Saturday, December 13, 2014

W&M Ex-Runners Making a Living in the Sport


There are many people who ran for the tribe that have gone onto coaching careers (Alex Gibby, Jason Dunn are two examples at the collegiate levels) and Sonia Friend-Uhl has become a very successful trainer.  Many many more who have become high school coaches at the high school level including Tim O'Dowd who takes many of the photos for this blog and coached a two time XC national champ. Others have become professional runners such as Matt Moran, Jon Grey, Christo Landry and Elaina Boularis.  But there are others who have joined in for other endeavors (and send me more if you know of them).

For example my senior roommate, Scott Douglas, is a senior content editor for Running Times/Runner's World and has written several books on running (two with my former training partner Pete Pfitzinger).

Emily Furia (who along with Harold Anderson puts together our two annual newsletters) has written a book and is the editor or Bicycling Magazine (and was a 1500 meter All-American).

Eleven time All-American Matt Lane is a lawyer and a sports agent representing, among others, Ben True and W&M grad and USATF road racer of the year, (most notable as it comes after two years of injuries and sub-par results and years of climbing back up the ladder to success) Christo Landry (another All-American).  

W&M's 10,000 Meter Strength

This article only discusses the men's team, but it does a great job of listing all of the William and Mary men's runners who have broken 29 minutes for 10K as well as others connected to William and Mary such as Coach Solinksy who has a 27:59 record and Greg Meyer who ran 27:53 in 1982 (which I well remember as I stupidly chose to eat breakfast that morning rather than go to the track and watch the solo effort (2nd was mid 28 range).  Thanks to Rick Platt for all his research on the article.   Above is an image of Ed Moran who is the only W&M grad to have broken 28 minutes. 

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Solinsky & Hall Win Christmas Town Dash 8k in Record Fashion

Coach Matt Gutridge, Coach Natalie Hall, Coach Chris Solinsky and Randy Hawthorne
Chris Solinsky broke the previous course record held by Adam Otstot '04 with a winning time of 25:14. Natalie Hall also posted a course record of her own, racing to a winning time of 29:43.

Read alum Rick Platt's story from the Virginia Gazette HERE.



Getting to Know the Tribe: Bob Smutsky


Redshirt Sophomore Javelin/Sprints
Dillsburg, Pennsylvania (Northern HS)


Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Landry '08 Wins USATF Award



At the recent USATF Annual Meeting in California, Christo Landry was presented with the Robert E. DeCelle, Jr. Memorial Award, which is given to the top men's long distance runner each year. It is yet another outstanding accomplishment for Landry, who had his best year of racing yet in 2014.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Keith Bechtol '07 in Antarctica


Anyone whose time at W&M overlapped with Keith Bechtol knows just how brilliant and talented he is. Given that, it's not surprising to know that he is currently on a NASA-sponsored research trip in Antarctica! He is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Chicago, after earning his PhD from Stanford, and will then proceed to another post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Wisconsin. Check out his blog from Antarctica (http://kicp.uchicago.edu/~bechtol/blog.html), where you'll be happy to know he won a 5k Turkey Trot over the Thanksgiving holiday!


Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Stites Leads W&M to 17th Place

Emily Stites earned another All-American title with a 36th place finish and the women ended up 17th.   Here are all the results.

It is also noteworthy that former W&M coach, Walt Drenth's women, as predicted all season, won the women's title in dominating fashion. 

Fun Interview with the W&M Women's XC Team


Watch more videos on Flotrack
This is a fun interview with the women's XC team taken 36 hours ago by Flotrack. 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Landry '08 Wins USA Running Circuit Title; Balouris '13 5th @ USA 12K


Embedded image permalink

As we've documented all summer and fall, Christo Landry has had a great year of running in 2014. He has capped off his amazing season by winning the USA Running Circuit title, and a $25,000 prize for the accomplishment! Competing in 7 of the 12 USARC events, Landry won three titles (10M, 25k, 10k), had two runner-up finishes (7M and 20k), a fourth place finish (15k), and closed with a eighth place finish at Sunday's 12k championship in Alexandria.


