The William and Mary men's track and field team competed at two meets on Saturday, coming away with a pair of IC4A qualifications in the mile and a freshman-record performance. The two milers who qualified competed at the the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York City, while the majority of the team ran at CNU's Vince Brown Invitational.
Mile Run (at the Armory)
Chris Tyson (Arlington, Va.) improved his personal-best in the mile by nearly seven seconds, an astonishing improvement that netted the senior second overall in the event. With three laps to go in his heat, Tyson was in last place, but steadily picked off his competitors en route to finishing in 4:06.99, well under the IC4A cutoff. Tyson now ranks 12th in school history in the mile indoors, and his time was fastest run by a Tribe athlete since Ian Fitzgerald '09 timed 4:01.49 in the prelims of the 2009 NCAA Championships.
Classmate Liam Anastasia-Murphy (Gloucester, Mass.) also qualified for the IC4A Championships in the mile, running 4:12.50 and placing 16th overall. He took the lead in his heat from the gun, and held it wire-to-wire in getting the win. It is Anastasia-Murphy's second IC4A-qualifying event of the season, after he also surpassed the standard in the 1,000m at Virginia Tech in mid-January. He has also helped the Tribe qualify in the distance medley relay, having run both the first leg and the last leg on two separate occasions.
60m Dash
In the 60m dash at CNU, freshman Gerald Pace (Marietta, Ga.) timed 7.39 seconds in the prelims to break the Tribe's two-week old freshman record. Pace's performance, which ranks him eighth in school history, beat the newcommer record of 7.40 seconds set by classmate Michael Monti (East Greenwich, R.I.) two weeks ago on the very same track.
3,000m Run
On the other end of the spectrum in both distance and age, senior Tom Burke (Edina, Minn.) led four Tribe runners in the top five of the 3,000m with his winning time of 8:33.28. Sophomore Ted Richardson (Midlothian, Va.) was second in 8:42.75, and freshman David Waterman (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) was third in 8:44.62. Tim Hendricks (Parkland, Fla.), another freshman, was fifth in 8:48.78.
Mile Run
In the mile at CNU, sophomore Andrew Ryan (Gloucester, Mass.) was the top collegiate finisher and second overall in 4:17.96. Freshman Ian MacFawn (LaVale, Md.) was third overall in 4:24.20.
Shot Put
In the shot put, freshman Brian Waterfield (Chesapeake, Va.) continued to improve as he has all winter long, putting the shot 14.91 meters (48-11) for third place. His bronze-medal throw came on his final attempt, and was his best of the day by more than 70 centimeters (more than two feet).
800m Run
In the 800m, sophomore David Gunnerson (Yorktown, Va.) popped off a huge collegiate-best performance of 1:55.72 to take fourth overall. Coming into the day, Gunnerson's previous best was over 2:01 for 800m, and he now stands less than a second off of IC4A-qualifying.
60m Hurdles
The day's final performance of note came in the 60m hurdles, where senior Matt Clark (Richmond, Va.) finished fifth overall with a finals time of 8.44 seconds. He improved four places and .04 seconds from the prelims to the finals.
William and Mary returns to the track in two weeks, chasing more IC4A qualifications Feb. 17-18 at the Virginia Tech Challenge.
Mile Run (at the Armory)
Chris Tyson (Arlington, Va.) improved his personal-best in the mile by nearly seven seconds, an astonishing improvement that netted the senior second overall in the event. With three laps to go in his heat, Tyson was in last place, but steadily picked off his competitors en route to finishing in 4:06.99, well under the IC4A cutoff. Tyson now ranks 12th in school history in the mile indoors, and his time was fastest run by a Tribe athlete since Ian Fitzgerald '09 timed 4:01.49 in the prelims of the 2009 NCAA Championships.
Classmate Liam Anastasia-Murphy (Gloucester, Mass.) also qualified for the IC4A Championships in the mile, running 4:12.50 and placing 16th overall. He took the lead in his heat from the gun, and held it wire-to-wire in getting the win. It is Anastasia-Murphy's second IC4A-qualifying event of the season, after he also surpassed the standard in the 1,000m at Virginia Tech in mid-January. He has also helped the Tribe qualify in the distance medley relay, having run both the first leg and the last leg on two separate occasions.
60m Dash
In the 60m dash at CNU, freshman Gerald Pace (Marietta, Ga.) timed 7.39 seconds in the prelims to break the Tribe's two-week old freshman record. Pace's performance, which ranks him eighth in school history, beat the newcommer record of 7.40 seconds set by classmate Michael Monti (East Greenwich, R.I.) two weeks ago on the very same track.
3,000m Run
On the other end of the spectrum in both distance and age, senior Tom Burke (Edina, Minn.) led four Tribe runners in the top five of the 3,000m with his winning time of 8:33.28. Sophomore Ted Richardson (Midlothian, Va.) was second in 8:42.75, and freshman David Waterman (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) was third in 8:44.62. Tim Hendricks (Parkland, Fla.), another freshman, was fifth in 8:48.78.
Mile Run
In the mile at CNU, sophomore Andrew Ryan (Gloucester, Mass.) was the top collegiate finisher and second overall in 4:17.96. Freshman Ian MacFawn (LaVale, Md.) was third overall in 4:24.20.
Shot Put
In the shot put, freshman Brian Waterfield (Chesapeake, Va.) continued to improve as he has all winter long, putting the shot 14.91 meters (48-11) for third place. His bronze-medal throw came on his final attempt, and was his best of the day by more than 70 centimeters (more than two feet).
800m Run
In the 800m, sophomore David Gunnerson (Yorktown, Va.) popped off a huge collegiate-best performance of 1:55.72 to take fourth overall. Coming into the day, Gunnerson's previous best was over 2:01 for 800m, and he now stands less than a second off of IC4A-qualifying.
60m Hurdles
The day's final performance of note came in the 60m hurdles, where senior Matt Clark (Richmond, Va.) finished fifth overall with a finals time of 8.44 seconds. He improved four places and .04 seconds from the prelims to the finals.
William and Mary returns to the track in two weeks, chasing more IC4A qualifications Feb. 17-18 at the Virginia Tech Challenge.
