The St. Lawrence track season for both men and women is now fully underway with practice and competitions. The Saints have now had a total of three meets in the season thus far, along with one intra-squad scrimmage meet of sorts. The season opened with the Saints Holiday Relays held right here on the St. Lawrence campus in the Newell Field House. The Saints placed first out of a total of nine teams in attendance. This was a relatively small meet but still provided some good early-season racing opportunities. Next up came the Scarlet v. Brown intrasquad meet that saw some interesting events that would not normally be contested, such as the 1856 meter. This is significant, as this is the year that St. Lawrence was founded. Next, the Saints’ first away meet hosted by Utica University, was held the first week the athletes were back on campus from winter break. This was a larger meet with competition across all three of the NCAA divisions. The Saints placed fourth among a total of 14 teams. And finally, and most recently, the Saints headed across Lake Champlain to Middlebury, again, a meet with some high-end competition from the division one level. The Saints were fourth at this, out of a total of 12 teams. Some highlights from this meet include an 8:38.7 effort over 3 kilometers for junior Michael Skutt. He lowered his personal best from the week before by just about a second. This also resulted in a 3k victory for the Saints. 

In addition to this, there were also several Saints that participated in their first ever multi-events, with most of, if not all of them, just learning some of these events for the first time that same week—something that is quite a feat, all things considered. These individuals include Brooke Martindale, a first year, Amy Francesconi, a junior, Kiran Black, a first year, Kaylee Bertini, a first year, and finally rounding out the women, Amelia Berthold, also a first year. They all participated in the Pentathlon which consisted of five total events (60m Hurdles, High Jump, Shot Put, Long Jump, and finally the 800m). In addition to the women, three members of the men’s team also partook in the multi-events. Connor St. Peter, a first year, Jack Simack a sophomore, and finally rounding out the men, Sam Hunt, a first year. They all participated in the Heptathlon, which consisted of 7 total events (60m, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 60m Hurdles, Pole Vault, and finally the 1000m). The top finisher in their respective multi-events for the women was Kaylee Bertini with a fourth-place finish, and for the men, Sam Hunt with a fifth-place finish.  

A couple of final highlights from the meet had to include Katherine Sheehy and her victory in the 5000m, Eric Geier and his victory in the 60m Hurdles, along with the Men’s Distance Medley Relay team also snagging the victory in their respective race.  

Each of these meets has led to numerous top-of-the-line performances from individuals, with several qualifying for Liberty Leagues, as well as the regional meet. The Saints will look to continue this momentum into this weekend with the St. Lawrence Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 28.