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SPRING FINALE:
Men, Women Sweep at 5k Team Champs
After splitting up teams all season to maximize total team points, both the open men and women loaded up the “A Teams” and, consequently, swept the team 5k titles. In addition, the team brought incredible depth- seven scoring teams for the men, and four for the women- to cap off a fantastic spring season.
The women’s teams, lead by Shelby Goose’s 17:27, finished 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 7th. Joining Goose on the winning team were Niky Mateescu (17:31), Emily Rosario (18:12, PR), Erika Meling (18:20, PR), Jackie Lemme (19:12), and Robyn Evangelist (19:43). Twenty-five women teams competed.
The B Team also ran brilliantly for third overall, as all five women ran between 19:20 and 19:49 for a 19:34 average. Respectively, those runners included Adrianne Speranza, Chrissy Rabadan, Shannon McKenna, Chelsea Callan, and Amy Williams.
On the men’s side, their seven scoring teams finished 1-2-6-8-10-16 out of thirty-five teams. Nicolo Filippazzo took the overall win in 14:51 as teammates Aaron Leskow (15:27), Kyle Price (15:33), Steve Rathbun (15:59), and Will Appman (16:09) teamed up for the win. The B team in second was comprised of Evan Ward (15:56), Bryant Cordova (16:03), Mike Cahill (16:15), Sam Teigen (16:22), and Tim Ball (16:40).
GSTC master superstar Jonathan Frieder, age 47, won the $150 check for best master PLP, as he ran 16:27, good for an amazing 87.6%.
Ridgewood 10K
M40s, M50s, and W40s Take Silver
The Ridgewood 10k was a men’s and women’s masters championship this year…as you can tell by the mostly old people in the above picture. Especially the really old looking guy, standing, second to the right.
On the men’s side, the 40s team put together their best ever 10k team averaging 35:50 for five guys. With Chuck Schneekloth and Jason Timochko finishing 1-2 for the team in 35:03 and 35:17, respectively, the crew finished second overall. Shawn Williams, Joe Hegge, and Chris Sallade rounded out the scoring crew. Impressively, the 40s also had teams finish 3rd and 5th overall.
The 50s also had a career day, averaging 39:43 and finishing second overall, too. Gary Leaman (38:06) was the top man, followed by Dave Lacouture, Eric Davis, Nick VanLangen, and Stephen Katz. The 60s crew, led by the always-consistent Peter Auteri, finished in 8th overall. Fran Beideman and John Bergacs joined Auteri as the scoring members.
The GSTC 40s women also had a fine day, finishing 3rd and 12th out of 19 scoring teams. Jessica Byrnes ran brilliantly, finishing in 41:16. Aya Leitz (42:14) and Cathy Mersereau (44:46) joined her to average 42:45 for the trio. On the B Team, Iris Sar made her club debut, running 46:51 as the group’s top finisher.
4 Miler Team Champs
Club Racks up 99pts in Cold, Wet Race
All were surprised when the hilly Our House 4 Miler, last on the circuit in 2012, was selected to as a team race for 2018. Last year, after all, just 118 runners participated in this event. This year, as an all-divisions race, only 322 showed up, and with the rain and cold weather…indeed, this picture says it all.
The women’s teams finished 1-2 as they averaged 26:03 and 26:42, respectively. Open runners Laura Cummings, Erika Meling, and Julie Williamson teamed up with masters Jessica Byrnes and Cathy Mersereau for the win. Shannon McKenna was the top finisher for the 2nd place group with teammates Amy Williams, Danielle Shannon, Kristen Prazenica, and Aya Leitz close behind.
The men dominated the race, putting 5 in the top 10, and 12 in the top 20. Matt Gillette (19:58), Aaron Leskow (20:33), Sean Donohue (21:01), Steve Rathbun (21:06), and Walter Ingram (21:59) were all in the top ten, as Ingram made his club debut in black and gold.
The 40M and 50M teams both finished first. Chuck Schneekloth (23:01) paced the 40s with Shawn Williams, Joe Hegge, and Jason Timochko all within just sixteen seconds. Rich Osifchin (23:45) and Gary Leaman (24:07) were the big 1-2 punch up front for the 50s, with John Hendy, Nick VanLangen, and Eric Davis rounding out the scoring top five.
The W40s finished second overall, as Jess Byrns, Aya Leitz, and Cathy Mersereau teamed up to average 27:32…a very solid time.
Peter Auteri led the 60s team to a 6th place finish, and Trevor Emmitt won the prestigious “Top Summit Finisher” medal.
M40s Wins USATF HM National Team Title
The GSTC M40s team continued to make a push for the USATF M40 National team title, as they took the lead over the Atlanta Track Club with a big win at the USATF Half Marathon National Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan in late May.
Jonathan Frieder was the team’s top finisher in 74:20, a fast time considering the pouring rain and the endless hills of the course. Sam Teigen, just two weeks off a PR at the Brooklyn Half Marathon, was a few steps behind him in 74:58. Aaron Cooper, who’s quietly had a very successful spring, was the third and final scoring runner in 78:54. Gary Leaman (1:24:01) was the 4th finisher for the crew.
With this win, the M40s group now moves into first place in the overall national standings. Just five points ahead of Atlanta, a team win at the road mile in August would clinch, at the worst, a tie for the overall team title.
Youth Team Takes Twelve State Titles
The GSTC youth team got much bigger and better this year. How much better? Well, in 2006, Craig Forys broke the all-time NJ record at historic Holmdel Park, running a sizzling 15:16. Twelve years later, two of his youth records are in serious jeopardy…by GSTC runners. Namely, Will VanEtten came within one second of his 9-10 year old 1500m time of 5:01.5, and Kennan Byers came within a few ticks of Forys’ 3k state record.