Elaina Balouris continued the great start to her pro career by finishing 5th at the USA 12k Championships. She completed the course in a time of 39:03 (5:15/mile pace), beating many notable names in a very competitive field.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Women Win Regionals and Men 12th

The women's XC team won the Southeast region meet automatically for the NCAA meet while the men finished 12th.  Here are the results and here is a Daily Press article.   The victory is the first ever for the women at the Southeast region. 

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Getting to Know the Tribe: Maggie Gutierrez



Senior Long Sprinter
Purcellville, Virginia (Loudoun Valley HS)

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Friend-Uhl '93 Wins USA Masters XC Championships



Representing the Atlanta Track Club, Sonja Friend-Uhl won the USA Masters XC Championship on Saturday, in Carmel, Indiana. She completed the 5k course in 18:23, beating the next closest competitor by 14 seconds. Congrats to Sonja as she continues to add to her wildly successful running resume!!!


Hall and Solinksy Talk to USA Coaches' Association

Monday, November 10, 2014

Balouris '13 and Grey '11 Race Well Over Weekend


Jon Grey was the first American finisher, and fifth overall at the Pittsburgh 10-miler on Sunday. Representing Team USA Minnesota, Grey averaged 4:49/mile en route to a time 48:16.

Also on Sunday, Elaina Balouris and her teammates on the Boston Athletic Association teammates won the USATF New England Cross Country Championships on Sunday. Elaina ran the 6k course in a time 20:45 to finish second overall, and to help lead a 1st-5th place sweep for B.A.A.


Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Getting to Know the Tribe: Trevor Sleight



Sophomore XC/Distance Runner
Asheville, NC (Carolina Day School)

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Men, Women Win XC CAA

Carol Hennessey won CAA gold and Ryan Gousse finished in the runner-up slot to lead their teams to victory in the CAA meet.  For the women, it was their 20th CAA title and the 3rd in a row, while the men notched their 15th straight victory.   The men won with five in the top ten while the women placed four in the top ten.
More on women
More on men

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Monday, October 20, 2014

Coach Solinsky Hard at Work


Assistant XC/Distance Coach Chris Solinsky found himself hard at work after Saturday's CNU Invitational, when he was spotted by runners from York College of Pennsylvania. He fulfilled each runner's request to autograph his/her race bib.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Getting to Know Becca Eudaily

W&M has started a "getting to know" series on the cross country team which you can see here.  Above is one on Becca Eudaily. 

Landry '08 Chicago Marathon + Balouris '14 Tufts 10k

A couple of race results from two of our very accomplished alums:

Christo Landry finished 14th overall at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday. His 2:14:30 time was a marathon PR, and also made him the fourth American finisher in the race. Here is his analysis from Twitter:


Elaina Balouris ran a PR in the Tufts 10k road race, posting a time of 32:40. She finished 14th in a super-competitive field of elite women's runners. Full results here.

Getting to Know the Tribe: Becca Eudailey


Junior XC/Distance Runner
New Kent, VA (New Kent HS)

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Christo Landry Interview


Landry is running the Chicago Marathon on Sunday and talks extensively about his preparation which included 150 mile weeks and 32 mile long runs.  He is coached by former W&M coach Alex Gibby.  

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Getting to Know the Tribe: Meghan McGovern


Junior - Cross Country co-Captain
North Wales, PA (North Penn HS)

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Adam Otstot '04 finishes 10th at Ironman Chattanooga


Congratulations to Adam Otstot on his 10th place finish at Ironman Chattanooga over the weekend! His continued success in triathlon and Ironman competitions is even more impressive given that he's now a father to a young daughter, and was recently named Coordinator for Health and Physical Education for James City County Public Schools. Keep up the great work, Adam!


Getting to Know the Tribe: Nathan Thomas


Junior - XC/Distance Runner
Brentwood, TN (Brentwood HS)


Sunday, September 28, 2014

UVA Invite Pics and Results



Thanks to Tim O'Dowd for his usual slew of pics.  Here are the men and here are the women.   For those who grew up in the digital age, Randy Hawthorne used to print out copies of his pictures and tape them up in the locker room for us to take home - one per customer - all of which I still have!

