Kyla Hill Sets Fordham Record in Big Weekend for Track and Field

Kyla+Hill+sprinted+to+the+Fordham+record+books+this+past+weekend.+%28Courtesy+of+Fordham+Athletics%29

Kyla Hill sprinted to the Fordham record books this past weekend. (Courtesy of Fordham Athletics)

Fordham Track and Field enjoyed a successful trip to Brighton, Mass. for the River Hawk Invitational, recording season bests on both the men’s and women’s sides.

The highlight of the weekend belonged to senior Kyla Hill, who set a Fordham women’s record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.60 seconds. The time bested the previous record of 7.61, which was co-held by Hill and graduate student Kathryn Kelly.

Hill found herself in the winners circle once more, winning the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.49 seconds. Graduate student Jana Rokitta also earned an event win, taking first in the high jump. The Rams would tack on two more top five finishes as seniors Mary Kathryn Underwood and Nathania Tan both earned second in the 500-meter run and 5,000-meter run, respectively.

Fordham added four top 10 finishes as well. Senior Alexandra Thomas took sixth in the 3,000 meter run, junior Marin Bogulski ranked eighth in the 1,000-meter run and graduate student Helen Connolly finished tenth in the 800-meter run. Connolly and Underwood would later join graduate student Jill Jones and junior Molly Mulvaney for a ninth place finish in the 4×400.

Men’s track and field followed the women’s Friday performance on Saturday morning, tallying an event win and six top ten finishes. Junior Steven Zucca led the way as his season best time of 14:35:18 in the 5,000-meter run resulted in the first event win of the season. Sophomore Rodolpho Sanchez finished fourth in the 3,000-meter run with a season best time of his own.

Joining in on the fun, junior Daniel Asher, senior Erik Brown and freshman Matthew Nurse earned top 10 finishes in the mile run, 500-meter dash and 400-meter dash, respectively, all posting season bests. Fordham would earn one more top-five finish as Brown and Nurse joined freshman Kevin Callaghan and sophomore Isaiah James for a third place finish in the 4×400 relay with a season best time of 3:21:92, raising the number of season bests to six on the day.

The weekend was a continuation of early success for the women’s side, marking the fourth straight weekend of three or more event wins. Hill continues to dominate, having earned an event win in the last three meets. For the men’s, the weekend marked their strongest showing of the new season, featuring their first event win and a slew of season bests.

Fordham will look to carry over their recent success as the Rams are set to take on the Metropolitan Indoor Track and Field Championship on Friday, Feb. 3 in Staten Island.