UTICA, NY – After over a month off from competition, Siena Indoor Track returned to action for its first meet of 2022. The Saints sent select members to race at the Utica Winter Opener in Utica, New York, with the new year starting on a positive note.
The women's team tied for third with a team score of 65 points, while the men took seventh with 36 points. The Saints' men's & women's squads combined for 11 times that were inside the program's top 20 in their respective events.
Early meet action saw junior Elaine Atanasova win the women's mile with a time of 5:10.55 for the fifth-best indoor track mile mark. Classmate Sophia Vinciguerra (5:13.37) placed third in the events, while freshmen Claire Gardner (5:26.38) and Keira Flaherty (5:32.10) took fifth and sixth, respectively.
The men's mile saw junior Tommy Anderson finish seventh with a mark of 4:22.25 for the ninth-fastest indoor mile in program history, while sophomore Tom Ragone (4:22.90) took ninth, and freshman Luke Tkaczyk (4:24.29) placed tenth. The 800 saw sophomore Jennifer McClintock run a personal best mark of 2:29.95 to finish third, while Anderson took second in the men's race with a time of 2:01.26.
 The women's 1000 event saw junior Olivia Durant place fourth (3:29.77), while freshman Nik Springer took fifth (2:42.31). Siena shined in the women's 3000, with junior Delia McDade Clay winning the event with a time of 10:13.50 and freshman Kayla Schmidt placing second at 10:14.20. Sophomore Killian McNamee took second in the men's event (8:42.53), while freshman Jackson Cayward placed fourth (8:47.94).
The Saints closed out the meet with both teams participating in the 4x400 relay, with the women placing second and the men taking sixth. The women's group of sophomore Isabella Painter, McClintock, Gardner, and Flaherty ran a time of 4:34.82, while the men's team of Anderson, freshman Chris Bertola, Springer, and Tkaczyk put forth a time of 3:40.20.
Siena will be back in action next weekend, participating in the NYC Gotham Cup at the famed Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island, NY on Friday, January 21.
