It was more of the same this past weekend for Fordham’s track and field teams, as both the men’s and women’s squads found themselves competing under a strenuous and chaotic schedule: one that demanded the teams be split up across three separate meets on three separate days.
The first competition of this trifecta marked yet another trip to Boston University (BU) for the Rams, the team heading into Terrier-country to compete in the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Fordham’s stint in Beantown was marked by some high highs and low lows; while a select few athletes found themselves conquering prior school records or personal bests, many Rams put in performances that produced times well below their season averages.
The first of these standalone strong outings belonged to sophomore sprinter Christian “C.J.” Weddington, who, for the second time in as many weeks, broke the school record in the men’s 60-meter dash, running a blistering time of 6.89 seconds — good enough for an extremely strong seventh-place finish.
Next of note was junior Nathaniel Bezuneh’s performance in the men’s 1000-meter run. While his amazing time of 2:26.20 only netted him 27th place in an extremely crowded field, it crucially qualified him for the all-important Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America Championships that are fast approaching.
Finally, for the men in Boston, Rodolfo Sanchez continued his stellar junior campaign by breaking the school record in the men’s 3000-meter run, running an extremely impressive mark of 8:05.24.
On the women’s side of the meet, graduate student Kyla Hill would join Sanchez and Weddington in donning the title of “record breaker,” adding yet another school record to her already-full list of accolades by running a stellar time of 55.93 seconds in the women’s 400-meter dash. Hill’s day would not end there, however, as she would also go on to produce an astounding fourth-place finish in the women’s 60-meter dash, registering another blistering time of 7.75 seconds. Moreover, also finishing alongside her in the top 20 of the event was her sophomore teammate Dillyn Green, whose time of 8.10 seconds placed her firmly in 18th place.
While it was strong individual performances like these that characterized Fordham’s time at the first meet of their chaotic weekend, it was team-wide consistency that would go on to define the Rams’ time defending their home turf at the Big Apple Invitational.
Kevin Callaghan began these team-wide efforts by running a strong race in the men’s 200-meter dash, the sophomore sprinter following up his incredible showing last weekend with an impressive seventh-place finish and a blistering time of 22.42 seconds this time around. Also joining him in the top 25 of the event was a pair of his freshman teammates, the duo of Dakota Strain and Sam Freeman, finishing 20th and 21st, respectively.
It was in the men’s 500-meter dash that junior Chris Martinez notched what was the Ram’s best finish of the day, as he managed to bring home a silver medal by running a stellar mark of 1:06.33. Also representing Fordham atop the event’s field was freshman Jake Frayler, whose strong time of 1:13.80 propelled him into 11th place.
In terms of the women’s collective efforts at the meet, they started their day off very strong in the 800-meter run, with the duo of freshman Kate Meeks (2:21.01) and senior Molly Mulvaney (2:21.80) both managing to record top-10 finishes in the event: sixth and ninth respectively. They were not alone in the upper ranks of the event’s crowded field, however, as also joining the two in the top 25 of the event was their senior teammate Abigail Llach, whose time of 2:26.45 in the event put her squarely in 22nd.
The Rams then immediately saw another trio of competitors net top-25 finishes, with sophomores Alexandra Williams, Nicole Lytle and Kylie Ritz finishing in 11th, 17th and 18th, respectively, in the women’s 200-meter dash.
This trend of multiple top-25 finishes for the Rams only continued to repeat itself in the women’s 400-meters, as freshman Anna Maria Ivits finished in 17th in the event behind a strong time of 1:01.35, while senior sophomore Sophia Crucs came squarely in 22nd with a 1:02.04 performance.
The Rams kept this momentum rolling into and through the women’s mile run, as not only was graduate student Alexandra Thomas able to claim eighth place in the event on the back of her impressive 5:17.04 mark, but senior Clodagh McGroary also managed to finish just behind her in 15th with a time of 5:20.97. This amazing success in distance races for the Rams was replicated just minutes later, moreover, as Sarah Zahaykevich continued her strong freshman year by recording an impressive time of 10:24.35 in the women’s 3000-meter run — a performance that was good enough for 10th place.
Next up was the women’s 60-meter dash, where freshman Caroline Fallona used her performance — a strong ninth-place finish behind an extremely impressive time of 8.14 seconds — to continue to ensure that the Rams had a presence at the top of every event.
Finally, in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, the Rams again saw a pair of top-10 finishes, as sophomore Kylie Ritz’s time of 9.17 seconds propelled her into eighth place, while Lytle’s mark of 9.28 put her in 10th place for her second top-20 finish of the day.
On the field side of things, the women of Fordham put in their typical stellar performances in the high jump, as four Rams managed to finish in the top-15 of the event. It was sophomore Leia Ruvo who led this impressive charge, her mark of 5’4.5” being good enough for a fourth-place finish. Just behind her in ninth was not only junior Anya Alfonsetti-Terry, but also sophomore Alexandra Manetovic, as the pair finished tied with marks of 5’1”. Finally rounding out the impressive performances for the Rams in the event was sophomore Zoe Arakelian, who managed to put together a day worthy of a 13th-place finish.
However, despite this strong showing in the high jump, the Rams, unfortunately, fared worse in the women’s long jump and the women’s pole vault, recording only a singular top-15 finish in each: senior Skylar Harris’ 10th-place finish in the long jump (17’5.5”) and freshman Michaela Gier’s 13th-place finish in the pole vault (10’10”).
Finally, at the last meet of the weekend, the famed Millrose Games, the Rams once again made their presence felt despite fielding only two 4×400 relay teams on the day. On the men’s side of this singular event, the team of graduate student Erik Brown and the aforementioned sprinters Freeman, Strain and Callaghan all combined to run an impressive time of 3:19.71, good enough for second place at the meet. The women’s side matched this energy, likewise bringing home a silver medal on the heels of a 3:45.72 performance by the team of Hill, Green, Williams and senior Michele Daye.
In terms of what is next for the Rams, their chaotic schedule is slated to slow down a bit this coming weekend, the team is only being asked to compete in a singular meet: the Terrier DMR Challenge hosted by Boston University.
