The St. Thomas Aquinas Cross Country and Track & Field teams hosted its 3rd Annual Tribute Dinner on Sunday at the beautiful Patriot Hills Golf Club in Stony Point, NY. The evening was a huge success, as close to 200 guests; including alumni, local coaches, college administrators, parents, families and friends of the program attended the festivities, which included a cocktail hour, sit down dinner and awards presentations.

Cross Country Alum ('84) Marianne Balogh-Sims was presented with the Spartan Alumni Achievement Award by her former coach Walter Johnson, for her contributions as the first woman to join an all men's team, thus paving the way for the formation a formal women's program at St. Thomas Aquinas College. Balogh-Sims is currently employed by the Archdiocese of New York as a Second Grade Teacher at St. Stephen/St. Edward School in Warwick, NY and has coached basketball, track and cross country at various levels.

The Spartans, with the help of longtime Track Announcer Tom Doherty, also presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to STAC Track Alum ('81) Ray Kondracki for his contributions to the Rockland County Cross Country and Track and Field Community. Kondracki, is currently a Science Teacher and the Boys Cross Country/Track & Field Head Coach at Clarkstown South High School in West Nyack, NY. Ray also serves as the Summer Camp Director for Camp Venture.

The coaching staffs of both Cross Country and Track & Field recognized the ten soon to be graduating seniors for their contributions to the current programs here at STAC. The members of the 2019 Senior Class include; Rickssen Opont, St. Jacob Diodonet, Amber Lubaszka, Molly Conner, Joe Lipari, Elias Guardado, Frank Schiavone, Johnathan Davidson, Quincy Green-Wright and Timothy Faranda.

Before closing the evening, Head Coach Lorne Marcus made a very special presentation to St. Jacob Diodonet. Diodonet received a ring recognizing his achievements during the 2017-2018 season, including; competing at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Track National Championships, where Saint was also named an All-American for the second time in his STAC Track career.