The Quinnipiac University track teams enjoyed great success in New York City last Friday at the New York Relays. Both the men’s and women’s teams displayed excellent results at a key time in the season.
The highlight of the day occurred as the men swept the top five positions in the 10,000-meter run. Senior Michael Charron finished first, followed by senior Richard Heffron III, freshman Terence Moriarty, sophomore Keith Bushey and freshman Sam Wood.
Friday represented the first time that Charron, Moriarty and Wood raced in the 10,000-meter. Bushey recorded a personal best.
“We had five of our own guys just basically pushing the pace and working together,” Quinnipiac coach Shawn Green said
Sophomore Phil Roach and senior Anthony Mio scored a one-two finish for Quinnipiac in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Mio set a personal best in that distance.
The Distance Medley Relay team composed of freshman Jack McDonald and Chris Foster, as well as sophomores Jim McDonald and Jacob Gurzler, earned another first place finish for the Quinnipiac men.
The 4 x 800 meter relay team consisting of Gurzler, senior Greg Brink, Foster and Jack McDonald finished solidly in second place.
The women also dominated the 10,000-meter race taking the top three and four of the top five spots. Sophomore Susan Ashe finished first with senior Sarah Defreitas and sophomore Abbey Gosling close behind in the second and third positions respectively. Sophomore Alexandra Varanka finished fifth. All four Quinnipiac athletes set personal records.
Sophomore Caitlin Brady, junior Lisa Zino, sophomore Ashley Reichelt and sophomore Ashley Uniszkiewicz placed third through sixth place respectively in the mile run.
Junior Heather Hoffman outpaced senior Danielle Green in the 3000-meter steeplechase as the race’s only two participants.
Uniszkiewicz, junior Erin O’Connell, senior Joanna Perez and senior Katie Gwyther matched the school record in their first time racing in a distance medley relay outdoors.
“I was really pleased with the way that the team competed and very happy overall,” Green said.
The women’s track team will participate at the Penn Relays this weekend, while the NEC championships take place the following weekend on May 6 and 7 in Emmitsburg, Md.
Green hopes that the New York Relays will serve as a turning point for his team’s season.
“Hopefully it will be a big turning point for us,” he said. “I think we came back from the meet a closer team than we when we went to the meet and that will serve us well over the next month of the season.”
