previous years team stories 2001

12/15 - South Orange, NJ - In the last team race of the year, the Asics girls swept the first five places in the 10 mile USATF-NJ Championships.  Running together for the first few miles, they pulled away from the competition and then slowly split up themselves.  Madelyn Noe-Schlentz finished 1sts in 61:48, Sue Huelster was 2nd (62:04), Jennifer Malavolta 3rd (62:58), Jodie D'Ariano 4th (63:11) and Noel Whitall 5th in 63:26.  Jennifer Del Colle running the race as her weekly long run was 7th.

11/24 - Holmdel, NJ - Taking advantage of not having to fly to a national championship, Madelyn Noe-Schlentz drove 15 minutes to Holmdel Park to win the National Masters 5k Cross Country Championship.  Madelyn sat about 5 seconds behind Alicia Kelly through the mile in a slow 6:42 (uphill).  She then ran the 2nd mile that included the famous "bowl" hill in 6:13 to take the lead and then ran the mostly downhill last 1.1 miles in 6:14 to win in 19:09, 19 seconds ahead of 2nd.  She also broke the masters course record of 19:16.

10/13 - Chicago, Ill - Taking her 2nd shot at the Olympic Trials qualifying time in the marathon, Jodie D'Ariano fell just 32 seconds short of the qualifying time of 2:48:00.  She was out fast, hitting 15k in 57:38 and the halfway point at 1:21:28.  At 21 with her slowest mile being 6:28, she needed to average 6:30 to hit 2:45:30.  Unfortunately, the early pace and a headwind over the last 2.5 miles slowed her to 7:10s for the last three and she fell just short of her goal. 

10/12 - Donaldson Park, Highland Park, NJ - After raining the whole previous day, the runners were welcomed to the Donaldson Park 5k Swamp Run disguised as the USATF-NJ 5k Cross Country Championships.  The highlight was getting to run the course twice on this two lap course.  The ACE girls managed to keep the top five just 38 seconds apart and running without Jodie D'Ariano they still won with just 26 points.  Madelyn Noe-Schlentz was the 1st ACE swamp rat to finish in taking 2nd in 19:29 (how slow was this course you ask), Sue Huelster making her first cross country race in at least three years was 4th in 19:44, Noel Whitall was 5th in 19:47, Jennifer Malavolta 7th in 20:02, Christine Corey 8th in 20:08, and Jennifer Del Colle 10th in 20:57.

9/29 - Jersey City, NJ -  The Liberty Half Marathon is designated both the East Region and USATF-NJ Championship and for the 3rd straight year the ACE girls came away with the title finishing 16 minutes ahead of Sneaker Factory.  Jodie D'Ariano dueled with Doris Corea early but by 5 miles Jodie had opened up a 5 second lead and continued enlarging it until she won by almost a minute in 1:20:42.  Madelyn Noe-Schlentz and Jennifer Malavolta ran together until the last mile to finish 3rd (1:22:51) and 4th (1:22:53) respectively.  Noel Whitall, running in her 1st half marathon, finished 8th in 1:25:24; Christine Corey was 9th in 1:27:09 and Jennifer Del Colle was 10th in 1:27:25.

9/15 - Deer Path Park, Readington, NJ - In the first team race of the fall, the ACE girls ran the USATF-NJ 8K Cross Country Championships.  Held in extremely humid conditions and thick grass, the ACE girls ran just hard enough to win the team title.  The ACE girls were led by Jodie D'Ariano in 1st (30:10) and Madelyn Noe-Schlentz in 4th (31:35).  They were followed by the the pack of Jennifer Del Colle, running her first race for ACE, Jennifer Malavolta, and Noel Whitall who finished together in 5th-7th in 32:05 which completed the scoring.  ACE scored 23 points to finish ahead of Raritan Valley RR 55 pts and Sneaker Factory 68 pts..  Christine Corey 9th (33:07) and Tara Ricciuto 11th (33:58) also competed to give the ACE girls 7 of the 1st 7 finishers.

7/20 - Teterboro, NJ - After a disappointing marathon in Duluth, MN, Jodie D'Ariano wanted to test her fitness level and came away with a very fast win in 17:07 on a windy day when most runners were complaining how slow the out and back course was.  Madelyn Noe-Schlentz, still recovering from the marathon, finished 4th overall but won the USATF-NJ 5K Masters Championship in 18:28.  Megan Phillips was right behind her in 18:41. 

