MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.- The Ave Maria University track and field teams completed a successful second season of competition this weekend, competing at the Sun Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships on the campus of St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens. The Gyrenes left Miami Gardens with plenty of hardware, coming back to Southwest Florida with ten medals - two gold, four silver, and four bronze - doing so in eight individual events and a pair of relays.
Ave Maria won one conference title on each day of the competition, winning their first gold Saturday afternoon in the 4x800 meter relay. The team of Carol Long, Regina Pirolli, Marie Sumerton, and Faith Romero built a major lead over their competition, and the quartet finished strong to earn AMU their first ever relay title in outdoor track and field. Posting a time of 10:10.70, the Gyrenes were nearly six seconds faster than their nearest competition, runner-up St. Thomas.
On Sunday, the Gyrenes won their first individual title of the Championships, with freshman Michael Long doing the honors in the 800 meter run. After cruising alongside the front pack for the first 500 meters or so, the freshman turned on the jets down the stretch to easily claim his first conference title. Long, who qualified fourth in the event, won by nearly three seconds over St. Thomas' Roger Reyes, clocking in at 1:55.12.
Elsewhere, four Gyrenes emerged with individual silver medals. On the men's side, the Gyrenes were consistent threats in the distance events, with Adam Paga and Christopher Hermann winning silver in the 1500 and 5000 meters, respectively. On the women's side, sophomore Caitlyn O'Brien earned silver in the long jump, while freshman Clare Owen won the first of two medals with a second place finish in the 800 meters.
AMU's medal haul was rounded out by four bronze medal efforts. On the men's side, Adam Paga won his second medal of the weekend with a third place finish in the 800 meters, joining Long on the podium, while his brother Samuel Paga was a bronze medalist in the 5000 meters, joining Hermann. AMU added another 5000 meter medal on the women's side, courtesy of Madison Thomas.
The final medal of the weekend was won by Ave Maria's 4x400 meter relay team of Carol Long, Emma Perreault, Sofia Torres, and Clare Owen, which marked the second medal of the weekend for both Long and Owen.
Led by Long, a number of Gyrenes will be in contention to qualify for next month's NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. Competitors will have several weeks to better their times on an individual basis, with the final qualifiers for the national championships announced in mid-May.
