Anastasia-Murphy running strong
College of William and Mary senior and former Gloucester High School track and cross country standout Liam Anastasia-Murphy is enjoying a strong senior track season.
On February 4 Anastasia-Murphy qualified for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) Championships at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City.
The Gloucester native won his heat and finished 16th overall in the mile with a time of 4:12.50. The mile is the third event Anastasia-Murphy qualified for the IC4A Championships in as he already put up a qualifying time in the 1,000 meet and helped his distance medley team qualify.
The IC4A Championships will be held on March 3 in Boston.
All-time best Boston Marathon field is set
Reigning champions Geoffrey Mutai and Caroline Kilel will defend their titles, but will be challenged by the fastest men's and women's fields ever assembled for the Boston Marathon. With 31 contenders setting their personal best time in the past two years, including eight men under 2:07 and ten women under 2:24, the race will prove highly competitive.
Last year, Mutai ran an unmatched 2:03:02 world best on Boston's certified course, without the aid of pacesetters, and then followed that accomplishment with a course record win in New York City. Mutai is now the fastest marathoner in history, and the only man to ever set course records at Boston and New York in the same year.
Top contenders challenging Mutai include last year's third place finisher and 2010 New York City champion Gebre Gebremariam, 2010 Boston champion Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, 2011 Amsterdam and Rotterdam winner Wilson Chebet, and 2011 Chicago second and third place finishers Wesley Korir and Bernard Kipyego.
-Compiled by Nick Curcuru and Chuck Frye
