Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas Women's basketball team participated in the Rockland Women's Distance Festival on Saturday morning at Rockland Lake.  The 5K Race is a charity event in which proceeds go to the Rockland Family Shelter.  This is the second year the Lady Spartans and coaching staff have participated.

Piece from the Rockland Journal News:
link to article

The St. Thomas Aquinas women's basketball team participated for a second consecutive year. The Spartans pitch in at a lot of charity events throughout the year, but they said this race stands out for them because it is such a good cause.

"We do a lot of stuff for women, our coach does a great job of keeping us involved, especially in stuff around our school area," Natalie Catavero said. "It always feels good doing something for someone. I think that it goes beyond basketball. When you are done with college, you will be able to say that you did all these things to help people."

The Spartans ran together as a team, but all of the participants were cheering each other on.

"We stay together, but everyone else — even when they are passing each other — everyone is like, 'Good job, good job,' " Kimberly Vareles said. "It's very positive."

-Provided by St. Thomas Aquinas Sports Information department.