Feb. 13, 2010

Results | Video Highlights (courtesy of Flotrack.com)

Boston, Mass. - Following a record breaking day on Friday, the Fordham track & field teams wrapped up a successful weekend at the Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts on Saturday. The day saw five heat winners as well as three more ECAC/IC4A qualifying times.

The women's team had just one event to compete in, as the distance medley relay team of Kerri Gallagher, Elisabeth Warren, Sheena Parand, and Brigid Moriarty qualified for the ECAC Championship, winning their heat in a season-best time of 12:08.10.

The men's competition then took over, as junior Brian Schmidt led the way for Fordham. Schmidt won the 500 meter dash in a time of 1:03.40, bettering his IC4A qualifying time, while also finishing just .06 seconds off the school record of 1:03.34, set by Deric Zaphire in 2003.

Schmidt also joined Sean Atkinson, Nick Delligatti, and Christopher Lyons on the Rams' 4x400 relay, which won their heat in an IC4A qualifying time of 3:17.00 and placed ninth overall.

Lyons, Atkinson, and Delligatti also had season-best times in their individual runs earlier in the day. Lyons placed 19th in the 500 meter dash in a time of 1:06.02, giving Fordham two top 20 finishers in the 500 meters. Atkinson ran a season-best time of 49.66 seconds in the 400 meters, placing 42nd overall, while Delligatti improved his 200 meter dash time to 23.36 seconds.

Fordham's final IC4A qualifier came in the 800 meter run, as Kevin Fitzgerald ran a season-best time of 1:53.41, which won his heat and placed him 14th overall. Jarrett Anistranski also won his heat of the 800 meters in 1:59.05.

The Rams also had competitors in the 1000 meters and mile run. Those runners were led by Sam Stuart in the 1000 meters (49th - 2:34.43) and Brian Riley in mile (59th - 4:19.51).

The Fordham track & field teams will now travel to Kingston, Rhode Island, for the 2010 Atlantic 10 Championships, which begin on Friday, February 19th and conclude on Saturday, February 20th.