Men's T&F Team Runs Extremely Well at Shippensburg Univ
Men's T&F Team Runs Extremely Well at Shippensburg Univ
Personal best times achieved in distance and sprints
April 29, 2024 - Shippensburg Pa.
Mother Nature is finally allowing the sun and warm temperatures to bless each day and it could not have come at a better time. The weekends in March and early April played havoc on outdoor activities. Last weekend was a beautiful two days of sun and clear skies. This past week, the temperatures have reached highs in the 80s. For outdoor sports that is a major factor in the performance levels. The morning of April 27th was cool and sprinkling rain. But that would change by midday. T&F Head Coach Mark Pryor was counting on his athletes' focus regardless of the weather and that's exactly what happened at the Paul Kaiser Classic hosted by Shippensburg Univ (NCAA Division-II school).
The CCBC Catonsville distance runners enjoyed a successful Fall season for cross-country. Coach Pryor has been waiting for that strength training and base to pay dividends on the track. Even as the rain sprinkled the track during the early morning 10,000-meter run, Coach Pryor kept his athletes prepared and focused for their upcoming 5,000m event. Both Keynaud Randolph and Ronak Rami had enjoyed 2-3 weeks of consistent training with means physically they were ready to run. The race plan for the Cardinal athletes to follow was a :75 - :80 secs per lap pace.
Keynaud had a previous hip pointer but is now 100%. Ronak is a freshman and still learning his way around a more intense training program geared toward college level performances. Running the first mile in 5:18 was an excellent start to their 3.1 mile race. Keynaud surged in the middle laps and split a 5:20 2nd mile. Ronak stayed consistent but didn't challenge in the middle stages. As they rounded into their final lap, Keynaud could see the clock and knew he had an excellent time coming. He finished well to record a 16:41.10. That is a :26 sec improvement in his PR. Ronak also finished well and took :33 secs off his PR with a 17:18.14 time.
Freshman Zion Abdul-Wahid has been steadily improving his times in the 400-meter event every meet since the indoor season and his race at Shippensburg continued that trend with another PR of :49.23 for 3rd place overall. Zion continues to chase the NJCAA Outdoor Championship qualifying time in the 400 meter event.
Fellow Freshman Gamaliel Adejo ran in the 800m and for the first time this season, did not improve his personal best but ran a race that will greatly help his development in later races. Going thru the first 400 meters of his 800-meter race in a time close to his personal best was a lesson learned in pace and rhythm for the middle-distance events.
The link for the results of the 2024 Paul Kaiser Classic can be found here: TFRRS | 19th Annual Paul Kaiser Classic - Meet Results
Here is how the team's improvements can be tracked:
Keynaud Randolph..............previous 5000m PR was 17:12.08 ----------> 16:41.10 new PR
Ronak Rami........................previous 5000m PR was 17:51.12 ----------> 17:18.14 new PR
Zion Abdul-Wahid................previous 400m PR was :49.60 --------------> :49.23 new PR
Ethan Bush.........................800m PR is 1:59.08 ---------------------------> 2:00.05 new Season's Best
The team's next competition will be on Wednesday, May 1st at both the Liberty University Twilight Qualifier in Lynchburg Va and Region XX Outdoor T&F Championships at Howard Community College in Columbia.
GO CARDINALS!!!............... #JUCOProduct