Six ECAC Qualifications Mark Vince Brown Invitational for W&M Women's Track and Field

Ashley Williams Improves Her Own School Record in the Weight Throw

02/06/10 10:20PM

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - The William and Mary women's track and field team picked up six more ECAC qualification Saturday, competing at the Vince Brown Invitational in Newport News. Additionally, the Tribe won five of 13 events entered.

Complete Results

Shot Put
Senior Ashley Williams (Williamsburg, Va.) got the day started with a win and ECAC-qualification in the shot put with a put of 45-6.25 (13.87 meters). Classmate Carly Morse (Sumerduck, Va.) was third with a put of 42-9 (13.03m), and sophomore Natalie Baird (Sterling, Va.) took fourth with a put of 42-6.75 (12.97m).

Weight Throw
Williams also won the weight throw later in the afternoon, extending her own school record more than a foot to 53-9 (16.38m). The effort also qualified Williams for the ECAC Championships.

Pole Vault
In the pole vault, senior Nicole Kazuba (Chantilly, Va.) cleared the bar at an ECAC-qualifying height of 12-3.5 (3.75m) to lead a Tribe sweep of the top three places. Junior Emily Jeremiah (Mechanicsville, Va.) was second at 11-3.75 (3.45m), and senior Jennifer Garrott (Burke, Va.) finished third over the bar at 10-10 (3.30m).

3,000m Run
W&M had a pair of ECAC qualifications in the 3,000m thanks to the efforts of seniors Meghan Burns (Coopersburg, Pa.) and Kayley Byrne (Oak Hill, Va.). Burns lowered her personal-best in the distance by more than 20 seconds to win in 9:41.68, and now ranks ninth in school history. Byrne was third in 9:51.01, just behind her own personal-best.

Mile Run
Sophomore Heather Beichner (Cary, N.C.) rounded out the wins and ECAC qualifications for the Tribe, winning the mile in a personal-best time of 4:58.29.

800m Run
Also noteworthy for the Tribe was a pair of top-five finishes in the 800m. Senior Kelly McElroy (Wyomissing, Pa.) finished third in 2:17.28, and sophomore Avery Mattingly (Blacksburg, Va.) ran a career-fast 2:18.83 for fifth.

55m Hurdles
Junior Katie Guevel (Burlington, Kan.) continued to fine-tune her performances in preparation for next month's ECAC Championships, finishing second in the prelims of the 55m hurdles with a time of 8.6 seconds.

4x400m Relay
The Tribe's day finished in the 4x400m relay, where the team of Mattingly, Brittany Sevachko (Centreville, Va.), Dana Harvey (Mechanicsville, Va.), and McElroy timed 4:11.33 and finished second overall.

W&M returns to action next weekend with a pair of meets. Most of the team will travel to Lynchburg, Virginia, to take part in the Liberty University Invitational, while several of the team's top runners will travel across the country to chase NCAA qualifications at the Husky Classic in Seattle, Washington.