Men's Track & Field | 5/24/2014 8:35:00 AM

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ROCHESTER, NY – Senior Matt Giannino (Syracuse, NY/Christian Brothers Academy) of the RIT men's track and field team placed 17th in the 1,500-meter run at the 2014 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday, May 22 at George Gauthier Track on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio.  Giannino recorded a time of 3:56.71 in his heat. McKena Ramos of University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh won the event on Saturday, May 24 with a time of 3:47.83.
 
Giannino was seeded 14th in the race, having recorded a time of 3:50.57 at the Swarthmore Final Qualifier on May 12, just a second shy of the school record set by Mike Hardbarger in the 2008 NCAA Championships. In addition, Giannino just missed qualifying for the 5,000-meter run, coming up a second shy, having smashed a 28-year old school record in that event on April 24 at the Penn Relays.
 
Earlier in the season, Giannino was named the 2013 Liberty League Men's Cross Country Runner of the Year. He was the individual winner at the 2013 Liberty League Men's Cross Country Championships on Nov. 2, winning the race by nine seconds, finishing the 8,000-meter course with a time of 25:08 to become the first Tiger to win the individual race at the Liberty League Championships. Giannino was also an All-Liberty League first team selection.
 
It is Giannino's second trip to the NCAA Championship, having earned All-American honors as part of the RIT men's distance medley relay team that finished seventh at the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
Giannino is a four-time Liberty League Athlete of the Week in 2013-14 and has earned weekly honors nine times in his RIT career. He was also named the 2013 Liberty League Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and garnered 2013 United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team honors. Giannino was named to the 2011 USTFCCCA All-Region team in cross country.
 
The computer engineering major holds RIT indoor records in the 800-meter run (1:55.33) and 4 x 800-meter relay (7:46.69), as well as the outdoor mark in the 5,000-meters (14:30.22).