For nearly three and a half decades, Marist University track and field practices did not begin on the track — they began in vans.
Every morning, Marist men’s and women’s cross country/track and field director Pete Colaizzo arrived before sunrise to meet athletes in the McCann Center lobby and load them into vans. By 6:30 a.m., the vans were en route to Vassar College, where on some mornings, the gate to Vassar’s track and field facility was open; on others, they had to wait around for someone to unlock the gates so practice could start.
The real rush began after the workout. The track athletes had class at 9:30 a.m., and Colaizzo made sure everyone got to class. At 11 a.m., the process repeated itself with the next practice group. At 2 p.m., it did once more. After the chaos, Colaizzo returned to campus to teach his own evening classes.
Colaizzo described those days with one word: hectic.
This routine lasted for almost 34 years. For most of Colaizzo’s career, Marist track and field existed without a track on campus. In 2008, Vassar opened its track and allowed Marist to use it for training after years of holding practices at high schools or makeshift outdoor spaces. Simply put, making practice happen took as much effort as actually training.
“Practice in itself was figuring out how to get to practice,” Colaizzo said.
Some may have seen the situation as a logistical nightmare, but it became part of the program’s identity. Making a single practice possible required constant problem-solving: arranging transportation, relying on student drivers, avoiding campus conflicts and the pressure of making class times played a role in every workout.
The lack of a home track affected more than just scheduling from a coaching perspective. Assistant coach Billy Poole-Harris, who joined the program in August 2023, observed how the lack of consistency impacted the athletes both physically and mentally; last year, nearly 120 track and field athletes had to balance class schedules with shared transportation. On top of that,
workouts frequently occurred on sidewalks or concrete, which made preventing injuries increasingly difficult and limited how hard athletes could push themselves.
“Injuries were always a big thing for us,” Poole-Harris said. “We were running on icy concrete and we couldn’t coach them at their best.”
Sophomore middle-distance runner Joaquin Bell-Andrade remembers the van rides to practice as both a positive and a negative experience. His practices started at 2 p.m., and the 15-minute drive sometimes offered a mental reset.
“It gave you time to decompress,” he said. “You could listen to music, talk to teammates and kind of reset when class was done.”
That break, however, came with limitations. Practices depended heavily on the weather, and when conditions turned bad, alternative practice options quickly disappeared.
For sophomore pole vaulter Daniel Vargas, the absence of a home track also led to unusual complications. Vargas and his pole vaulting teammate had the responsibility of transporting their 15-foot vaulting sticks to practice in the vans, which did not always go smoothly.
“We cracked two van windshields on two separate occasions,” Vargas recalled.
Even after getting to Vassar, Vargas still had to hope to even be able to practice. For most of the season, use of the pole vaulting mats relied on Vassar’s schedule, meaning Marist’s athletes sometimes prepared the gear only to be disappointed.
Despite the challenges, neither athlete looks back on that time negatively. Both Bell-Andrade and Vargas committed to Marist knowing it had no track, trusting the coaching staff to train them and with the promise that one would be built. Colaizzo’s approach shaped that trust; he never focused on complaining or frustration, but instead on being able to adapt. Without ideal conditions, Colaizzo’s guidance remained consistent: “Do the best you can today” and “make plans, not excuses.”
After decades of waiting, Marist’s new on-campus track opened for the fall 2025 semester. For a program that spent years turning logistics into a reality, the adjustment proved unfamiliar at first. Practices no longer revolved around the vans and getting back to campus on time and could instead fully focus on training and improving, a foreign concept to Colaizzo’s team after so many years.
“Disbelief,” Colaizzo said of his feelings about the new track. “I never thought I’d see this.”
That feeling has not faded. Even weeks into utilizing the facility, the change registers in small moments like noticing the view of the Hudson River beyond the curve of the track, having bathrooms available during winter practices and athletes hanging around after training rather than rushing to catch vans.
The most noticeable difference for the athletes is the unity the facility brings. Instead of training at different times and in different groups, distance runners, sprinters and field athletes now train in the same place daily.
“Before, we trained in our own bubbles,” Bell-Andrade said. “Now, everyone trains together.”
With the ability to train in the same place, practices have shifted in small, yet very important ways. Coaches can now see more at once rather than bouncing between locations or groups, while athletes are able to receive feedback immediately instead of waiting for hours. Teammates from every skill set are suddenly surrounded by each other every day, with the opportunity to watch other workouts, share the space and recognize the work being put in. The track has made that interaction part of the routine, rather than something that only happened at meets.
No one felt that shift more than the pole vaulters. Last season, Vargas’ training regimen depended on borrowed facilities and elements beyond his control, while solid vault sessions were occasional rather than routine. Now, with a permanent runway, preparation is consistent instead of uncertain.
“The first time I practiced here, it felt like my own space,” Vargas said.
Bell-Andrade also noticed a difference in rhythm. In the past, track workouts placed extra pressure on athletes because they did not happen every day when conditions were bad.
“When you went last year, you couldn’t waste it,” he said.
With a home track now, that is no longer the case. Speed work practices, days to recover and technical sessions fit naturally into the week instead of being squeezed into narrow windows, which allowed for a newfound consistency that produced early results for the program. During the team’s first home meet at the new Gartland Commons Track and Turf Field, athletes recorded personal bests and broke a number of school records at a point during the season where foundational work is the main focus.
“It’s December,” said Bell-Andrade. “People aren’t supposed to be this fit…It’s just higher quality workouts when you have a track.”
Colaizzo feels those performances are a result of strong, consistent work rather than massive breakthroughs. Having a track to call home allows the team to practice the way a collegiate team is supposed to, but he is careful to not oversell it.
“It doesn’t guarantee success,” said Colaizzo. “It just guarantees an easier pathway to success.”
The new track has given the program something it has never had: a clear sense of place and belonging. Instead of borrowing space, travelling and having to explain where every practice will happen, the new track provides a base. Athletes no longer load a van to travel to practice, they can just walk down a hill to a space that belongs to them.
“That sense of place truly matters,” Colaizzo said. “Now, they have their own home.”
For the athletes who experienced both versions of the program, the contrast only strengthens that appreciation.
“It’s completely different now,” Vargas said. “And because of what it was like before, you don’t ever take any of it for granted.”
After decades spent training between destinations, Marist track and field is no longer just getting through practice but instead building something in one place — a place they can call home.
“My credit card bills are better now without the vans,” Colaizzo said.
Edited by Max Rosen and Mike Schiavone
Photo by Carlo de Jesus/Marist University
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