NEW YORK, NY – Siena Cross Country & Track will walk away from an unprecedented fourth consecutive MAAC Championship event with at least one MAAC Title finish under its belt. The Saints claimed MAAC Gold in both the men's and women's distance medley relay events to begin action at the 2023 MAAC Indoor Track & Field Championships at the New Balance Armory in New York City Saturday evening.
The women's team of senior Delia McDade Clay, sophomore Claire Gardner, sophomore Keira Flaherty, and fifth year Olivia Lomascolo not only took home the title by eight seconds, but set both program and MAAC records with a mark of 11:39.36. The feat marked the first MAAC record to be set by Siena Cross Country & Track in any event throughout the six seasons since Siena joined the MAAC in 1989.
The men followed suit with a distance medley relay title just minutes after the women won, with the team of junior Killian McNamee, senior Ryan Famiglietti, senior Matthew Laframboise, and senior Brandon Olden running a time of 10:00.21 to win the title by just over three seconds.
Following six of 17 scored events, both teams sit in fifth place, with the women tied with Iona at 19 points and the men holding 13 points.
The opening evening of the two-day meet also featured scoring action in the 5,000-meter races, with the Saint taking home an individual podium finish on the women's side. Senior Elaine Atanasova claimed third with a time of 17:24.40, while senior Sophia Vinciguerra took sixth (17:43.02) and freshman Stephanie Queiroz placed ninth (17:53.33).
During the men's race, spots seven through ten were occupied by senior Aidan Gillooley (14:46.00), junior Tom Ragone (14:48.75), junior Ryan Shanahan (14:49.61), and junior Ben Guerin (14:51.67).
Siena ensured strong representation in Sunday's mile finals for both squads, with each team sending three athletes to the finals. Freshman Chloe Poulos (5:03.99) took fourth on the women's side, while Gardner (5:11.10) and sophomore Julia Caputo (5:15.77) placed fifth and tenth-respectively to qualify. The men's race featured freshman Tyler Greene (4:13.87), senior Tommy Anderson (4:14.35), and sophomore Luke Tkaczyk (4:14.99) taking fourth, fifth, and ninth, respectively, to qualify for the finals.
The team's efforts in the 800 were led by junior Jennifer McClintock (2:23.11, 11th) on the women's side and junior Griffin Cooke (1:57.98, 13th) in the men's race.
Siena will conclude weekend MAAC Indoor Track & Field Championship action on Sunday, February 20 at 5 PM, with scoring races in the mile, 3,000, 4x400 relay, and 4x800 relay on-tap.
