New York, N.Y. / Boston, Mass. – (January 24, 2025) – The Fordham track & field team is split up this weekend for competition, taking part in the Dr. Sander Scorcher, hosted by Columbia in New York, and the River Hawk Invitational, hosted by UMass Lowell in Boston.
For day one at the Sander Scorcher, which is being held at the Nike Track & Field Center at the Armory, the Rams competed in the men's open 3,000-meter run, the men's and women's open 800-meter run, and the men's 800-meter invitational.
In the men's open 3,000 meters,
Tadael Mihret placed 20
th overall in 8:56.19, while the men's open 800 meters saw
Matthew Febles take 27
th overall in 1:59.38. The women's open 800 meters had
Megan McCann as the top performer, ending up seventh in 2:18.39, followed by
Kathleen Keefe in 38
th (2:27.01) and
Brenna Sears in 44
th (2:33.75).
Then in the men's 800-meter invitational,
Ben Borchers was the top finisher in 13
th place at 1:52.93, followed by
Aidan Hickey (28
th – 1:55.55),
John Corrigan (31
st – 1:55.96), and
Yariv Simhony (41
st – 2:00.49).
Up in Boston at the track by New Balance, it was the men taking center stage, as all of the women's events are slated for Saturday.
The highlight of the day came in the 200-meter dash invitational event, as freshman
Njam Abdul-Latif matched the school record in the 200-meter dash. He tied the school record of David Fajoyomi set in 2014 at 21.47 seconds and tied for first in the event.
Matthew Nurse was also 21
st in the event at 22.17 seconds, while being 16
th in the 400-meter invitational in 49.42 seconds.
Abdul-Latif wasn't the lone Ram to crack 22 seconds in the 200-meter dash on Friday, as in the open division,
Sam Freeman and
Dakota Strain also did so. Freeman won the open division of the 200 meters in 21.78 seconds, while Strain was fourth in 21.93 seconds. Additionally,
Kevin Callaghan was 24
th overall in 22.48 seconds.
Freeman and Abdul-Latif each added a second place finish to their ledger on Friday. Abdul-Latif was second in the 60-meter dash in a school record time of 6.86 seconds, while Freeman took second in the 500 meters in 1:04.68.
Liam Volz was also in the 60-meter dash, clocking in at 7.09 seconds (25
th), while Callaghan was sixth in the 500 meters in 1:05.62.
The Rams also had competitors in the mile run, 5,000 meters, 60-meter hurdles, high jump, and pole vault at the River Hawk Invitational.
Bradford Duchesne was eighth overall in the 5,000-meter run in 15:10.42, while
Darren Croke grabbed 22
nd in the mile run at 4:19.07.
George Pomer was then 27
th in the high jump (6' 1 ¼") and 35
th in the 60-meter hurdles (9.16) with
Miguel Negrete being 28
th in the pole vault (12' ¾") and 49
th in the 60-meter hurdles (9.59). The final competitors for the Rams were
Michael Croke in the pole vault (13
th – 14' ½") and
DaRon Elam in the high jump (T21st – 6' 3 ¼")
Both meets are two-day invitational and will conclude on Saturday.
