Running Shorts – Feb. 20

• MoCo Running’s collection of tributes following the passing of Ray Boss, Montgomery County’s commissioner of track and field officials, is worth reading

• At the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships Saturday and Sunday at George Mason University, George Washington sophomore Halley Brown won the mile 4:53.02, junior Miranda DiBlasio won the 5,000 meters in 16:58.89.
• The George Mason men won the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track and Field Championships Sunday at home. In the distance races, sophomore Nathan Schulte won the 1,000 meters 2:29.17 and the Distance Medley Relay team of Logan Miller (a Chantilly alumnus), Blaine Lacey, 500 meter champion (and Frederick Douglass alumnus) Rico Gomez and Brent Coulter in 10:02.40
• American University’s 800 meter runners won two races at the Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championships. Alaeldin Tirba, Chandler Ross, Matthew Rainey and Liam Purdy ran 7:31.30 to win the 4×800 meters, Purdy ran 1:53.25, mostly with one spike (not sneaker), to win the 800 meters.
• Several local collegiate cross country runners or D.C. area natives were named Academic All-Americans by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for the 2016 season. They include (with their GPAs):

Division I:

George Mason University Men 3.18

George Washington University Men 3.52

George Mason University Women 3.63

George Washington University Women 3.48

Georgetown University Women 3.33

University of Maryland, College Park women 3.39

Michael Clevenger      Georgetown University

Michael Lederhouse    Georgetown University

Sean McGorty   Stanford University (Chantilly)

Chase Weaverling       University of Virginia (Poolesville)

Katy Kunc         University of Kentucky (Lake Braddock)

Katie Kennedy   Virginia Tech (West Springfield)

Division III:

Catholic University of America Men 3.33

Catholic University of America Women 3.24

Marymount University (Virginia) Women 3.47

Zeke Cohen       Williams College (Georgetown Day)

Griffin Colaizzi  Williams College (Georgetown Day)