his family and friends.The 1500-meter was slated to begin at 1:30pm. I’d estimate the race-time temperature at 85 degrees.
The distance running talent at the Hurricane Invite has been improving recently. Last year’s 1500-meter winner, Clay Schwabe of Army, ended up 10th on the Track & Field News US top 1500/mile list.
This year’s top competitors were: Andrew Smith of South Florida, Luiz Prestes of FIU, Elliot Mason of FIU and John Bitok of Syracuse.
My top time of 3:57 was good enough to get me into the top flight. As we toed the line, Kenyan John Bitok of Syracuse smiled and shook my hand.
“Let’s show them what the Big East is made of,” Bitok told me.
The race got underway and I settled into a comfortable fifth place behind Smith, Prestes, Mason and Bitok.
We cruised through the first quarter in about 61-62 seconds, still tightly packed. Teammates Prestes and Mason were up front leading the way.
We hit the 800-meter mark still tightly packed–the leaders at 2:06, I was a stride back at 2:07.
As we tore down the backstretch, Smith of USF pushed Mason and Prestes aside and broke between them out to the lead. The pace was starting to wear on me and the leaders started pulling away.
A few guys flew past me en route to the 1200-meter mark, which I passed in 3:12. The race pretty much unraveled from there for me. I was in serious tunnel-vision mode. Two guys in red slipped past me in the final straight–I only know them now as Joey McNair and Jimmy Buchanan of Oklahoma because I have the results in front of me–and I barely held off a surging Joe Mazzeo of FIU.
I was clocked in 4:02.27 for tenth. Not exactly what I had in mind, but it was good to get a race under my belt.
Andrew Smith of USF ended up holding on for the win with Luiz Prestes second and John Bitok in third. (John if you’re reading this, at least you represented the Big East, buddy! I’ll be there by the end of the seaon.)
I was a bit out of it by the time Danish Ahmad ran the second flight, so I had some trouble watching it. He ran it in a personal best time of 4:16.17.
I went for a cool down with Bitok of Syracuse. We had a good discussion on training–he was happy to be down in Florida instead of the alternative of Syracuse, NY. He’s a really nice guy.
I rested in the locker room for a while after the race, emerging again to watch the steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run.
Senior Jeff Gaulrapp and Sophomore Matt Mulvaney were hot off a time-trial duel the week prior and were ready for some competition from other schools.
The 5k hadn’t been run on Cobb Track since the renovation. Therefore, the winner would own the track record.
The top competitors were Donnie Fellows of Purdue, Vinny Zarrillo of NYU then Gaulrapp, Mulvaney and Alex Shaw of FIU. I saw Fellows run once before at the Palouse Team Invite in Pullman, Washington in May 1, 1999. (At the time I was attending WSU, but I forget how Donnie ran.)
Fellows dominated the 5k. He jumped out to an early lead and poured it on near the end. He won in an unchallenged time of 14:32.13. Gaulrapp and Mulvaney ran strong for the first two miles but faded near the end. It was their first 5K of the year–Mulvaney’s first ever–and both ran personal bests, 14:57.01 for Gaulrapp and 15:28.78 for Mulvaney. Gaulrapp and Mulvaney took second and third behind Fellows with Alex Shaw of FIU kicking hard for fourth. Zarrillo dropped out just after the 2k mark. Gaulrapp’s time qualified him for the Big East Championships.
In other events, Jabari Ennis turned in the ‘Canes best performance of the day with a vault of 5.30m. The mark was a personal best and provisionally qualified him for the NCAA National Championships in Baton Rouge, LA. All-American Aaron Moser was fifth in 5.03m.Gus Martin also turned in a good performance with a victory in the 110-hurdles in a time of 14.17.
Our next meet is March 23 at FIU. ‘Cane Russell Landy will be competing in the decathlon on March 22-23 at FIU.
Come on out and support the team.
