This past weekend, the Fordham track and field teams competed in the ECAC/IC4A Indoor Championships. It was a two day event held at Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center. There were some great performances among the relay teams, as well as more season best times. Two relay teams made the qualifying time for the finals on Sunday. At the end of the meet, all eight athletes earned special recognition.
On the men’s side, the 4×800 relay team, consisting of sophomores Fritz Heinrich, Brian Cook and Louis Santelli and freshman Sean Phillips, finished first in their heat and second overall with a time of 7:35.64. This finish qualified them for the finals on Sunday. Next, the distance medley relay team, consisting of sophomore Nik O’Brien, freshman Jared Benn, junior Ryan McGann and sophomore Thomas Slattery, finished in 10th place with a time of 10:03.54. This was just two seconds shy of qualifying for the finals on Sunday. Finally, Benn competed in the 400m run and came in 20th with a new personal record time of 48.97, which was .86 seconds away from the school record.
For the women, there was only one 4×800 relay team competing, and they showed great success. The team consisted of sophomore Merissa Wright, freshman Kate McCormack, junior Shanna Heaney and senior Danielle Rowe, who have competed in all indoor 4×800 relays this season. They finished fifth overall with a time of 8:35.75, which qualified them for the finals on Sunday.
Only the two 4×800 relay teams, one on the men’s side and one on the women’s side, qualified for the finals. Both teams finished well and qualified for the outdoor events in a few months. The men’s team of Heinrich, Cook, Santelli and Phillips finished seventh overall with a time of 7:35.46, almost exactly the same as their time in the preliminaries the day before. The women’s team of Wright, McCormack, Heaney and Rowe finished in third place with a time of 8:46.54. This finish was seven seconds faster than their time in the preliminaries the day before and came close to setting a new school record. Currently, the 2015 team holds the record with a time of 8:45.02.
Overall, the Rams had a successful meet and a great end to the indoor season. Not only did two teams compete in the finals of the ECAC/IC4A Indoor Championships, but all eight of those runners were recognized for their outstanding performances in the finals and were named to the All-East teams.
Wright reflected on the success of the weekend, saying, “This weekend was a really great way to end the season. Both the men’s and women’s teams ran their hearts out on the track for the last races of the season. I was lucky enough to be on the placing 4×800 team which represented each year of school, freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. Everyone ran their strongest. [We set so many personal records] and everyone showed what the past months of grueling workouts and mileage was for. I could not be happier and I am very excited for outdoor to start in two weeks.”
The teams have a few weeks off until the start of their outdoor season. Their next meet will be the Fred Hardy Invitational, which takes place in Richmond, Virginia, on March 25 and 26.
