The men and women of the Fordham track and field team had yet another busy weekend, this time competing in the long shadows of the New York City skyline at the annual Metropolitan Championships. In an event that featured numerous local schools, such as Long Island University and archrival Manhattan College, Fordham had local pride and much more on the line, with this being one of the team’s most highly anticipated meets of the year.
In short, it lived up to the hype. The meet was a major success for Fordham, as the men’s and women’s teams combined for an amazing second overall finish, the men’s team totaling a team score of 123 points, while the women finished the day with an astounding 143.5 points.
Freshman Sarah Zahaykevich was the first to contribute for the Rams, opening the day with a time of 18:08.77 in the women’s 5000-meter run, a mark good enough for a strong 4th-place finish in the event. Shortly thereafter, on the men’s side of the same event, the Rams saw another freshman, Jack Boerger, notch a sixth-place finish behind his time of 15:14.28.
The ball only continued to roll from there, as sophomore Kylie Ritz secured the Rams their first event win of the day, continuing her strong season with a dominating victory and blistering time of 8.96 seconds in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. She would also notably be joined in the top five of the event by her sophomore teammate Nicole Lytle, whose time of 9.20 seconds placed her firmly in fourth place.
In the regular women’s 60-meter dash, the Rams were once again able to make their presence felt, with sophomore Dillyn Green propelling herself to a top-six finish behind an impressive time of 7.94 seconds. The men’s side of the event, however, played host to what was potentially Fordham’s strongest individual performance of the day, as sophomore Christian “C.J.” Weddington managed to break the school record in the event with a blistering time of 6.98 seconds: a mark good enough for second place overall in a very crowded field.
Right after this individual herculean effort by Weddington, the Rams saw what was likely their best team performance of the day, dominating the 1-mile run in every manner imaginable. Not only was the women’s team able to claim victory in the event behind senior Mary Kathryn Underwood’s first-place finish, with junior Caroline McDonagh also notching a top-ten finish with a mark of 5:13.44, but the men’s team was able to claim almost every spot on the podium, as freshman Sein Reidy (4:13.95) and junior Steve Zucca (4:15.08) finished in first and second place respectively.
In the women’s 500-meter dash, senior Molly Mulvaney was able to collect yet another top-ten finish for the Rams, using her time of 1:21.30 to place herself firmly in seventh place. Fordham potentially fared better on the men’s side of the same event, however, as sophomore Kevin Callaghan used his strong performance of 1:05.64 to collect a bronze medal, while three of his teammates, sophomore Yariv Simhony and juniors Safo Kirton and Chris Martinez, all finished just behind him in the top 10 as well. The Rams were also able to lay claim to another medal in the men’s 800-meter run, as junior Nathaniel Bezuneh netted a silver for Fordham behind an extremely impressive time of 1:55.27.
Next up was the 1000-meter run, where the Rams once again wholly dominated an event; both the men’s and the women’s teams had multiple athletes run themselves into the top 10 of their respective fields. On the women’s side, freshman Meredith Gotzman spearheaded the efforts, earning silver with a time of 2:55.64. Just behind her in fifth and sixth place were her fellow freshmen Megan McCann and Brenna Sears, who ran times of 2:60.00 and 3:00.16, respectively. On the men’s side, the top five almost solely belonged to the Rams, as sophomore Rodolfo Sanchez won the event behind an astounding time of 2:27.95, senior Colin Flood finished in second place with a time of 2:28.57 and sophomore Trevor Rinn came in fourth on the back of a 2:30.27 performance.
In the women’s 200 meters, graduate student Kyla Hill once again dominated those who lined up next to her, finishing first behind an impressive mark of 24.90 seconds. She would be joined in the top 10 by senior teammate Michele Daye, who was able to claim eighth behind a time of 25.93 seconds. On the men’s side of the event, freshman Jabril Carter was just able to squeak into fifth behind a performance of 22.22 seconds.
Finally, in reference to the individual events, sophomore Darren Cooke clinched yet another top-five finish for the Rams in the men’s 3000-meter run, using his time of 8:54.28 to come in fourth place. Just behind him in the race would be his freshman teammate Matt McCabe, whose time of 8:56.09 was good enough for an impressive sixth-place finish.
Now looking at the relay portion of the meet, Fordham used these races to once again flex their muscles on the greater metropolitan area, proving themselves to be one of the strongest teams present event after event. The men’s teams won all three of the relays that they competed in, claiming gold in the 4000-meter distance medley relay, the 4×800-meter relay and the 4×400-meter relay. The women maintained a similar high pedigree of success, their respective relay teams finishing second in the 4000 meter medley relay, second in the 4×200 meter relay, first in the 4×800 meter relay and second in the 4×400 meter relay.
Turning now to the field side of things, the Rams once again saw their competitors register a surplus of great performances across the board, dominating almost every single event.
Starting with the women’s long jump, sophomore Leia Ruvo claimed second place with her mark of 5.35 meters, her junior teammate Anya Alfonsetti-Terry finishing just behind her in eighth with a mark of 5.16 meters. The men’s side of the event likewise saw another top-five finish for Fordham, as senior Eric Galante used his mark of 6.66 meters to propel himself into fifth place.
The women of the Fordham field team likewise showed out in the triple jump, as Ruvo grabbed her second second-place finish of the day behind a mark of 11.38 meters, while sophomore Alexandra Manetovic was able to take bronze with her respective mark of 11.19 meter. Junior Justin Rhee was likewise able to grab bronze on the men’s side of things, finishing with an impressive mark of 13.53 meters.
The women’s high jump saw not one, but two Rams claim first place, as sophomore Zoe Arakelian and freshman Lexi Fujita both finished tied atop the field on the back of their astounding marks of 1.60 meters. Also joining them in the top five was Alfonsetti-Terry, whose mark of 1.50 meters netted her a fifth-place finish.
Wrapping up the field side of the meet with the results of the pole vault event, Michaela Gier was impressively able to match her school record that she set earlier in the year, clearing a mark of 10’ 10” on her way to a stellar third-place finish. On the men’s side, sophomore Michael Croke likewise found himself in the top five of the field, coming in fourth behind a mark of 14’ 3.25”.
Overall, despite the fact that Fordham was not able to claim the top overall spot at the meet, their showing at this year’s iteration of the Metropolitan Championships can only be labeled a massive success. School records were broken; events were won; and dominance over the expansive confines of the Big Apple was vehemently asserted all in a short span of just 24 hours, even as the team was missing some of their key runners like sophomore sprinters Matt Nurse and Liam Volz.
In terms of what is next for the Rams, they once again have an extremely busy week ahead of them, being slated to compete in three separate meets over the course of three days: the Boston University Valentine Invitational (Friday, Feb. 9 to Saturday, Feb. 10), the Big Apple Invitational (Saturday, Feb. 10) and the Millrose Games (Sunday, Feb. 11). Only time will tell how Fordham will fare in these meets, but if this past weekend was any indication of what to expect, the Rams should be more than ready to continue to compete at an extremely high level.