6/30 - Lake Hopatcong, NJ - Sue Huelster bounced from her track season right over to the triathlon and won the 1st annual Friend 2 Friend Triathlon.  Sue was 3rd woman out of the water and 14th overall.  She moved by both women to move up to 8th overall with the 7th fastest split overall in the bike and then ran the fastest overall run to finish 5th overall and 1st woman.

6/22 - Duluth, MN - Madelyn Noe-Schlentz and Jodie D'Ariano flew west to take a shot at the 2004 Olympic Trials qualifying time of 2:48:00 at Grandma Marathon.  Running in 55degrees on the slightly rolling course, they ran together through the 1st 10 miles in 63:00 (6:18 pace), 1:23:01 (half marathon), and 20 miles at 2:07:04 (6:24 pace for 2nd 10).  Jodie fell back at this point after doing much of the work and Madelyn continued on slowing to 6:25-6:30 miles.  Tightening up over the last 1.5 miles, Madelyn held on to finish in 2:47:26, 34 seconds under the record.  Jodie refused to drop out and came home just over 3:08.

6/17 - Milburn, NJ - ACE decided to go for another NJ Championship, this time without their top two runners who were resting for that weekend's marathon.  The Presidents Cup 5k race was host to the USATF-NJ 5k Championship this year and included an outstanding field.  The Running Company was just a little too strong for the ACE girls as they held off ACE by 48 seconds with Fleet Feet another 39 secs behind ACE. ACE did move into the lead in the Liberty Waterfront Grand Prix standings for 2002.  Jennifer Malavolta was 5th in 17:54, Megan Phillips was 6th in 18:06 and Noel Whitall finished 9th in 18:22. 

6/8 - Ewing, NJ - Trying to get one more track race in, Sue Huelster, Noel Whitall and Jennifer Malavolta went to the USATF-NJ Championships at the College of NJ. In the 5000 meters, Noel and Jennifer ran alone, the two went through the mile in 5:35 and continued on to finish 1st and 2nd with Noel running 17:45.8 and Jenniefr 17:47.8.  Sue followed in the 800 to be 1st NJ finisher in 2:17.8.  

5/19 - Far Hills, NJ - The ACE girls took on the Midland 15k and it's difficult course.  The course starts with a 400 on the grass, travels over a very hilly course before returning to a finish that includes a run of 400 meters on gravel and then a 200 on the grass.  Jodie D'Ariano went through the first mile at 6:00 and followed it with a 5:42, once she hit the roads.  She continued on unchallenged to win in 55:24, an average pace of 5:57 a mile.  Meanwhile, Madelyn Noe-Schlentz and Jennifer Malavolta ran through the mile in 6:08 and continued through 4.5 together.  Near the top of the big hill they separated and finished 3rd and 4th, Madelyn running 56:52 and Jennifer at 56:56, both approximately 6:06 pace.  ACE won the USATF-NJ team title over Sneaker Factory by 9 minutes and 57 secs.

5/5 - Summit, NJ - The course, highlighted by it's over 25 turns and an uphill last mile, was not setup for fast times.  This year, the Our House 5 Mile Run was home to the USATF-NJ 5 mile championship.  Coming the week after the Penn Relays, Jodie D'Ariano placed 2nd to Canadian Carol Howe in 29:32 with Madelyn Noe-Schlentz 4th at 29:49 and Jennifer Malavolta 6th in 30:10.  Megan Phillips, fighting off a touch of anemia was 12th in 32:07.  

4/27 - Ewing, NJ - After running a 60 second 400 in the corporate distance medley at the Penn Relays the night before, Sue Huelster went through the 400 in 65 at the Lion Invitational at The College of New Jersey and continued on to win the race in a new ACE record for the 800 of 2:14.4.  Noel Whitall, running in her 1st track 5000 since college, stayed behind the leader for 6 laps before taking the lead to win in 17:57.4.  

4/25 - Philadelphia, PA - The Penn Relays, where the elite come to run fast.  First, it was Jodie D'Ariano's turn in the 5000.  No one wanted to take the lead so the pace started out real slow.  As it picked up, Jodie stayed right behind the leader in 3rd place in a pack of 4 until Autumn Fogg took off with a 400 to go.  Jodie quickly began chase and moved into 2nd where she finished just one second off her personal best.  Jodie's 1600 splits were: 5:29.3, 10:49.4 (5:20.1, 16:01.9 (5:12.5), 35.5 - 16:37.44.  Next up was Madelyn Noe-Schlentz.  The pace was much faster than her 10,000 at Raleigh as she stayed with the pack until just before 5000 which she passed in 17:18.  Running on her own the rest of the way, Madelyn managed to stay at 85s to break her American masters record by 30 seconds.  Madelyn's splits were: 5:30.6, 11:02.5 (5:31.9), 16:35.7 (5:33.2), 5000 17:18.2, 22:18.0 (5:42.3), 27:59.3 (5:41.3), 33:41.1 (5:41.8), 77.4 - 34:58.54.    

