WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Many members of the Siena Outdoor Track teams opened the 2022 outdoor track season Saturday, taking part in the Monmouth Season Opener on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey.
 
Siena's Men's and Women's squads entered participants in the 800, 1,500, 3,000-meter steeplechase, 5,000, and the 4x400 meter relay events.
 
The day began with a pair of Saints placing first in the 1,500, with junior Delia McDade Clay doing so on the women's side, and freshman Chris Bertola winning the men's race. McDade Clay's time of 4:36.99 was good for a personal best and the fourth-fastest in program history, while Bertola also ran a personal best and the ninth-fastest men's mark at 3:58.72. Junior Elaine Atanasova clocked a personal best and the eighth-fastest time on the women's side at 4:46.41, while freshman Claire Gardner went for the ninth-fastest at 4:46.93. Sophomore Tom Ragone (3:59.22) recorded the tenth-fastest men's time, while freshman Luke Tkaczyk (3:59.81) and junior Aidan Gillooley (4:00.10) went for 12^th and 14^th all-time, respectively.
 
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Katharine Hesler raced to a fourth-place finish with a time of 12:03.98, while freshman Jackson Cayward won the men's race and logged the third-fastest time ever at 9:17.77. Junior Tommy Anderson took second with a mark of 9:20.06. Sophomore Isabella Painter led the way for the women in the 800 with a personal best time of 2:29.32, while sophomore Griffin Cooke placed fourth for the men with a mark of 1:58.60.  
 
Siena also saw personal bests individually in the 5,000, with freshman Julia Caputo clocking a time of 18:30.13 on the women's side. Sophomore Christopher DeForest went for a personal best of 15:14.23 in the men's race, while junior Peter Alden ran a time of 15:15.58.
 
Both teams wrapped the day with entries in the 4x400 meter relay, with the women placing third and the men taking sixth. The women's team of freshman Keira Flaherty, Gardner, sophomore Jennifer McClintock, and McDade Clay ran a time of 4:19.17, while the men's group of Bertola, Cooke, junior Ryan Famiglietti, and Tkaczyk finished with a mark of 3:30.30.
 
Siena's outdoor track season will continue next weekend, with select runners headed to Princeton's Sam Howell Invitational, and others off to Bryant's Black & Gold Invitational on Saturday, April 2.