Staten Island, N.Y. – (February 2, 2024) – It was an outstanding day for the Fordham track & field team at the 2024 Metropolitan Indoor Championship, held at the Ocean Breeze Complex on Staten Island on Friday.
The Rams grabbed second place in both team competitions, totaling ten event wins, 12 ECAC/IC4A qualifiers, and two school records.
In the women's competition, Fordham was second out of 14 teams with 143.5 points, trailing only St. John's at 199, while on the men's side, the Rams were second out of 15 teams with 127 points, behind only Rowan's 185. For point totals, the 127 points for the men was Fordham's highest score at the Metropolitan Championship, while the women's total was their second-highest (153 in 2022).
The opening event of the championship was the 5,000-meter run, where
Sarah Zahaykevich scored fourth in the women's race at 18:08.77, while
Jack Boerger was sixth in the men's race at 15:14.28.
Next were the 60-meter hurdles and dash events, which began with
Kylie Ritz winning the women's 60-meter hurdles in an ECAC qualifying time of 8.96 seconds, while
Nicole Lytle scored fourth in 9.20 seconds.
Dillyn Green then followed with a sixth-place finish in the women's 60-meter dash in 7.94 seconds. For the men,
Christian Weddington scored third with a school record and IC4A qualifying time of 6.97 seconds. He broke the previous mark of 7.00 by David Fajoyomi at the 2012 Metropolitan Championship.
Another school record was hit in the pole vault, as
Michaela Gier matched her school record by clearing 10' 10", which tied for third place.
Michael Croke scored fourth in the men's pole vault by clearing 14' 3 ¼".
It was an event sweep in the mile run for Fordham, starting with
Mary Kathryn Underwood taking the women's race in 5:00.84, while
Caroline McDonagh scored eighth in 5:13.44. The men then had a 1-2 finish with
Sean Reidy winning the race in 4:13.95 and Steve Zucca being second in 4:15.08.
The next scoring event for the Rams was the long jump, where
Leia Ruvo placed fourth (17' 6 ¾") and
Anya Alfonsetti-Terry in eighth (16' 11 ¼") in the women's event, while
Eric Galante grabbed fifth in men's event (21' 10 ¼").
Back on the track, the Rams scored in the next three events – the 500 meters, 800 meters, and 1,000 meters. In the 500 meters,
Molly Mulvaney registered a time of 1:21.30, good for seventh, while on the men's side,
Kevin Callaghan (1:05.64) and
Yariv Simhony (1:05.92) were third and fifth respectively, with both having IC4A qualifying times. The 800 meters saw
Nathan Bezuneh score second overall in 1:55.27.
Then in the 1,000 meters, a total of six Rams netted points.
Meredith Gotzman finished second in the women's event with an ECAC qualifying time of 2:55.64, followed by
Megan McCann in fifth (3:00.00) and
Brenna Sears in sixth (3:00.16). On the men's side,
Rodolfo Sanchez won the event in an IC4A qualifying time of 2:27.95, with
Colin Flood in second (2:28.52) and
Trevor Rinn in fourth (2:30.27).
Competition in the high jump saw another event win for Fordham, as
Zoe Arakelian and
Lexi Fujita tied for first place, as both cleared 5' 3".
George Pomer took part on the men's side, scoring seventh and clearing 6' ½".
The individual track events finished up with the 200-meter dash and 3,000-meter run.
Kyla Hill won the women's 200-meter dash in 24.90 seconds, while
Michele Daye was eighth in 25.93 seconds. On the men's side,
Jabril Carter scored fifth in the 200 meters in 22.22 seconds, while in the 3,000 meters,
Darren Croke (8:54.28) and
Matthew McCabe (8:56.09) placed fourth and sixth, respectively.
Field event scoring for the Rams finished in the triple jump, where Ruvo (37' 4") and
Alexandra Manetovic (36' 8 ½") were second and third in the women's event, while
Justin Rhee was third on the men's side at 44' 4 ¾".
The Championship concluded with four relays – distance medley, 4x200, 4x800, and 4x400. Fordham won the men's distance medley (10:14.34), 4x800 (7:51.98) and 4x400 (3:19.20) relays, all in IC4A qualifying times, while the women won the 4x800 relay in an ECAC time of 9:23.34, while being second in the distance medley (12:28.78), 4x200 (1:44.97), and the 4x400 (3:54.26) relays.
Fordham will be busy next weekend, taking part in three different meets – the BU Valentine Invitational (February 9-10), Big Apple Invitational (February 10), and the Millrose Games (February 11).
Gallery: (2-2-2024) 2024 Metropolitan ITF Championship
