A wild ending at the Atlantic 10 Track and Field Championship on Feb. 19 saw the Fordham men’s squad make a successful last-ditch effort to take the bronze medal.
The men had amassed 56 points and were in ninth place with three events remaining—the 800 meters, 1,000 meters and 4×800 relay.
Senior Brian Schmidt began the surge by defending his A-10 title in the 800 meters, clocking in at 1:54.65. Sophomore John Cosgrove also scored in the event, taking fourth with a time of 1:55.48.
Next up was junior Kevin Fitzgerald, who won the 1,000 meters in 2:29.02. Freshmen Brian Walter (2:30.32) and Ryan Polo (2:31.03) also finished well, taking fifth and sixth place, respectively.
Finally, Fordham took the 4×800 relay—marking the culmination of their three-event sweep. Cosgrove, Michael Rossi, Schmidt and Fitzgerald won the race in a season-best time of 7:40.51.
When the final totals were recorded, the Rams had 88 points, edging out the University of Massachusetts and Temple University by one point. It was the highest-ever finish for the Rams.
On the women’s side, senior Kerri Gallagher continued her superlative track career by breaking A-10 records in two races while helping her team to an eighth-place finish.
She started the day by winning the mile run in a league-record time of 4:48.60, breaking the old mark of 4:49.71 set in 2000. Gallagher then doubled her pleasure by winning the 1,000-meter run in a conference record time of 2:51.43, breaking the old record of 2:52.79 that was set in 2006.
Gallagher still had enough gas in the tank to race a third time. She joined Elisabeth Warren, Averie Sheppard and Kelly Connolly to take sixth place in the 4×400 relay with a season-best time of 3:55.06.
Photo by Devin Kelly
