By Alexandria Sedlak

The men’s and women’s track and field teams competed this past Saturday, in the Wolfie Invitational hosted by Stony Brook University. The team had a strong showing, with a few first place wins, multiple second place finishers and many scorers overall. In total, the men’s team accumulated 68 points, which put it in third, and the women’s team accumulated 63 points, putting it in fourth.

The men’s team scored points in a good number of races. Freshman Jared Benn came in third in the 400m run with a time of 50.57 seconds, while also coming in 10th in the 200m dash with a finishing time of 22.95 seconds. Sophomore Thomas Slattery placed third in the 1500m with a time of 4:00.98, while senior Quincy O’Connor trailed a second behind him, coming in fifth with a time of 4:01.99. Then sophomore Brian Cook placed fifth in the 800m with a finishing time of 1:55.44, while fellow classmate Michael Campbell followed right behind him, taking sixth in a time of 1:56.02.

The women’s team also had an array of athletes scoring points. Sophomore Merissa Wright ended her 800m race in a time of 2:14.94, a season personal best time that put her in third. Senior Danielle Rowe also competed in the 800m, placing fifth with a time of 2:16.69. Sophomore Christina Perrier placed fourth in the 400m run with a time of 1:00.15. Sophomore Stephanie Leo came in fourth in the 3000m steeplechase, finishing in 11:54.95. Freshman Morgan Menzzasalma scored in two events, taking fourth in the 400m hurdles with a time of 1:05.04, and fifth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 16.23 seconds, a season personal best time. Freshman Maiya Larsen finished fourth in the 5000m with a time of 18:36.51, while junior Josephine Jacob-Dolan placed fifth in the same race with a time of 18:37.30.  Finally, fellow classmate Neve Devine claimed sixth place in high jump with a jumping height of 4-09.00.

Aside from these scorers, Fordham had many second place finishers. There were five in total, with three on the men’s side and two on the women’s side. Sophomore Louis Santelli earned second in the 400m run with a time of 49.35, just 0.10 seconds away from first place. Sophomore Fritz Heinrich placed second in the 1500m with a time of 4:00.24, a season best time that was only 0.12 seconds behind first place. Graduate student Jonathan Annelli earned second in the 800m with a season best time of 1:54.52; this earned Fordham 10 points, making Annelli the top collegiate runner for the meet. For the women, graduate student Brianna Tevnan took second in the 3000m with a time of 10:15.61, a personal best time that was less than three seconds behind first place. Freshman Laurel Fisher placed second in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 11:44.27.

Perhaps most notable were the three wins that the Rams secured. Junior Nicholas Regan won the javelin throw with a new personal best throw of 185-06. The men’s 4x400m A relay team won in a new season best time of 3:24.67, 0.38 seconds in front of second place. The women’s 4x400m A relay team also came in first place with a season best time of 3:54.85, which was 3.40 seconds ahead of the second place finishers.

Overall, Fordham had a successful showing at the Wolfie Invitational. Many Rams scored, and several ended by taking first or second place finishes in their races.

This week, the Rams will prepare for the Penn Relays next weekend at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Events take place from April 28-30.