STAC Track Accented By Youth
STAC TRACK ACCENTED BY YOUTH
The 2006-07 edition of the STAC track & field team will be dominated by freshmen and sophomores as the Spartans gear up for promising indoor and outdoor campaigns.
The indoor season will be highlighted by several trips to the Armory Track & Field Center in New York City, one of the fastest indoor ovals in the country. STAC will match strides with some of the best runners in the region at the NYU Fast Track Invitational, New Balance Collegiate and East Coast Conference championships. The Maroon and Gold will also showcase their talents at several other high-octane invitationals this winter, including the Manhattan, Yale, Fordham, West Point, Seton Hall and East Stroudsburg (Pa.) meets.
The Spartans are also eagerly anticipating a very successful outdoor campaign. The crown jewel of the spring season will be the fabled Penn Relays, the annual extravaganza in Philadelphia that attracts thousands of collegiate athletes nationwide as well as record crowds approaching 50,000 spectators. Other noteworthy spring meets for St. Thomas include affairs held at Trinity College (Hartford, Conn.), the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, N.Y.), West Point, and Icahn Stadium at Randalls Island.
The men’s roster is spearheaded by a flock of talented yearlings and second-year veterans. Sophomores include distance runners Elmer Eckert and Andrew Spanos, middle distance runners Andrew Gangemi and Rafael Ortiz, and sprinter James Strysko. The freshmen are led by distance runners Brad McNiff and Aidan Hearn, and sprinters Chris Muniz, Mike Valentine, Neil Premachandran, Norman Goodrow and Chris Kahanec. Graduate student Scott Pollard, an outstanding sprinter/quarter-miler, will fortify the Spartans’ speed unit in the spring.
The Lady Spartans are paced by a pair of freshmen who competed on the cross country hills and trails in the fall: Ashley Toscano, who excels in the sprints, and Amanda Szorentini, who competes in the middle distance and distance events. Freshman Renee Remmers also is a talented sprinter, while fellow frosh Jeanette Gibson and Debra Lee Lang throw the shot and discus.
