Mike Busarello

Class of 2002

Sr. (2001)
 
95th – Meet of Champions, Holmdel, 5k, 17:32
17th – State Parochial A Meet, Holmdel, 5k, 17:29
11th – Olympic Conf Meet, Varsity, GCC, 5k, 17:01
5th – SJ Parochials, Williamstown HS, 5k, 17:08
9th – South Jersey Open, Varsity Div II, Williamstown HS, 5k, 16:40
12th – Shore Coaches Invite, Varsity C, Holmdel, 5k, 17:12

Jr. (2000)

12th – State Parochial A Meet, Holmdel, 5k, 17:09
17th – Olympic Conf Meet, Varsity, GCC, 5k, 16:44
17th – Shore Coaches Invite, Varsity B, Holmdel, 5k, 17:19

Soph. (1999)

1st – Olympic Conf Meet, JV, GCC, 5k, 17:06
4th – SJ Parochials, Egg Harbor Twp HS, 5k, 16:56
19th – SJ Track Coaches Meet, Varsity Div II, Egg Harbor Twp HS, 5k, 17:28
1st – Shore Coaches Invite, Open Soph, Holmdel, 5k, 18:01
4th – Cherokee Challenge, Soph Race, Cherokee HS, 2mi, 10:20

Frosh (1998)

4th – SJ Track Coaches Invite, Frosh Race, Kingsway HS, 2mi, 10:49
9th – Shore Coaches Invite, Frosh B, Holmdel, 2mi, 12:29

Friday’s Practice and Holmdel on Saturday

Paul VI has a scheduled inservice day…

PRACTICE FOR Fri, Sept 28th, 2007 will BE AT 9:30AM!

Any problems, contact coach.

In other news, on a hot and dreary day at GCC, the Eagles defeated Woodrow Wilson 16-48 taking the first 4 spots while getting a chance to rest those who really needed it. Ed Murphy and Wil Bradford led the way for PVI XC and improved the season’s record to 3-0.

The Eagles will be heading up to Holmdel this weekend to scope out the course and run a workout on the premises. The bus will leave at 7:30am on Saturday, BE AT PAUL VI HS by 7:15AM SHARP. We should be back by the latest 2PM.

Bittersweet on ‘C’

The South Jersey Shootout has grown into one fine race no doubt. Last year, 40 teams (23 guys, 17 girls) – in 2007? A whopping 49 teams were on the line (29 guys, 20 girls). If it grows at that clip every year, we could have another Shore Coaches on our hand at some point. Congratulations to Ringo Adamson and all of his help for pulling off such a hell of a meet.

With that said, it was a day of vital experience for the Paul VI Eagles. The weather was perfect in the early morning and never really threatened nasty heat the whole day as it was forecast.

Our first race was the freshmen, lining up at 9:00am and ready to tackle the 2.39 mile course. Eric Hubbs stuck himself early on in the top 40 and gradually worked his way up to 26th. He went through the first mile in 5:42 and pushed through the middle hills (which many were thrown off by) on his way into medal contention. He finished the race in 15:01. Nick Vadino and Mike Giordano went back and forth all race after getting out rather quickly. Giordano threw in a kick to come home in 45th at 16:12 with Vadino not far behind in 47th at 16:17. Tony Pinto also put in an admirable effort overcoming stitches to finish in 17:01.

The JV boys were next at 9:30am and the weather stayed the same for the most part. Except for the 15-minute period of driving rain…luckily, most coaches were at the 2-mile mark in the woods during that quick downpour. Alec Connelly, Tom Pellegrino, and Jamie Rooney all worked together coming in at 24:10, 24:14, and 24:15 respectively. Rooney took a good minute off his best time this year. The stud of the race was Nick Carrozzo – coming off only a week, week-and-a-half of training and the minor detail of never experiencing a full a 5k before. Carrozzo finished his first race, enduring a somewhat overly zealous first mile of 7:06.

The “5, 6, 7″ race saw mixed results. Another first-timer stole the limelight though. Freshman Alec Holland – a certain force to be reckoned with in future years – found himself on the line of a varsity race no more than 10 practices after his firm commitment to the team. Having never run competitively before and only days after buying his first pair of trainers, the freshman blazed out to 6:10 first mile. The early pace got to him, with the hills not providing much of a consolation. Holland still managed a 21:52, which one heck of a first race (ever!). Tom Pellegrino withstood a quick first mile as well to finish a good 10 seconds ahead of Holland in 21:40. Senior Wil Bradford went out comfortably but fell victim to the backhills and heavy traffic. He still stuck his nose in there for a respectable 19:55. The sentiment from all three afterwards, however, was of a ‘I can do much better’ tone tinted with a little bit of disappointment. The season has only just begun though.

