The St. Thomas Aquinas cross country teams participated in the Harry Anderson Invitational at Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester, NY. The race was a preview for the 2014 ECC Championships which will be held on that course for the first time. Freshmen Vincent Vazquez was the first Spartan finisher while sophomore Katie O'Grady was the first to cross the line for the Lady Spartans.
Vazquez's time of 27:28 was good for a 38th place finish. He was the first ECC freshmen finisher. Senior Joe Chegwidden was next for the Spartans with a time of 27:38 and rookie Asaad Jeffrey was right behind him in 27:59. Sophomores Jamer Linares and Chris Panepinto rounded out the scorers with times of 29:22 and 29:45. The men finished in 11th place overall out of 25 teams.
The women's team scored well as all five scorers (and top six runners) finished within one minute. O'Grady finished in 25th place in 19:18. Meaghan Ventarola corssed the line right behind her in 19:18. Freshman Angelica Matwiejczuk ran a collegiate best 19:49 dropping a full minute off her last competition. Classmate Kristen Borriello came in at 20:14, while junior Gabriela Sloezen finished just one second later in 20:15. The Lady Spartans earned a 5th place finish overall (23 teams) and were the 2nd DII finishers.
The STAC runners will return to action next Saturday at the Highlander Cross Country Challenge at Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ. The women are slated to begin at 11:00 AM followed by the men at 11:50 AM.