Day One at A-10 Indoor Track & Field Championship Yields Four Final Qualifying Times

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Kingston, R.I. -- The first day of the Atlantic 10 Indoor Track & Field Championship is in the books and the Rams had a couple of top performances to highlight the day, including Sean Phillips' second-place finish in the 1,000 meter and Merissa Wright's fourth-place finish in the 500 meter. Click the link above for full results from Saturday's events at Mackal Field House.
 
The weekend began at 9 a.m. with the multi events. Fordham did not participate. While the field events were going on, the running events began at 2 p.m. The first two events, the 60 meter hurdles and 400 meter dash, the Rams did not participate, but at 3:30 p.m., right before Ryan Riviere was getting ready for the men's pole vault, five Rams were readying for the 500 meter trials. The women went first and Wright placed fourth, qualifying for tomorrow's finals with a 1:15.27 time, which is an ECAC qualifying time. Wright had already qualified for in this event two weeks ago at the Metropolitan Championship. Behind her were Danielle Rowe (10^th – 1:16.47) and Leah Hickey (21^st – 1:19.95), the latter notching a career-best time in the event. For the men, Jared Benn qualified for Sunday with a sixth place finish in 1:05.80. Freshman Eddie Dehais ran 1:07.49 and placed 13^th overall.
 
Riviere, meanwhile, matched a career-high with 4.35m (14' 3.25"), good for ninth overall. No other field events had Ram participants.
 
In the 60 meter trials, Mary Kate Kenny finished 21^st overall with a 8.07 time, her first time over 8 seconds this season. For the men, Jordan Allen made his debut in the event, a week after an IC4A-qualifying run in the 200 meter, and placed 11^th in 7.18. Nicholas Regan finished three spots behind in 7.84.
 
In the 800 meter trials, Shanna Heaney continued her impressive indoor season with a qualifying time of 2:16.21, good for sixth overall. Aidan Moroz crossed 18^th in 2:21.79. For the men, Louis Santelli placed 13^th in 1:56.85, followed by Michael Campbell in 20^th in 2:00.69.
 
Next up was the 1,000 meter trials. Three women and three men competed. Kate McCormack nearly qualified with a 2:57.12 time and 10^th-place finish. After the freshman were Brynna Harum (20^th – 3:06.86) and Laurel Fisher (23^rd – 3:09.31). Freshman Sean Phillips' runner-up finish in 2:30.35 was the Rams' best placement and qualified him for tomorrow's finals. Behind Phillips were Fritz Heinrich (11^th – 2:32.01) and Patrick Dineen (20^th – 2:42.41).
 
The 200 meter dash trials didn't provide any qualifying times but one top-10 finish: Jordan Allen in 22.65. For the women, freshmen Mary Kate Kenny (17^th – 26.38) and Morgan Menzzasalma (21^st – 27.12) ran for Fordham.
 
The final individual race of the day, the 5,000 meter, also did not yield qualifying times for the Rams despite six participants. For the women, Brianna Tevnan came closest with a 17:51.46 finish, good for 11^th. She was followed by Angelina Grebe (16^th – 18:11.36) and Brianne Roche (22^nd – 18:28.27). On the men's side, Jake Duckworth's 15:24.35 time and 14^th-place finish in his collegiate indoor debut was the best time and finish, followed by Mike Turi's 15:33.22 time and Quincy O'Connor's 15:39.46 mark. The two upperclassmen finished 16^th and 18^th, respectively.
 
Fordham's two Distance Medley Relay teams finished towards the back end of the top-10. First, the women's squad, comprised of Harum, Christina Perrier, Georgeanne Siller, and Rachel Picard, crossed in 12:45.38, earning them 10^th place. The men, Devin Rocks, Dehais, Dineen, and Ryan McGann, finished 9^th overall in 10:38.16.
 
After the day, the men rank 10^th among their conference opposition while the women sit unranked.
 
Tomorrow's events begin at 9 a.m. with the high jump finals. The men's mile kicks off the day's individual running events at 11:15 a.m. On top of the finals for Saturday's races, there will also be a 3,000 meter race, a 4x800 meter, and a 4x400 meter race. The award ceremony should begin at 4 p.m.