The STAC women's cross country team earned a second place finish at the C.W. Post Invitational in Brookville, NY. Senior Sarah Callagy led the way with a 6th place finish in 19:20. In the men's 8K race, sophomore Mike Galonski crossed the line in 2nd place in 26:26.
Callagy ran a strong race, settling into the front pack and holding her position throughout. She set the pace for her teammates, opening the door for the second place finish. Sophomore Keeley Bateman was next in for the Lady Spartans in 19:51 followed by senior Chelsea Klinger who competed in her first race of the 2011 season. Klinger clocked a time of 21:13. STAC's three freshmen all improved from their collegiate debut with times of 21:24, 21:36 and 22:34 respectively. At 22:40, senior Lisa Brevogel crossed the line with classmate Lauren Karpoich right behind her in 22:57 which is a new personal best. Junior Ashley Santa Teresa rounded women's finishers in 25:02 which was nearly two minutes faster that her last competition. Only Fordham beat the Lady Spartan in team scores, where seven of the eight ECC schools competed.
The Spartan men earned a 6th place finish for the day. Galonski found himself in the back of the front pack about midway through the race and began to pick off his competitors. He steadily moved up to 2nd place in the last mile securing an excellent finish. Freshmen Joe Chegwidden (27:46) and Alex Andre (28:49) held their spots as STAC's number two and three. The sophomore class finished up the Spartan scoring with Matt Buell crossing the line in 29:10, Michael Kraus in 29:20, Garvenchy Nicolas and Jon Laszlo in 31:03. Sophomore transfer Stephen Dietrich was next, finishing in 31:49, followed by classmate Chris McKenna (34:11) and senior Matt Muniz (35:06).
The STAC cross country program will host an alumni race on Saturday (9/24) at Tallman State Park. The race is slated to begin at 9:30 AM. Any Spartan cross country/track & field alumni that would like to participate should contact Head Coach Nicole Ballou at nballou@stac.edu.