By Andrew Posadas

For Fordham Track and Field, along with the rest of its conference constituents, all roads lead to Amherst, Mass. this weekend for the much-anticipated Atlantic 10 Championship. But before the Rams hone in on a potential conference championship, there were two meets over the weekend that required the team’s immediate attention.

First on the agenda: the Penn Relays, a prestigious meet that has been around for well over a century in Philadelphia. On day one of the relays, the Rams decided to add some history of their own at the University of Pennsylvania.

The day would belong to the distance medley relay team comprised of senior distance runner Laurel Fisher, sophomore sprinter Sarinnagh Budris, senior mid-distance runner Aidan Moroz and junior distance runner Katarzyna Krzyzanowski. She held off Yale University’s final runner in the last leg of the race to capture first place in the college division event.

]Their time of 11:34.28 shatters the previous Fordham school record set back in 2009 by nearly 25 seconds. More importantly, beating the likes of Yale and the University of South Carolina solidifies that the Rams are a legit program.

Fordham would add three more top-10 finishes on the second day of relays. Senior sprinter Mary Kate Kenny, sophomore sprinter Kathryn Kelly, freshman sprinter Dominique Valentine and freshman mid-distance runner Helen Connolly competed in the sprint medley relay. They finished their relay in 4:07.66, good enough to take seventh place in the event.

On the men’s side, the distance medley team just missed out on matching the women’s team with event titles. Junior distance runner Sean Sullivan, graduate student runner Louis Santelli, sophomore mid-distance runner Christopher Strzelinski and graduate student runner Brian Cook finished in 9:51.05, a season-best for the team. They finished just seconds behind the University of Tennessee and the University of Pittsburgh to take home third place.

The Rams final top-ten finish of the day came in the sprint medley relay. The group of senior sprinter Jared Benn, sophomore sprinter Antony Misko, freshman sprinter Chase Krug and freshman mid-distance runner finished in 3:35.68 to claim ninth place.

Fordham competed in both the women’s and men’s 4×800 relays on the final day, securing two more top-10 finishes to culminate a stellar weekend in the city of brotherly love. Specifically in the women’s 4×800 relay, the team of Moroz, senior mid-distance runner Kate McCormack, sophomore sprinter Dana Beggins, and Fisher earned a fourth place finish. They were also able to qualify for the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championship in the process with their time of 9:11.71.

On Sunday, select members of the Rams finished off the weekend by participating in the 2019 Peacocks and Brick City Classic in New Jersey. Notable finishes include freshman mid-distance runners Jillian Jones and Angelica Piccini finishing second and third, respectively, in the women’s 800 meter run. In the men’s 800 meter run, junior mid-distance runner Jordan Milite had a solid showing, grabbing a top-five finish in his event with a time of 2:01.94.

Now, Head Coach Tom Dewey and the Rams set their sights on the Atlantic 10 Championship this week, which will be hosted by the University of Massachusetts from May 4-5.

Also, a special shoutout goes to coach Dewey for being introduced into the Fordham Athletics Hall of Fame this past Saturday at the second Fordham Athletics Gala. Congratulations, Coach!