By Bryan Kiel
After sending a small contingent to Virginia for the Mason Spring Invitational, the Fordham track team was represented by 46 runners, jumpers and throwers at the Wolfie Invitational in Stony Brook. Competing against four other teams, the men’s squad tied with Marist for fourth place, while the women placed third out of five teams. Fordham’s individual times were strong, with five event wins and qualification for IC4A competition.
The women’s team featured 27 runners and had event wins in three races. Top runners included junior Danielle Rowe, who led eight Fordham runners with a time of 56:48. Senior Elise Tigani and freshman Merissa Wright placed second and fourth, respectively, in the race.
In the 800m, senior Mara Lieberman and sophomore Shanna Heaney formed a one-two punch that garnered 18 points for the Rams. Lieberman finished in 2:14.11, with Heaney just on her tail at 2:14.49. In the 1500m race, senior Brianna Tevnan finished second with a time of 4:41.45, and freshman Stephanie Leo finished third in the 3000m steeplechase in a time of 11:53.55.
Freshman sisters Kylie and Jessica Farrell represented Fordham in the jump events. Both sisters scored for Fordham in the triple jump, landing at10.41meters and 10.04 meters, respectively. In the throwing events, senior Caitlin Hart competed in the discus, hammer and javelin events. She did best in the javelin throw, hitting a mark of 31.82m and finishing in sixth place.
The men’s squad sported nine runners in the 800m, with the top finish coming from senior captain Dan Green in seventh place with a time of 1:56.03, just out of scoring range. They had better luck in the 1500m though, with juniors Quincy O’Connor and Mike Turi finishing second and sixth, respectively.
In the 3000m, freshman Nik O’Brien won the event with a time of 8:52.29, while fellow freshman Brian Cook won the 3000m steeplechase and qualified for IC4A competition with a time of 9:14.43.
With senior Jon Annelli red-shirting the season, Cook will look to be the top competitor in the steeplechase. “During the race, Jon paced me, then backed out before the finish,” said Cook. “I’m looking forward to the steeplechase at IC4A’s.”
The 4×400 relay team, consisting of seniors Green, Lester Taylor, sophomore Randall Turner and freshman Fritz Heinrich took sixth place and one point towards team competition. Finally, sophomore Nicholas Regan took eighth in the javelin throw with a distance of 55.54m, while senior Pat McGuire took fifth place in the shot put with a distance of 12.65.
On Thursday, Fordham will head down to Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania where it will compete in the internationally-known Penn Relays.
Hosted annually since 1895, the Penn Relays is the oldest continuously run track and field meet in the world.
The Rams will be one of 41 New York colleges competing at the race which typically sees over 100,000 spectators over the course of three days.
