Senior Michael Galonski finished 1st in the LIU Post Invitational. After pacing the race, he set a course PR of 25:36. It was the his first win of the season. The women's team finished in 2nd behind the stellar effort of senior Keeley Bateman and sophomore Meagan Jaskot.
Junior Joseph Chegwidden was the second Spartan scorer for the men with a time of 26:56. Seniors Matthew Buell and Michael Kraus took the next two spots with times of 27:41 and 28:23 respectively. Freshmen Ryan Gasser and Chris Panepinto showed major drops in time in their second collegiate race. Gasser covered the 8K course in 28:50 while Panepinto was right behind him in 29:21. The men's team finished in 4th place overall.
Bateman and Jaskot each ran course bests of 19:04 and 19:11 earning them 4th and 7th place finishes. Sophomores Cecelia Pfleging and Gabby Sloezen worked together and continued the trend of course PR's finishing in 20:02 and 20:05. The next pack of STAC runners completed the 5K course within 6 seconds of one another. Redshirt freshman, Meaghan Ventarola crossed the line at 20:20, followed by senior Ally Borriello at 20:22 and sophomore Rebecca Fortoul at 20:26.
The St. Thomas Aquinas cross country program will return to action on Saturday at Tallman State Park in Sparkill, NY for the Spartan Alumni Race slated to begin at 10AM.