HAYWARD, Calif. — The 2022 Track season officially began for Saint Mary's Track, after two exhibition events at Cal in the past month. With their first event of the year taking place at Chabot College, Saint Mary's shined in the West Coast Opener, with a host of personal bests, a few school records, and big wins in the season-opening meet.
 
HISTORIC BEGINNING
So many performances stood out on the women's side to begin the season, but some of the best performances came in the 3k race. Four Gaels finished inside the top 6 in the 3k, including race winner Rayna Stanziano with her time of 9:28.19. The top three women (Stanziano, Molly Dreher, Sylvia Ingram) all posted times that broke the existing school record, meaning Stanziano holds yet another program best. The 9:46.92 by Ingram was particularly impressive in that her time would historically qualify her for the USA Track and Field U20 championships.
 
Among other bests from Saturday's season opener, Klara Frih ran a personal best in the 800m, which earned a second-place finish with her time of 2:12.36…another school record was broken, this time in the 200m, when Maddie Fletcher won the 200m with her time 26.87…the 1500m saw some good times, where Anna Ranieri won the first heat with her time of 4:59.87, and Alyssa Escay set a ten-second personal best in heat two with her 4:49.91.
 
FAST BEGINNINGS
Not to be outdone, the Saint Mary's men had some really fast performances to begin their season, starting with one of the leaders on the team. Chandler Maciel etched his name in the record book right out of the chute in the 3k, with the fourth-fastest mark in Saint Mary's history. He came in third overall in the race with a time of 8:25.20, pacing the men and finishing within six seconds of a win. Five Gaels ran in the 3k, and they all set personal bests, finishing the race in less than nine minutes. In a shorter race, six Gaels ran sub-2:00 times in the 800m, with Nick Holyfield leading the way and winning the race with his time of 1:56.10, edging out his teammate Thomas Osborne by 0.77 seconds.
 
KINSEY QUOTES
"This was the best opener we've ever had. Huge thanks to Coach Robinson at Chabot for welcoming us to their facility. I am really impressed with how fast the Gaels are running this year. We have a lot of momentum right now and we are excited for the rest of the season." – head coach, Marty Kinsey
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will have meets each of the next seven weekends, continuing next weekend when they head to Davis for the Aggie Open, hosted by UC Davis. Saint Mary's will mostly be local within the Bay Area during that time, with just two meets outside of the immediate Bay Area (San Luis Obispo, Azusa).