Men's Track and Field Takes Second at Closest-Ever CAA Championships

Rob Dennis Wins 3,000m Steeplechase

04/19/08 11:26PM

WILLIAMSBURG - William and Mary’s men’s track and field team put up an incredible fight Saturday before bowing in the final event of the closest contest in the history of the Colonial Athletic Association Championships to take runner-up honors for the second year in a row. UNC Wilmington proved the victor by the ever-so-slim margin of 4.5 points, winning the title in the 4x400m relay after entering the last event down 1.5 points to the Tribe. Georgia State’s John English was named Field Performer of the Meet after winning the triple jump and taking second in the long jump, and VCU’s DeAngelo Wilson won the 100m dash, 200m dash, and ran on the winning 4x100m relay to claim the Track Performer of the Meet award.

Final Results
Final Decathlon Results

The day’s scoring started in the 4x100m relay, where the team of Chris McIntosh (Owings Mill, Md.), Kiernan Lofland (Crozier, Va.), Florian Cords (Williamsburg, Va.), and Brandon Evans (Virginia Beach, Va.) ran a season-best 44.48 for fifth place. In the men’s 1,500m, senior Ian Fitzgerald (Glenshaw, Pa.) ran a personal-best 3:45.74 for runner-up honors. Fitzgerald’s time ranks him ninth all-time at the College, and qualifies him for both the NCAA Regional and IC4A Championships. Also qualifying for the IC4A Championships were junior Harry Miller (Portland, Ore.), who earned all-conference honors in third with a time of 3:48.70, and sophomore Patterson Wilhelm (Lynchburg, Va.), fourth in 3:51.54.

In the 800m, freshman Brian Sklodowski (Newark, Del.) earned his first career All-CAA award, finishing third in 1:54.25. Classmate Sean Sewell (Raleigh, N.C.) took fifth in 1:55.97. McIntosh was sixth in the 400m hurdles, running the course in 55.01 seconds.

While the running was taking place, on the infield junior Cam Shriver (Oxford, Ohio) took second in the high jump after clearing 6’ 6.75” and Evans took fourth with a height of 6’ 4.75”. In the shot put, sophomore Dan Klatzkin (Gaithersburg, Md.) took third with a put of 48’ 0.5” to earn his second all-conference award. Sophomore Doug Zimmer (McLean, Va.) finished fourth in the decathlon with a personal-record 6,222 points, qualifying for the IC4A Championships. Zimmer won the pole vault portion with a vault of 14’ 1.25”, and finished third in the 1,500m run in 4:43.22.

Down 30.5 points with two events left, the College used one of its signature dominations of the 3,000m steeplechase to pull 1.5 points ahead of UNCW. Senior Rob Dennis (Little Silver, N.J.) won his first title in 9:17.06, earning an automatic berth to both the NCAA Regional and IC4A Championships. Classmate Bryce Wilk (Millbrook, N.Y.) was next across the line in 9:21.87, and Miller was third in 9:25.22. Freshman Pete Asaro (Gloucester, Mass.) ran 9:27.13 for fourth place, and classmate Andrew Mearns (Williamsburg, Va.) was sixth in 9:37.19, qualifying for the USAT&F Junior National Championships.

The Tribe’s 4x400m relay team of McIntosh, Ryan Jones (Harrisburg, Pa.), Jay Bilsborrow (Coldwater, Mich.), and Sklodowski put up a good fight, running season-fast 3:32.56 for fifth place, but UNCW, who had four of the top five 400m runners in the conference, simply ran away from the field to set the final margin.

William and Mary returns to action next weekend at the world-famous Penn Relay Carnival, April 24-26 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.

19th Annual Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Track and Field Championships
1. UNC Wilmington 194.5
2. WILLIAM AND MARY 190
3. Virginia Commonwealth 144
4. Delaware 87.5
5. Northeastern 85
6. George Mason 67
7. Georgia State 36