By Alexandria Sedlak

This past Saturday, the Fordham men’s and women’s cross country teams travelled to Richmond, Virginia to compete in the Atlantic 10 Championships at Pole Green Park. Fordham performed well at the Halloween event. Seven women runners set new personal bests, while the men’s team finished seventh overall, and one runner received a prestigious title.

The women’s team had several runners finish in the top 100, as well as seven new personal records. Freshman Laurel Fisher, who finished with a time of 20:05.1, set a personal record for herself at the meet. Senior Rachel Picard also set a personal best with a time of 18:39.9, putting her in fifty-sixth place. In front of her was sophomore Stephanie Leo with a time of 18:35.8, also a personal best, placing her in 50th. Classmate Brynna Harum, another runner with a personal record at this meet, finished just one spot ahead of Leo, with a time around 18:35.8. Freshman Angelina Grebe came in 44th with a time of 18:29.2. Another personal record was achieved by freshman Kate McCormack, who finished in 41st place with a time of 18:27.2. The runner who led the way for the female Rams was senior Brianna Tevnan, whose career-best time of 18:09.8 gave her a 13th place finish. This time was not only a personal best, but it was also the second fastest time among all Fordham runners for the entire season.

The men’s team also had positive results for this meet, as they came in seventh out of 14 programs and averaged a time of 25:21.96, granting them 167 points. A good number of the men’s runners finished in the top 50. Graduate student Jonathan Annelli came in 47th with a time of 25:39.1. In front of him was sophomore Nik O’Brien, who came in 45th in 25:34. Senior Mike Turi finished in 36th with a time of 25:23.1. Senior Quincy O’Connor finished in 29th with a time of 25:17.4. It was sophomore Thomas Slattery who led the way for Fordham with a 10th place finish and time of 24:56.2, which was a career-best time for him. This time was more than twenty seconds faster than his previous best time and the second fastest finish on the team this year. Slattery’s run earned him A-10 All-Conference honors.

“This was a meet that we really set our sights on,” said Slattery. “As an individual, I ran a negative split race, which allowed me to move up after each mile. My legs felt completely smooth as they floated over the 5 mile course. Our top guy did not have the day he wanted, so I’m humbled to have had the opportunity during the race to fill that gap as best as I could. The season is not over, and we are fortunate to have the time to both adapt and adjust ourselves to the upcoming races.”

The teams return to action in less than two weeks on Friday, Nov. 13, in Boston. They are training for and will be competing in the NCAA Northeast Regionals, scheduled to be held in the city’s Franklin Park.