Without their #1, the women still finished second to UVA which is ranked #10 in the NCAA.  The men's team was eighth overall.  

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Getting to know the Tribe: Mary Beth Berg



 Senior - Women's T&F Captain/SAAC President
Grayslake, IL (Carmel Catholic HS)


Dr. Frank Brown '64 Honored by Peninsula Sports Club

On June 16, 2014, former captain of the 1963 William and Mary cross-country team, Dr. Frank Brown, was awarded The Sports Person Emeritus Award by The Peninsula Sports Club at The 65th Annual Headliner's Night held at The Marriott Hotel and Conference Center located at The City Center in Newport News, Virginia. That team won The Va. State Intercollegiate Championship, The Mt. St. Mary's Invitationl Meet, The Va. State A.A.U. Championship, plus The 1963 Southern Conference Meet, and was the first cross-country team in William and Mary history to advance to The N.C.A.A.'s, held at Michigan State. This was sadly just after the Friday on November 22nd when President Kennedy had been assasinated. The team was admiringly coached by senior classmate, Jim Holdren, as head coach, Harry Groves, had taken a leave-of-absence on an A.A.U. Track and Field tour to Iran that fall. What a miraculous season it was for all involved. That team consisted of coach Holdren, Brown, Tom Ryan, Bob Lawson, Jimmy Johnson, and John Randolph. They could only afford to take five team members to nationals at that time due to a distinct lack of money.


Monday, September 22, 2014

Elaina Balouris '14 14th @ USA 5k Championships

Balouris (bib #5) and her BAA teammates
By now, you all know Elaina as a six-time All-American as a Tribe XC/distance runner, but now she is running professionally as a member of the Boston Athletic Association high performance team. The Boston College graduate student placed 14th (16:15) in a very impressive women's field at yesterday's USA 5k Road Championships in Providence.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Getting to Know the Tribe: David Barney



Junior Cross Country Captain
Lynchburg, Virginia (EC Glass)

Kevin Cropp '78 Inducted into HS Athletic HoF

Kevin Cropp, still the 12th fastest performer in W&M history in the 1500m (3:45.5), is being inducted into the Parry McCluer HS (Buena Vista, VA) Athletic Hall of Fame this weekend! While in HS, Cropp ran the 5th fastest indoor mile in the nation in 1974, and also set 18 school records and 6 state records at various distances during his time at PMHS. He also holds the VHSL Class A record in the mile, which is still faster than the best 1600m time posted since the race changed to that (shorter) distance.

Congratulations, Kevin!

Sabrina Moran Little '09 - Ultra Marathoner


Some of you may remember Sabrina Moran Little who ran on the team for a brief stint at William & Mary, before turning her focus to higher mileage work. Let's just say that her move to higher mileage has proven to be wildly successful. Sabrina is the American record holder in the 24-hour run (147.9 miles covered in a 24-hour period!!!) and in the road 200k. Such performances have solidified Little as the face of female ultrarunning in the USA.

NY Times feature July 2013
Running Times feature July 2013

Simply google her name, and you will be able to find many more of her outstanding accomplishments!!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

W&M Teams Win Low Key Invitationals

Both W&M teams easily won an invitation at Eastern States.  The women, who are ranked 25th in the US were lead by Carolyn Hennessay and Meghan McGovern while the men were led by Trevor Sleight and Nathaniel Hermsmeier.

More on the women
More on the men

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Getting to know...


Here is another in our getting to know series.  This one on Rachel Rabbitt. 

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Interview with Chris Solinsky


Here is my interview with Chris Solinsky the new men's distance coach.  Solinsky, a former American record holder in the 10K is balancing both coaching while continuing his competitive career.  

Natalie Hall Interview


This is a nice interview I just did with Natalie Hall who is the new women's cross country coach.  She has high hopes for the women as you can see in the video.  

