Albany, NY — Russell Sage College's director of athletics Sandy Augstein-Collins has announced that David Taranto will be stepping down as head men's and women's cross country and track and field coach effective December 4, 2021. A national search will commence to find a new coach for the Gator cross country and track and field programs.
"We are so thankful to David for his contributions and successes as our cross country and track and field coach," commented Augstein-Collins. She added, "David has certainly left his mark on our teams from their success in the classroom to their success as student-athletes. His hard work and dedication were evident in the outstanding outcome of the 2021 Empire 8 Cross Country Championship which RSC just hosted. We wish him continued success as he begins a new challenge professionally"
Taranto joined the Sage Athletic Department in January of 2019. Since that time, he has helped the Gator running program grow and expand. Taranto was a Division I student-athlete at Boston College, and arrived on campus after serving as the assistant men's cross country and track and field coach for his alma mater, Boston College.
At Sage, Taranto directs all six of the Sage running programs and has helped the Gators succeed and garner considerable success in his short time with the Gators.
In his first campaign at Sage, he coached a pair of Sage women's track and field team members that earned invitations to the 2019 All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference Championships at SUNY-Cortland, a Sage first. Along the way in 2019, the men's and women's track and field programs rewrote the Gator outdoor record book.
In the fall of 2019, the Sage women's and men's cross country program continued to develop as Sage's sophomore Kerry Flower was named to the Empire 8 First Team, a first for the Sage women's cross country team. Sophomore Kristin McAlonen also earned a spot on the Second Team as well, another first with the pair of Gator student-athletes saluted by the league.
Earlier in the 2019 season, Flower earned three straight citations as the Empire 8 Women's Cross Country Runner of the Week. At the 2019 Empire 8 Championship, Flower finished with an impressive time of 24:46.8 and finished in 10th place. As a rookie, Flower finished in 14th place at the 2018 Empire 8 Championship and became the first Sage women's cross country runner to earn Empire 8 All-Star Honors with a selection to the Second Team.
With the cancellation of the spring of 2020 athletic competitions due to the COVID-19 crisis, Sage's outdoor track and field teams never had an opportunity to compete.
In the spring of 2021, RSC's indoor track and field program laid the groundwork and foundation for the program as they competed at a handful of meets and produced a pair of Empire 8 Weekly Track Athletes of the Week, while also competing at the squads' first Empire 8 Indoor Track and Field Championships and newcomer Dominic Nova was named the 2021 Empire 8 Indoor Track & Field Rookie of the Meet. On the women's side, sophomore Shakura Murray was named to the All-Conference Second Team in the 200 meter dash with her second place showing in the event, while Sage's distance medley relay finished in second place with an impressive time of 13:59.16 behind the efforts of rookies Emma Cronin, Sarah Masse, Molly Kane, and Mackenzie Feeney and were named to the league's Second Team.
At the most recent Empire 8 Outdoor Track and Field Championship, the Gator women broke two school records as Feeney broke her own record in the 1,500 meter run. Rookie Victoria Johnson picked 8th place in the triple jump with a leap of 9.98 meters to establish a new school record.
During the fall of 2021, RSC's cross country teams had a number of highwater marks over the course of the season, including hosting the league's championship meet, while RSC's women's team finished in fourth place at the event. RSC had three women selected to the league's all-conference teams. Feeney finished in ninth and Cronin took home tenth place to both earn Second Team acclaim. Newcomer Elizabeth Ingellis was named to the Empire 8 Third Team All-Star squad.