Six School Records Set At Trinity Invitational
SIX SCHOOL RECORDS SET AT TRINITY INVITATIONAL
Freshmen Jeanette Gibson and Chris Muniz picked right up where they left off from indoor track, annexing two school records apiece in the Trinity Bantam Invitational, held March 31 at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.
Gibson (North Rockland H.S./Pearl River, N.Y.) whirled the discus 105 feet, 1 inch to take second place and erase the former STAC mark of 101 feet set in 2003 by Meghan McGourty. A versatile thrower, Gibson also placed fifth in the shot put at 33-7 ½ and 10th in the javelin with a school-record 74-7.
Muniz (Suffern H.S./Suffern, N.Y.) affixed his name to the top of the Spartan spring track charts in two events. In the 100-meter dash, he clocked 11.56 seconds in the trial heats to advance to the finals, where he finished seventh in 11.71. He later tied for ninth in the 200 meters in 23.68.
The St. Thomas men’s 4x400-meter relay team of Mike Valentine (Walter Panas H.S./Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.), 52.6; Vin Modafferi (Clarkstown South H.S./New City, N.Y.), 53.6; Rafael Ortiz (Spring Valley H.S./New City, N.Y.), 55.7; and Muniz (53.7) teamed to place fourth in 3:35.74, breaking the previous school outdoor record of 3:37.53 set at last year’s Penn Relays. Modafferi also won his section and finished eighth overall in the 400 meters in 54.07, followed by Andrew Gangemi (St. Peter’s Boys’ School/Staten Island, N.Y.), 22nd in 57.08.
Andrew Spanos (Burke Catholic H.S./Campbell Hall, N.Y.) turned in his best track performance as a Spartan, finishing second in his section and 22nd overall in the 800 meters in 2:04.82. Valentine tied for 13th in the 200 (23.97) and was 14th in the 100 (11.91). Anderson Munro (St. John the Baptist, Wyandanch, N.Y.) tied for 31st in the 200 in a personal-best 25.58.
Other STAC highlights included Ortiz’s 4:23.55 in the 1,500 meters, placing him fifth in his section and 34th overall; and a school-record javelin throw of 102-5 by James Strysko (Suffern H.S./Hillburn, N.Y.), good for 19th place.
The Spartans next travel to Paramus, N.J., on April 7 to compete in the Bergen C.C./NJIT Invitational.
