By Andrew Posadas

With the Atlantic 10 Championship less than three weeks away, Fordham Track and Field invaded the University of Rutgers for the 2019 Metropolitan Outdoor Championship. The Rams had themselves a stellar weekend with top-three finishes from both the men’s and women’s teams.

Over the weekend, the Rams looked to put neighboring schools such as Manhattan College and St. John’s University on notice at the Metropolitan Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Day one saw the women’s team flex its muscle on the leaderboard, scoring 42 points to finish in first place. A majority of those points came in the 3,000 meter steeplechase and the 10,000 meter run. Senior distance runner Laurel Fisher won the steeplechase event in a time of 10:44.58, with junior mid-distance runner Sydney Snow finishing second in 11:06.41.

In the 10,000 meter run, four Rams scored points by placing in the top 10. Just like the steeplechase, Fordham had a 1-2 finish as senior distance runner Abigail Taylor took home first place in 39:52.26. Senior distance runner and teammate Angelina Grebe was right on her heels, finishing second by only five tenths of a second.

Not to be outdone by their counterparts, the men’s side was also victorious in both the 3,000 meter steeplechase and the 10,000 run.

The men’s team has been powered all season by its two best scorers: junior distance runner Ryan Kutch and graduate school distance runner Brian Cook.

To say Kutch is having a great outdoor season would be an absolute understatement. It seems each weekend, a Fordham Track and Field record is liable to be broken every time Kutch touches the surface. Coming off being named A-10 performer of the week, the junior continued his fantastic season by securing first place in the 10,000 meter run with a time of 33:12:43.

As for Cook, the graduate student captured the Metropolitan title in the 3,000 meter steeplechase by finishing in 9:32.68. Cook would not be finished there. On day two, Cook won his second event of the championship by dominating the 5,000 meter run. His first place time of 14:41.05 also qualifies him for the IC4A Championship in May.

Other notable ECAC/IC4A qualifying times came from graduate student mid-distance runner Louis Santelli and senior mid-distance runner Aidan Moroz in the 800 meter run. Santelli finished in third place but ran a IC4A qualifying time of 1:53.33. Moroz placed in second on the women’s side, qualifying for the ECAC with a time of 2:10.31.

Fordham would win its last two events in the relay portion on Saturday. The men’s and women’s teams were both triumphant in the 4×800 relays. The women’s team of Snow, Moroz, Fisher and senior mid-distance runner Kate McCormack got it started by winning its 4×800 relay in 9:19.69. The men finished the sweep of the 4×800 relay afterwards, as sophomore mid-distance runner Christopher Strzelinski, junior distance runner Sean Sullivan, freshman mid-distance runner Jeremiah LaDuca and Santelli took home first place in 7:44.34.

By event’s end, the men’s team scored 136 points, good enough for second place out of 12 teams. The women’s team would ultimately finish in third place out of 12 teams with 124 points, but its lead after day one was quite impressive considering the staunch competition.

Fordham Track and Field is back in action this weekend for two separate invitationals. This Friday, the Rams take their talents to Princeton University and the Larry Ellis Invitational. Then, on Saturday, Fordham looks to contend at the Wolfie Invitational, hosted by Stony Brook University.