The St. Thomas Aquinas College cross country program opened the 2011 season at the Fordham Fiasco at Van Cortlandt Park. Sophomore Mike Galonski was the first finisher for the men in 26:39. Senior Sarah Callagy was the first Lady Spartan to cross the line in 20:23.
The Spartan men showed how far they have come since last season. In 2010, the Spartans had seven freshmen on the roster. The five that competed in the 2010 Fordham Fiasco improved their times by a minimum of one minute in this year's race. Galonski continued his run as STAC's top finisher with a 25th place finish. Freshman Joe Chegwidden was next for the Spartans in his collegiate debut with a time of 27:07 and was the first ECC freshmen to complete the course. Classmate Alex Andre also showed a great deal of promise in his first race finishing in 28:12. Sophomores Matt Buell (29:21), Michael Kraus (29:49) and Garvenchy Nicolas (29:55) worked together in the back hills to secure their positions. Jon Laszlo finished in 30:41 followed by transfer sophomore Stephen Dietrich who ran 30:58 in his first collegiate race. Matt Muniz clocked a time of 39:50. The men finished in 10th place in the meet.
On the women's side Callagy earned a 13th place finished (1st in the ECC) followed by sophomore Keeley Bateman (20:44). The freshmen started their collegiate careers off on the right foot with each of them finishing as a scorer for the Lady Spartans. Catherine Sandkuhl led the freshmen in 22:03 in her first ever cross country competition. Ashley Weintraub (23:00) and Katelyn Garvey (23:10) helped to lock up STAC's 6th place finish. Seniors Lisa Brevogel and Lauren Karpoich clocked times of 23:44 and 25:16 respectvely. Junior Ashley Santa Teresa finished in 27:16.
The STAC cross country teams return to action on Saturday, September 17th at the C.W. Post Invitational in Brookville, NY. The women's race will begin at 10:30am followed by the men at 11:15am.