Getting to Know the Tribe: Jomar Aryee



Junior from Jamaica, by way of Hillside, New Jersey (Hillside HS)
Team Captain - Men's Track & Field

Monday, September 1, 2014

Landry Second at 20K US Champtionships

'08 grade Christo Landry was narrowly beaten by 1 second at the USA 20K national champs.  More soon.   Here is a pre-race interview with him. 

W& M XC/TF YouTube Channel


The W&M coaches have started a YouTube channel where you are going to get more up close experiences with the teams.  The videos above are interviews new coach Chris Solinsky made after the twin victories at Richmond.  Men's results.  Women's results

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Natalie Hall Hired as Distance Coach

Natalie Hall is the second All-American (Solinsky being the other one) now coaching at W&M.  Hall has been a distance coach at her alma mater for the past five years, having coached six All-Americans there in addition to two relay A-A teams.  She will be the head XC coach and an assistant track coach.  More

Christo Landry Preparing for Chicago Marathon

2008 W&M grad Christo Landry is busy preparing for the Chicago Marathon and running in tomorrow's New Haven 20K US Championship as this article details

Friday, August 29, 2014

First XC Meet of the Season


Meet a couple of W&M's cross country runners who will be completing tonight in Richmond. 

Get to Meet Alex Heacock


Alex Heacock and I used our lunch time today to talk about his new position as the throws coach at W&M.  Play the video to meet Alex. 

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Getting to Know the Tribe: Heather Clagett



Senior from Norfolk, Virgina (Norfolk Academy)
Women's Cross Country Captain


Friday, August 8, 2014

Solinsky to Coach at W&M

Former American record holder in the 10K Chris Solinsky is coming to W&M to coach the distance runners.  Solinsky ran 26:59 and has been part of a Nike training group in Portland, OR. I just spoke with Coach Walsh and will have an interview with Solinsky, Heacock and the soon to be announced final hire for the team in a few weeks.

In the small world category, Solinky's agent has always been Tom Ratcliffe who was my training partner for five years and the picture of him above, taken last week in Maine, was taken by Stacey Cramp who is married to my roommate from senior year of W&M.

Below are the last three laps of Solinsky's American record. 

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Heacock Takes Throws Position

Alex Heacock graduated five years ago and has been doing a great job at CNU.  He will be the head throws coach taking over for Dan Stimson who will be volunteering beside him.  Here is the bio on Alex. 

Friday, July 18, 2014

Friend-Uhl Repeats

Usually you don't think of an 800 meter person doubling in the 5K, but Sonja Friend-Uhl did just that and came back today to win the USA master's 5K in 17:22.  

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Friend-Uhl Wins National Title

Sonja Friend-Uhl ran 2:15 to win the national title for master's today.  Quite amazing, especially considering she won by 14 seconds!  You can see the race here

Miller to Wisconsin

Jill Miller is leaving W&M to move to the University of Wisconsin immediately to work as their head women's distance coach.  Miller has been nothing less than amazing with her teams going to the NCAA XC meet the last two years and multiple All-American titles.  It is a big loss for the Tribe. 

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Sam Mattis 5th at NCAAs

Marlon Mattis '85, who is still the #2 in the hammer throw at W&M, saw his son finish 5th at the NCAA meet last week in the discuss.  Sam Mattis is at U Penn. 

Friday, May 30, 2014

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Regionals Start Tonight

Here are the times for the five women running in the regional meet with the 10K at 9:40 pm EST tonight. 

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Stimson Retires (sort of!)

If you attended the Colonial Relays' reunion you already know that Dan Stimson is stepping down from a paid coaching position.  I saw paid as he intends to keep coaching as a volunteer, but W&M is actively looking for a replacement.  I graduated in 1986 and remember the day that Dan interviewed as he then drove my coach, Roy Chernock, and myself to the airport where we all flew to the Penn Relays.  Stimson has been a tremendous asset for W&M ever since and, if memory serves, the longest lasting coach in track history.  Here is the retirement announcement. There is a party for Dan on the 7th of June at the Hawthorne's and if you can come, please e-mail Shelby (or me for her e-mail). 

