NEW ORLEANS – For the first time in Suffolk men's outdoor track & field history a Ram earned United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association All-Region honors as Matyas Csiki-Fejer and Michael Balestra combined for three honors, the national organization announced. Csiki-Fejer picked up the feat in both the 5000 and 10,000, respectively, while Balestra brought home the accolade in the hammer throw.
The top five individuals in each event from each region earn all-region honors, in addition to each of the members of a top-3 ranked relay team. All-region honors for outdoor track & field for NCAA Division III dates back to the 2015-16 season.
Suffolk's duo are the first male student-athletes to receive the recognition in program history and are the first Rams, either male or female, to accomplish the accolade for the outdoor season. Emily Manfra '20 was the first Suffolk track & field student-athlete to earn the honor in the indoor season in 2019-20 for her performance in the mile. Csiki-Fejer's pair of honors marks another first, the first time a student-athlete has earned multiple all-region nods.
Conference wise, the pair of Rams are the only members of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) to make the region list this season. In fact, they are the first GNAC male student-athletes to take home the accolade in the conference's tenure.
Csiki-Fejer appeared in the top five in New England in two distance events, the 10,000 and 5,000. The junior from St. Louis, Missouri, sits second in the 10,000 behind a personal-best performance of 30:47.31, which he clocked at the NEICCCA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the second oldest track meet in the United States. At that event, which was hosted at Veterans Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut, May 14. The Rams' distance runner topped that dozen-runner field, which featured opponents from both NCAA Division I and II, respectively, en route to All-NEICCCA honors to go along with his USTFCCCA All-New England nod. In the 5,000, Csiki-Fejer finished fifth in New England thanks to his 14:38.91 performance, a personal-best, at Tufts National Qualifying Meet May 20.
Balestra, who went unbeaten in the hammer throw in all five meets he competed in this season, finished third in the region in the event with a personal-best toss of 51.14, which he recorded early on at Suffolk's Spring Invitational April 25.