The St. Thomas Aquinas men and women track & field team hit
the road again, traveling down to New Brunswick, New Jersey this
past Saturday, April 9th to compete at the Rutgers Invitational
where they went up against Columbia, Fordham, Princeton, and other
teams.
Sophomore Rich Ricca out of Pearl River, NY led the Spartan men in
the 100-meter dash with a lifetime best, and new STAC outdoor
season record, of 10.92 seconds, .01 off of Abelard’s school
record. His performance qualified him for the finals in this
race where he placed 2nd out of all collegiate competitors, and 6th
overall.
Teammate Mike Abelard got fired up for the 200-meter dash and
blasted out of the blocks clocking a time of 22.27. He placed
1st out of all collegiate competitors and 4th overall!
The men’s 4x400-meter relay continued to chip away at their
own school record with no end in sight. The relay consisting
of Sophomore Mike Abelard, Freshman George Erazo, Freshman Frankie
Colon, and Senior Vinny Modaferri ran an impressive time of
3:20.81.
On the distance squad Freshman Matt Buell from Staten Island, NY
led off the day with another lifetime best in the 1500-meter run
with a time of 4:11.25. Buell showed his true competitive
edge as he raced into second place in his heat, which placed him a
respectable 14th out of 31 competitors.
Freshman Garvenchy Nicolas also showed grit and tenacity as he,
too, ran another lifetime best in his respective event, the
800-meter dash. Nicolas clocked a time of 2:00.91, placing
35th out of a 52-man field.
On the women’s team, freshman standout Caroline Bjorkman did
it again; Bjorkman competed in the 400-meter dash and ran another
lifetime best, making that four consecutive lifetime best
performances! She clocked a time of 1:05.29.
Freshman Keeley Bateman raced the 800-meter dash and clocked a time
of 2:24.12. She placed 15th overall.
Junior Chelsea Klinger competed again in the 1500-meter dash and
ran a 5:12.63.
The men and women’s teams race at West Point this upcoming
Saturday for the second time this year.