Spartans See Great Success at Season Opener

On December 6th the Track & Field team traveled to Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT to kick-off their season with the  Wesleyan Invitational Track & Field Meet where, from the first to last event, they saw success in every race and competition.  With only two weeks of training under their belts, the Spartans arrived at Wesleyan looking to start off this new and
exciting season on the right foot.

On the men's squad, in the mile, juniors Einar Brissing, Vinny Modaferri,  and Jeff Dufel, freshman Matt Muniz, and sophomore Dan Nilsen put on a spectacular show, gritting their teeth and clocking solid times for the early season.  Brissing, Modaferri, and Montclair State's Matthew Cusack led the pack of ten for the first 800 meters of the race until, after a bold move, Brissing took the lead pulling away from the respective field.  Modaferri chased him, but couldn't hang as Brissing clocked a blistering last lap winning the race in 4:39.44.  Modaferri followed coming in 2nd with a time of 4:44.88.  STAC junior Jeff Dufel, who hadn't raced track in two years due to injury, finished strong in 7th with a great debut time of 5:02.67.  Matt Muniz, our lone male freshman, also clocked a solid performance of 5:33.28, with sophomore Dan Nilsen closely following in a personal best 6:11.

The 200 meter dash was arguably one of the most breathtaking events of the day for the Spartans.  Standout sprinter Chris Muniz and junior Mike Valentine took the line for STAC in this event.  Muniz was out of the block and in the middle of the pack early on.  In the last 100 meters, however, Muniz turned on the jets until it was just him and unattached Durrell Stallworth fighting for first. Losing to Stallworth on a lean, Muniz came in 1st amongst collegiates, clocking a phenomenal time of 22.97.  Valentine ran a solid time of 24.96 in the second heat, coming in eighth overall out of a field of nineteen.

The men's 3000 was a fairly empty field with only STAC's Einar Brissing and Jeff Dufel doubling up to get a workout in for the day. They naturally came in 1st and 2nd running 9:52.49, for Brissing, and 10:21.03 for Dufel.

The last event for the men was the 4x400 meter relay, which allowed the Spartans to gain experience running relays.  Nevertheless, the Spartans performed extremely well clocking a time of 3:38.54 behind SUNY Cobleskill (3:29.16) and Montclair State (3:30.08).  Modaferri, who was the first leg, put the Spartans in the race, and then handed off to Valentine who looked fast and smooth, but couldn't quite compete with the rest of the field.  Muniz, the third leg, received the baton  and made up some time keeping the Spartans in the race.  STAC's anchor, Brissing, brought the Spartans through the finish with a noteworthy performance.

The Lady Spartans also saw an equal amount of success at Wesleyan.  The mile was the first event in which freshmen Chelsea Klinger and Lisa Brevogel, and junior Amanda Szorentini all looked fast, relaxed, and strong throughout the entirety of the mile. Klinger led the Lady Spartans from start to finish, as she fearlessly put herself in the lead pack, aggressively attacking her opponents.  Klinger fought for second with Montclair State's Kirsten Larson, but came in 3rd running 6:28.19 behind Larson (6:27.09) and the winner, Victoria Cole from Emmanuel (6:22.59).  Brevogel and Szorentini were also aggressive, always jockeying for position with the rest of the field.  Brevogel showed a lot of heart and determination as she came in 7th with a time of 6:49.43 despite coming off an injury. Szorentini, also coming off of injury, ran a time of 6:58.16  She will be a crucial part of this team down the road.

Perhaps one of the most noteworthy performances came from freshman Sarah Callagy as she began her day's double with the 3000 meter run.  Callagy settled into the race running consistent splits and dueling with Emmanuel's Marissa LaFlamme for third.  LaFlamme tried to make a move on Callagy with 1200 meters to go, yet Callagy attacked back and set herself back into third with Manhattanville's Julie Hinchey only 100 meters ahead in second.  She began turning over and kicked with 400 meters left in this gruesome distance race.  Callagy finished 3rd with a highly respected time of 11:58.02.

STAC's throwing star Jeanette Gibson had a new and exciting experience at Wesleyan as she competed in the shot put for the first time using the difficult spin technique.  With four attempts at this meet, Gibson mastered the new technique in all but one throw.  Gibson had a best throw of 9.10 meters placing her 3rd overall behind Montclair State's Monique Riddick (13.49m) and Kimberly Valleau (9.43m).  Gibson will continue to improve and should become a major contender on the national collegiate throwing circuit.

The day ended for the Lady Spartans with the 4x800 meter relay consisting of lead off runner Klinger, Szorentini at second, Brevogel as third leg, and Callagy anchoring.  This 4x800 relay was a race between STAC and Emmanuel, but the real excitement came when the baton was handed off to Brevogel.  Emmanuel was leading for the first two legs until Szorentini handed off to a determined Brevogel who, after 200 meters of the handoff, closed in on Emmanuel and overtook her.  With 400 meters to go, Brevogel kicked it into another gear and pulled away from Emmanuel, thus creating a comfortable lead for Callagy. Callagy achored this race, running a phenomenal split  and crossing the line in 11:55.23 winning the relay.

The Spartans had success across the board at Wesleyan and will only continue to improve.  STAC will head back out for competition on December 13th for the Harvard Open at Harvard University.