Taylor’s Record Breaker Highlights Day Two of Valentine’s Day Classic

Results
 
With a winter storm threatening the Boston area, the Valentine's Day Classic hosted by Boston University got an early start on Saturday morning.  The Fordham track & field was ready & willing, posting three new IC4A qualifying times, while senior Lester Taylor broke his own school record in the 800 meter run.
 
The day began with the final women's event of the meet, the distance medley relay.  Fordham finished 22^nd overall as Ariana Bottalico, Laura Jaeger, Shanna Heaney, and Sarah Glockenmeier posted a time of 12:39.25.
 
The men's team then took to the track, which began with the 800 meter run.  Senior Lester Taylor had another outstanding performance as he finished sixth in a school record time of 1:49.65, breaking his own mark of 1:50.64, set a couple of weeks ago.  A native of the Bahamas, his time on Saturday also qualified him for the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, which will take place July 20-26.

 
Taylor wasn't done, as he posted a season-best time of 1:04.69 in the 500 meter run, which was good for 12^th overall.  Louis Santelli also had a good performance in the 500 meters, as he qualified for the IC4A Championship with a time of 1:05.08, which placed him 19^th.  Daniel Green was the last Fordham runner in the 500 and 800 meters, placing 36^th in the 500 (1:07.37) and 112^th in the 800 (1:58.87).
 
In the sprints, Ian Williams competed in the 60 and 200 meter dash.  Williams placed 19^th overall in the 60 in 7.08 seconds, while grabbing 70^th overall in the 200 in a time of 22.44 seconds.
 
Next up was the 1,000 meter run, where Thomas Slattery qualified for the IC4A Championship with a time of 2:28.47, good for 17^th overall.  Other performers in the 1,000 meters were Brian Cook (2:32.92 – 41^st), Yehia Fahmy (2:33.00 – 45^th), Devin Rocks (2:34.08 – 50^th), and Michael Campbell (2:56.69 – 81^st).
 
The final individual running event for the Rams was the mile run.  Jonathan Annelli was Fordham's top finisher as he took 37^th in an IC4A qualifying time of 4:08.38.  Quincy O'Connor was the next best time in 4:16.16 (93^rd), while Jake Duckworth (4:20.74 – 130^th), Ryan McGann (4:20.80 – 131^st), Mike Turi (4:22.27 – 148^th), and Fritz Heinrich (4:23.69 – 163^rd) were also in the event.
 
The lone relay event for the men's team was the 4x400 relay, where Santelli, Fahmy, Rocks, and Cook finished 44^th in 3:29.28.
 
Over in the field events, Austin Ruiz placed 24^th in the shot put with a distance of 47' 2 ¼", while Ryan Riviere tied for 30^th in the pole vault, clearing 13' 5 ¼".
 
The Fordham track & field team will next be in action on February 21^st, as the Rams compete in the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship, hosted at the University of Rhode Island's Mackal Fieldhouse.