Behind an oustanding performance in all aspects of the meet, the William and Mary women's track and field team won the Colonial Athletic Association championship Saturday for the first time since 2010. The Tribe scored 154.5 points and won five individual championships to claim its 11th conference title overall. Delaware was second with 141.5 points, while UNCW and James Madison tied for third at 127 points. Along with the men's teams, W&M won all four of the CAA championships this year (both cross country and track and field) for the third time, matching the feats of the 2003 and 2004 squads. William and Mary is the only school ever to accomplish the "double-double" of championships.
Tribe senior
Natalie Baird (Sterling, Va.) was named the co-Most Oustanding Field Athlete, after scoring 20 points in three throwing events. Friday, she won the hammer throw with a lifetime-best effort, and Saturday, finished second in the discus and seventh in the shot put. Baird joins
Lisa Rayner '96 (1994),
Emily Furia '01 (2001),
Ali Henderson '04 (2003), and
Emily Anderson '11 (2009 track) in being named an MVP of the CAA Championships. Overall, Tribe athletes set 34 lifetime-bests during the two-day championship, and won five individual titles as well as 14 all-conference awards.
Complete ResultsShot PutThe Tribe's fifth and final championship of the weekend came in the very first event Saturday, when freshman
Rochelle Evans (Christiansburg, Va.) won the shot put with a put of 13.82 meters (45-4.25). In addition to winning her the conference title, Evans' performance marked her first time over 45 feet, and broke her own freshman record in the process. Evans now ranks sixth all-time in the shot put outdoors for W&M. Baird was seventh overall to add two team points, putting the shot 12.63m (41-5.25), and freshman
Katie Johnston (Haddonfield, N.J.), who won the javelin on Friday, finished 12th with a put of 10.90m (35-9.25).
DiscusBaird earned her second all-conference award of the weekend in the discus, finishing second overall with an ECAC-qualifying throw of 43.87m (143-11). Evans set another lifetime-best while finishing fourth, throwing the disc 43.22m (141-9) and improving to fifth in school history. Johnston also added her arm to the effort, placing 13th at 31.19m (102-4).
1,500m RunW&M also received a silver medal in the 1,500m run, where junior
Elaina Balouris (Allison Park, Pa.) ran a lifetime-best 4:29.25 for second place. Balouris improves to 11th all-time at W&M with the race, which was nearly 2.5 seconds better than she had ever run before.
Michelle Britto (Woodbridge, Va.) and
Katie Buenaga (Greenville, Del.) also set lifetime-bests, running 4:31.50 and 4:31.59 to place fourth and sixth, respectively. Britto now ranks 15th in school history with her 1.8-second improvement, while Buenaga shaved 0.3 seconds off her previous best to improve to 17th all-time. All three women qualified for the ECAC Championships with their runs.
4x400m RelayThe Tribe's final all-conference performance of the day came in the very last event. With the team championship already locked up, the W&M quartet was able to focus simply on running as fast as possible and came away with its fast performance in five years. The Tribe's team of
Shelby Feliciano (Winchester, Va.),
Claire Tito (Richmond, Va.),
Jessica Ewing (Virginia Beach, Va.), and
Sarah Katz (Manakin-Sabot, Va.) finished third overall in 3:49.99, breaking the ECAC-qualifying barrier. It was also the fourth-fastest 4x400m ever run by the Green and Gold, and fastest since setting the school record in 2008.
200m DashEwing also competed in the finals of the 200m dash, just missing all-conference accolades with her fourth-place performance. Ewing ran an ECAC-qualifying 24.46 seconds, breaking the school and freshman records she set Friday in the prelims.
800m RunJunior
Olivia Harding (Roanoke, Va.) nearly earned her own All-CAA certificate in the 800m run, finishing fourth with a lifetime-best 2:13.19. Buenaga was sixth in her second race of the afternoon, running 2:16.25, and Britto was seventh in 2:17.53. Senior
Avery Mattingly (Blacksburg, Va.) added another team point, taking eighth in 2:19.29.
Triple JumpIn the triple jump, her third event of the weekend, junior
Nicole Dory (Fort Worth, Texas) scored four points with her fifth-place showing of 11.45m (37-6.75). It was the 16th-best performance all-time at W&M. Freshman
Olivia Jebb (Cornwall, N.Y.) added another point of her own with a career-best jump of 11.06m (36-3.5) to place eighth overall. The improvement of nearly eight inches over her previous best elevates Jebb to 11th all-time at W&M.
3,000m SteeplechaseThe beating heart of the Tribe's drive for the championship was the willingness of its athletes to try new events to gain as many points as possible, which was most evident in the steeplechase. None of the Tribe's four runners had ever attempted the event outside of practice, but scored both a sixth and an eighth-place performance for four points to wrap up the team title. Freshman
Erica Amatori (Cary, N.C.) was sixth in 11:25.46, and Mattingly was eighth in 11:30.44. The two now rank 11th and 12th all-time in school history. Sophomore
Casey Lardner (Burke, Va.) ran 11:44.66 for 13th, and freshman
Becca Eudailey (Quinton, Va.) was 16th in 11:55.47. Lardner is now the 16th-fastest steeplechaser ever at W&M, while Eudailey ranks 18th.
4x100m RelayThe Tribe's 4x100m relay was also sixth overall, with a time of 51.39 seconds. The quartet included Dory, freshman
Breanna Brukalo (Staten Island, N.Y.), and sophomores
Brittany Biagi (Mullica Hill, N.J.) and
Elizabeth Crafford (Darien, Conn.).
400m HurdlesBiagi also competed in the finals of the 400m hurdles, improving her seed to take seventh overall in 1:04.97 and earn two points.
400m DashIn the finals of the 400m dash, Ewing ran 57.02 seconds to place eighth.
With the CAA title in hand, William and Mary heads next weekend to the ECAC Championships to try and earn several more individual championships as well as bids to the NCAA East Preliminaries.
2013 CAA Women's Track and Field ChampionshipsFinal Team Standings1. William and Mary 154.52. Delaware 141.5
T3. UNCW 127
T3. James Madison 127
5. Northeastern 89
6. Towson 61
