By Emmanuel Berbari
No task has been too tall, no lights too bright or event too challenging for Fordham Track and Field this Spring.
As a result, the Rams entered the Metropolitan Championship at Rutgers University as a group on a mission.
They certainly had much to be proud of by the end of competition on Saturday.
Fordham collected four total victories, two for the men’s team and two for the women’s team and between Friday and Saturday, scored in more than 20 events.
While the collective teams were stellar on the big stage, with the men tying for third and the women slotting third out of 12 schools, three individuals stole the show.
Juniors Angelina Grebe and Laurel Fisher and sophomore Ryan Kutch distinguished themselves from the pack, winning respective events and significantly aiding Fordham’s overall score.
“The team really put in the extra effort and we saw everyone go out and compete their hardest,” said Grebe. “There was good competition across the board and everyone contributed greatly to our success.”
Grebe finished first in the 10,000 meter run on Friday in an outstanding 39:43.75, while Fisher took the victory in the 3,000 meter steeplechase on the same day in 11:02.26, ensuring that the Rams would make a statement on day one. Kutch made his noise on Saturday, cruising to a victory in the 5,000 meter run in 15:02.17.
“It’s an incredible feeling being able to win a race at the collegiate,” said Fisher. “Finishing first meant that I scored as many points as I could to help the team, which was my main goal.”
On the women’s side, five others scored on Friday, including sophomore Sydney Snow (third in 11:12.36), senior Stephanie Leo (12:24.88), who also posted a high score in the steeplechase and juniors Abigail Taylor (third in 40:36.42), Kelsey Coppinger (fifth in 41:10.90) and Kieran Hanrahan (10th in 43:41.77) in the 10K.
“Many of our runners doubled back for second events in order to try and score points for our team,” said Grebe. “We needed [that] to snag the third place finish.”
The men had four such feats, as sophomore Patrick Donahue registered a second-place 3,000 meter steeplechase time of 10:19.24, sophomore Matthew Roma and freshman Nicholas Raefski finished the 10K in second and fourth-pace in 34:27.37 and 34:52.80, respectively and senior Ryan Riviere cleared 10’ 5.25” in the pole vault, which was good enough for a fourth-place nod.
In the 4×400 relays, they won a team event on Saturday, combining for a first-place time of 3:18.70.
Of the 12 events the Rams scored in on day two, all of the times were notably impressive.
On the men’s side, junior Jared Benn and freshman Arthur Gooden Jr. finished the 400 meter dash in 49.45 and 49.48 seconds, respectively, and were credited with fourth and fifth place rankings. Freshman Christopher Strzelinski ran to a sixth-place time of 1:54.84 in the 800 meter, senior Fritz Heinrich’s 15:34.86 in the 5,000 meter run was eighth-best and freshman Nikolas Reardon made a statement in the high jump (5th – 6’ 3.5”) and long jump (4th – 22’ 8”) events.
“The success of our team this weekend was a testament to how hard everyone has been working all year long,” said Fisher.
The women’s additional top-10 efforts featured sophomore Katarzyna Krzyzanowski (fourth in 4:40.98), senior Brynna Harum (sixth in 4:41.37) and junior Laurel Fisher’s (eighth in 4:43.57) prowess in the 1,500 meter run, fellow junior Mary Kate Kenny (second in 12.14) and freshman Kathryn Kelly’s (third in 12.28) pace in the 100 meter dash, senior Merissa Wright (third in 2:15.56) and junior Aidan Moroz’s (fourth in 2:15.72) top-five prestige in the 800 meter run, senior Jennifer Boerke’s (fourth in 1:05.07) standout in the 400 meter hurdles, Kenny’s (fourth in 25.69) race to the 200 meter finish line and Grebe’s (third – 18:17.07) and freshman Germaine Harbaugh’s (fourth – 18:19.01) and Taylor’s (18:25.25) achievements in the 5,000 meter.
“We could do even better than we did this weekend,” said Fisher. “I’m excited to watch these girls step up again for the A-10 meet, I think we’re all very ready to do big things at George Mason.”
Fordham will have a few meets to attend before then, including a quick turnaround this Friday, April 20, when they look to build on the encouraging performance at the Larry Ellis Invitational, which will be held in Princeton, New Jersey.
