Track and Field: Tribe sweeps invitational

William and Mary traveled to Newport News, Va. for Christopher Newport’s Captain’s Invitational, last weekend. The men and women both finished in first place and broke several school records in the process.

The men received three definite qualifications for the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes, or IC4A, of America. Sophomore Derek O’Connell, freshman Davion Hutt and junior Brian Waterfield qualified in the pole vault, 60-meter dash and shot put categories, respectively. Additionally, sophomore Alex Hendrick is currently No. 14 on the IC4A heptathlon and can qualify if he stays in the top 15.

O’Connell won the pole vault and broke the previous school record of 5.09 meters with a clearance at 5.10 meters. O’Connell is the first to break the record since 1977 and is the first man to hold both the indoor and outdoor school records since 1972.

Hutt tied the school record he set in late 2014 of 6.85 seconds in the 60-meter dash. Waterfield threw a season-best 16.29 meters in shot put, earning him second place; he also won the weight throw with a record-shattering performance of 18.37 meters.

The Tribe also earned victories in the 500-meter and 3,200-meter races with wins by sophomore Troy Sevachko and junior Nathaniel Hermsmeier, respectively. Additionally, the College’s distance medley relay squad broke away for the win and an IC4A qualifier with a time of 10:17.67.

The Tribe women earned Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference qualifiers from senior Lizzie Powell in pole vault and junior Claire Tito in the 500-meter dash. Powell exceeded her personal best and broke the school record for indoor and outdoor pole vaulting with a 4.02 meter mark, making her the second College female student-athlete to reach 4.00 meters. Tito won the 500-meter dash in 1:17:01.

Coming behind Powell, seniors Nina Ullom and Elizabeth Crafford and freshman Alexis Shelton took the second, third, and fourth finishes for pole vault, giving the Tribe the event sweep. The College displayed its underclassmen talent with second-place finishes by freshmen Minna McFarland in high jump and Jessica Destry in 60-meter hurdles. McFarland cleared 1.63 meters in the high jump, while Destry finished the hurdles dash in 9.46 seconds.

In the middle and long-distance races, sophomore Kate Vannoy won the 1,000-meter run in 3:07.84 and the College almost swept the 3,000-meter race with runners in second through sixth place, led by freshman Audrey Gordon’s in 10:17.47.

The College’s men scored 182 points, outscoring second-place Hampton by 101 points and earning 44 points over Hampton, The Citadel, and Delaware State’s combined scores. The women scored 202 total points, far ahead of the competition — 29 points over The Citadel, who placed second.

The College competes in two meets next weekend, with some athletes entering the Sykes-Sabok Challenge Cup at Penn State Friday and some competing in the Vince Brown Invitational Sunday at Christopher Newport Saturday.

1 COMMENT

  1. When the first Olympic Games was held in Athens nearly 3000 years ago, the muscular, oily, and at times homoerotic, participants had no idea that their great feats of athleticism would live on through the William and Mary Track and Field team. Sgt Sipolla of the United States Marine Corp perfectly captured this continuity through his remarkable skill with the English language. I quivered with ecstasy as I read each word, my heart dancing in my chest like Iskandar’s before his mighty charge. When it comes to beards, article writing, and evading court-martials, Sgt Sipolla clearly has no equal. I would also like to clarify for any members of Sipolla’s family who are confused by the spelling of his last name. I understand your pain, it’s a tough name to spell. Try thinking about “sipping a beverage” and then add an “Olla” like you’re saying hi to that beverage in Spanish. In conclusion, this was a masterfully sculpted article which would have made Apollo himself proud.

Leave a Reply to Brendan Beejay Cancel reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here