Marquez makes All-League cross-country team
October 12, 2023 at 1:03 a.m.
In the long run in distance races, what is done in the short run leading up to the races makes the difference. In other words, the preparation done in training before the races in terms of miles run in practice usually pays off on race day. That goes for in-season distance training runs as well as continuing that practice during the off-season.
Nobody knows that better than Rams and Lady Rams cross country coach Cindy Reyes Martinez, a language instructor in the Port Chester School District and a forever ex-Lady Ram distance running great who still holds the school record for the one-mile run at 5 minutes flat.
And her current x-country team has bought into that LSD (long slow distance) running mantra during training gallops up and down the hills of Crawford Park, building power into their strides, staying power into their lungs, endurance into their legs.
The LSD payoff
The results started to pay off in the Suffern Invitational at Bear Mountain State Park in late September as well as in dual meets against Rye, Blind Brook and Somers leading up to the ultra-competitive League 1D Championships on a recent Tuesday (Oct. 3) over the hilly 5,000-meter (3.1-mile) course at Croton Point Park with every one of the Ram runners averaging better than a well-conditioned eight minutes per mile and the Lady Rams only slightly slower in the female division of the same race.
Nobody on the Rams did it better than sophomore sensation Santiago Marquez, the Venezuelan triathlon athletic import, who finished seventh overall in the varsity race, making the All-League team in the process, with the first 15 runners making the All-Star team.
Looming dilemma
Therein lies something of a dilemma for Marquez because he looms as potentially one of the Rams’ best ever distance runners, following in the footsteps of such recent All-League runners as Joe Tapia and Tommy Perrone. Marquez clocked 17:52.70 at Croton, meaning he averaged just under six minutes per mile for three miles. And that shows a lot of potential if he keeps at it for the remainder of the x-country season as well as during the upcoming indoor and outdoor seasons.
But the problem is Marquez, an ocean swimmer in Venezuela, is also one of the Rams’ best swimmers, "one of the best in Port Chester history," according to Rams head swim coach Kevin Clarke, a triathlon athlete himself as well as the former Rams x-country coach. The Rams’ winter swim team season runs at the same time as the indoor Track & Field season where Marquez shapes up as the Rams’ best middle distance (quarter and half mile) runner as well as their best distance runner in the mile and two-mile races.
So, which sport will he choose?
Only Marquez knows for sure at this point. But a hint may come from the fact that he is a very good swimmer, comes from a family of triathlon athletes (including long distance mountain bike riders as well as swimmers and runners) and he wants to be a professional triathlete someday (which means he wants to compete in all three sports because triathlon events include a combo of all three).
Timely roster depth
But for now he will keep on LSD running along with the other Ram and Lady Ram athletes who did so well in the League Championships, starting with senior Jonathan Abraham (19:20), Juan Mejia (21:05.80), Nicholas Wolff (24:17.80) and Orhan Eski (26:02.90). The talented Lady Rams include Abigail Pesantez (27:19), Katheryn Espinosa (29:58.70), Camila Ramos (30:17.50), Kristen Mejia and Mayrin Perez (both finishing in the identical time of 30:18.20.
Other outstanding runners with lots of potential, according to Martinez, include sophomore Alexa Aguiriano and freshman Christopher Zamora.
"I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for our talented runners," Martinez said.
Neither can we. Because if you think it is easy to hit those kinds of times, just try it. In the long run, what you do practicing in the short run leading up to the race makes all the difference. And the Rams and Lady Rams hope to see the difference all that practice makes by improving their times in their next meet, the Westchester County Championships, Saturday, Oct. 23 at Somers starting at 10 a.m. Local distance running aficionados are especially interested in seeing whether Marquez can finish in the top 10 against that kind of competition and have a shot at making All-County.
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