2011 Meet The Captains - Junior Alex Talarico

by obrien 1. August 2011 13:30
After a tremendous freshman campaign, rising junior Alex Talarico struggled a bit during his sophomore campaign.  With that behind him, Alex looks to improve on his PRs across the board, especially aiming to make an impact on our relays this winter and spring.

1) What made you come to Lebanon Valley College?  Where did you come from and how did you hear about our institution?

I actually found out about LVC through a mailing I received from the school. After one visit to LVC, I had a gut feeling that this was the place for me. Being from a small town, LVC felt like home. The community atmosphere and personal attention I receive at LVC make it special to me, and I couldn’t think of another place I’d rather be.

2)  What is your major and why did you choose it?

I am a Biology/Pre-Med major at LVC. The field of medicine has always been a great interest to me, and I have a strong desire to interact with people and help others. I don’t think I could ever sit behind a desk all day, so I think a career in medicine would be a great fit for me.  

3) What do you plan on doing upon graduation with your degree?

After graduation, I hope to enroll in a physician assistant program in the area or possibly attend medical school. I am not 100% sure what I want to do, but I know I want to do something medical.

4)  What is your favorite part about being a member of the LVC cross country program?

My favorite part of LVCXC is the people. My fellow teammates and coaches are like my family at LVC, and I love spending time with them and motivating them before our meets. We hang out on the weekends and always have a good time when we’re together. Through running at LVC, I feel like I have made some friendships that will last a lifetime.

5)  What is your favorite type of workout?  Is there any one particular workout that you can remember that was challenging but made you a better runner for it?

I don’t really think I have a favorite workout, but I do have a lot of stories about some challenging workouts we have done through the years. During track, we always do a tough workout that consists of a 600, 400, and 2x200s. At first this workout sounded simple, but it ended up being the hardest workout we did all year. This workout, as well as all the other workouts we do, have some kind of logic behind it. Whether it is to determine our level of fitness or improve our finishing kick, Coach always seems to have a method behind his madness.

6)  What are your short term and long term running-related goals, both team and individual?

This year I hope to return to the level of fitness I achieved my freshmen year and be able to run with the pack and be competitive. As a team, I really think we can turn some heads. With some solid runners in place and some promising freshmen coming in, I feel like we can surprise the conference and finish in the top 3 this year.

7) What hobbies, sports or other leisure time activities do you enjoy most?

Other than running, I love to just relax and hang out with my family and friends. I also love to fish and golf, and I am a big sports fan overall. I also love going to the Outer Banks during the summer with my family, and I have been going there for the past 18 years.

8) What is your favorite type of food?

I don’t think I have a favorite food, but I definitely like to eat! I’m a big fan of steaks and hot wings, but I also like classic Italian food like pasta and pizza.

9)  What makes you unique?  Do you have any special talents or something else that you'd like to share that others would find interesting?   

I think what makes me unique as a captain is my ability to communicate with others. I may not be the fastest guy on the course, but I feel like I can always motivate my team and talk with my teammates if they ever need guidance about running or just life in general.

10)  Why should a high school junior or senior take a more serious look at LVC?

Although LVC is not a well-known school like Penn State or Pitt, I believe that the education and experiences you receive here are incomparable. At LVC, you make friends so easily, and I feel like you can never get “lost in the crowd”. Whether it is a professor or another student, you always have someone watching out for you. The faculty and staff here really do care about the students, which shows all throughout campus.

Academically, I believe LVC students can compete with the best and the brightest out there. The small class sizes allow you to get know your professors, and there are so many opportunities for you to work with them one-on-one, which doesn’t always happen at a big school. Overall, I feel like LVC is the perfect place for anyone who wants to compete in athletics yet focus primarily on school. My coaches and teammates have helped me develop as a runner and a student, and they really have become my second family. 

