The St. Thomas Aquinas cross country team jumped to a quick start at the Fordham Fiasco/Ed Joyce Memorial at Van Cortlandt Park on Saturday. Led by senior Michael Galonski, the Spartan squad finished in 4th place. The Lady Spartans notched 5th with sophomore Meagan Jaskot setting the pace.
Galonski covered the 5 mile course in 27:21. He was the top ECC finisher in 4th place. Junior Joseph Chegwidden was second for the men in 27:58 with a time of 20:26 and an 8th place finish. With a time of 30:00, senior Matthew Buell finished 3rd for the Spartans. In his collegiate debut, freshmen Ryan Gasser broke into scoring position crossing the line in 30:10. Senior Michael Kraus crossed the line five seconds later. The two other Spartan freshmen, Jamer Lineres and Chris Panepinto showed promise with times of 31:24 and 31:37 respectively.
On the women's side, Jaskot displayed a strong start with a time of 20:26 and an 8th place finish. Classmate Cecelia Pfleging was next to cross the line in 21:12. The next three scorers finished within 30 seconds of one another with sophomore Gabby Sloezen finishing first in 21:39, followed by sophomore Rebecca Fortoul (21:58) and freshmen Jumana Khatib at 22:08. Redshirt freshman Meaghan Ventarola and senior Allison Borriello also ran well for the Lady Spartans finishing in 22:18 and 22:52 respectively.
The STAC cross crountry team will be back in action on Saturday at the LIU Post Invitational.