Distance runner closes college career with fine national titles
by Jerry Reilly, Sports Information Director
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“Ecstatic is the way I’d describe it,” said Guarino, a senior competing for the last time as a collegian. “I knew I had a shot at it but once I won the 1,500, it was, ‘let’s have fun,
go out and see what I’ve got.’ “
It turns out Guarino had plenty left for the 800 meters. With 100 meters to go, he and Ben Scheetz of Amherst were running shoulder to shoulder. Guarino outkicked Scheetz the rest of the way to cross the finish line in 1:49.89. Scheetz was second in 1:50.79.
“The race set up just the way Nick wanted it to,” Fredonia State Head Coach Tom Wilson said. “Scheetz was the No. 1 in the country coming into the race, Nick was No. 2. What’s better than the No. 1 and No. 2 duking it out over the last 100 meters?”
“It was my last 100 meters in college,” Guarino said. “It was my last race, I wanted to go all out. He (Scheetz) was right there, so I gave it all I had.”
The two wins gave Guarino five national titles – in five attempts – over the past two years. He’s the only multiple national champ in the history of the men’s program.
“Mentally it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,” he said. “I was a little tired the last two days (after preliminary races Thursday and Friday), but I felt great, even after running the 1,500. It gave me a mental edge.”
Guarino’s winning 1,500-meter time was 3:53.43, a relatively mild performance for a runner attempting to double. The second-place finisher, Dan Sullivan of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, was clocked in 3:54.38.
Getting off to a good start, Guarino was second the first time past the grandstand, just off the right shoulder of the leader. The pack stayed bunched the next lap before Guarino gained a short lead. He opened a one-length lead, started the bell lap with 2:58 on the clock, then turned on the jets with 200 meters to go.
“That was a perfect race for him to double,” Wilson said immediately after the first race. “No one pushed the pace. To do a 3:53 warms him up for the 800.”
Willamette’s Nick Symmonds was the most recent runner to double in the 1,500 and the 800. He won both races in 2003, 2005, and 2006. He has gone on to become one of the top half-milers in the U.S., with four national titles, and a berth on the 2008 Olympic team.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before in my track and field career,” Wilson said of Guarino’s performance Saturday. “It takes a lot of guts and a lot of hard work and a lot a trust in yourself to come back and win two races in 90 minutes.”
The two wins also gave Fredonia State 20 points in the team standings, tied for ninth overall and ahead of all other SUNYAC schools with men competing at the national meet.
