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Track & Field Opens Two-Day Stay at 2012 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championship
May 5, 2012
Amherst, Mass. - Despite bringing a short-handed roster due to injury and illness, the Fordham track & field team began the two-day 2012 Atlantic 10 Outdoor Track & Field Championship in Amherst, Massachusetts on Saturday with a promising start. The Fordham men are currently in fifth place, while the women's team is in eighth. In the men's competition, Rhode Island leads the way with 75 points in the team standings, followed by Charlotte (64), Temple (45), Duquesne (26), Fordham (22), Massachusetts (20), La Salle (20), Saint Joseph's (18), Xavier (9), Saint Louis (9) and Richmond (4). Fordham posted three scoring performances on day one, as well as qualifying for three of Sunday's finals. The Rams got Second Team All-Atlantic 10 performances from sophomore David Fajoyomi and the men's 4x800 relay team. Fajoyomi took second in the high jump, clearing 6' 10 ¾", while the team of John Cosgrove, Daniel Green, Michael Rossi, and Kevin Fitzgerald placed second in the 4x800 relay in a season-best time of 7:30.86. Senior Brian Riley also scored for Fordham, as he took third in the 3,000 meter steeplechase in a career-best time of 9:08.11. In addition to the three scorers, senior Nick Delligatti, junior Sean Atkinson, and Cosgrove all qualified for Sunday's finals, while in the men's decathlon, sophomore Sam Houston leads that competition after five events with a score of 3,622 points.
Delligatti qualified seventh in the 400 meter dash in a career-best time of 48.93 seconds, while Cosgrove qualified second in the 800 meter run in 1:52.95. Atkinson posted the sixth-best time in the 400 meter hurdles, qualifying in 53.89 seconds. The decathlon saw Houston finish first in three of the five events, and no worse than third in the other two. He won the long jump (21' 6 ¼"), high jump (6' 5"), and 400 meter dash (49.41), while taking second in the shot put (37' 10 ½") and third in the 100 meter dash (11.64). Other men's performers on day one included Daniel Chediak (T10th - pole vault - 13' 9 ¼"), Nicholas Synan (17th - 10,000 meters - 32:01.01), Sean Collins (13th - 110 meter hurdles - 15.59), Lourenzo Smith (10th - 100 meter dash - 10.90), Frank Massaro (23rd - 100 meter dash - 11.57), Daniel Clemens (13th - 400 meter hurdles - 56.07), Michael Bongiorno (20th - 200 meter dash - 23.08), Rich Grandelli (10th - 3,000 meter steeplechase - 9:29.35), and Jonathan Annelli (17th - 3,000 meter steeplechase - 9:53.66). In the women's competition, Dayton leads the way with 59.30 points, followed by Richmond (37.5), Duquesne (34), Rhode Island (32), Charlotte (30.60), Massachusetts (26.50), Saint Louis (20), Fordham (17.50), La Salle (15), Xavier (15), Saint Joseph's (12.60) and Temple (12). Fordham had one Second Team All-Atlantic 10 performance on day one on the women's side as Blair Hassell earned second place in the javelin throw with a distance of 138' 5". The Rams also scored in the high jump, long jump, and 10,000 meter run on day one. Junior Courtnay Newman tied for fourth in the high jump, clearing 5' 6", while senior Elisabeth Warren was eighth in the long jump, posting a career-best mark of 18' 4 ¼" on her final jump. Sophomore Anisa Arsenault rounded out the day one scoring, as she took fifth in the 10,000 meter run in a career-best time of 35:59.40. Besides the four scorers, the Rams qualified for Sunday's finals in three events. Sophomore Titi Fagade qualified eighth in the 400 meter dash in 56.49 seconds, while senior Kelly Connolly qualified eighth in the 800 meters in a career-best time of 2:13.47. Freshmen Kristen Stuart (1:03.03) and Melissa Higgins (1:03.14) both qualified for the 400 meter hurdles final in eighth and ninth, respectively. Other performers on day one for the Rams included Averie Sheppard (17th - 400 meter dash - 57.91), Kellen Fitzgerald (28th - 800 meter run - 2:33.50), and Christina Machado (17th - 3,000 meter steeplechase - 11:42.05). Day two of the Atlantic 10 Championship will begin at 8:45 AM on Sunday. |
