NEW ORLEANS – For the second time in as many years, Suffolk men's outdoor track & field's Michael Balestra and Matyas Csiki-Fejer garnered All-East honors from the U.S. Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), the national organization unveiled. Balestra repeated as an honoree in the hammer, while Csiki-Fejer collected the distinction in the 1500m and 5000m.
The distinction goes to the top-5 individuals in each event from each region in addition to each of the members of the top-3 relay team following the conclusion of the regular season.
Balestra, a native of Middleton, Rhode Island, threw his way to his second straight nod in the hammer. He wrapped up his senior season ranked fourth in the event with a career-high 54.28-meter toss, which topped the podium at the inaugural Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championships April 30, 2022.
Csiki-Fejer repeated as an honoree in the 1500 and took home the recognition in the 5000 for the first time in his career. The senior from Manchester, Missouri, posted the second-best time in the 1500 in the East at 3:50.18 at the NEICAAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships May 13, 2022, just 0.16 seconds behind WPI's Benjamin Steeves. In the 5000, the long-distance Ram topped the region with his stand-out, career-high showing of 14:09.18 at the Duke Invitational April 7, 2022.
The co-captains are responsible for all six of Suffolk's men's outdoor regional awards from the USTFCCCA with Csiki-Fejer holding four and two belonging to Balestra over the last two seasons.
The twosome is half of the CCC student-athletes to grab the acknowledgement this year joining Wentworth's Kyle Moser (shot put) and Jared Pierce (discus).