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Florida Relays: Thursday, March 29
On Thursday evening senior Anthony Deleva travelled to Gainesville to compete in the 5,000m at the Florida Relays. In a high quality field filled with talent, Deleva fought his way to the front of the pack finishing strong as he rewarded himself with the second best finisher for Division II in a stacked field with many Division I athletes. The race was won by McNeese State University athlete Nicholas Jones with a time of 14.02.
Deleva completed the grueling 12.5 laps in a personal best time of 14:50.36 while finishing ahead of competitors from South Carolina, Boston, UNC Asheville, Troy, Florida State and Miami among others. Deleva’s time was a little over 18 seconds faster than his previous personal best mark of 15:08.93, which was set last year at the 2017 Tampa Track Classic.
Deleva can now relax as he breaks 15 minutes, a magical barrier that many athletes find hard to get under. Deleva also marked himself as the third fastest runner in the south region this season. So far he is ranked No. 16 in the nation for the fastest 5000m in Division II.
Florida Relays: Friday, March 30
The Saint Leo men’s track team finished their races at the Florida Relays Friday as the Lions competed on a wet and relatively cold night. Senior Niclas Bez had a fantastic race in heat three where he achieved a well-deserved NCAA provisional mark in the 1,500m while posting the fifth fastest time in the event in NCAA Division II this season.
Bez set a personal best time as he clocked in at 3:50.88 to finish 25th overall in the event. He was the top Division II finisher and improved his personal best by just under two seconds. Bez beat his time from last season which he achieved at the Mt. Sac Relays in Torrance, Calif.
The Lions also had Graduate student Joshua Sickinger and freshman Tadgh McGinty compete in the 3,000m steeplechase where they finished 24th and 28th in a very a competitive field filled with mostly Division I teams. Sickinger crossed the line in 9:50.64, almost 7 seconds slower than last week’s race at University of Southern Florida. McGinty crossed the line in a time of 10.11, which was 36 seconds slower than his personal best set at the Black and Gold coast challenge at the University of Central Florida.
Coach Callaghan said, “It was a great day for Nic Bez as he’s been so close to hitting provisional marks throughout his career and was finally able to hit one of those marks in the 1,500 running 3:50.88, which is also a career best mark for Bez. He put himself in a good spot throughout the race and was able to finish strong passing several competitors over the last 100 meters. We are hoping to see more provisional marks from other athletes as well”
Raleigh Relays: North Carolina State University, Friday, March 30
Graduate student Colett Rampf ran a spectacular race Friday where she set the top time in NCAA Division II this season in the 3,000m steeplechase. Rampf started off the day on a high with two athletes still yet to run for the Lions. Rampf managed to come in third overall out of a strong field of 43 athletes consisting of mostly Division I teams, this puts her ranked No. 1 in the nation for Division II by almost 15 seconds.
The German native completed the 3,000m in a time of 10:15.86 which is an automatic qualifying mark for the 2018 NCAA Championships and puts her at the top of the Division II rankings. Rampf was in the mix with some of the best steeplechasers in the NCAA. She was the only non-Division I collegiate runner to finish in the top-10 of the event. The winner was Emma Grace Hurley of Furman University.
Junior Alyssa Bayliff was agonizingly close to an NCAA provisional mark in the 5,000m where she finished 55th overall. Bayliff completed the 5,000m in a time of 17:15.47 which is a new personal best in the event. Before this race, Bayliff’s previous personal best was set earlier this season at the Coastal Carolina Invitational where she crossed the line in 17:18.71. The NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the 5k is 17:14.52, just under a second faster than Bayliff’s time Friday.
Irish native Laura Tobin had a long wait for her race which was scheduled to start at 10:30 p.m. Friday night. Tobin was set to compete in the second heat of the 10,000m. After the long wait Tobin came across the line in a swift time of 37:19.11 to finish 55th overall in a stacked field consisting of top collegiate runners across the United States.
Coach Reiber said, “Getting an opportunity to race against elite competition in quality weather is a coach’s dream, and fortunately we were able to have both of those at the Raleigh Relays. Alyssa Bayliff had to lead the race for the first 3k as no one else was ready to push the pace but her. That proved to take a lot out of her legs, but she was still able to come away with a personal best, and finish just a second short of hitting a provisional mark for nationals. Colett hit an automatic mark, and is now qualified to the national championship in the 3k steeple for the fourth straight year, which is no easy feat. Laura Tobin was racing perfect through the first half of the race, and just lost contact with her group but that’s a good learning experience for her. Overall I’m thrilled about the results and where we are at in our training”.
NEXT UP: The Saint Leo Men and Women’s track team will return to action Friday, April 6 at the Embry-Riddle Spikes Classic in Daytona Beach, Fla.
