June 24, 2010

DES MOINES, Iowa - Marist rising sophomore Arquimedes DelaCruz (Wantagh, N.Y.) placed 10th out of 26 in the men's 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9:28.78 on Thursday at the USA Track & Field Junior National Championships at Drake University. His place and time were the best of any Marist runner in the steeplechase at junior nationals in program history.

DelaCruz was the third athlete in program history to reach junior nationals in the steeplechase, following John Keenan in 2006 and Nick Webster in 2008. DelaCruz's time was the best in program history at junior nationals by over 17 seconds.

The first athlete in program history to compete at junior nationals in two events, DelaCruz will compete in the 10,000 meters on Friday at 9 p.m. CDT. In the event, he will be joined by teammate Mike Nicoletti (Lynbrook, N.Y.). On the women's side, Jackie Gamboli (Stony Point, N.Y.) will run in the first round of the 1,500 meters on Friday at 11:55 a.m. CDT.