The St. Thomas Aquinas College cross country teams ran their first race against outside competition at the Fordham Fiasco and Follies at VanCortalandt Park. Junior Mike Galonski notched a 5th place finish as the first Spartan to cross the line. Freshman Meagan Jaskot led the Lady Spartans with a 13th place finish in her first collegiate competition.
Galonski covered the 8K course in 27:40 and helped the Spartans earn a 6th place team finish. Sophomore Joseph Chegwidden took 13th place (28:18) while freshman Kris Trautz crossed the line in 29:37. Junior Michael Kraus, freshman Alex Castellanos and junior Matt Buell worked together throughout the race finishing in 30:20, 30:23 and 30:25 respectively.
The women finished in fifth place overall, but the potential shown by the young team was very impressive. Jaskot, who clocked in at 20:44 showed her ability to compete immediately at a high level. Sophomore Keeley Bateman was the next Lady Spartan to cross the line in 21:10 which was good for 19th place. The next five Lady Spartan finishers were newcomers to the program, with four of them making their collegiate debut. Gabriela Sloezan competed in her first ever cross country competition finishing in 21:25. Classmates Rebecca Fortoul (21:36), Cecelia Pfleging (21:51) and Emily Winslow (22:20) rounded out the scorers for STAC.
The cross country teams will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 15th, at the LIU Post Invitational in Brookville, NY. The women are slated to begin at 10:30 AM followed by the men at 11:15 AM.