May 8, 2011
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Charlotte, N.C. -
Day two of the 2011 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championships saw the Rhode Island men's team and Charlotte women's team take home the top prizes at the conference champions, but Fordham still had a strong showing, setting five school records, while taking sixth on the men's side and tenth in the women's competition.
The Rhode Island men's team finished with 179 points, followed by runner-up Charlotte just 2.5 points behind first, totaling 176.5 points. Temple grabbed third with 131 points, followed Massachusetts (89), Duquesne (76), Fordham (43), Xavier (42), Saint Louis (37), Richmond (35.5), Saint Joseph's (27), and La Salle (21).
Of the five Fordham records set today, two came in the men's competition, highlighted by the men's 4x400 relay. The team of Sean Atkinson, Nick Delligatti, Christopher Lyons, and Brian Schmidt, took third overall in a school record time of 3:11.97, breaking the old mark of 3:12.1, set by John O'Brien, Doug Tynan, Frank Tomeo, and Peter Weiss in 1962.
The Rams' other school record came in the decathlon, as freshman Sam Houston placed third in the event with a score of 6,448 points, breaking Matt Spaccarelli's record score of 6,171 points, set in 2007. After leading the competition through five events, Houston placed first in the 1,500 meters (4:33.38), third in the discus throw (112' 3"), seventh in the pole vault (11' 1 ¾"), and eighth in the javelin throw (114' 7") and the 110 meter hurdles (17.15).
Besides the two records, Fordham had two male runners earn Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors, as Schmidt placed second in the 800 meters in 1:51.18, while Atkinson took second in the 400 meter hurdles in a season-best time of 53.19 seconds.
Other scorers for Fordham were Lyons in the 400 meters, taking eighth in a season-best time of 48.87 seconds, John Cosgrove, who was seventh in the 800 meters (1:52.45), and the 4x100 relay, comprised of Michael Bongiorno, Lyons, Frank Massaro, and Atkinson, which placed sixth in a season-best time of 42.87 seconds. Julian Saad and Augustus Gleason just missed scoring, as Saad took ninth overall in the 5,000 meters run in 14:56.19, while Gleason was ninth in the decathlon with a score of 5,315 points.
In the women's competition, Charlotte won the women's title with 169.5 points, followed by Dayton in second place with 133 points. Richmond finished the competition in third with 99.5 points, followed by Duquesne and Rhode Island (93.5), Temple (75), Saint Louis (59.5), Massachusetts (48), Saint Joseph's (32.5), Fordham (25), La Salle (17) and Xavier (12).
Fordham's lone All-Atlantic 10 performance in the women's competition came from Kerri Gallagher, who took second overall in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:25.32 to receive Second Team All-Conference honors.
Of the three Fordham women's record set, two came in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays, while the final one was in the 200 meters.
Sherilyn Groeninger, Elisabeth Warren, and Averie Sheppard were all a part of two records each on the day, as Groeninger began the day by setting the Fordham record in the 200 meter dash, placing 11th overall in 25.30 seconds. She broke the previous school record of 25.34 seconds, set by Stephanie Irvin in 2004.
Groeninger, Warren, and Sheppard were then a part of the school record-setting 4x100 relay with Titi Fagade. The group placed seventh overall with a record time of 48.03 seconds, breaking a mark the same group set, earlier this season.
Warren and Sheppard then joined Gallagher and Kelly Connolly on the 4x400 relay, which took fifth place in a record time of 3:47.81, breaking the mark of 3:50.64, set at last year's Atlantic 10 Championship by Warren, Gallagher, Connolly, and Kerry Kwalwasser.
Other top performers in the women's competition were Anisa Arsenault, who was 11th in the 5,000 meters (17:44.54), and Darlene Eiermann, who took 12th in the 400 meter hurdles (1:07.42 - season-best).
The Fordham track & field team will next be in action on May 14-15, as the members who qualified will compete at the ECAC/IC4A Championship, held in Princeton, New Jersey.