Meet The Captains - 2010

by obrien 6. August 2010 05:54

Brad Sweigart

Photo by Rodney Nesmith  Three-time captain, two-time 2nd team All-MAC performer (16th in 2008 and 15th in 2009), and one-time LVCXC Most Valuable Player (2008); Brad will continue to be the leader both on and off the course for the team this year.  Over the past three seasons, he has been the most consistent performer on the team, boasting a personal best last season of 26:45 for 8K at the Brooks Paul Short Run.  Brad has been instrumental in building up the team around him throughout his career and, with a great supporting cast in 2010, looks to lead the team to new heights in his senior year.

Alex Talarico

Photo by Rodney Nesmith

Rising sophomore Alex Talarico had a very solid first year campaign, posting strong personal bests of 28:54 for 8K during cross country and 4:15.5 for 1500 during the track season.  Not one to necessarily demand the spotlight, Alex has the strong ability to bring people together and will look to do so in an official capacity during his first season as a captain.

Jenn Cronin

Photo by Rodney Nesmith

NCAA qualifier, defending NCAA Mideast-Regional Runner of the Year, and two-time MAC bronze medalist, Jenn Cronin returns for her senior campaign as the most decorated female distance runner in school history.  Posting a strong personal best of 21:39 for 6K, and holding 7 current school records for track and field (with a study-abroad semester during the spring of her junior year), she returns as one of the strongest runners in the region and looks to turns things up a notch for her senior campaign.  Jenn leads a young but very formidable team looking to make its mark in 2010.

Megan Long

Photo by Rodney Nesmith

In just her first season running cross country, Megan Long finished with 1st-Team All-MAC honors and four top ten finishes during regular season invitationals.  Megan is also one of the most decorated female distance runners in school history, with her name splashed all over the Top-10 Record Book for track & field (and she has to get the record for the most 2nd places!).  With a year of experience under her belt, she looks to provide one of the strongest 1-2 punches around along with Jenn, and should be a contender on the regional level as well. 

 


9/25 Tempo Run

by obrien 27. September 2009 19:10

    The LVC distance runners had no meet this past weekend and instead completed a high end aerobic effort in the form of a tempo run on Friday afternoon.  Our program is really big on improving aerobic capacity and this is a good example of an early to mid season workout that we might do.  The exact workout was as follows; Men - 4 mile anaerobic threshold run directly into 1 mile uptempo on the track, Women - 3 mile anaerobic threshold run directly into 1 mile uptempo on the track. Below is the 3 mile loop around the town of Annville that we ran the tempo portion of our workout on.  Most of the loop was on the roads and the section towards the end veers off onto the sidewalk around the field hockey fields and ends directly next to our outdoor track and field facility. 

 

    The team, on the whole, performed really well but Junior Brad Sweigart stole the show by running his tempo segment in 22:51 (5:42 per mile) and dropping a smooth 4:59 mile running around traffic in lane two on the track to finish the workout in 27:50 (5:34 per mile).  Brad is rounding into form quite nicely and is looking to lower his lifetime best next Friday at the Brooks Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University.  If he runs a smart race this workout indicates that he is ready to take some time off of his 27:13 at this meet last season.  Junior Jenn Cronin was the top women's finisher, running her three mile tempo in 18:34 (6:11 per mile) and her  mile segment in 5:54 for a total of 24:28 (6:08 per mile).  Jenn will lead a strong women's contingency at the Paul Short meet as well in their first real fitness test of the year.  Nick DÁngelo, Alex Talarico, Patrick Tierney, Megan Long, Emily Devivo, Tiffany Frederick & Victoria Broderick all had tremendous workouts as well and will provide the depth we need going into our next few meets.  

    The main purpose of this workout was to get the athletes used to running strong but comfortably during the anaerobic threshold run of 3-4 miles.  This is roughly an 85-88% effort and should have the runners feeling pleasantly tired by the time they complete that section.  The last mile on the track was supposed to be a noticeable shift in pace but not an all out effort by any means.  If done correctly a workout like this should be a huge confidence booster for our athletes as they learn that they can pop a good pace after they are already sufficiently tired.  Full results from workout can be found below.

Full Results: 9-25 Tempo.doc (31.00 kb)

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