April 17, 2010
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Mahwah, N.J. -
The Fordham track & field teams found its way to Ramapo College for the 2010 Metropolitan Outdoor Track & Field Championship on Saturday and had another solid performance, as the men placed second out of ten teams, while the women were fourth out of 11 teams. In all, Fordham had 20 top three finishes, including seven event wins and two school records.
Southern Connecticut State won the men's competition with 150 points, followed by Fordham (135), LIU (121), St. Peter's (99), Fairleigh Dickinson (62), St. Francis (NY) (60), NYU (43), Wagner (34), Marist (33), and Iona (8).
On the women's side, St. John's placed fist with 170 points, followed by Southern Connecticut State (120), LIU (112), Fordham (85.5), St. Peter's (83), Fairleigh Dickinson (68), Wagner (66.5), Iona (33), Marist (30), NYU (26), and St. Francis (NY) (19).
The day was led by Fordham's Brian Schmidt and Kerri Gallagher, as both won the 800 meter run, just a day after competing at the Princeton Invitational, where they ran against some of the top talent on the east coast.
At Princeton, Gallagher placed seventh, but on Saturday, she finished first in a time of 2:15.76. Schmidt came back from a 12th place finish at Princeton to take home first in the 800 meters in a season-best time of 1:52.56, just ahead of teammate John Cosgrove, who was second in 1:52.72.
On top of Gallagher and Schmidt's performances in the 800 meters, the other major highlights were put in by Blair Hassell and the women's 4x100 relay team, comprised of Sherilyn Groeninger, Elisabeth Warren, Catherine Groene, and Kelly Connolly. The group broke the school record in 49.43 seconds, taking fourth overall and besting the 1991 record of 49.67, set by Melissa St. Rose, Toni Agard, Kim Reilly, and Kristen Gecewicz.
Fordham also posted event wins in the women's javelin throw, the women's 10,000 meters, women's 4x400 relay, the men's 3000 meter steeplechase, and the men's 1500 meters.
Blair Hassell took the women's javelin throw with a season-best distance of 129' 1" with Brigid Moriarty taking the 10,000 meter run in 37:51.65. The women's 4x400 relay, made up of Connolly, Warren, Groene, and Gallagher, posted their best time of the season, winning the event on 3:56.94.
Besides the winners on the women's side, Courtnay Newman took third in the high jump (5' 1"), while Groene placed second in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:05.42 and Mairin O'Connor was third in the 5,000 meters in a season-best time of 19:03.53.
The men's 3000 meter steeplechase saw
Brian Riley win the event in a season-best time of 9:36.92, with
John Korevec and Pat McDonough right behind him in third and fifth place, respectively. The Rams' final event winner was
Kevin Fitzgerald in the 1,500 meters in 3:59.10.
Besides the winners on the men's side, Christopher Lyons had two top five finishes, placing third in the 200 meters (22.39 - season-best) and fifth in the 400 meters (49.30 - season-best), while Daniel Chediak took second in the 110 meter hurdles in a season-best time of 15.66 seconds and third in the pole vault, clearing 12' 6". Tom Papain (5,000 meters - 15:10.57) and Pat Brown (hammer throw - 154' 9") also had third place finishes in their respective events.
In the relays, the men's 4x800 relay took second in 7:51.39, while the 4x100 (43.66 - season-best) and 4x400 (3:18.03) both finished third. The women's 4x800 relay was the final competing relay, taking fifth in 9:48.63.
The Fordham track & Field team will next be in action on April 22-24, as they compete at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.
