HAYWARD, Calif. — With an eye on a strong finish to the 2022 season, Saint Mary's Track competed at the West Coast Last Chance Meet on Sunday afternoon and into the early evening, hosted by Chabot College. It was one of the most successful days of the season for the Gaels, who set a host of personal records on both the men's and women's sides as they put a bow on the year from a team perspective. Based on Sunday's efforts, the Gaels will still send one runner to the NCAA West Prelims in two weeks.
 
Six different female Gaels set personal records in the 1500m on Sunday, and two more recorded season bests. Two of those Gaels won their respective heats (Jiana Cortero, heat two, 4:49.60 and Callie Buchanan, heat three, 5:07.68), while Molly Dreher led the way with the fastest 1500m time of the day for Saint Mary's, posting a 4:30.19 in her second-place finish. Klara Frih (4:33.16), Aushmitha Grewal (4:54.16), and Anna Ranieri (4:54.87) all ended the day with new PRs, while Ally Sullivan and Mariam Samara posted new season-bests.
 
Four more personal bests were set by the women, headlined by Rayna Stanziano and her program-record in the 800m. She won the first heat with a time of 2:06.49, continuing to break her own records along the way, and likely qualified herself for the NCAA West Prelims in that category (already a near-lock in the 1500m and 5000m). Stanizano led the way in that top heat with Jaden DeSouza, who set a personal best with a 2:18.24, a time that would have won the second heat.
 
Two Gaels ran in the 3000m and set new personal bests on Sunday, with Dani Rowlinson (10:25.20, second place) and Sofia Cuevas (10:26.57, third place) all set new fast times.
 
It was a long-distance kind of day for the men's side, as 12 of the 26 positions filled were occupied by Gaels. They also held onto the top-three positions, with Lucas Chung taking first with his time of 14:43.94, a personal best that shaved 25 seconds off of his mark from just two weeks ago in Fresno. Muhammed Ahmed finished second with a time of 14:57.49, improving by three seconds from a few weeks ago, and Richard McLain finished third with a 14:57.81 the best mark of his collegiate career.
 
Five other Gaels set personal records in the 5000m on Sunday: Blaine Reynolds (15:17.48), Curtis Volf (15:35.11), Troy Coulston (15:39.37), Aidan Donovan (15:45.92), and Isaiah Jimenez (16:53.41).
 
Six Gaels ran in the 1500m on the men's side, with Blaine Reynolds and Anthony Vazquez posting the best marks with times of 3:58.39 and 3:58.66, respectively. In addition to the personal best that Volf ran in the 5000m, he also posted a personal record in the 1500m with his time of 3:59.14, breaking the four-minute mark for the first time in his collegiate career.
 
KINSEY QUOTES
"Today was a great day of racing for the Gaels. They had a really good last two weeks of racing, executed race plans perfectly, and ended on one of the more successful days in program history from a personal-record perspective." – head coach, Marty Kinsey
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will send Rayna Stanziano to the NCAA West Prelims, which begins on May 25 and goes through May 28, in Arkansas. Stanziano will have to decide which event she wishes to run at the Prelims, as she most likely will earn qualifying marks in three different events: the 800m, 1500m, and 5000m. Last year, Stanziano ran in the 1500m at the NCAA West Prelims and failed to advance, but will have a chance at redemption this year. In order to qualify for the Prelims, a student-athlete must rank inside the top-48 in their respective event. Should Stanziano race in the 800m or 1500m, she would compete on May 26. The 5000m is one of the last scheduled events, taking place on May 28.