 |
|
|
Pete Colaizzo (Marist '86) is in his 18th year as head coach of the cross country and track and field programs at Marist College. Since taking over the men's program during the winter of 1991, Colaizzo has overseen the complete transformation of the Running Red Foxes. When Colaizzo began in January of 1991, there were four active runners taking part in the club sport of track and field. He marshaled the transition back to NCAA Division I intercollegiate competition for all three seasons. Marist has fielded intercollegiate cross country teams since 1963, while track alternated between club and varsity status from 1963-1991, before becoming a full three-season endeavor in 1991. In cross country, the Red Foxes have maintained a high level of competitiveness through multiple recruiting cycles. The team has finished as MAAC runner-up to Iona College during the following seasons: 1998, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007. The Iona Gaels are a nationally-ranked cross country team that finished 2nd at the NCAA Championships in 2007 and 3rd at the NCAAs in 2006. Marist also was runner-up at the Metropolitan Championships in 2006. Colaizzo spearheaded Marist's effort to join the Metropolitan Track Conference back in 2001. Also in 2006, the Red Foxes placed a program-best fifth at the IC4A Championships in the Championship Division. Previously at the IC4As in the University Division, the Red Foxes were champions in 2000 and runner-up in 2005. Marist also has made its mark in the classroom, earning United States Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic Team honors for 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. In track and field, the Red Foxes have secured IC4A qualifying marks during either the indoor or outdoor seasons for every year since 1997. More than 80 percent of the school records have been established, broken or re-broken during Colaizzo's tenure. Colaizzo has also coached several athletes who have qualified for the USA Junior Championships. At the 2008 USA Junior Championships in Columbus, Ohio, freshmen Adam Vess (5,000-meter run) and Tim Keegan (10,000-meter run) earned Junior All-American status based on their finishes. Colaizzo has coached 10 of his runners to sub-15:00 performances at 5,000 meters, with four current team members on that elite list. Colaizzo is a big believer in the long-term development of his athletes, and that development does not end with their graduation from Marist College. To that end, in the summer of 2004, Colaizzo formed the Marist Alumni Racing Team. Alumni runners now don the Marist red-and-white at such prestigious events as the Boston Marathon and New York City Marathon. Colaizzo was a four-year member of the cross country, indoor track and outdoor track teams at Marist College from 1982 through 1986. During his college career, Colaizzo specialized in long-distance races. While at Marist, he clocked personal-best times of 2:46:15 at the 1984 Penn Relays Marathon and 33:25 for 10,000 meters on the track. Colaizzo still remains active as a long-distance runner, representing the Marist Alumni Racing Team and the Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club. He has completed 42 marathon or ultra-marathon runs in his career, including at least one marathon finish per year for the past 20 years. In September 2002, he placed 8th overall at the Dutchess County Classic Marathon and won the award as the top Dutchess County finisher in the race. In addition to his coaching responsibilities at Marist College, Colaizzo is a full-time writer and editor for the Poughkeepsie Journal Players recreation sports weekly section. His writing has been honored by the New York State Associated Press and in Best of Gannett competitions. Colaizzo, 44, resides in Hyde Park, NY, with his wife Heidi and their children, Joey, Natalie and James. |
 
|
|||||||||||||||
