By Bryan Kiel
The Fordham track team finished its indoor season over the weekend, running in the ECAC/IC4A Championship, a meet for qualified runners. Many of Fordham’s top racers traveled to Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center, where they have raced multiple times this season. Overall, Fordham had a great day, breaking three school records. The women’s team was led by redshirt senior and captain Titi Fagade and the rest of the 4×800 relay team, while the distance medley relay team featured a strong finish for the men.
After a weekend full of preliminary trials, Fordham sent a total of 12 runners to the finals. The first event of the day was the women’s distance medley relay final. Fordham’s squad, consisting of seniors Mara Lieberman, Elise Tigani, Brianna Tevnan and freshman Merissa Wright, placed eighth out of 23 teams. They also pushed their best time of the season, 11:56.50.
“Everyone ran exceptional races [in the relay],” said Wright. “Mara Lieberman ran an especially good leg in the 1200. I have never screamed so hard for my teammates than on that day.”
The next race featured Fagade in the 500. Breaking her old school record of 1:12.23, Fagade won the event in just over five-tenths of a second over Paulette Fogle of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. It was Fagade’s last individual event of the season and of her career at Fordham.
“I’m really happy about my 500 win,” said Fagade. “I’m mostly happy because I’ve had a habit of usually just coming up short in my open events and big meets.”
The next individual race featured two Fordham seniors, Lester Taylor and Jon Annelli, in the 1000m race. It was one of the smallest races of the day, but Taylor finished in third place overall with a time of 2:27.50, while Annelli finished ninth with a time of 2:31.65. Taylor and Annelli later teamed up with fellow senior Ian Williams and freshman Thomas Slattery in the distance medley relay final. There, the relay squad placed third overall in a time of 9:47.07, just six seconds behind two very strong teams from Columbia University and the University of New Hampshire. Their time of 9:47 would have beaten the winning time of 9:49 set last year at the IC4A championship by Georgetown.
The final meet of the day was one of the most anticipated for the Fordham women. The 4×800 team, who won the 2014 event with a time of 8:50.08, featured a squad consisting of Fagade, fellow senior captains Melissa Higgins and Kristen Stuart and junior Danielle Rowe. It was a fast race, and Fordham was about four seconds behind when Fagade was handed the baton. Running a 2:07.80, the fastest personal split time in the meet, Fagade took the reigns for Fordham and drove the team into second place, eight-hundredths of a second behind the team from Georgetown. In the process, the women broke a school record and the track record set in 2013 by James Madison University.
“The gold would’ve been great,” said Rowe. “But, we all ran our butts off and broke the facility record as well as the previous school record. You really can’t be too disappointed with a performance like that.”
Though the end of any season is always significant, this meet meant something special to the women’s team. The 4×800 finish line marked the end of Fagade’s career as a Fordham track runner. Over the years, Fagade has compiled no fewer than 11 school records in both relay and individual events. As a graduate student with one season of eligibility remaining, she decided to return as a captain and lead the team as far as possible in meets like the ECAC Championship. With her eligibility up, her career has officially ended for Fordham.
“That’s what made the end of this meet so difficult,” said Rowe. “Knowing that we’re losing such a valuable friend, teammate and captain is tough.”
Fagade will not just leave the team for good, though. Still a Fordham student, Fagade plans on sticking with the team in some role this upcoming season. She is also considering running with a club team for the outdoor season.
“I’m going to continue with my role as a captain,” she said. “I’ll workout with the team and be present.”
With the sun out and snow receding, spring track is right around the corner. The outdoor season will start in West Chester, Pennsylvania on Friday, March 20.
