SBU Sports: Men’s Track & Field opens season at Rutgers Holiday Classic

The Stony Brook University men’s indoor track and field program opened the 2024-25 season at the Rutgers Holiday Classic on Dec. 6 at The Armory in NYC. The Seawolves posted several solid performances as a team, with five different runners setting new personal bests.

Stony Brook’s best two placements of the day came from Seth Hilario in the 60-meter hurdles and Michael Ye in the 200-meter, who both placed sixth in their respective races.

The Seawolves secured three top-ten placements in the 3,000-meter race with Ryan Hesler (eighth, 8:40.44), Collin McLoughlin (ninth, 8:41.10, and Finn Burke (10th, 8:43.19). Burke’s impressive time was a new personal best in the event. Joseph Bertola (11th, 8:44.07), Matthew Windecker (12th, 8:45.82), and Luca Maneri (15th, 8:47.64) all recorded new personal bests in the 3,000-meter. Fernando Diaz (13th, 2:35.16) set a new best in 1,000-meter.

“Our athletes, who have been training consistently over the past few months, had an opportunity today to break out of the daily training and get a taste of competition,” head coach Andy Ronan said. “It was a typical first meet; we saw a little bit of everything, but there were some encouraging performances from several younger runners. There is still work to be done, but we’re optimistic about what the track seasons ahead may bring.”

The team resumes action in the new year on January 10 at the Spartan Invitational at Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex in Staten Island.