Three years ago, Christina Vivinetto walked on to the Fordham University cross country team after losing two years of high school competition to injuries.
But this fall, the Manhasset native will serve as the team’s captain.
“It’s good, it’s all very exciting,” said Vivinetto, now a senior. “I walked on my freshman year and wasn’t on scholarship until this year, so it’s definitely exciting and feels good to move up on the team.”
Vivinetto has competed in at least six meets in each of her three years at Fordham, running either the 5K or 6K races. She also runs distance during the team’s winter indoor track and spring outdoor track seasons.
“Speed is always something I’ve struggled with, that I still struggle with, but I like doing long runs and it’s always been easier for me to build up to my endurance and speed, so it’s always something I’m working through,” Vivinetto said.
As a junior in 2012, the distance runner competed in seven meets, finishing as a Top 7 scorer in each meet and qualifying as a varsity Fordham runner throughout the entire season.
In the fall, Vivinetto finished 35th overall at the Fordham Fiasco with a 5K time of 20:39.86 and 21st at the Tribe 6K Open at 23:22.76.
During the indoor season, Vivinetto placed 5th in the mile at the Rutgers Invitational with a 5:28.05 and 12th in the mile at the Yale Invitational 5:23.83.
But in the outdoor season, Vivinetto placed 6th at the Metropolitan Championship in the 1,500-meter run with 4:48.58, 6th at the VCU Ram Invite in the 1,500-meter run with a 4:50.64, had two top-10 finishes in the Colonial Relays with a 9th-place 4:52.58 in the 1,500-meter run and a 5th-place 19:59.90 in the 4×1,500 relay, and finished 5th at the 3,000-meter run at the Wolfie Invitational at 10:28.24. She also logged a season-best 2:22.89 in the 800-meter run at the Lions’ Invitational.
“Christina is an extremely caring and motivated person,” said Fordham head coach Tom Dewey said. “She is team-oriented and looked up to by her peers, so she was an easy selection as a team captain.”
Vivinetto competed in six cross country events as a freshman, finishing 17th at the St. John’s Fall Festival 4K at 17:16.07 and 16th in the coaches race at the ECAC Championship at 20:34.2. During the outdoor season, she placed 11th in the 1,500-meter run at the Battleground Relays with a 5:17.89 and her 4×200 relay team took third.
As a sophomore, Vivinetto finished 14th at the St. John’s Fall Festival 4K with a 15:06.95 and was 10th in the mile run at the Christmas Classic with a 5:38.8. That spring, she finished fourth in the 1,500 meter run at both the George Mason Opener (5:08.51) and the FDU Knight Classic (5:13.24).
“Her development has been tremendous from the first day she arrived to what she is now,” Dewey said. “She is a tireless worker and really deserves everything she gets. Because of those results, the team has followed her example and has made us better.”
A major in public accounting, Vivinetto was named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll in each of her three years at Fordham. She interned this summer with Morgan Stanley.
Vivinetto attended high school Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead and was a member of the National Honor Society, the National Math Honor Society, the National Science Honor Society and the National Latin Honor Society and regularly made the school’s Principal’s List. Prior to Sacred Heart, she attended Our Lady of Grace Montessori School and Center and St. Mary’s Elementary School, both located in Manhasset.
Vivinetto attributed her academic success to her Catholic education, saying Sacred Heart’s expectations in the classroom helped her develop the work habits she utilizes today.
“High school prepared me pretty well for [balancing athletics with academics],” Vivinetto said. “Weekends were always busy with track meets, and that aspect hasn’t really changed all that much. I’m at a Division I school with a big commitment,
and at times it’s difficult, a lot of having to work long nights and wake up early for practice. But I’ve been able to accomplish everything I’ve wanted to so far for academics and athletics.”
Vivinetto said she played nearly every sport offered by the Manhasset Police Activity League growing up, but wasn’t good at any of them.
Then her father, Jack Vivinetto, a former distance runner at Queens College, suggested she take up running.
“He would run with me and always wake up crazy early to go running,” Vivinetto said. “He’d run in the morning with me and make sure I did my evening run, he’s just always supporting me and encouraging me, always coming to the track to watch. Both my parents are extremely involved.”
So Vivinetto ran, but a series of injuries kept her off the trail and track during her junior and senior years at Sacred Heart. She earned a walk-on spot at Fordham after a high school coach made a call to Dewey on her behalf.
“It was really intimidating at first and hard to stay motivated, but I kept practicing and working hard and giving it my all, and slowly but surely I got faster and became able to keep up with my group,” Vivinetto said.
Vivinetto said she always wanted to go to Fordham, having first seen the school during a track meet in high school.
“I thought the campus was so pretty,” Vivinetto said. “During high school, I spent a lot of time in the city and knew I wanted to go to school there. It’s a great combination of a real college campus but in a city environment. Plus, it’s good for my major to be that close to New York City.”
Vivinetto said she is in the process of applying for graduate school, adding she’d like to stay at Fordham.
Next summer, she will intern with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, known as one of the “Big Four” audit firms along with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG.
