Jan. 7, 2011
Complete Results
New York, N.Y. - The Fordham track & field teams were back in competition for the first time in 2011 on Friday at the Metropolitan Coaches Invitational, hosted at the Armory Track & Field Center in New York. The night was a good one for the Rams, which saw four ECAC/IC4A qualifying times and a total of 16 top five finishes.
Fordham also posted three event wins in both the men's and women's mile run and the women's high jump. Freshman Michael Belgiovine won the men's mile in a season-best time of 4:20.24, while senior Kerri Gallagher took home the top collegiate finisher in the women's mile in an ECAC qualifying time of 4:52.44.
Sophomore Courtnay Newman rounded out the event wins, taking first in the high jump, clearing a season-high 5' 5 ¾". Newman also took eighth in the 60 meter hurdles.
The men's team posted three IC4A qualifying times, which began with Brian Schmidt in the 500 meters. He placed third overall in an IC4A qualifying time of 1:04.36. He later joined Sean Atkinson, Nick Delligatti, and Christopher Lyons to earn a second place finish in the 4x400 relay in an IC4A qualifying time of 3:18.40. The final IC4A qualifier came from junior Kevin Fitzgerald, who placed third in the 1,000 meters in 2:29.20.
Fordham also had runners place in the top five in the men's 3,000 meters, 4x800 relay, distance medley relay, and high jump. Freshman Ryan Polo was third overall in the 3,000 meter run in a season-best time of 8:41.38, while senior Augustus Gleason placed fifth in the high jump, clearing 5' 11 ½". The 4x800 relay, consisting of Tim Hutchinson, Paul Szczepaniak, Fitzgerald, and Belgiovine, was fifth in 7:59.60, while the distance medley relay of Tom Kelly, Michael Rossi, Stephen Donnelly, and Julian Saad, placed second in 10:22.17.
On the women's side, the 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams both ran well. Kerry Sorenson, Christina Machado, Diane Bain, and Ashley Davis combined their efforts in the 4x800 relay to take second place in 9:53.56. In the 4x400 relay, Kelly Connolly, Averie Sheppard, Gallagher, and Elisabeth Warren took fourth overall in a season-best time of 4:01.66.
Sheppard, Connolly, Warren, and Davis also had strong individual performances earlier in the day. Sheppard was third in the 60 meter hurdles in 9.57 seconds and seventh in the 400 meters with a season-best mark of 1:00.33 with Connolly taking fourth in the 500 meters in a season-best time of 1:17.91. Warren posted season-best marks in both the long jump and triple jump. She registered a mark of 17' 4 ¼" in the long jump, good for sixth overall, while grabbing ninth in the triple jump with a distance of 34' 11". Davis also posted a season-best time in the 1,000 meters, taking tenth overall in 3:10.28.
Senior Sherilyn Groeninger also had a pair of top ten finishes, placing eighth in the 60 meter dash (7.94) and ninth in the 200 meters in a season-best time of 26.63.
The Fordham track and field teams will next be in action on Friday, January 14th, at the NYU Classic, held at the Armory Track & Field Center, beginning at 2:00 PM.
