Van Alstine Cruises To 5,000m Win

Amy Van Alstine

Athletes from over 36 colleges and universities joined up with over 15 club teams for the 2010 Swarthmore Invitational Monday night in Philadelphia...With the new NCAA Division I qualifying system athletes and coaches want to assure their marks are in the top 48 per event ensuring a spot at the 1st round of the NCAA Championships.

Amy Van Alstine headed to Philadelphia with her sights on improving her 16:38 performance from the Mt SAC Relays (Los Angeles) earlier this spring. Both she and Lori thought the opportunity would be there at the A-10 Championships at UMASS but track temperatures in the mid 90's negated those efforts. That led to the decision to go to the Swarthmore Invite this past Monday night looking for a faster time since she currently sits in the 51st position.

Lori, Amy and freshman standout Dana Guglielmo made the trip, with Dana serving as Amy’s rabbit in the 5K. The goal was to go through the 3K in 9:52 before Amy was to take over and finish hopefully in the 16:33 range…or faster.

The conditions ended up becoming perfect after strong afternoon winds died to calm conditions. As Amy and Dana lined up with 23 other athletes Lori told them to go to the front and not to wait on others. Dana took the lead…and led Amy through the 400M in 77 seconds…followed by an 80…then a 78 followed by an 80 to cross the 1600M (1 mile) point in 5:15 . They were exactly where they needed to be. From there they eclipsed laps of 81…81…81…and 81 to pass 3200M (2 miles) in 10:39 which was about 9 seconds slower than the goal. Amy took over the lead from there racing hard over the final 4.5 laps with splits of 81…82…82…81 to cross 4800M (3 miles) in 16:05... She closed in 37.1 for last 200M to cross the line in 16:47.21 FAT . Far ahead of 2nd place but not quite the time she was looking for to ensure her spot in the first round of the NCAA Championships.

Now we’ll wait and see what happens this weekend. Sunday, May 16 is the cutoff point for improving your times for NCAA seeding purposes.

Stay tuned.

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Van Alstine Cruises To 5,000m Win At Swarthmore Invitational
Van Alstine was looking to better her time for NCAA qualification.

by Mike DeGeorge (UR SID)

May 10, 2010

SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Amy Van Alstine crushed the field in the women's 5,000m Monday night at the Swarthmore College Last Chance Invitational outside of Philadelphia, Pa. Van Alstine won the event by nearly 30 seconds.

Van Alstine, who was looking to improve on her 5,000m time in advance of the NCAA Super Regional, laid down a time of 16:47.21 Monday night, which was not quite as good as her 16:38 effort earlier this season at the Mt. SAC Relays.

"Amy looked great out there and closed strong over the last lap covering her final 400m in 75 seconds," said women's head coach Lori Taylor. "She is stronger and more fit than ever before and looked very relaxed. Now we have to wait and see if her 16:38 from earlier this season is good enough to get her to the First Round of the NCAA Championships."

Freshman Dana Guglielmo entered Monday's 5,000m and ran as a rabbit for Van Alstine. Guglielmo led her through the 1,600m-mark (5:17) and the 3,000m-mark (10:01). Van Alstine ran all alone over the final laps and cruised to the easy win.

Spider track & field athletes have two more meets to qualify and/or tune-up for the NCAA Super East Regional set for May 27-29 in Greensboro, N.C. The Georgia Tech Invitational is May 14-15 and the Tar Heel/Aggie Classic is May 16.

Event 22 Women 5000 Meter Run
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Name Year Team Finals
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1 VanAlstine, Amy RICHMOND 16:47.21
2 Ritchings, Lindsay PACERS RACING 17:11.64
3 Rinehardt, Octavia AMERICAN 17:16.67
4 McGrath, Martine UNATTACHED 17:19.49
5 Forcino, Rachel AMERICAN 17:22.29
6 Edelstein, Lena UNATTACHED 17:25.66
7 Keller, Kirsten NYU 17:30.48
8 Bradley, Cait UNATTACHED 17:32.44
9 Hamilton, Mary DICKINSON 17:32.97
10 Grant, Caroline LA SALLE 17:45.19
11 Ermak, Jessie DELAWARE 17:45.52
12 McGlinchey, Megan UNATTACHED 18:01.94
13 Ambrogi, Lexi DELAWARE 18:12.97
14 Watunya, Jennifer DELAWARE 18:16.51
15 Zukowski, Alison DELAWARE 18:16.66
16 Druther, Kathleen UNATTACHED 18:20.50
17 Deinert, Katherine DELAWARE 18:22.70
18 Santoski, Laura NYU 18:33.78
19 Shiavone, Nicole LA SALLE 18:39.57
20 Omallley, Hayley UNATTACHED 18:41.41
21 Kauffman, Sophie DELAWARE 18:45.10
22 Parshall, Melody YORK (PA.) 19:25.75