HAYWARD, Calif. — To officially begin the 2022 season, Saint Mary's Track is attending an event hosted by Chabot College this upcoming weekend. Both the men and women head over to Hayward, California to participate in the West Coast Opener.

THE DETAILS
Saturday, March 5 (all day)
Chabot College Track & Field – Hayward, Calif.
Live Results

LAST TIME OUT 
In the Gaels final race of the 2021 cross country season, various members of the SMC Cross Country team ended with multiple achievements. As they competed in the NCAA West Regionals, Rayna Stanziano's performance granted her the All-West Region honor. To add, Stanziano is one of only two female Gales to claim this award. As a whole, the women finished in 19th place overall, thanks to not only Stanziano's time of 20:33.8 in the 6k, but Molly Dreher being the second Gael to finish in 22:13.3, and Sylvia Ingram in 22:21.9. The success continued with the men's program as well, finishing in their best at 14th place. They defeated runners from multiple top programs such as Cal Poly, Arizona State, and Cal. 

PREVIOUS SUCCESS ON THE TRACK
The Gaels ended their 2021 Track season with their runners split between two different locations. With the long distance runners at Azusa Pacific, Hannah Wohelnberg stood out amongst the Gaels, capping her impressive season with a personal record in the 10000m, with a time of 36:07.52. On the men's side, Nolan Dozier outperformed in the 10000m race as well, setting both an SMC and personal record. With his finishing time of 29:53.81, Dozier became just the third Gael all-time to run the 10000m race in less than 30 minutes. During the same weekend in Santa Clara, the female Gaels clinched three of the five head-to-head events. To continue, Rayna Stanziano completed her season with the 1500m race in the West Coast Distance Carnival at Las Positas College, with a leading time of 4:19.87. Stanziano not only placed first in her event, but her outstanding performance gave her the title of the first ever female Gael Track athlete to qualify for the NCAA Championship.