By RYAN SCANLON
STAFF WRITER
The Fordham men’s and women’s track and field teams were in action over the weekend, coming off an impressive showing at the Metropolitan Championships. While most of Fordham’s athletes competed at the Wolfie Invitational hosted by Stony Brook University, two runners from the men’s side took part in the Larry Ellis Invitational hosted by Princeton University.
Graduate student Kevin Fitzgerald and junior Ryan Polo made the trip to Princeton on Friday, April 19 in an effort to better their times in the 1,500m run and earn a qualifying bid for the IC4A championships. Fitzgerald had already hit the standard for IC4A’s, but his time of 3:49.32 to finish 15th bettered his previous mark. Polo came in at 3:50.86 to finish 22nd and also managed to qualify for IC4A’s down the road.
The Wolfie Invitational featured a handful of first place finishers and clutch performances that proved to be crucial down the stretch. The men’s team boasted a 1-2 finish in the 800m run. Sophomore transfer student Lester Taylor continued his strong first year with the Rams by winning the 800 in a time of 1:53.54. Senior captain John Cosgrove was right behind to finish second in 1:53.66. Senior Sean Atkinson took the gold in the 400m hurdles, hitting 54.04. He came back and took silver in the open 400m run in 49.13. The men also won the 4x400m relay. The team of junior Sam Houston, junior Sean Collins, Taylor and Cosgrove combined to hit 3:17.99.
The women’s team had similar success. Junior Titi Fagade took part in the 400-m dash (after mostly being used in the 800-m run throughout the year). She took first with a time of 56.28. The Rams stacked this event with five total runners finishing the in the top 11. Sophomore Kristen Stuart finished second in 57.79, while grad student Nicole Ragucci finished third in 57.93. Sophomore Mara Lieberman, who had been competing in the 1,500m run frequently this season, took the line for the 800m run. She ran very well, finishing first and hitting 2:14.18. Finally, the women’s 4x400m relay equaled the success of the men, finishing first. The mark of 3:52.95 was set by Ragucci, sophomore Melissa Higgins, junior Averie Sheppard and freshman Danielle Rowe.
The Rams will be racing next week in the much heralded Penn Relays hosted by the University of Pennsylvania on April 25-26.
