STONY BROOK, N.Y. — Carlos Santos arrived as a freshman from Patchogue-Medford High School eager to make a good impression at the collegiate level. However, in September of his freshman year at Stony Brook, a stress reaction in a tibia cost him the bulk of the cross country season as well as all of the indoor track season.

He returned in time to post a 9:11.90 in the 3000-meter steeplechase at the America East Outdoor Championships, sixth overall and top among freshmen.

Coach Andy Ronan then met with Santos and began plotting a plan for 2019-20 that would qualify him for an NCAA regional.

That season, of course, was scuttled by COVID-19.

Now a junior, though, Santos finally is realizing that goal.

Santos joined teammates Luke Coulter (800m), Robert Becker (1500m), Vann Moffett (5000m), Cameron Avery (10000m) and Richmond Boateng (400 hurdles) as well as Amanda Stead on the women's side (400m) in officially being selected on Thursday to the NCAA East Regional to be held May 26-29 in Jacksonville, Fla.

Seven qualifiers is the most in Stony Brook program history.

Santos' 3000m steeplechase qualifying time came this past Saturday at the IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Springfield, Mass., when he produced a career-best 8:53.90.

After a stressful few days, Santos received confirmation that the time ranked 45th in the region — making him among the 48 qualifiers for the NCAA regional.  (The NCAA had trimmed the number of invitees per event to 32 in January, but recently returned the figure to 48 amid protests from student-athletes.)

"It's a good feeling knowing the time that I ran qualifies me," Santos said.

Santos also made history in his family's homeland with his sub-9:00 time in the 3000m steeplechase.

His parents were born in El Salvador, and Santos holds dual citizenship.

He has been on the El Salvadoran track and field association's radar since high school.

When Santos ran a 9:00.00 flat at the America East Championships earlier this month, he established a new El Salvadoran record, besting the 19-year-old previous mark held by Erick Bonilla (9:04.20).

Provided Santos' phone number by the El Salvadoran track and field association, Bonilla actually called Santos after the America East Championships to congratulate him on setting a new national record.

Santos then bested his own mark this past weekend with the 8:53.90, close to topping Alex Felce's 13-year-old program record (8:53.45). 

"We had a really good talk," Santos said about his conversation with Bonilla, who now trains track athletes in Puerto Rico. "It was more than 18 years that the record stood, since 2002. To run a 9-flat, it was big. El Salvador hadn't had a steeplechaser in years."

Santos one day hopes to represent El Salvador in the Olympics in the steeplechase.

In being an Olympian, he hopes to follow in the footsteps of fellow Patchogue-Medford High School product Anthony Famiglietti, who represented the United States in the 3000m steeplechase in the 2004 Olympics in Athens and 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

Representing El Salvador would be particularly meaningful for his family.

"For me, choosing to represent their home country is a way of thanking them for coming here," Santos said.