Track & Field Impresses at Metropolitan Championship

Full Results

Staten Island, N.Y. -- The Fordham Track & Field teams enjoyed many successes at the 2016 Metropolitan Championship, held at Ocean Breeze Park, this past Friday including seven different IC4A/ECAC qualification times and 21 career-best times and debuts.
 
Both the men's and women's squads finished fourth among 13 and 15 programs, respectively. Rutgers, Manhattan and Southern Connecticut State placed above the men's group, while Rutgers, St. John's and Manhattan finished above the women's group.
 
On the men's side, Nicholas Regan competed in the 60 meter dash and finished 16th in 7.82 seconds. Freshman Jared Benn kicked things off with his debut 200 meter dash in 22.36 and was followed by Jordan Allen (12th - 23.02) and Michael Aman (18th - 23.19).  Benn later competed in the 400 meter dash and posted a career-low 49.13 finish, good for an IC4A qualifying time. 
 
In the 500 meter, Louis Santelli placed fourth with a time of 1:05.95, while Eddie Dehais finished ninth in 1:06.71. The Rams competitors in the 800 meter run, Fritz Heinrich, Michael Campbell, and Devin Rocks,  finished sixth, eighth, and 16th, respectively, with times of 1:56.58, 1:57.90, an 2:01.18. 
 
Sean Phillips was victorious in the 1,000 meter race with a 2:30.84 finish. Patrick Dineen finished sixth in 2:36.31.
 
Sophomore standout Thomas Slattery continued the winning stretch with a first-place finish in the 3,000 meter race in 8:33.15. Mike Turi kept the stretch alive with a gold-medal finish in the 5,000 meter, the first instance of the season in which more than two runners competed. Nik O'Brien and Quincy O'Connor placed right behind Turi in 15:14.40 and 15:18.60, respectively,  ahead of Jake Duckworth in sixth with a 15:35.47 time.
 
In the medley races, the men enjoyed first-place success in the 4x800 meter and Distance Medley, with the former being the first such race of the 2015-16 season. In that race, Campbell, Phillips, Santelli, and Heinrich's time of 7:53.03 was enough to best the crowd. In the DMR, Brian Cook, Benn, O'Brien and Turi's time of 10:12.06 was fast enough for IC4A qualification. The quartet of Dehais, Aman, Allen, and Ryan McGann placed sixth in the 4x400 meter relay in 3:30.67.
 
In the lone field event among Rams participants, Ryan Riviere scorched past a career-best with a 13' 7 ¼" in the pole vault.
 
On the women's side, Danielle Rowe and Merissa Wright kicked things off in impressive fashion by both qualifying for ECAC times in the 500 meter with 1:14.36 and 1:14.84, respectively. Leah Hickey and Clarissa Cartledge also competed in the event, finishing 13th and 24th with times of 1:20.22 and 1:30.12, respectively. The tandem of Shanna Heaney and Aidan Moroz continued in the 800 meter run with the former placing second and the latter finished in fifth. Heaney, who's 2:13.89 time is normally an ECAC qualification, had bested that time a week earlier by .76 seconds. Moroz posted a career-high by six seconds. Georgeanne Siller and Tara Cangialosi also competed and finished ninth and 26th, respectively, in 2:21.13 and 2:36.98. 

Mary Kate Kenny bested her previous record in the 60 meter by .06 seconds with a 7.93 time but failed to qualfying for the finals by .03 seconds, finishing ninth out of 32 runners. In the 200 meter dash, the trio of Morgan Menzzasalma, Laura Jaeger, and Kylie Farrell took 16th, 22nd, and 24th, with times of 26.52, 27.13, and 27.42, respectively. Christina Perrier placed 13th in the 400 meter in 1:00.22, while Meaghan Roszyk finished 26th in 1:07.43. 
 
Freshman Kate McCormack's excellent freshman season culminated in an ECAC-qualifying 2:54.03 time in the 1,000 meter, good for third, ahead of Brynna Harum, who's career-best 3:01.40 time earned her sixth. Laurel Fisher placed ninth and Julia Wiseman notched a 11th-place finish in 3:07.28 and 3:10.71, respectively. Josephine Jacob-Dolan debuted in the 3,000 meter and placed fifth in 10:33.37. She was followed by teammates Stephanie Leo (9th - 10:40.83), Maiya Larsen (12th - 10:57.76), and Clare Bollnow (14th - 11:06.28). 

Rachel Picard placed ahead of teammates Blake Elwood and Elizabeth Morriseau in the mile, finishing 12th in 5:25.26. Elwood and Morriseau crossed in 5:31.69 and 5:59.82, respectively. 
 
Four Rams competed in the 5,000 meter – Brianna Tevnan (3^rd – 18:06.29), Angelina Grebe (4^th – 18:08.58), Brianne Roche (7^th – 18:35.18), and Kieran Hanrahan (9th - 18:49.13). 
 
The quartet of Perrier, Morgan Menzzasalma, Kenny, and Moroz combined for a fourth-place finish in 3:55.60 in the 4x400 meter. Meanwhile, the impressive foursome of Wright, Rowe, Heaney and McCormack garnered first-place and ECAC-qualifying accolades with a 9:11.91 finish in the 4x800 meter relay. Heaney, Harum, Fisher, and Tevnan ran in the distance medley relay and placed fifth in 12:38.98.
 
The Rams are back in action next week for the Valentine's Day Classic, held at Boston University, at the BU Track & Tennis Center in Boston. Events are to begin next Friday at 2 p.m.