Anna Pavone and Jenna Dubrow have been doing it all year.
Temple’s Top 2 duo finished one-two again for Temple’s squad, as they crossed with marks of 21 minutes, 30 seconds and 21:31, respectively, on the women’s 6K course on Lehigh University’s Goodman campus in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional championship. They finished 56th and 58th respectively, while the Owls as a team finished 23rd out of the 27-team field.
“Jenna and Anna both ran personal bests and about a minute faster than they ran at Paul Short here about a month ago,” coach James Snyder. “It was a good race, they worked together well today. I think this is the highest we’ve ever finished at the regional meet and that’s certainly encouraging.”
The senior and junior hit their first miles at 5:36 and 5:38, respectively, and both were in the Top 40 mix after one mile.
“We talked about asserting ourselves early and to try to be out in the mix and they were,” Snyder said. “I didn’t catch a mile split because I was further down the course, but they appeared to be in a good position and I would contend with where they finished they had personal bests all around. We’re headed in the right direction.
Sophomore Gwen Porter followed up Pavone and Dubrow with a 23:57 mark, while freshman Megan Schneider crossed at 24:23.
“I’m completely happy with the way we performed today,” Snyder said. “It was an opportunity for them to pack up and learn how to run together and it takes time to learn how to do that and I think we’re finally at that point now where not only do we see the benefit competitively but we feel the benefit mentally. When you have a teammate beside you throughout the race, the incentive to run faster is there. So it’s important.”
Senior Will Kellar paced the men’s side to a 21st place finish with his team-high time of 31:15 and a 42nd place finish.
Sophomores Ryan Debarberie and Owen Glatts added to a season for them in which both were consistent contributors as Top 4 runners for Temple and finished with times of 33:17 and 33:20, respectively.
“Will did a really good job,” Snyder said. “He was out there by himself, stuck himself out in the mix and he did what he had to do. After him, it was the first 10K for everybody else on the list. Debarberie and Glatts worked together the entire way and 33 minutes at each other’s sides, that was encouraging. We still have some room to grow, no doubt about it and that’s going to come with time and training as we begin to develop. The 10K is a different beast and I think our kids realized that today.”
Alex Izewski capped off a tough season with a mark of 33:36. The redshirt-sophomore came into the season figuring to be a Top 2 runner with Kellar, but was hampered by back injuries for the majority of the year and could never find his expected form.
The race was the men’s squad’s first 10K race of the year, as most invitational meets as well as the American Athletic Conference meet are all run on 8K courses. Although Snyder said there is room to go with his men’s squad, the first-year distance coach said he was pleased with how his group handled the longer race.
“The race got out quick as anticipated,” Snyder said. “We wanted to lay back, though. The goal wasn’t to be out in front of the race or anything like that at the start because it’s a long race. Patience is a virtue especially in this environment and we wanted to come out a little slower and moved through the pack which we did OK with. Will did a great job with that today.”
A select group of runners will head up to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx section of New York City next Saturday to take part in the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes in America Championship race, depending on qualification.
Andrew Parent can be reached at andrew.parent@temple.edu or on Twitter @daParent93.
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