Results
Kingston, R.I. - (Feb. 16, 2013) - The 2013 Atlantic 10 Indoor Track & Field Championship got underway on Saturday at Mackal Fieldhouse in Kingston, Rhode Island, with the Fordham Rams scoring in three events, while having seven runners make Sunday's finals.
Standings after day one in the women's competition put Dayton in the top spot with 44 points, followed by Charlotte (27.5), Temple (26), Rhode Island (24), VCU (21.5), La Salle (16), Richmond (15), Saint Louis (15), Duquesne (13), Xavier (10.5), Massachusetts (9.5), Butler (6), Fordham (5), and Saint Joseph's (1).
Fordham scored in two women's events, while posting three qualifiers for Sunday's finals. Junior Anisa Arsenault placed eighth overall in the 5,000 meter run, clocking in at 17:36.48, while the distance medley relay of Suzanne Forlenza, Danielle Rowe, Jillian Brooks, and Mara Lieberman finished fifth overall in a season-best time of 11:57.14.
Qualifiers for Sunday's finals included Kristen Stuart in the 500 meter run, as she placed third in a qualifying time of 1:16.29, while Titi Fagade and Melissa Higgins both qualified for the 800 meter run final. Fagade was fifth in qualifying at 2:15.19, while Higgins was sixth in 2:17.48.
Other top performers on Saturday were Averie Sheppard, posting a season-best time of 27.30 seconds in the 200 meter dash, Coral Hershkovitz, who was 14th in the 800 meter run (2:22.58), Christina Vivinetto, who ran a season-best time of 3:05.97 in the 1,000 meter run, and Emma Cleary, who tied for 12th in the pole vault, clearing 10' 4".
On the men's side, Rhode Island holds the top spot with 45 points, followed by Charlotte (38), Saint Joseph's (19), Butler (18), VCU (17), La Salle (16), Massachusetts (12), Saint Louis (12), Xavier (12), Temple (1) and Fordham (1).
The lone scorer on day one for the Rams was the distance medley relay. The team of Brian Walter, Michael Rossi, Daniel Green, and Kevin Harvey finished eighth overall in a time of 10:16.47. The Rams just missed scoring in the pole vault, as Keegan Talty and Daniel Chediak tied for ninth by clearing 13' 9 1/4".
Fordham did have four Rams qualify for Sunday's final, while junior Sam Houston is second in the heptathlon through four events. Houston has 2,793 points, trailing the leader, Andrew Reigstad of Rhode Island, by 373 points. Houston ran 7.46 seconds in the 60 meter dash, cleared 6' 6" in the high jump, had a mark of 37' 2 ¼" in the shot put, and posted a distance of 21' 7 1/4" in the long jump.
Senior John Cosgrove was the best qualifier on day one, finishing second in the preliminaries of the 800 meter run in 1:54.97, followed by senior Sean Atkinson, who was third in the 500 meter run qualifying in 1:04.81.
Sean Collins and Ryan Polo joined the senior duo in Sunday's finals in the 400 meter dash and 1,000 meter run, respectively. Collins was fifth in the 400 meter dash in 51.14 seconds, while Polo clocked in fifth position in a season-best time of 2:30.74.
Atkinson and Collins just missed the finals of a second event as each placed ninth in the 200 meter dash and 60 meter hurdles, respectively. Atkinson posted a time of 22.51 seconds, while Collins had a time of 8.52 seconds in the hurdles.
Other top performers on day one included Ian Williams, who was 11th in the 200 meter dash (22.54), David Fajoyomi, who was 12th in the 60 meter dash (7.14), Michael Bongiorno, who was 14th in the 500 meter run (1:07.79), Walter, who was 12th in the 1,000 meter run (2:33.85), and Nick Synan, who placed 18th in the 5,000 meter run in 15:13.36.
Day two of the Atlantic 10 Championship begins at 9:00 AM on Sunday.
