Sunday, April 12, 2009

Colonial Relays by Rick Platt
I'm still waiting for pics from Colonials, but in the meantime, here are a few more details on the Tribe victories last week thanks to Rick Platt and his article in the Virginia Gazette.

The William and Mary men’s and women’s track teams were not the most gracious hosts last Friday and Saturday at the ­­­44th annual Colonial Relays track meet, winning both team titles, showing exceptional strength in everything from the distance events and relays to the field events. More

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Platt continues said...

The W&M women scored 118 1/3 points to beat Seton Hall (108), Georgetown (84), Buffalo (80), Bucknell (64 ½), James Madison (48 1/3), Delaware (43) and VCU (38 ½) among the 23 scoring teams. Virginia Tech (20), Hampton (9), Norfolk State (4) and George Mason (1) were the other Virginia teams.
For the men, W&M had an eight-point win over Georgetown, 81-73, followed by Bucknell (68), Monmouth (65), Norfolk State (49), Virginia Tech (47), Rutgers (44), Buffalo (43) and Hampton (41), among the 24 scoring teams. Other Virginia schools were VCU (19), George Mason (17) and Christopher Newport (11).
Brandon Heroux, Betsy Graney and Nicole Kazuba were all named Colonial Athletic Association Athletes of the Week, based on their Colonial Relays performances. Heroux, a superstar freshman from Westfield, NJ, was the CAA Field Athlete of the Week for the second consecutive week after winning the javelin with a throw of 220 feet, 6 inches, winning by 11 feet, and just off his W&M freshman record of 221-0 from the previous week, qualifying for the NCAA East Regional and the USA Junior Championships (born Jan. 1, 1990 or later).
Kazuba, a junior from Chantilly, was the CAA Women’s Field Athlete of the Week, winning the Colonial Relays pole vault for the second straight year with a meet-record 12-7 ½ jump (old record 12-4), and tying the stadium record she set at last year’s CAA Championships, and qualifying for the NCAA regionals. Last year Kazuba won the ECAC title, and advanced from the regional to the NCAA championships. Second was teammate Emily Jeremiah (12-3 ½)
Graney, a sophomore from Harper Woods, Mich., won the Colonial Relays for the second consecutive year in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, her 10:47.46 winning by over 12 seconds, qualifying for the NCAA regionals, and getting CAA Track Athlete of the Week honors. She was CAA Rookie of the Year in 2008, and made the U.S. team for the 2008 IAAF World Junior Championships.
The W&M women won two other events; the hammer throw by Abby Lemon (166-1), with teammate Ashley Williams second (a PR 163-1), the #1 and #2 all-time performers for W&M; and the discus throw by freshman Natalie Baird (149-3), qualifying for the USA junior meet. Williams was also third in the shot put (a PR 44-7, #7 all-time for W&M). Carly Morse was fifth in the shot and sixth in the discus.
In the relays, the W&M women won the 4 x 1,500-meter relay by 15 seconds (18:47.40, averaging under 4:42 per runner), and placed third in the distance medley relay (11:46.11), sixth in the 400-meter relay (48.34), fifth in the 800-meter relay (1:41.09, just off the school record of 1:40.91 to win their heat), and fifth in the 3,200-meter relay (9:32.46).
The W&M men also won the 4 x 1,500-meter relay, anchored by All-American Ian Fitzgerald, to win by seven seconds in 15:41.61 (3:55.4 per runner), and placed fourth in the distance medley relay (10:03.50), and seventh in the 3,200-meter relay (7:46.05).
Individually, freshman Liam Anastasia-Murphy was second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:21.91, just off the winning 9:21.29, but qualifying for the USA junior meet. Brian Sklodowski was second in the 1,500 meters (3:48.64). W&M assistant track coach Ed Moran (W&M, 2003) paced the 5,000 meters, also winning the event in 14:02.48, just six days after competing on the USA team in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. It was his third Colonial Relays 5,000 meter title. W&M’s Lewis Woodard was fifth (14:33.76), with Charles Swartz eighth (14:39.73). A windy 10,000 meters Friday evening had W&M in the 2-3-4 spots with Skeeter Morris (30:53.83), Max Werner (31:03.55) and Drew Midland (31:03.77). Cam Shriver was third in the high jump (6-8 ¼), the same height as the winner, but losing in the jumpoff. Kiernan Lofland was second in the pole vault at 15-9.
Individually for the women, freshman Heather Beichner qualified for the USA Junior meet with her 4:40.11. Katie Guevel was fifth in the 100-meter hurdles (14.31) and fifth in the high jump (5-2 ½), Ashley Madonick was fifth in the 400 meters (56.32), and Dana Harvey was sixth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:04.48). In longer distances, Emily Anderson was eighth in the 800 meters (2:13.30), Meghan Burns fifth in the 1,500 meters (4:32.98), Sallie Ford fourth (18:08.13) and Elizabeth Milewski sixth (18:16.30) in the 5,000 meters, and Robin Vanneman fourth (39:58.48) and Sara Lasker fifth (40:01.64) in the 10,000 meters.

paul Vandegrift said...

Some really nice performances esp. in the throws. I must say however there is a lot of resentment in the Philadelphia area among coaches that the Colonial Relays no longer includes High School events. I understand that it is a hassle for the coaches, but it is an excellent recruiting tool that is being wasted. Times are flush right now re: the talent we are able to get to commit to the College, but how many of us first saw and became interested in W&M when our HS team came down to the Colonial Relays?