The Fordham men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the 2016 Metropolitan Championships in New Jersey this past weekend. It was held at the Rutgers Bauer Track and Field Complex, which hosted 25 teams in total. The men, with 93 points, placed third out of 12 teams, and the women, with 61 points, placed fourth out of 13 teams. Overall, Fordham turned in a successful meet with both event and relay winners, as well as many runners scoring points for the team.
On the men’s side, there were nine runners who scored in events. Graduate student Jonathan Annelli placed second in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:35.54, while sophomore Brian Cook took third with a time of 9:41.99. Senior Quincy O’Connor finished third in the 5000m with a time of 14:58.09, while sophomore Thomas Slattery finished fourth with a time of 15:03.60. Junior Nicholas Regan competed in the javelin event, coming in fourth with a throw of 177 feet, nine inches. Sophomore Fritz Heinrich came in fourth in the 800m run with a time of 1:57.87 and classmate Michael Campbell finished in fifth with a time of 1:58.56. Finally, sophomore Nik O’Brien placed seventh in the 1500m with a time of 4:10.37.
The women’s side also had nine runners who scored for Fordham. Freshman Maiya Larsen finished second in the 10,000m with a time of 38:56.10, while fellow classmate Kieran Hanrahan placed sixth with 40:53.64. Freshman Elizabeth Morisseau came in eighth with a time of 43:12.25. Freshman Laurel Fisher competed in the 3000m steeplechase where she came in third with a time of 11:52.77, while sophomore Stephanie Leo finished fourth in 12:23.38. Sophomore Merissa Wright raced in the 800m run, and came in fifth with a time of 2:17.14. Junior Shanna Heaney finished fifth in the 1500m with a time of 4:43.76, while freshman Kate McCormack placed sixth with a time of 4:47.27. Finally, freshman Aidan Moroz came in eighth in the 400m run with a time of 1:01.56.
Besides scoring in these events, Fordham placed a number of top finishes in individual events and relays. Junior Jake Duckworth started the day off by taking first place in the 10,000m with a time of 34:08.02. Senior Mike Turi followed just 0.82 seconds behind Duckworth, taking second place with a 34:08.84 finishing time. Duckworth also came in sixth in the 5000m with a time of 15:12.43, while Turi placed eighth with a time of 15:28.17. Sophomore Louis Santelli also took home a gold medal, placing first in the 800m with a time of 1:56.37, just 0.13 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. The men’s 4x800m relay was also a champion, winning the event in a time of 8:05.57. The 4x400m and 4x100m relays also scored in the meet, placing third and fifth, respectively. For the women, the 4x800m relay scored third place with a time of 9:49.39, while the 4x400m relay took first place with a finishing time of 4:30.82. Graduate student Brianna Tevnan also took gold in the 3000m steeplechase, winning the event in a time of 11:15.74.
In all, the Rams enjoyed a productive week at the Metropolitan Championships, with both the men and women showing strong finishes and event wins.
The Rams are next in action this upcoming weekend. On April 16, they will be competing in the Hopkins/Loyola Invitational in Baltimore, Maryland.