4/21 - Newark, NJ - The Cherry Blossom 10k was also the USATF-NJ Championship this year. Although ACE didn't enter a team, it went well represented with Jennifer Malavolta (2nd) and Noel Whitall (3rd).  Jennifer dueled with eventual winner Doris Correa as they passed 5000 together in 18:50 on the winding course.  Though they both ran the 2nd half faster, Jennifer came up 7 secs short to run 37:37.  Meanwhile, Noel had gone out in 19:10 but moved through the field running the 2nd half in 18:42 to run 37:53.

4/7 - Bayonne, NJ - The Run for Awareness 5k had cash prizes this year and Jodie D'Ariano ran off with the winner's share as she pulled away from Doris Correa half way through to run 17:31 on the two lap course.  Jennifer Malavolta ran a road personal best by 17 seconds to finish 3rd in 17:53.

3/29 - Raleigh, NC - Madelyn Noe-Schlentz traveled south to get an early track meet in and came away with the American Masters record for the 10,000 meter run (35:28.71).  Madelyn went through 5000 in 17:40 and came back in 17:48, helped by a last 400 of 79.6 to break the record held by Judy Fox who ran 35:33.5 in 1981.  1600 splits: 5:31.8, 5:41.6, 5:44.3, 5:38.9, 5:45.7, 5:47.0, 79.6.

3/17 - Freehold, NJ - Running in her first race since her marathon, Megan Phillips went out easy (6:32 1st mile) and slowly picked it up over the rolling, windy course to finish 2nd in 1:04:02.

3/3 - Newark, NJ - A warm, humid day greeted ACE for the Newark Distance Classic, the 1st USATF-NJ Championship of the year.  With a lot of open money available, Kenyans took the first 3 places as Madelyn Noe-Schlentz led ACE in 5th place (1:16:58).  She was quickly followed by teammates Jennifer Malavolta in 6th (1:17:08) and Jodie D'Ariano in 7th (1:17:56).  ACE's total time of 3:52:02 was almost 13 minutes ahead of 2nd place Sneaker Factory.

2/21 - NYC Armory, NYC, New York - In the last Thursday Nite at the Races, Madelyn Noe-Schlentz hooked up in a masters dual with Gordon Bakoulis in the 2 mile.  Madelyn was 2nd and Gordon 3rd through a 5:16 1600 (5:18 mile).  Gordon took the lead a little after the mile until Madelyn surged with 3 laps left.  Madelyn went through 3000 meters in an unofficial 9:54.1, over 4 seconds faster than the masters 3000 meter record.  She continued on for the win in 10:36.5.  Sue Huelster (11:12.3), Jennifer Malavolta (11:14.6) and Noelle Whitall (11:19.2) finished soon after.

2/3 - Las Vegas, Nevada - ACE took it's running show out to the Las Vegas Marathon for the Las Vegas Marathon/Half Marathon.  Having suffered from a winter of sickness and injuries, the girls decided to give it a shot none-the-less.  Megan Phillips and Christy DeFilippis went through the halfway point at 1:31 and looked to be on their way to a 3:00 area performance until stomach problems slowed them both.  They both still finished with personal bests, Megan at 3:07:45 and Christy at 3:11:13.  Christine Corey went through the half at 1:34 and was closing on the others until 20 where she, too, had stomach problems and finished in a personal best of 3:15:21.  In the Half Marathon, Madelyn Noe-Schlentz went through the 5k at 17:50 and the 10k at 35:50.  She had to back off around 8 miles to take care of the groin muscle she had strained in practice two weeks before.  She also run a personal best, finishing in 1:17:20. 

1/4 - NYC Armory, NYC, New York - Opening the season at the Joe Yancey Inv, ACE put all their runners in the 3000 meter race.  Madelyn Noe-Schlentz came away with a new American Indoor Masters Record of 9:58.88 to become the first American masters woman under 10:00.  She followed two West Chester-Puma runners through the 1500 (5:07.1) and mile (5:27.5) and then took the lead, cutting the pace from an 82 down to 78.  She continued on to run the 2nd 1500 in 4:51.7.  Jennifer Malavolta was 4th in 10:22 with Sue Huelster 5th (10:30) and Megan Phillips (10:31) 6th.