STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – Kicking off 2023 with a bang, the American University track team had nine athletes place themselves on top-10 school performance lists, and four first-place finishes at the Spartan Invitational hosted by St. Thomas Aquinas College. The Eagles also had 10 athletes register personal bests at the event.

• Freshman Kaden Kluth saw the first win of the afternoon, pacing the field in the men's 500m dash with a time of 1:05.34. He was followed closely by Ethan Puc who came in second at 1:06.44. Both Kluth and Puc earned places on the school's top-10 record list with their times, second and fifth respectively.
• In the men's 800m run, senior Nathan Reeves was the first across the line, earning the Eagles their second first place finish of the day, coming across the line in 1:54.02. Reeves' time places him at ninth all-time in the AU record books.
• The women's 500m dash saw the most action as three athletes for American put themselves on the top-10 performance list. Grace Kirk, Kirah Tianga, and Lucia Ianello who finished fifth, seventh, and eighth respectively now sit at seventh, eighth, and ninth on the school's top-10 performance list. Tianga and Ianello also recorded PRs in the event.
• Following Kirk, Tianga, and Ianello in the women's 500m were Cassie Daniele who came in ninth in the event and Kelsey Miskimins who followed her in tenth place. Miskimins also earned a PR in the event with her finish in 1:26.58.
• June Mwaniki was the third first-place finish of the day for American, topping the field with her 10:25.31 finish in the 3000m run. Mwaniki was followed by senior Rachael Potter in second at 10:36.08.
• The men's 3000m run registered three Eagles PRs and saw senior Row Sullivan take second place in 8:32.30. Sullivan was followed by Michael Dua in fourth, Alex Murphy in sixth, and Cooper Michaud in eighth. Dua, Murphy, and Michaud recorded personal bests in the event.
• Freshman Chloee Dotts had herself an afternoon in New York, putting herself on two top-10 performance lists. In the 400m dash, Dotts came in ninth with a time of 1:01.75 to land at seventh overall on the top-10 list. In the 200m dash, she crossed the line fourth with a PR of 26.10s and earned the second-highest spot on American's performance list for the event.
• Rounding out the top-performances of the day, in the men's distance medley relay American took first and third place. The group comprised of Tucker Zullo, Kluth, Carver Morgan, and Reeves was the first to finish, thirteen seconds faster than the second-place finishers with their time of 10:09.82. Oscar Counsell, Puc, Michaud, and Murphy came in third only three seconds behind the second-place finishers.

QUOTE FROM COACH GRAHAM
"It was a great start to the season. At least 10 big PRs, a lot of aggressive racing, and event wins or placing. The team is in a great place right now as we kick off the indoor season. It's back to work at home and then headed south next weekend to do it all again!"

AU RESULTS

EVENT	RESULTS
60m Dash, Women	41. Neev Agarwal, 9.01
60m Dash, Men	29. Fernando Ibarra, 7.29
200m Dash, Women	4. Chloee Dotts, 26:10 (PR) | 45. Neev Agarwal, 30.26
200m Dash, Men	19. Fernando Ibarra, 23.11
400m Dash, Women	9. Chloee Dotts, 1:01.75 | 22. Jessica Bakas, 1:04.62 (PR) | 32. Tori Maignan, 1:08.76 | 36. Eva Gibson, 1:11.06
400m Dash, Men	44. Brian Gutro, 54.85
500m Dash, Women	5. Grace Kirk, 1:23.54 | 7. Kirah Tianga, 1:23.82 (PR) | 8. Lucia Ianello, 1:24.41 (PR) | 9. Cassie Daniele 1:25.64 | 10. Kelsey Miskimins, 1:26.58 (PR)
500m Dash, Men	1. Kaden Kluth, 1:05.34 | 2. Ethan Puc, 1:06.44
800m Run, Men	1. Nathan Reeves, 1:54.02 | 18. Ethan Horton, 2:05.02 (PR) | 29. Michael Connelly, 2:13.70
1000m Run, Women	6. Callia Cordasco, 3:09.41 | 8. Rowe Crawford, 3:10.84
1000m Run, Men	2. Oscar Counsell, 2:29.61 | 4. Danny O'Neill, 2:35.23
Mile Run, Women	10. Sophia Staiger, 5:23.06 | 13. Annie Ripol, 5:24.67 (PR)
Mile Run, Men	4. Tucker Zullo, 4:16.91 | 5. Carver Morgan, 4:17.83
3000m Run, Women	1. June Mwaniki, 10:25.31 | 2. Rachael Potter, 10:36.08 | 9. Brooke Evans, 11:12.71
3000m Run, Men	2. Row Sullivan, 8:32.30 | 4. Michael Dua, 8:37.49 (PR) | 5. Alex Murphy, 8:37.86 (PR) | 8. Cooper Michaud, 8:49.67 (PR)
Distance Medley Relay, Women	6. Ripol, Crawford, Kirk, Staiger, 13:00.44
Distance Medley Relay, Men	1. Zullo, Kluth, Morgan, Reeves, 10:09.82 | 3. Counsell, Puc, Michaud, Murphy, 10.25.75
4x400m Relay, Women	12. Cordasco, Maignan, Bakas, Daniele, 4:27.90

 
NEXT UP
The Eagles will be back on the track next week at the Brant Tolsma Invitational hosted by Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. on January 20 and 21.
 
KEEP UP WITH US
For the latest on American University Cross Country, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_TrackXC) and Instagram (@AU_TrackXC).