Ian Fitzgerald, Ben Massam Are Colonial Relays Champions

Tribe Earns 11 Post-Season Bids En Route to First-Day Lead

04/04/08 11:45PM

WILLIAMSBURG - William and Mary’s men’s track and field team earned 11 bids to post-season championships on the first day of the Colonial Relays, leading to a solid 60-39 lead in the team race over Rutgers University.

Complete First Day Results

The steeplechase opened the day at noon, as UMBC’s Chris Hart claimed the championship in an NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 9:04.62. W&M sophomore Harry Miller (Portland, Ore.) also qualified to the Regional, as well as for the IC4A Championships with his second-place showing of 9:05.38. Georgetown’s Shane Young was third in 9:08.08, and Tribe senior Rob Dennis (Little Silver, N.J.) ran 9:08.63 for fourth as both men also qualified for IC4As. Freshman Andrew Mearns (Williamsburg, Va.), 12th overall, qualified for the USAT&F Junior National Championships in 9:37.86.

Senior distance ace Ian Fitzgerald (Glenshaw, Pa.) won the men’s 1,500m in 3:50.70, qualifying for the IC4A Championships at the distance. Yale runner Jared Bell was second in 3:52.05, and Alex Bean was third in 3:52.66. William and Mary freshman Brian Sklodowski (Newark, Del.) qualified for Junior Nationals in 3:57.43, 13th overall in today’s race.

In the 110m hurdles, the top five qualifiers to tomorrow’s finals all broke the IC4A standard led by top-seeded Chris Kinney of Georgetown, who ran 14.33 seconds. Howard’s Daniel Kinney was second in 14.48 seconds, and Yale’s Daniel O’Brien was third in 14.54 seconds.

Steve Swern from Rutgers won the 400m dash in 48.45, qualifying for the IC4A Championships along the way. Michigan State’s Michael Smoot took silver in 48.76 seconds, and Fairleigh Dickinson’s Cortez Adam finished third with a time of 48.81. William and Mary freshman Florian Cords (Williamsburg, Va.) ran 50.15 for 19th place, and becomes the tenth-fastest quarter-miler in school history.

Division III ruled the roost in the 100m dash, as All-American Amaan Siddeeq from Cortland State earned the top seed in tomorrow’s finals with a national-provisional time of 10.63 seconds. Leroy Harper, Jr. of Christopher Newport had the day’s second-best preliminary time of 10.72, also good enough to qualify him provisionally to the NCAA Division III Championships. Georgetown’s Spenser Carter is the third seed after qualifying for the IC4A Championships in 10.74 seconds.

In the shot put, Michigan State’s Jason Brown dominated the field by three feet to win with an NCAA Regional put of 57’ 7.75”. Monmouth took each of the next two spots with IC4A-qualifying puts, as Christian Keller was second with 54’ 7.25” and Thomas Ciccoli was third with a put of 52’ 11”.

Howard’s Stephen Small-Warner proved that Bison can jump by winning the long jump competition and qualifying for IC4As with a leap of 23’ 3.5”. Virginia Commonwealth’s Antonio Norvell was second with a distance of 22’ 9”, and Monmouth’s Alex Bowers finished third with a leap of 22’ 8”.

In the 800m run, Seton Hall’s Greg Gomes was today’s champion with a time of 1:53.10, and was joined on the medal stand by teammate Bryan Burney, who was third in 1:53.97. Yale’s Chris Labosky was the man in between the two, finishing second in 1:53.65.

Scott Beals from Michigan State added his name to the long list of Colonial Relays Javelin Champions, winning with a toss of 196’ 1”. Pittsburgh’s Matthew Raquett was second with an IC4A-qualifying throw of 194’ 7” and William and Mary junior Alex Heacock (Lititz, Pa.) earned the bronze with his IC4A-qualifying effort of 192’ 6”.

Rutgers’ Steve Swern earned his second crown of the meet in the 400m hurdles, winning with an NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 52.34 seconds. Teammate Jahmone Duhaney, last year’s Relays champion in the 400m hurdles, took second in 52.71, qualifying for IC4As. Howard’s Daniel Kinney also qualified for the IC4A meet with his third-place time of 53.15 seconds.

Bruce Owens of Rutgers won a very tight 200m dash in 21.41 seconds, qualifying for the IC4A Championships. Leroy Harper, Jr. of Christopher Newport was second by mere thousandths of a second over DeAngelo Wilson of Virginia Commonwealth, with both men being credited with a time of 21.43 seconds. The time qualifies Wilson for the IC4A Championships, and is a national-provisional qualification for Harper.

William and Mary swept the top three positions in the 5,000m run, all with IC4A-qualifying times. Sophomore Ben Massam (Chatham, N.J.) won with a sprint down the final straight-away to cross the line in 14:21.81, with classmate Patterson Wilhelm (Lynchburg, Va.) right behind him in 14:22.07. Charlie Swartz (Manassas, Va.) took the bronze medal in 14:25.51.

The evening drew to a close with the 10,000m run, which was captured by an Iona runner for the second consecutive year. Joe Parks crossed the line first for the Gaels in 31:02.80, qualifying for the IC4A Championships. Kyle Murray from Saint Joseph’s was second in 31:44.02, and William and Mary freshman Max Werner (Sterling, Va.) ran 31:51.86 for third place and qualification to the USA Junior National Championships.

The Relays conclude tomorrow with six relay championships, the finals of the 100m dash and 110m hurdles, and five field events. Live Results throughout the day can be found on the Internet at http://www.tribeathletics.com/6652/.

Colonial Relays – Team Standings After Day One
1. WILLIAM AND MARY 60
2. Rutgers 39
3. Michigan State 38
4. Monmouth 27
5. Iona 23
6. Seton Hall 20
T7. Yale 18
T7. Virginia Commonwealth 18
9. Howard 16
10. Fairleigh Dickinson 11
T11. St. Francis (Pa.) 10
T11. Saint Joseph’s 10
T11. Pittburgh 10
T11. Maryland Baltimore-County 10
15. Christopher Newport 9
16. Georgetown 6
17. Cortland State 5
18. George Mason 2
19. Mount St. Mary’s 1