By Christopher Hunt
Marie Louise Asselin sprawled herself on the track a few meters from the finish line and reached her hand out to West Virginia teammate Clara Grandt for an exhausted low-five. They both got NCAA automatic qualifier they were looking for and owed each other a bit of thanks as well.
For three kilometers Grandt pushed the pace in the 5,000 meters at the Big East Championships Saturday with Asselin fastened to Grandt’s outside elbow. Asselin promptly moved ahead with 2K left and controlled race after, winning in 15 minutes, 58.15 seconds, the fastest collegiate time in the country this season.
“My plan was just to qualify for nationals,” Asselin said. “But to come in and run under 16:00 is great. Clara’s plan was to go out and lead it. She decided to go from the gun. I just wanted to follow.”
Grandt said she wanted to ensure she made the NCAA nationals qualifying mark of 16:07.50. She finished second 16:04.24, a lifetime best. Asselin struggled with a cold and a stomach virus in the last two weeks and but none of that seemed to affect her as she shook loose of Grandt in the last five laps.
“It’s a hard way to run,” Grandt said of setting the pace. “(Asselin) pushed me once she was in front of me. When someone first passes you, you’re initial reacting is to say ‘oh man, I’m so tired.’ But then you just have to try to stay in it.”
There was nothing gradual about the way that Louisville’s Matt Bruce in the men’s 5,000. Bruce exploded down the backstretch with 750 left and field begging for someone to make a decisive move.
“There were a lot of fast guys so I knew when I went it had to be a strong move,” Bruce said. “I didn’t want anyone to come after me. “
Bruce pushed his thumbs into his singlet to show off is Louisville jersey as he crossed the finish. The junior transferred to Louisville from Clemson after his freshman year and with three coaches in three years, Bruce had begun to feel he’d lost his way.
“Last year was a rough year for me,” he said. “It was nice just to there getting back and feeling good. Everything seems to be rolling now.”
Villanova won both the men’s and women’s distance medley relays. The women’s team led wire-to-wire winning in 11:10.94 with Bogdana Mimic (3:28.8), Jessona McDonald (56.5), Ariann Neutts (2:07.7) and Nicole Schappert (4:38.0).
Neutts, an all-American at Roxbury in New Jersey, said she was excited to even have a chance to run on the relay in her freshman season. She admittedly had some nervous once she got the baton with a lead to protect, even if it had a little cushion.
“I thought they were right behind me,” Neutts said. “I felt like everything was chasing me I didn’t want anyone passing me. I know I had to do my part for the team.”
Nova’s Hugo Beamish, Stefan Goodrich, Carl Mackenzie and Mat Mildenhall won the men’s race in 9:47.60. Georgetown, anchored by Somers grad Alex Bean, finished second in 9:49.99.
Mildenhall took the baton behind South Florida and gobbled the gap instantly. Then he locked Georgetown’s anchor behind South Florida and seemed like he was controlling the race from while running nearly in Lane 2 and in second place. But when Syracuse’s anchor started to give chase, Mildenhall bolted.
Mildenhall called it a foreign affair. Mildenhall, Mackenzie and Beamish are from New Zealand. Goodrich is from Barbados.
“I knew Georgetown wouldn’t pass me because I could tell he was content to sit on my shoulder,” Mildenhall said. “I could tell that South Florida was struggling a bit to hold the pace. I guess I wanted to chill until I thought I could win it.”
Notre Dame leads the men’s team standing with 46.5 points, just ahead of Louisville’s 45. The Irish sophomore Kevin Schipper won the pole vault and junior Greg Davis finished second in the pole vault. West Virginia leads the women’s standings.
Reach Christopher Hunt at chunt@armorytrack.com