NCAA Regional Qualifiers

Here are the women's and men's NCAA East regional qualifiers and below are the ones going from W&M.

Pole Vault - Derek O'Connell (#37)

5,000m - Meghan McGovern (#38)

10,000m - Emily Stites (#3), Elaina Balouris (#11) & Dylan Hassett (#48)

Javelin - Katie Johnston (#35)



Saturday, May 10, 2014

Monday, April 21, 2014

W&M at Boston

I should add that Sue Haynie '89 and John Kellogg '84 ran 2:51 and 3:15 at Boston today.   Amazing to think how well they are still running.  Both John (steeple) and Sue (5K) are still on the top ten all-time lists.  The photo above was just taken a few hours ago. 

W&M Interview of Meb Keflezighi


My senior roommate, Scott Douglas '86, has carved a great career in writing as a senior editor for Running Times and Runner's World).  Above is one example of his great work as today he had a great one on one interview with Boston Marathon champ Meb Keflezighi. 

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Stites Run 32:41

I have been on vacation so am a bit behind, but that does not mean there is not information to report as Emily Stites and Elaina Balouris are at it again.  This time Stites knocked off 90 and all the way down to 32:41 which is the 3rd fastest NCAA time this year.  Balouris also ran extremely well with a PR in 33:31 which ranks her 14th in the NCAA.  She is also ranked 9th in the NCAA in the 5K.   More

Friend-Uhl Still Amazes

Back in 1992 Sonja Friend (now Friend-Uhl) set the 800 meter school record in 2:09.89.  What is more remarkable is that at age 43 she just ran 2:11.58 at the Mt SAC Relays.  If you have Flotrack Pro, you can see the race here.   

Monday, April 14, 2014

Friday, April 11, 2014

Balouris Story in the Flat Hat

Here is a nice piece on senior Elaina Balouris who is in her senior season at W&M with five All-American titles, she is hoping for a 6th in the 5 or 10K (which is running in two weeks).  

Past Coaches at Colonials

Tim O'Dowd promises me more pictures soon, but in the meantime here is a picture of Harry Groves and Baxter Berryhill at our recent Colonial Relays' reunion taken by Brian Mount.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Landry Sizzles in First National Title

While the rest of his fellow brethren were enjoying a great reunion (pictures coming) in Williamsburg, Christo Landry was flying to his first national championship at the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in 46:41. The run made his the 6th fastest US performer of all time!  The race placed him sixth overall and proves his decision to stay with former W&M coach Alex Gibby is paying off.    

Monday, March 24, 2014

Join Multiple Coaches at Colonial Relays' Reunion

In addition to Coach Walsh, Jill Miller and the star of our show, Dan Stimson, we will also be joined by Harry Groves (who coached Steve Walsh at Penn State), Roy Chernock and Jim Goggin at our reunion.  Click here for the details on the reunion and go here to reserve your spot

W&M Invite Results

W&M swept the throwing events with a pair of two-event champions.  Sophomore Rochelle Evans(Christiansburg, Va.) won the hammer throw on Friday afternoon with a lifetime-best toss of 42.74m (140-3), improving to 11th all-time in school history, and followed up Saturday with a win in the shot put.  She put the shot 13.70m (44-11.5) to qualify for the ECAC Championships.  Classmate Katie Johnston (Haddonfield, N.J.) won both her signature event, the javelin, at 40.12m (131-7), and also edged out Evans in the discus with a collegiate-best 38.50m (126-4).  Johnson now ranks 16th in school history with the discus.

