The St. Thomas Aquinas College cross country team saw major improvements at the LIU-Post invite in Brookville, NY. Every runner lowered their times in the season's second race. Junior Michael Galonski took 2nd place in the men's race, while Keeley Batman was the first Lady Spartan to cross the line.
Galonski covered the 8K course in 26:10, right behind Dowling's Scott Little who finished in 26:01. Sophomore Joe Chegwidden added strong support with an 11th place finish in 27:10, followed by freshman Joe Capolino, who competed for the first time for the Spartans, in 27:38. Junior Michael Kraus took 2 minutes off his Fordham Fiasco time finishing in 28:34. He and freshman Alex Castellanos worked together throughout the race, with Castellanos finishing in 28:54. The men's team tied for 4th place out of the 17 teams that competed.
Bateman got off to a fast start and took 11th place in 19:52. Freshman Meagan Jaskot had another strong performance finishing in 20:08 following her ECC Rookie of the Week honors. Classmate Rececca Fortoul was the 3rd scorer for the Lady Spartans crossing the line in 20:54. The next three Lady Spartans, all freshmen, teamed up as they covered the 5K course. Emily Wislow dropped more than a minute in a week, coming in at 21:04. Cecelia Pfleging was next in 21:13 followed by Gabriela Sloezen in 21:19. STAC earned a 5th place finish out of the 20 teams in attendance.
The Spartan cross country program will take a weekend off from racing and will return to action at Lehigh University at the Brooks Paul Short Invitational.
