BETHANY, W. Va. – The Franciscan men's 4x800 meter relay team was the latest qualifier for the ECAC championships as the men's and women's track and field teams competed at the Bethany Mini Meet, Wednesday afternoon.
The 4x800 team of Austen Duggan, John Bolster, Patrick Tansill, and Liam Galligan won the relay with a time of 8:34.99, beating the next team by just under 17 seconds. The spot at the ECAC championships is the second for Galligan as he has already qualified for the postseason meet in the 5,000-meter run.
Galligan won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:01.26 while freshman Mark Borek took third with a time of 2:02.44.
Junior Nicholas Long continues to improve on his school-record 3,000-meter steeplechase time as he lowered his ECAC qualifying time with a first-place finish in the event with a time of 9:48.34. Junior Hunter McDonnell also used the mid-week meet to improve on his ECAC qualifying marks in the 400-meter hurdles and the high jump. McDonnell took second in the 400 hurdles with a time of 57.25 and 12th in the high jump with a height of 1.83 meters.
McDonnell and senior Carlo Fabian went first and second in the long jump with distances of 5.36 meters and 5.32 meters respectively. McDonnell also won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 17.72.
After winning his second, Fabian took seventh overall in the 400-meter finals with a time of 52.59.
Franciscan placed four runners in the top-10 in the 1,500-meter run as freshman Athanasius Sirilla won with a time of 4:18.85 and Bolster took second at 4:23.10. Junior Grady Stuckman took fourth with a time of 4:28.57 and senior James Sarlo took 10th overall with a time of 5:16.46.
Sophomore Matthew Crotteau won the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:30.33.
On the women's side, the 4x800-meter relay team of Bernadette Williams, Beth Flanagan, Janelle Lunde, and Sofia Cantu won the race with a time of 10:37.30. Lunde picked up two other top-10 performances as she took third in the triple jump with a jump of 9.49 meters and third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:15.84.
Franciscan placed four in the top-10 in the 1,500-meter race as Williams took third with a time of 5:14.28 and Flanagan took fourth at 5:22.42. Freshman Syndi Cain took ninth at 6:33.66 and freshman Victoria Snell came in 10th at 6:41.78.
Cantu took seventh overall in the 200-meter dash (33.68) and freshman Morgan Litterer took eighth with a time of 33.82.
Sophomore Rachel Solomon took fifth overall in the javelin with a throw of 28.11 meters.
The track and field teams will next compete at the CSAC championships, hosted by Gwynedd Mercy College on May 4 – 6.
