The St. Thomas Aquinas College Cross Country team opened the 2014 season at the LIU Post Invitational in Brookville, NY. Sophomore Katie O'Grady ran a personal best 19:12 to help the Lady Spartans secure a 4th place finish. Freshmen Asaad Jeffrey and Vinny Vazquez were the first two finishers for the Spartans in their collegiate debut.
O'Grady dropped more than two minutes from her last race on the LIU Post course with this 8th place finish. Redshirt sophomore Meaghan Ventarola finished just two laces later in 19:20. Freshmen Kristen Borriello had a strong showing in her first collegiate race with an 11th place finish in 19:21. Graduate student Ally Borriello ran a collegiate best of 20:04 while junior teammate Gabby Sloezen finished right behind her in 20:11. Classmates Meagan Jaskot and Cecelia Pfleging were the next two Lady Spartans to cross the line in 20:25 and 20:27 respectively. While the Lady Spartans finished 4th overall, they were the 2nd place finisher against DII competition.
For the men, only five tenths of a second separated former high school teammates (North Rockland) Jeffrey and Vazquez. Their times of 27:22.21 and 27:22.74. Senior Joe Chegwidden finshed just seconds later in 27:39. Sophomores Ryan Gasser and Jamer Linares both set collegiate personal records posting times of 28:12 and 28:26. The Spartand finished in 7th place overall, and 4th among DII teams.
The STAC runners will return to action on Saturday at Tallman State Park in Sparkill, NY on Saturday at the Spartan Alumni Run. We welcome back all of our former runners for a 10:30 AM 5K Race. To RSVP, please email Andrew Gangemi at agangemi@stac.edu.
Note: STAC alumnus Michal Galonski competed in the race as an unattached runner. He finished in 10th place overall with a time of 25:54.