Fordham Track & Field continued their busy spring schedule over the last two weeks, first competing in the Larry Ellis Invitational in Princeton, New Jersey, from April 15-16, followed by the Mark Young Invitational at Yale University on April 23. The Larry Ellis Invitational featured no team scoring, but still included notable individual performances from the Rams.

On the women’s side, day one in Princeton saw a first place finish from graduate student Germaine Harbaugh in the 10,000m run, finishing with a season-best time of 36:27.66. The Rams’ next highest finish came from graduate student Kathryn Kelly, who finished in fifth place in the long jump with a distance of 5.63m. 

Although they weren’t necessarily rewarded with high-placing finishes on the day, many Rams achieved either school records or season-best marks in their respective events. Graduate student Tiffany Hanna broke her own school record in the hammer throw with a distance of 47.34m, while senior Helen Connolly posted a season-best time in the 800m at 2:14.42.

Day two featured a second place finish in the 1500m from senior Bridget Alex at 4:37.90, a season-best time for her. The 4×100 relay team also came home with a season-best performance, with senior Dominique Valentine, freshman Sarah Galvin, Kelly and junior Kyla Hill finishing 11th at 47.62.

On the men’s side, Fordham’s highest day one finish came from senior Zalen Nelson, who placed 14th in the 800m with a time of 1:52.02. Senior Brandon Hall also had a notable day, producing a season-best time of 14:29.09 in the 5000m. The next day, redshirt senior Christopher Strzelinski was a bright spot for the Rams, placing seventh in the 800m at 1:54.17.

The following week, the Rams headed to New Haven, Connecticut, for the Mark Young Invitational hosted by Yale University. This single-day competition did include team scoring, with the Fordham women placing fifth out of eight teams and the Fordham men placing sixth out of seven teams.

Kelly, Hanna and Hill led the way for the Rams on the women’s end of the invitational. Building off her success last weekend, Kelly finished second in the long jump with a season-best distance of 5.97m to go along with another second place finish in the 200m and third place tally in the 100m.

Hanna impressed in the field events, taking home second in the discus throw at 40.81m and fourth in the hammer throw with a season-best distance of 51.23m, while Hill saw more success on the track with a third and fourth place finish in the 200m and 100m, respectively.

Nelson contributed to the scoring for the men, coming in second place in the 800m at 1:51.26. Freshman Nathan Bezuneh also tallied a second place finish in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:56.72, with sophomore Justin Lombardi placing fourth.

Brown University swept the invitational, winning both the women’s and men’s competitions. The Rams will be back in action next weekend at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia in what will be their final preparation before the Atlantic 10 tournament begins on May 7.