WALTHAM, Mass. – After the first meet of 2022, Suffolk men's indoor track & field senior captains Michael Balestra and Matyas Csiki-Fejer earned weekly awards from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Monday afternoon. Balestra garnered GNAC Field Athlete of the Week, while Csiki-Fejer collected GNAC Track Athlete of the Week.
The weekly awards are the first for the seniors this season and bring the Rams' total of 2021-22 to four as Carter Nevulis grabbed track and rookie of the week Dec. 14. Career wise, Balestra and Csiki-Fejer each took home their fifth honor, first since being the best league's field athlete over a second day stretch March 2, 2020. Csiki-Fejer, meanwhile, grabbed his fourth career indoor weekly honor, first since being named the best track athlete in the conference March 2, 2020.
The accolades come on the heels of the pair of performances at Suffolk's first event of 2022, USM's COVID Catch UP Sunday, Jan. 23.
Balestra took second in the weight throw with a toss of 13.14 meters. Csiki-Fejer easily punched his ticket to regionals in the mile as he topped a 16-runner field with a time of 4:24.66, nearly three seconds faster than the second place finishers, Michael Olson of Plymouth State (4:27.04). Both performances top the respective events by a student-athlete in the GNAC this season.
Suffolk and the pair are set to be back in action this weekend. The Rams will split up at a pair of events with the blue-and-gold throwers headed to Tufts' Branswen Smith-King Invitational and the runners set to compete at Boston University's John Thomas Terrier Classic. Both evens will take place Saturday, Jan. 29.