The Tribe got a fifth victory in the field events thanks to freshman Susannah Philbrick (Salem, Ore.), who won the triple jump with a mark of 11.02m (36-2).  Philbrick now ranks 13th all-time at W&M outdoors in the event.  On the track, wins came from senior Olivia Harding (Roanoke, Va.) in the 800m with a time of 2:19.68, as well as juniorBrittany Biagi (Mullica Hill, N.J.), who ran 1:05.51 to take the 400m hurdles.  Rounding out the winners was sophomore Meghan McGovern (North Wales, Pa.), leading a Tribe sweep of the top three spots in the 1,500m with a time of 4:32.87 in her debut at the event. More

As it has been all year long, the strength of the Tribe field eventers led the way.  In the pole vault, redshirt-freshmanDerek O'Connell (Virginia Beach, Va.) took gold at a height of 4.90m (16-0.75), his fifth meet over 16 feet in the past two months, and took three solid looks at a school-record 5.10m (16-8.75).  O'Connell qualified himself for the IC4A Championships and his height was tied for the eighth-best single performance ever at W&M, while he now ranks tied for fourth all-time among athletes.  Freshman Lucas Wratschko (Fairfax, Va.) was third overall, clearing the bar at 4.65m (15-3) to rank 13th in school history.  Also in the jumps, redshirt-freshman Dominic Burkett(Chesapeake, Va.) won the long jump, his first of two victories on the day, with a leap of 6.60m (21-8).

In the throws, sophomores ruled the roost.  Taylor Frenia (Virginia Beach, Va.) was a double-winner, taking both the shot put and the discus.  His put of 16.15m (53-0) qualifies him for the IC4A Championships, and his best throw in the discus went 46.13m (151-4).  Classmate Bob Smutsky (Dillsburg, Pa.) also qualified for the IC4A Championships, in his signature event of the javelin.  The Team USA veteran and 2013 U.S. Junior Champ opened up the spring with a throw of 64.38m (211-3) to take the victory, and second-place went to freshmanTucker Rizzi (Westport, Conn.) with a lifetime-best throw of 54.58m (179-1).  After just one meet, Rizzi ranks 10th all-time in school history. More

Friday, March 21, 2014

Saturday, March 15, 2014

6th and 14th at NCAA

Emily Stites and Elaina Balouris finished 6th and 14th respectively at the NCAA 5K last night.   Here is an article from Stites' hometown paper on her career up to the race last night.  More

Friday, March 14, 2014

Flotrack Predicts "W&M Girls To Challenge in 5K"


Watch more videos on Flotrack
I can't remember the last time W&M had two people in the top six in any race and now even Flotrack is predicting Stites and Balouris to challenge for the top couple of spots tonight. 

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Stites & Balouris at NCAA Meet


Stites and Balouris both got to the NCAA meet yesterday and are ranked 3rd and 6th in the country.  It should be a great race tomorrow (Friday) evening at 8:25.

Complete Details for Colonial Weekend Alumni Gathering

Here are all the details from activities to hotels, meals, etc for our very large reunion weekend in conjunction with Colonials from April 4 - 6.  

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Stites and Boularis Crush 5K

Emily Stites and Elaina Boularis crushed their respective 5Ks in 15:43 and 15:46 which ranks them 5th and 8th in the NCAA.   Both times are under the indoor record and Stites broke her own outdoor record by two seconds.  Both should will be going to the NCAA meet by virtue of the times.  Pictured above is Molly Huddle the outdoor American record holder in the 5K.  

Sunday, February 16, 2014

EIght Women Qualify for ECAC

Elaina Boularis led the Tribe's contingent to the Iowa State Classic.  Boularis ran 16:04 which is the second fastest in W&M history and was closely followed by Emily Stites in 16:09. Meghan McGovern did extremely well in 16:34.  Other qualifiers came from a different meet in New York.  Carolyn Hennesey, Erica Amatori and Molly Applegate also picked up ECAC qualifier. More

Friday, February 14, 2014

Colonial Relays' Reunion Survey

We are planning our third large William and Mary Track/XC reunion over Colonials (April 4-6) weekend.  If you are thinking of coming, please fill in this survey.  When we had it three years ago 150 attended and seven years ago we had 120.  We are also going to be celebrating Dan Stimson's induction into the Hall of Fame. 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Monday, February 10, 2014

Zach Perkins (son of Randy '84) Makes Runner's World

Randy Perkins was a mile/3K runner when I was in college.  He has three sons, two of which are current runners on the Air Force team.  Zach was the NCAA Division I runner-up last spring and was interviewed recently here by Runner's World.