Marc My Words!

Marc Maturo’s official sports column

STAC, Marist, Villanova more than meet Metro Challenge

Finn, Taskindoust

In winning form

For New Paltz

School standards continue to be broken by the St. Thomas Aquinas College track and field team.

Competing at the Metro Team Challenge at the Armory in upper Manhattan against such teams as Villanova, Marist, Rutgers and other East Coast Division I, II and III teams, STAC standards were set on both the men’s and women’s side.

In the women’s competition, the Lady Spartans sparkled in the distance medley, meshing in the 1,200, 400, 800 and 1,600 in a school-record-setting clocking of 12:39.24 (good for 12^th overall).

The WDM team consisted by Allison and Kristen Borriello, both of Montgomery; Gabriela Sloezen of Westwood, N.J., and Rebecca Fortoul of Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.

Sloezen also shattered her record in the 400, running 59.09 to finish 17th overall in a quality field of 57.

Gina Funaro of Queens finished 23rd in the 1,000 with a time of 3:16.89 which represents a personal best.

On the men’s side, Winslow Dorsainvil of Monsey was second in the 60 with times of 6.86 and 6.88. The Spring Valley graduate also hit an indoor personal best in the 200 with a time of 22.66 that ranked eighth overall.

Ricardo Reid of Mount Vernon turned in an indoor personal best in the 400 with a time of 51.48 while Dylan Bestler of Williston Park had a personal best in the 800 in a time of 2:03.68.

STAC looks to continue progressing on Jan. 30-31 at the Armory Track Invitational, which attracts outstanding teams from throughout the nation – among them Clemson, Mississippi State, Wisconsin and St. John’s University.

Red Foxes also howl

        STAC, of course, did not stand alone in turning out solid performances.

For instance, Marist College sophomore standouts Brian Edsall of Pearl River and Spencer Johnson of Bristol, Conn., notched personal-best times to lead the Red Foxes.

Johnson finished 19^th in the mile in 4:26.37 – a personal-best by more than seven seconds – while Edsall placed 11th in the 3,000-meter run in 9:00.25, a personal-best time by nearly 20 seconds and the team’s highest individual placement.

Wildcats, too

        For Villanova, Kiernan Brennan of Pearl River was eighth in the 800 with a time of 1:56.50.

Among the women prospects is Erin Jaskot of Blauvelt. The Tappan Zee HS cross country standout came on strong at the end of the 2014 season and was one of the Wildcats’ five scoring runners at both the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and the ECAC Championship.

IN THE SWIM: Junior Rod Taskindoust of New City came from behind to win the 200 freestyle in 1:53.02 as the New Paltz swimming team squeezed out a 138-124 victory over Oneonta at the Hawks’ Elting Pool. Junior Brandon Finn of Tomkins Cove, a North Rockland HS graduate, helped the 200-yard freestyle relay to an event-best 1:28.66. Finn was accompanied by Will Koenig of Highland, Calif., Caleb Treadwell of nearby Cortland and Ethan Cooke of Middletown, Conn.

PLAY BALL: The Cortland baseball team, which is expected to include veteran senior infielder Anthony Simon of Suffern, has been ranked fifth nationally in Division III in preseason balloting by both Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and by the website D3baseball.com. The Red Dragons, under 16th-year head coach Joe Brown, are scheduled to open the season at sixth-ranked Salisbury on Feb. 21-22. Simon, who is an alum of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., hit a team-second-best .396 last season, behind only catcher Bryan Marotta of Clifton Park, N.J, who batted .437. Simon also knocked in 13 runs as Cortland went 36-10 and tied for fifth at the NCAA Division III World Series. The Red Dragons, who have made 12 World Series appearances, all since 1995, have qualified for the NCAA playoffs each of the last 22 years – the longest active streak nationally in Division III and the fourth-longest active streak in any division behind Division I schools Miami (42), Florida State (37) and Cal St.-Fullerton (23).

PARDON ME: The St. Thomas Aquinas College annual preseason baseball dinner is scheduled on Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. at the Romano Student Center on the Spartans’ campus in Sparkill. Bottoms Up Restaurant & Pub in Slate Hill is providing the food, but not hosting the dinner as reported here last week. Jamie Keefe, who managed the Rockland Boulders to the Can-Am League championship in 2014, will be honored along with former STAC player Scott Craig of Cornwall. ​Access: ​

https://docs.google.com/a/stac.edu/forms/d/1Wuo1fnAeO6RywdlSlo8Kcthz0Ry6iM6Xmn9u3JhoKb4/viewform

QUICK HITTERS: Senior Alushula Odongo of Suffern scored 10 points with three rebounds and two blocked shots as the St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s basketball team improved to 10-8 following a 65-55 victory over Mercy College at the Spartans’ gym in Sparkill. Jason Quijada of Monsey had seven points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal as the visiting Mavericks fell to 6-9. Quijada, a junior, followed up with a nine-point effort as Mercy dropped a hard-fought 74-71 decision in Dobbs Ferry to the University of the District of Columbia. Former Iona College guard Anthony Iati is an

assistant coach with the Firebirds. … Matt Owens of Pearl River is into his second season on the fencing team at Notre Dame University. Owens, who is an alum of Don Bosco Prep in Ramsey, N.J., went a sparkling 12-1 in foil competition as a freshman. Notre Dame visits Northwestern in Evanston, Ill., on Jan. 31 and then hosts the annual DeCicco Duals on Feb. 7-8 at the Castellan Family Fencing Center. … Clint Carlisle of Dallas, Texas, sparked the Army hockey team with four points as the Black Knight defeated the Royal Military Academy, 8-0, at Take Rink in West Point to retain the Challenge Cup.  … Paul Fields of New City posted a decision victory at 133 pounds as the Cortland wrestling team defeated Hunter College, 28-14. The Red Dragons visit nationally 10th-ranked Delaware Valley (Pa.) on Jan. 30 at 6 p.m. … Greg Torchon of Spring Valley had four rebounds and two points as the visiting Potsdam men’s basketball team fell to Geneseo, 82-70. Torchon, a senior captain, is averaging six points and three rebounds a game for the Bears. …  Freshman Dan Broderick of White Plains, who played with the New York PAL Islanders, scored two goals, including the game-tying tally with 12 seconds left in regulation, as the Cortland men’s hockey team tied visiting Fredonia, 3-3. … North Rockland HS alumna Stephanie Frank and Carmel HS graduate Natasha Morrison each averaged 172 and were named to the all-tournament team, sparking the Westchester Community College women’s bowling team to a third-place finish at the Westchester Invitational at Farmingdale Lanes. Frank finished fourth in singles with a 549 while Morrison was fifth with a 543. Morrison and Frank placed fourth in doubles with a 980.

THIS & THAT: NASCAR is looking for an energetic and innovative social media specialist to join the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) team in the position of  senior coordinator, social media development in Charlotte, N.C.

Details at: https://external-nascar.icims.com/jobs/1280/senior-coordinator,-social-media-development/job?mobile=false&width=1249&height=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false&jan1offset=-300&jun1offset=-240 … Olympic silver medalist (10,000 meters) Galen Rupp, who many remember as a scholastic sensation at Central Catholic HS in Portland, Ore., will return for the 108th NYRR Millrose Games on Feb. 14 at the Armory in upper Manhattan. Rupp’s indoor season will conclude in Birmingham, England, a week later..