LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Siena Outdoor Track's Brandon Olden proved that he wasn't done re-writing the program's history books this season Saturday afternoon, highlighting a strong day of racing for the Saints to begin the 2021 MAAC Men's & Women's Outdoor Track Championships at the Michael P. Brady Track & Field Complex in Lawrenceville, NJ.

 Olden put forth a convincing victory in the men's 10,000-meter race with a time of 30:08.66 to out-run the next-best finisher by nearly six seconds, set a personal best time, and run the second-fastest mark ever from a Siena runner in the event. The Chestertown, New York native's victory marked the second MAAC outdoor track individual title won in program history, with the first coming from program great Evans Kibet with a win in the 800 on May 5, 2019.

The Siena standout's performance was one of three podium finishes, six program record, and seven scoring performances that came from the Saints' men's and women's teams to begin their fifth go-around at the event. Following day one action, the Siena men are tied for 3^rd place with 18 points, while the women sit in 6^th with 14 points.

"Any day a Siena athlete wins a MAAC Championship is a special day," head coach John Kenworthy said. "I'm proud and excited for Brandon and how well he executed his race place to win the 10k. Our steeplechase runners and women's 10k runners stepped up huge tonight as well."

The Saints' second podium finish of the night on the men's side of competition came in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, with sophomore Tommy Anderson placing third with a time of 9:15.84 for a personal best and the second-fastest time ever run in the event in program history. Freshman Jimmy Smith also scored points for the Green and Gold in the event with a seventh place finish in a personal-best time of 9:46.45 for the sixth-best in program history.

Siena male underclassmen continued to impress in the 1,500-meter preliminary races, with freshman Killian McNamee placing 12^th overall with a time of 4:01.64 to qualify for tomorrow's final round. Senior Ryan Holland led the way for Saints runners in the 800-meter preliminaries with a 15^th place finish in a time of 1:56.92.

Siena's finishes on the women's side were led by sophomore Elaine Atanasova, who took third in the 10,000-meter race with a personal-best time of 37:18.66 for fifth all-time in program history. The Saints had a strong showing in the event, with seniors Mia Forster (37:38.67) and Carissa Kahn (37:41.84) taking fifth and sixth, respectively, to also score points. Senior Mary McNally took ninth with a personal-best mark of 38:45.15 to move into ninth-all time in the event in program history.

Freshman Katharine Hesler rounded out the Saints' day 1 scorers on the women's side, taking eighth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 12:04.22. Senior Allison Hill represented the team with an 18^th-place finish in the 800-meter preliminaries, while three Saints made the cut for the final round of the 1,500-meter race. Senior Morgan Serkes took sixth with a time of 4:50.49, while sophomore Delia McDade Clay (4:50.49) and senior Monica Strain (4:53.49) took 10^th and 12^th, respectively to punch their tickets to the finals. Sophomore Sophia Vinciguerra just missed the cut in 13^th place, but logged a new personal best of 4:53.78 in the event.


"We have a great group of athletes in the 1500m finals tomorrow," Kenworthy added. "We're humming on all cylinders, so the whole group is excited to get back out there and compete tomorrow."

Siena will wrap weekend action at the 2021 MAAC Men's & Women's Outdoor Track Championships on Sunday, May 9, with action set to begin at 11 AM from the Garden State. Selected live and pre-recorded events from day 2 action will be aired on ESPN+.