By Andrew Posadas

For the second consecutive weekend, Fordham Track and Field split its squad to participate in two different meets. The majority of Track and Field took a short drive to Lawrenceville, NJ for the Rider Invitational, while a select group of Rams headed to North Carolina to compete in the Raleigh Relays.

With the start of spring comes the most popular time for Track and Field: the outdoor season. To begin this season, Fordham’s first two weekends saw the division of the team into two groups to compete in two different meets.

North Carolina State University played host to the Raleigh Relays, a two-day event that commenced on Friday, March 29. To say that Fordham had a good first day would be an understatement. The Rams made their presence known, with five runners posting qualifying times for the Eastern College Athletic Conference IC4A Championships in May.

Junior distance runner Ryan Kutch posted a ECAC/IC4A qualifying time of 29:20.25 in the 10,000 meter run. Kutch finished 20th overall, but his time breaks a school record set by none other than Kutch himself just last year. Not to be outdone, senior distance runner Abigail Taylor gave Fordham its second qualifying time in the 10,000 meter run, finishing 17th with a time of 36:11.36.

The best finish on Friday belonged to graduate student and distance runner Brian Cook. His time of 8:56.66 in the 8,000 meter steeplechase earned him a team-best sixth place finish, in addition to qualifying for the IC4A.

Despite only having two runners competing on day two, the Rams came away with one more ECAC-qualifying time in Raleigh. Sophomore sprinter Kathryn Kelly finished just outside of the top-10 in the 200-meter dash on Saturday, completing the race in 24.66 seconds.

While Kelly was putting the final touches on an outstanding weekend in North Carolina, the bulk of Fordham’s squad spent Saturday participating in the Rider 5-Way Invitational.

Sophomore jumper Nikolas Reardon scored in both the long jump and high jump, finishing top three in each event. His mark of 22 feet and 11 inches, while good enough for second place, left him just shy of qualifying for the IC4A. Ten others scored in various events on the men’s side as they ultimately finished third out of six teams.

Fordham’s most impressive result at the Rider Invitational came from the women’s side. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior mid-distance runner Sydney Snow finished the event in 11:33.37 to take home first place. Right behind her was freshman distance runner Sarah Daniels with a time of 11:36.32, giving the Rams both first and second place. Nine more would score for the women’s team en route to finishing last out of five teams.

Great showings and performances in both meets bode well for the Rams. At full strength, Fordham has great balance and potential for success on both the men’s and women’s sides in the coming month.

Track and Field will be back in action this week from April 4 to April 6 at the Colonial Relays. The relays will be hosted by the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.