Track standouts highlight record-breaking season

By Joe Doss-Antoun

Santa Clara's track program is in the midst of closing out its third season, and the team's success has both the track and cross country programs optimistic about the future.

Although cross country and track are two separate sports, the teams are related in many ways.

"The two are definitely intertwined," said Tom Service, head coach of both the cross country and track teams. "Our most successful years in all of cross country have followed a successful track season."

If Service is right, the Broncos are setting up for perhaps one of their most successful cross country seasons in recent school history.

Already this track season, Bronco men and women have broken numerous school records and taken top honors in many of the competitions.

Junior Michael Delaurenti and Sophomore Veronica Vazquez have consistently set the bar higher for themselves and their teammates.

Among his many accomplishments this season, Delaurenti has broken the school's 5000-meter and 3000-meter steeplechase records. He also ran an outstanding 3 minutes 58 seconds in the 1500-meter race on two separate occasions.

"Mike's a really hard worker, and he's incredibly fit right now," said Service.

Delaurenti boasts the Broncos' top 5000-meter time, running the race in 14 minutes 46.41 seconds to place second at the Johnny Mathis Invitational. He also recorded another second place finish at the Steve Scott Invitational, running a school record 9 minutes 19.88 seconds in the steeplechase, just 13 seconds shy of the NCAA regional standard.

On the women's side, Vazquez has made a habit of setting personal bests throughout the season.

At the Cal-Nevada Championships on Mar. 31, Vazquez set a school record in the 1500-meter with a time of 4 minutes 42.68 seconds. Vasquez also broke the school record in the 5000-meter, running 17 minutes 40.39 seconds just minutes before Delaurenti's record-setting run at the Johnny Mathis Invitational.

"Veronica has had a lot of problems with injuries in the past, so it's nice to finally see her running well and staying healthy," said Delaurenti.

The Broncos travel to University of California, Davis, this weekend to compete in the Division-I Independent Track Championships with San Francisco, Loyola Marymount, North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Utah Valley State among others.

Despite competing at the Division-I level, none of these schools' athletic conferences hold conference championships. The championship allows them an opportunity to gain championship racing experience.

This will be the first post-season championship event that Santa Clara's track team has participated in since establishing the program as an official NCAA sport three years ago.

"This will be a really good experience for our team to compete in a meet for a championship," said Delaurenti. "Especially considering a year ago our season would be over by now."

Delaurenti will be looking to double this weekend by competing in the steeplechase on Saturday and returning the next day to run in the 5000-meter race.

Joining Delaurenti and Vasquez in the championships will be 10 men and six women from the Broncos.

According to Service, the addition of the track program has also helped attract better recruits for the cross country team.

"There are many benefits to being an official NCAA program," said Service. "There are less restrictions on practice time. If one of our runners meets qualification standards, they can make it to an NCAA regional." said Service.

Delaurenti said, "The track team definitely gives our school more credibility when trying to attract recruits."

As for any thoughts of expanding the track program in the coming years, Service pointed out a few possible setbacks.

"We don't have the specialized coaching, the necessary facilities, or the budget to put it all together," he said. "But originally, our track program was supposed to be a distance program, so the little bit we have added is a lot more than we thought we would have."

Contact Joe Doss-Antoun at (408) 551-1918 or jdossantoun@scu.edu.