At the USATF-NJ Jr. Olympics, the club had six state champions: Will VanEtten (1500m), Jack Guiton (800m), and the 4×400 relay of Guiton, Josh Canton, Xavier Lake, and Bray Brown.
At the AAU Jr Olympics, the GSTC Youth had eleven state champs, including VanEtten (400, 800, 1500), Kayla Devine (800m, 1500m), Mikey Bord (3k), Matt Califano (3k), Mia Scalpen (LJ), and the 4×800 relay of Califano, Alex Calfiano, Bord, and Josh Boyarsky.
Newport 10k
Men, Women Rack Up Big Team Points
The boys in black had a big day at the office; their four teams finished 1-2-4-5 as they crushed the always popular Newport 10k. The women’s two teams, splitting up their squad, finished 2-3
That said, Shelby Goose (6th/35:52) and Niky Mateescu (10th/37:49) were the highest placing runners for the club in an event that draws national-caliber athletes.
On the men’s side, Aaron Leskow (32:13), Sean Donohue (32:39), Kyle Price (33:40), Steve Rathbun (33:44), and Will Appman (33:59), many pictured above, led the boys in black.
Penn Relays
GSTC Breaks Meet Record;
Has Best Showing in Club History
This was easily the club’s best year at the Penn Relays, and what a showing it was.
Last year, the GSTC set a Penn Relays record by qualifying and competing three 4×400 relays in the Olympic Development 4×400 race.
This year, they had four, an unprecedented number of relays for one event. Before last year, four different clubs had qualified and competed two for this event. The GSTC finished 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th out of 13 teams–with the D team edging out Greater Philadelphia TC by 2.5 seconds.
In the 4×100, the men sizzled a 41.39, good for 3rd overall and GSTC #2 all time. Had they been in the seeded heat instead of being alone in heat two, they may have squeezed out another .41 for the win.
The women’s 4×100 were winning until the final painfully botched exchange, easily costing them the club’s first Penn Relay title. Finishing in 48.94, the winners ran 48.63.
The women’s 4×400 of Sophie Downey, Emily Rosario, Kelly Reager, and Elisabeth Paulina finished second in 3:58.36, the highest finish for any relay in club history.
Miles Lewis finished 3rd in the 100m Dash with a 10.63.
M40s Wins USATF 8k Team National Title
The headline says it all! The M40s team continued to rip up the national Grand Prix scene, taking home another team title at the USATF 8k Team Championships in Virginia Beach, VA.
Sam Teigen and Jonathan Frieder continued to dominate the M40s scene, finishing in 26:05 and 26:09, respectively, to lead the team to victory. Frieder’s twin Elliott, who beat them both as the team’s #1 man in the 8k XC Championship a month prior, sat out while nursing a minor injury.
Gary Leaman (28:25) closed out the team scoring, as the trio finished with a team time of 1:20:39. Roanoke Valley Elite (1:23:03) and Atlanta Track Club (1:23:08), the latter who has a bigger budget than many third small countries, rounded out the top three teams.
Joe Hegge (28:37) made his club debut, and masters captain Chris Rinaldi (30:46) also competed.
15k Team Champs
Men, Women, M40s, & M50s Win Big
‘Twas a fine day for the GSTC at the 15k team championships. With the men’s teams finishing 1-2-4-8, the M40s going 1-3-6, the M50s in 1st, the M60s in 12th, the
open women 1st by 44 minutes (and 8th), and the W40s finishing in both 6th and 12th, it was a solid team effort at the scenic 15k team championship.
Aaron Leskow (51:01) and Jonathan Sewnig (54:31) and Caroline Kellner (60:31) and Adrianne Speranza (63:13) were the top two finishers for the men and women, respectively.
Chuck Schneekloth and Shawn Williams went 1-2 to help the winning 40s team, and Gary Leaman and Rich Osifchin did the same for the winning 50s team. Jason Timochko supposedly would have beaten Chuck had it not been for some phantom poop he had the entire race.
Rider Invitational
Tracksters Begin Spring Season
The GSTC tracksters, who compete in a full spring track season, opened up the year at the Rider Invitational in early April. After Rider, the group competed at the Monmouth Invitational, the Penn Relays, the Lion Invitational, Swarthmore Last Chance Meet, the Garden State Twilight, and the NJ Invitational.
Above are the 4×400 relays after the Rider Invitational. Typically we would tell you about how awesome they did in the meets, and they really did, but you’ll just have to take our word for it. I’ll be here typing until the 2022 World Cup if I had to go back and document their accomplishments of the entire spring season.
Ricky (bottom row, second from left) is clearly disappointed, and we are sorry. We do hope that Manny (top row, far right) bought a new, bigger uniform whereas you can’t see his heart beating, and that Garrett (back row, fourth from left) finally visited a barber. Neither one is confirmed at the time of publication, unfortunately.
20k Teams Champs:
Men, Women Win Team Titles;
Meling, Leskow Win Individual Titles
The GSTC got off to a great start in 2018, as the club racked up eighty points at Indian Trails, the 2018 USATF-NJ 20k Championship.
The open men’s teams went 1-2-4, the masters 40s men went 2-3, and the women won by almost two hours. Wow! That winning team is shown above: Aya Leitz, Mel Farley, Danielle Shannon, Leah Roberts, Shannon McKenna, Erika Meling, and Kim Chriscaden.
Aaron Leskow won the race with teammate Kyle Price in third. Shawn Williams, in his club debut, was the top old man for the GSTC. Mark Miniverni, Sam Tooley, and Mike Kennedy were runners 3-4-5, respectively, for the men’s crew.
The quotes above say it all about the Indian Trails 20k, but the club muscled out some hard earned team points in the season opener.
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