The ‘3-4′ race saw another freshman put to the test. After coming up big in PVI’s first dual meet – Tom Hoban had confidence and a little bit of experience under his belt (giving a freshman confidence is a dangerous thing, especially in cross country). Hoban paced himself and finished 33rd for yet another great performance, going 18:37 on a hilly course in the process. Senior Ed Murphy was another victim to the hills but still held together to finish in 19:41 respectively. Undoubtedly, he’ll be eager to get into the next race.

The ‘1-2′ race (stud race) pitted sophomore Mike Rankin and senior Paul Lively against some of the very best from South Jersey and the Philly area. Rankin put himself in the top 10 from the get go and moved through the mile-mark in a 5:02 (he might have cringed if we had shared that with him during the race). The hilly second mile took it’s toll but Rankin seemed on course to still pop something big. Although the hills slowed him down enough to make him question the decency of his time, Mike moved from 12th heading into the woods up to 8th and finishing in 17:00. A great first competitive 5k of the season, but surely he is hungry for more. Paul Lively finished in 19:13 but he will also be looking forward to that next meet.

Overall, a learning experience for many today. Many realized that more work must be done and things might have to change in order for goals to be reached. All-in-all, for 6 of the 7 in the varsity races it was their first ‘real’ varsity race and all will be looking forward to the next one.

For complete results of the meet, click here.

South Jersey Shootout

September 22nd, 2007
Gloucester County College

Any other information can be found on the meet’s website.

Timeline, Race Schedule and Participants

(all races will be run on GCC’s ‘C’ course)

7:15 AM Meet at Paul VI High School, Bus Arrives

7:25 AM Bus Departs for GCC

9:00 AM Freshman Boys (5) - E. Hubbs, N. Vadino, J. Pinto, M. Giordano, A. Holland

9:30 AM Junior Varsity Boys (5) - T. Pellegrino , J. Rooney, A. Connelly, N. Carrozzo, M. Magrino

10:30 AM [5, 6, 7 Boys] – (3) W. Bradford, E. Murphy, S. Pellegrino 

11:30 AM [3, 4 Boys] – (2) T. Hoban, T. Norris

12:30 PM [1, 2 Boys] – (2) M. Rankin, P. Lively

2:00 PM (absolute latest) – arrive back at Paul VI

If you have any questions, give me a call or e-mail me!

A Crazy Start to the Season

September 18, 2007

Coming off an amazing 10:11 two mile at Cherokee Challenge this past Saturday, the idea was to be anything but conservative the first mile for sophomore Mike Rankin. He did that and THEN SOME…on a course run many times before at Gloucester County College, Rankin veered off with first-year cross country runner from Bishop Eustace Andy Arnold. They had rocketed out to a 100-meter lead about 1/2 mile in. One wrong turn later (and let’s not kid ourselves, it has happened to all of us distance runners before) and the race turned from promising to well…interesting. Both were subsequently DQ’ed which made it come down to which team had the tightest pack. Junior Joe Fiore had gone out with Rankin and Arnold and found himself in a situation but he heard the calls of his teammates and found his way back to the course about 40 seconds off his initial pace. Already – the race looked gloomy but in a sense, a blessing in disguise.

Our boys were up the the challenge. Led by senior Paul Lively – a spread of 38 seconds was enough to overpower the Crusaders. Lively caught BE’s second man with about 1/4 mile to go and made a charge at their #1 falling one second shy. The biggest surprise of the meet, however, was that freshman Tom Hoban was already there as Lively came on. Hoban had seen both Fiore and Rankin veer off and dashed to the front as if to take their place. He eventually shaved 40 seconds off his personal best to take a much-needed third place. What he hadn’t realized, though, was that Fiore had found his way back into the mix.

First-year senior Tom Norris and Ed Murphy ran valiantly to beat the Crusader’s number three runner and as it sat, PVI needed one more man in to seal the deal. No real surprise that it was Fiore. Essentially starting 40 seconds behind everyone, Fiore sprinted home to grab the 5th spot on the team and seal the win. 23-34.

Wil Bradford finished 6th for the team and 9th overall in 19:29. Eric Hubbs rounded out the top seven with a solid 20:27, good enough for 12th overall. Freshman Nick Vadino and Mike Giordano continue to improve every race running 22:36 and 22:48 respectively. Senior Steve Pellegrino also put in a respectable effort coming in at 21:18.

Overall, a promising start for the season and an even better benchmark for continued improvement. The Eagles will next race this Saturday back again at Gloucester County College on the ‘C’ Course. It will be the South Jersey Shootout, starting at 9:00am with the Frosh Boys (schedule to follow).

Meet time for the bus to GCC at Paul VI on Saturday morning will be at 7:15AM!

Paul VI Results

2. Lively 18:35
3. Hoban 18:36
5. Norris 18:47
6. Murphy 18:59
8. Fiore 19:13
9. Bradford 19:29
12. Hubbs 20:27
15. S. Pellegrino 21:18
18. Vadino 22:36
19. Giordano 22:48
21. Connelly 23:57
22. T. Pellegrino 24:07
23. Magrino 24:13
24. Rooney 25:05
25. Pinto 25:08