Boston, Mass./New Haven, Conn. – (February 15, 2025) – The Fordham track & field team wrapped a busy weekend in two locations on Saturday, finishing competition at the BU/David Hemery Valentine Invitational, held at the BU Track & Tennis Center in Boston, Massachusetts, while also taking part in Yale's Giegengack Invitational in New Haven, Connecticut.
The Fordham women were the feature in Boston on Saturday, as the Rams had a pair of season-best performances and two new ECAC Championship qualifiers.
Kylie Ritz was one of those new ECAC qualifiers, finishing 16
th in the 200-meter dash in 25.42 seconds, while
Nicole Lytle was 52
nd in 26.27 seconds. Both runners also took part in the 60-meter hurdles with Ritz in sixth place (8.93 seconds) and Lytle in 23
rd (9.48).
Jasmine Hope also ran the 200 in the 200-meter invitational event, finishing 21
st overall in 25.22 seconds. She also competed in the long jump, taking 12
th with a distance of 16'8".
The Rams' other ECAC qualifier was
Sarah Zahaykevich in the 5,000-meter run, posting her personal-best time of 17:14.75 (132
nd).
As for season-best performances for the Rams, those happened in the 3,000 meters and 800-meter run. In the 3,000 meters,
Katarina Birimac posted a season-best time of 9:32.84 (101
st overall), slashing 23 seconds off her previous season-best mark, while
Meredith Gotzman recorded a time of 10:12.50 (225
th).
Then in the 800 meters,
Megan McCann posted a season-best time of 2:17.80 (119
th), followed by
Brenna Sears (2:18.03 – 125
th),
Cate Roche (2:22.33 – 171
st), and
Kathleen Keefe (2:24.23 – 186
th). That quartet was took part in the 4x400 relay, placing 31
st in 4:08.18.
In the remaining running events,
Sara Labor was 20
th in the 400-meter invitational event at 56.86, while
Michele Daye (57.78) and
Dillyn Green (58.38) were tied for 14
th and 25
th, respectively, in the open edition of the 400 meters.
Alexis Smith was 41
st in the 1,000 meters in 3:03.81 with
Sophia Oliva (5:09.93 – 210
th) and
Lauren Raimy (5:22.41 – 263
rd) competing in the mile run.
Fordham's final competitor in Boston was
Leia Ruvo, as she was fifth in the triple jump at 37' 6 ½" and 13
th in the long jump at 16' 6 ½".
At Yale, the highlight of the day came in the women's shot put, as
Tanicha Saintigene set a school record with a distance of 41' 11 ½", good for seventh place. She broke the previous mark of 40' 2 ¾" by Taylor Jacob in 2011. On the men's side,
James Alati was ninth in the shot put at 36' 5".
Alati also took part in the 60-meter hurdles, placing 11
th in 8.99 seconds, while
Ellie Harkins was 25
th in the women's event at 10.02 seconds.
The Rams also had competitors on both sides of the mile run.
Tadael Mihret was the top male in 13
th at 4:25.16, followed by
Anan Bauman in 15
th (4:27.27) and
Jake Frayler in 20
th (4:37.17). On the women's side,
Madeleine Ryan was the top Ram in 22
nd place at 5:25.67, with
Marisa House (5:25.99 – 23
rd),
Sophia Viscon (5:30.89 – 25
th),
Helen Moloney (5:36.29 – 26
th), and
Ciara McGroary (5:36.96 – 27
th) behind her.
In the women's 60-meter dash, Fordham has a trio of runners with
Caroline Fallona (8.00) in 26
th,
Riley Carroll in 34
th (8.13), and
Ileana Chlorou in 36
th (8.21).
Fordham also had
Michaela Gier in the pole vault event and
Ashley Holbrook in the triple jump. Gier finished sixth, clearing 10' 11 ¾", while Holbrook was 13
th in 34' 7 ½".
The Rams now set their sights on the 2025 Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be held February 28 through March 1 at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
