Despite some inclement weather, the College’s track and field teams recorded strong performances in their start to the outdoor season.
The men were led by junior Steven D’Aiutolo, who picked up right where he left off from his monster indoor season. D’Aiutolo won the triple jump with a jump of 46’ 8.25”, a program record. He was also fifth in the 400-meter event with a time of 50.48 seconds. 
“The main thing that I focused on is my goal of competing at nationals,” D’Aiutolo said. “I narrowly missed qualifying for indoor nationals and knowing that I can always improve, I tried to keep that momentum going into outdoor season.”
Sophomore Dominic Tasco, who had just been named 2011 NJAC Rookie of the Year, placed fourth in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:55.87. Freshman Erik Moutenot was not far behind him, finishing in seventh at 1:57.10.
The 10,000 meters was the best team effort for the Lions. Three runners finished in the top 12. Junior Mark Sidebottom was sixth with a 32:35.39 mark, junior Alex Matteson was ninth with a time of 32:56.26 and sophomore Dylan Lynch was 12th at 34:26.54.
The pole vault was yet another even where the Lions proved themselves against the competition, getting two finishes in the top five. Senior Colin Gold cleared a height of 14’ 9”, while junior Julio Alorro hopped over a mark of 14’ 3.25”.
Other notable performances included senior Shaun McGeever having an impressive finish in the 5,000 meters with an ECAC qualifying time of 15:14.58. Junior Kyle Magliaro was eight in the 200-meters at 23.04. Finally, the College’s 4X400 relay team consisted of senior Christopher Medina, D’Aituolo, Tasco, and Moutenot and grabbed second place in the event at a time of 3:23.52.
“Our performances shows that we are a well rounded team in distance, sprints, and the field,” D’Aiutolo said. “Having that depth and getting scoring from so many different areas will help the team successfully defend the NJAC conference championship.”
For the women, sophomore Erica Roberts was the shining star. Roberts was third in the triple jump, and first among Division III jumpers, with a distance of 35’ 11.25”. Roberts was also fifth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.15. Not far behind her was freshman teammate Michelle Cascio, who came in ninth with 13.26.
Freshman Jillian Manzo had a stellar outdoor track debut, already qualifying for ECAC’s and coming in second in the 5,000 meters in a time of 18:37.04. Senior Danielle Aran took eighth place in the event at 18:56.90.
Several other runners finished in the top ten in their respective events. Sophomore Emily Kulyck was sixth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.83. Senior Katie Nestor nabbed fourth in the 800-meters at 2:17.07. Junior Cathy Goncalves was the fourth Division III runner to cross the line in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:47.95. The team of Cascio, Kulcyk, freshman Katie Johnston and junior Brielle Doremus managed to capture a second place finish and an ECAC qualifying time in the 4X400 relay with a time of 4:04.84.
In the field, graduate student Brianna Brennan was fifth in the javelin with a throw of 119’ 6”, while her teammate, junior Julianne Grandal, rounded out the top 10, hurling the javelin 111’ 2”. Senior Mary Chismar was a beast in both the shot put and the hammer throw. She was fourth in the shot with a throw of 37’ 4” and sixth in the hammer with a toss of 121’ 9”. Senior Amanda To grabbed seventh in the hammer at 121’ 4”.
“This meet was a good opener to the outdoor season for myself and the team as a whole,” D’Aiutolo said. “As training progresses and the weather improves, I’m confident that I can set bigger marks as the season continues.”
