The Fordham track & field team experienced a rather odd weekend, with the team splitting up across two fully separate events. For the sprinters, mid-distance runners and field competitors, this meant traveling down to the University of Massachusetts Lowell in order to compete in the annual River Hawk Invitational. The long distance runners, however, spent their time on the Charles River, competing at Boston University’s John Thomas Terrier Classic.
Looking first at this meet, while there were not many competitors for Fordham in the extremely large field, the Rams nonetheless made their presence felt in almost every race.
The men were led by freshman Sean Reidy’s dominance in the men’s 1,000-meter race, as he continued his impressive first year campaign by finishing top 10 and posting an Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A) qualifying time of 2:26.53. The mile event likewise saw three Fordham runners post strong IC4A qualifying times, with junior Rodolfo Sanchez coming in 50th with a time of 4:06.58, graduate student Colin Flood placing in 79th with a time of 4:10.18 and junior Nathan Bezuneh finding himself in 90th with a time of 4:11.42. Finally of note for the men’s team in Boston was senior Steven Zucca’s performance in the 5,000-meter race, as he was able to post a IC4A qualifying time with his respective 14:32.66 performance.
For the women, their time amongst the hallowed streets of Boston kickstarted by graduate student Mary Kathryn Underwood, as she notched a top 50 finish in the women’s 800-meter race with a Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) qualifying time of 2:13.61. The women of Fordham were able to post another ECAC qualifying time, with freshman Meredith Gotzman using her sub-five minute time (4:59.37) to finish 81st overall in the event. Finally, while she was unfortunately to post an ECAC qualifying time, junior Caroline McDonagh’s time of 17:44.44 in the women’s 5,000-meter race was nevertheless strong enough for a top 50 finish (41st) in a very crowded event.
Turning now to Fordham’s performance at the River Hawk Invitational, it was much of the same dominance for the Rams, as their sprinters, mid-distance runners and field competitors all represented the maroon and white in a very strong way.
Looking first at the women’s performances, graduate student Kyla Hill announced her return to competition in a very strong way after missing last week’s meet. Hill was able to fully dominate two individual events, not only making it to the finals of the women’s 60-meter race, where she would go on to finish fifth with a blistering time of 7.60, but also able to have a spectacular race in the women’s 200-meter race, finishing eighth in the event with a season-best time of 24.89. Here, she would also be accompanied in the upper echelons of the event by a teammate, as sophomore Dillyn Green came in 42nd with a time of 26.18.
In the women’s 400-meter, Fordham once again saw two of their runners have standout performances, with seniors Michele Daye and Alexandra Williams finishing in 18th and 24th place, respectively. However, as impressive as Daye and Williams’ performances were, it was the team effort in 4×400-meter relay that really stole the show at this distance, as the group of Hill, Williams, Green and Daye were able to notch themselves a silver medal with an extremely strong ECAC qualifying time of 3:52.73.
Finally on the field side of things for the Fordham women in Massachusetts, sophomore Alexandra Manetovic had a spectacular meet. Manetovic was not only able to finish in the top 10 for the women’s high jump, with a final recorded height of 5’ 2 1/4”, but she would also register a top 20 finish in the women’s Triple Jump, recording a score of 11.21 meters. Just behind in this event was her sophomore teammate Leia Ruvo, whose score of 11.19 meters was good enough for 17th.
On the men’s side of things, sophomore Liam Volz kicked things off with a fifth place finish in the unseeded/standard category of the men’s 60-meter race, running what was a personal best time of 7.13. Just shortly after, in the men’s 200-meter, Fordham saw two of its runners post times worthy of a top 30 finish: freshman Jabril Carter ran a 22.25 (good enough for 25th on the day), while Volz once again put in another impressive performance with histime of 22.36 (good enough for 28th on the day).
However, as impressive as that was, the men in maroon’s most dominant performance of the day likely came in the 500-meter run, as the Rams saw three of their competitors notch top 25 finishes in the 500-meter. Graduate student Erik Brown was the leader of this charge by finishing in 10th with a IC4A qualifying time of 1:05.49, with sophomore Kevin Callaghan (1:06.47) and graduate student Safo Kirton (1:07.56) finishing just behind him in just behind him in the 17th and 23rd slots, respectively. Moreover, these three would then combine with junior Chris Martiznes in the 4×400-meter relay, their team posting a highly impressive IC4A qualifying time of 3:21.72 that notched them a top 10 finish in the event.
In terms of what’s next for the Rams, they will have to dig deep and make a quick turnaround once again as their next meet is fast approaching: the Metropolitan Championship on Feb. 2. There, the men and women of Fordham will travel to the Ocean Breeze Complex on Staten Island to clash with some of the finest runners in the area, the Rams needing to bring their A-game in order to make any noise.
