The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Track & Field team captured their third consecutive East Coast Conference Outdoor Championship on Saturday afternoon at Farmingdale State College on Long Island. The STAC Women's squad finished fourth overall on the day.
Both teams battled less than ideal conditions, including a delay in the start of the day's events due to rain and wind in the NY Metropolitan Area, but were able to successfully compete in and complete all events scheduled in the championship meet.
The men's squad more than doubled the point total of runner-up Queens, winning by a margin of 228-111. St. Thomas Aquinas finished first in a whopping 12 of 21 events on the day. Dante Brown, Frankie Schiavone, Rickssen Opont, and St. Jacob Diodonet were all winners of multiple events for STAC. Brown won the 100m dash (11.24), the long jump (6.95m), and was part of the winning 4x100m relay team with Jaren Scott, Diodonet, and Jarrett Millien (43.63). Diodonet also won the 200m (22.19) and 400m (49.17), while also coming in first in the 4x400m relay with Lugduni Desrosiers, Mich Philistin, and Josh Mallard (3:22.51). Schiavone won both the 400m hurdles (58.33) and pole vault (3.25m), while Opont won the shot put (17.20m) and discus (44.84m). Other winners for St. Thomas Aquinas included Stephane Fortune (110m hurdles - 16.49) and Tim Faranda (javelin - 42.54m).
On the women's side Rebecca MacLeod won the 3000 Steeplechase in a time of 11:46.17. MacLeod then came back and took a 3rd place finish in in the 800 with a time of 2:21.04. Her fellow mid-distance teammate Christina Maretzo had a great as well by taking 3rd in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:58.31 and then came back and took 2nd in the 800 with a time of 2:20.92. Amber Malik took 3rd in the 400 with a time of 1:00.85. Freshman Ruby Pekin-Schlicht had two 4th place finishes in the 400 hurdles (1:08.27) and the High Jump with a leap of 1.45m (4"9). Desiree Bermudez took 2nd place in the 100 hurdles in a time of 16.89, as well as taking 3rd place in the Javelin with a throw of 26.26m (86"2).
| Team Scores | |||
| Men | Score | Women | Score |
| 1. St. Thomas Aquinas | 228 | 1. Roberts Wesleyan | 143 |
| 2. Queens | 111 | 2. Dist. Coumbia | 142 |
| 3. Roberts Wesleyan | 87 | 3. LIU Post | 115 |
| 4. Daemen | 62 | 4. St. Thomas Aquinas | 93 |
| 5. Molloy | 55 | 5. Daemen | 59 |
| 6. LIU Post | 39 | 6. Queens | 44 |
| 7. NYIT | 34 | 7. Molloy | 38 |
| 8. NYIT | 11 | ||
The Spartans next prepare for the Penn Relays, which take place April 25-27 at historic Franklin Field in Philadelphia, PA.