Results
New York, N.Y. - (Jan. 27, 2012) - Day two of the 2012 Metropolitan Indoor Track & Field Championship proved to be a very successful one for the Fordham Rams on Friday, as the men's team took third out of 13 teams, while the women finished sixth out of 14 teams. Overall, the Rams captured three event titles and posted seven ECAC/IC4A qualifiers.
Fordham scored 101 points in the men's competition to finish third behind only Rutgers (164) and Manhattan (122). The Rams were led by three event wins in the 800 meter run, the 4x800 relay, and the men's heptathlon.
Junior John Cosgrove began things by winning the 800 meter run in an IC4A qualifying time of 1:53.56. He later came back to join Ryan Polo, Brian Walter and Kevin Fitzgerald to win the 4x800 relay event in 7:46.50.
The final event winner was a come from behind effort by sophomore Sam Houston. Following day one's results of the men's heptathlon, Houston trailed Southern Connecticut State's Nick Lebron by 59 points with three events to be held on Friday. Houston hit the comeback trail by posting career-best marks of 9.11 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles (6th) and 2:45.02 in the 1000 meter run (2nd). Still behind, Houston cleared 11' 5 3/4" in the pole vault to finish fourth.
However, Lebron missed all three attempts in the pole vault, posting no points in the final event, making Houston's total of 4,830 points the winner of the men's heptathlon. The score is also an IC4A qualifier and just missed breaking the Fordham school record of 4,835 points, which is held by Dan Tucker in 2006.
In addition to the three event wins, Fordham also had three second place finishes, four third place finishes, and six other scoring performances.
Before running the 4x800 relay, Polo placed second in the 1000 meter run in an IC4A qualifying time of 2:28.65, while Julian Saad took second in the 5,000 meter run in a career-best time of 14:52.59. The men's 4x400 relay was also second, as Nick Delligatti, Michael Rossi, Sean Collins, and Sean Atkinson posted a season-best time of 3:18.07.
All four runners of the 4x400 also scored in individual events, as Delligatti scored in the 400 meters (8th - 50.64), Atkinson in the 500 meters (3rd - 1:03.68), Rossi in the 800 meters (5th - 1:55.93), and Collins in the 60 meter hurdles (3rd - 8.54).
Other Fordham scorers were David Fajoyomi, who was third in the high jump with an IC4A qualifying mark of 6' 10 3/4" and fourth in the 60 meter dash (7.00), Fitzgerald, who was fifth in the mile run in an IC4A qualifying time of 4:12.21, Brian Riley, who was third in the 3,000 meter run (8:38.73), Lourenzo Smith, who was sixth in the long jump (22' 6 1/4"), and the distance medley relay comprised of Sam Stuart, Michael Bongiorno, Daniel Green, and Jonathan Annelli, which placed fourth (10:21.80).
In the women's competition, Fordham scored 44.5 points to finish in sixth place, behind Columbia (156), St. John's (133), Rutgers (120.5), St. Peter's (78), and Southern Connecticut State (52.5).
Leading the charge for the women was sophomore Titi Fagade, who placed second in the 500 meter run in an ECAC qualifying time of 1:14.60. Fagade was also a part of the 4x400 relay team with Kristen Stuart, Melissa Higgins, and Elisabeth Warren that took fifth in a season-best time of 3:54.82. Warren also joined Fagade as a dual event scorer, as she placed eighth in the long jump with a career-best mark of 17' 11".
The Rams also posted an ECAC qualifier in the 4x800 relay event, where Jillian Brooks, Emily Osman, Mara Lieberman, and Kelly Connolly took third place in 9:20.86. Connolly also scored individually in the 800 meter run, taking fourth in a career-best time of 2:15.62.
Other individual scorers for Fordham included Averie Sheppard, who tied for eighth in the 400 meter dash in a season-best time of 58.47 seconds, Erin Lunny, who finished third in the 3,000 meter run (10:06.86), Anisa Arsenault, who placed fourth in the 5,000 meter run (17:35.02), and Courtnay Newman, who took fifth in the high jump (5' 5").
The final scoring event for the women was the distance medley relay, where Danielle Drummond, Sheppard, Coral Hershkovitz and Arsenault took fourth in 12:29.45.
The Fordham track & field team will next be in action on February 3-4 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational, held at the Armory Track & Field Center, as well as at the Charles Torpey Invitational on February 4th, which will be in New Haven, Connecticut.
