In its third-year of existence, Suffolk men’s indoor track & field had a chance to vie for a conference championship for the first time with the inaugural GNAC Indoor Track & Field Championships highlighting the squad’s calendar.
Seven different meets prepared the young squad, which was comprised of 22 underclassmen including 10 true freshman – for the league meet.
Along the way there were standout showings from long-distance runner Matyas Csiki-Fejer, field athlete Michael Balestra, all-around performer Robert Solari and freshmen sprinters Connor Abbotoni and Connor Baston. Overall that fivesome collected 13 of the league’s weekly awards with Baston taking home five himself and Balestra the only student-athlete to be tabbed the conference’s best field athlete over a seven-day stretch.
At GNACs, Suffolk went head-to-head with Saint Joseph’s (Maine). The Rams clung to a one-point advantage with one event remaining, the Distance Medley Relay. The Monks built a 10-second plus advantage that was erased by Csiki-Fejer, who anchored the blue-and-gold team. The sophomore nearly sprinted the mile, passed his competition in the seventh of eight laps and finished 5.07 seconds ahead of SJC to clinch the first-ever title for Suffolk.
On that Sunday in February at Boston University’s Indoor Track & Field and Tennis Center, four Rams became individual conference champion across six events with 18 student-athletes producing personal-bests. Csiki-Fejer and Solari each garnered a pair of individual titles. The former won the mile and 3K, while the latter finish first in the high jump and 400.
Following the league battle, Suffolk had a historic regional run. The Rams sent the largest contingent to New Englands in indoor history with eight athletes competing across four events.
Csiki-Fejer made his second trip, first in the 3000 and was on the cusp of all-region accolades with a ninth-place performance behind a time of 8:44.61. Balestra was the first-ever male fielder at the meet and Suffolk sent two relay teams to the event for the first time as well. Hunter Toyoda, Solari and Cole Bolduc teamed up with Csiki-Fejer for the Distance Medley Relay, while Baston, Joshua Smith, Abbotoni and Solari made up the 4x400 team.
With the team season wrapped up for Suffolk, Csiki-Fejer had another shot to qualify for NCAAs, Tufts Last Chance National Qualifier.
To get invited to the meet a runner needed at least an 8:40.00, which is significantly faster that the DIII regional qualification time. In Medford, the sophomore sealed a top-10 finish with his 8:36.62 time good for eighth.
From there he awaited the official announcement of the NCAA field, but did not hear his name called and the season ended just short.
THROUGH THE LENS
gnac champions
Suffolk was the first-ever team to hoist the GNAC Indoor Track & Field title as the Rams edged out Saint Joseph's (Maine) in the Distance Medley Relay to capture the crown.
GNAC TRACK ATHLETE of the year
As a main ingredient to Suffolk’s team success at GNACs, Matyas Csiki-Fejer had his own individual standout showings as well including a pair of conference crowns in the mile and 3000, respectively. The exclamation point on his league meet story though came as the anchor of the Rams’ Distance Medley Relay team, who came from behind to win not only the event by the inaugural conference crown.
The three-time all-league honoree went onto New Englands where he was one place outside of all-region contention in the 3K with a ninth-place finish.
For his achievements, he became the first-ever GNAC Indoor Track Athlete of the Year.
gnac FIELD ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
In his second campaign, Michael Balestra continued where he left off.
A hands-down favorite for the weight throw title at GNACs, he blew his personal-best marks out of the water to capture the crown. More impressive though, was his qualification as the first-ever Rams thrower to New Englands where he finished in the middle of the 24-competitor field.
Balestra is the only student-athlete across the conference to garner GNAC Field Athlete of the Week nods, with all four to his credit. For his effort he was acknowledged as GNAC Field Athlete of the Year.
GNAC ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Connor Baston was one of many Rams rookies who burst out on the scene and the sprinter was recognized as GNAC Rookie of the Year. This accolade is added to Baston’s resume that features five weekly awards from the league with four rookie of the week nods and one track athlete of the week honor.
At the GNAC Championships he grabbed the 200 title with a personal-best performance and was a member of the winning 4x400 relay team that put Suffolk in first-place to set-up the victory. That relay team not only put Suffolk in first place to win the conference crown, but was the first Rams relay squad to compete at indoor regionals.
GNAC COACH OF THE YEAR
Will Feldman was honored by his peers as GNAC Indoor Male Coach of the Year after leading his roster to multiple team and individual achievements in 2019-20. The honor as an indoor coach is the first for Feldman, who is in his third season at the helm of the Suffolk cross country and track & field programs.
Overall, the Suffolk alum has been acknowledged with Coach of the Year status three times, including back-to-back honors for women’s cross country in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
SPORTSMANSHIP SPOT
Tristan Smith represented the Rams on the All-GNAC Sportsmanship Team.
The team was established to honor one player from each team in the league for outstanding dedication to sportsmanship and for their portrayal of good sportsmanship, fair play and positive attitude.
Cosida academic all-district
Matyas Csiki-Fejer of the Suffolk men’s cross country/track & field team was acknowledged for his efforts on the course and in the classroom with CoSIDA Academic All-District honors, the first male Ram to earn the distinction.
The 2019-20 CoSIDA Men’s Track & Field/Cross Country Team recognized the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performance in the athletic realm and in the classroom.
Csiki-Fejer is the youngest Ram to earn the coveted academic honor, earning the feat as a sophomore, and is the first member of Suffolk’s men’s cross country/track & field program to do so.