MORE SCHOOL RECORDS FALL AT WEST POINT MEET
For the third meet in a row, freshman standouts Ashley Toscano and Chris Muniz rewrote the STAC track record book to spearhead the Spartans’ efforts at the Carleton Crowell Open. The meet was held Saturday, January 6 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
The following teams were in attendance: SUNY Albany, Army, SUNY Binghamton, Bronx CC, City College of New York, SUNY Delhi, Dutchess CC, Globe Institute of Technology, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehman, Middlesex CC, Mohawk Valley CC, St. Joseph’s, St. Thomas Aquinas, Seton Hall, and the Westchester Track Club.
Toscano (Clarkstown South H.S., West Nyack, N.Y.) established her fourth and fifth school records in the still-young season. She finished seventh in the 500-meter run in 1 minute 25.8 seconds, breaking her previous mark of 1:26:16 set at Seton Hall on Dec. 10. She came back to take 12th in the 200-meter dash in 27.8, shading her former record of 28.03, also set at Seton Hall.
Like Toscano, Muniz is a threat to depose school records every time he flashes his spikes. At West Point he broke the school record in the 500 meters for the third time in three tries this season. He clocked 1:07.6 to shatter his prior standard by more than one second and place ninth overall (first in his section). In the same race, fellow freshman Mike Valentine (Walter Panas H.S., Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) finished 12th overall (and first in his section) in a personal-best 1:08.9.
In the women’s shot put, freshmen Jeanette Gibson (North Rockland H.S., Pearl River, N.Y.) finished second in her flight and 15th overall with a best mark of 34 feet 2 ¾ inches, while first-year teammate Deb Lang (Red Bank Catholic, Sea Bright, N.J.) took seventh in her flight and 20th overall at 31 feet 2 inches.
Another freshman, Aidan Hearn (St. Peter’s Boys’ School, Staten Island, N.Y.) made his collegiate track debut with a 12th-place showing in the 3,000-meter run in 10:02.39. Soph Andrew Gangemi, also a St. Peter’s alum, came in third in his section and 15th overall in the 1,000 meters in 2:52.7. Freshman Renee Remmers (Northwestern Regional, New Hartford, Conn.) placed ninth in the 500 meters in 1:33.6.
The Spartan men also wound up 12th overall in the 4x400-meter relay, with Muniz (52.0), Valentine (53.4), Gangemi (56.6) and Hearn (62.3) teaming to clock 3:44.3.
Next up for St. Thomas is the New York Road Runners Club Thursday Night at the Races series on Jan. 11 at the New York City Armory, followed by a trip to New Haven, Conn., Jan. 13 for the Yale Invitational.