William and Mary had an eventful weekend, sending men and women to compete in meets at both Penn State and Christopher Newport. At Penn State, the men tied for 11th and the women finished 12th, while the men took fourth and the women finished fifth at CNU.
Starting strong, the Tribe men earned eight Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America, or IC4A, qualifiers at the Sykes and Sabock Challenge Cup at Penn State. Junior Brian Waterfield finished Friday with a weight throw distance of 17.86 meters and earned an IC4A qualifier for the fourth consecutive meet. The distance team finished with a pair of qualifiers in the 5000-meter: junior Nathaniel Hermsmeier finished second with a personal best 14:32.15 seconds and sophomore Trevor Sleight finished fourth in 14:34.58.
Saturday saw more record-breaking performances for the College at CNU. Sophomore Derek O’Connell finished fifth in pole vault, clearing 5.11 meters to break the school record he set Jan. 31 at CNU. Behind O’Connell, sophomore Lucas Wratschko scored 13th in pole vault at 4.86 meters. O’Connell and Wratschko both earned IC4A qualifying marks. Waterfield received his second IC4A qualifier of the meet with 6.06 meters in shot put. Junior Jomar Aryee set a new College record and personal best of 1:23.45 in the 600-meter dash.
The Tribe earned two IC4A distance qualifiers in the mile, with junior David Barney’s 12th place finish in 4:13.67 and sophomore Kurtis Steck’s 4:14.38 finish in 13th place.
The College’s women also performed well at Penn State, earning five qualifiers for the Eastern College Athletic Conference. Friday night, freshman Leia Mistowski improved to second place in all-time Tribe weight throwers with a distance of 15.82 meters, earning her eighth place. In pole vault, senior Lizzie Powell once again surpassed the ECAC eligibility height, finishing third at 3.91 meters.
The women’s distance runners earned three of the squad’s ECAC qualifiers, with junior Meghan McGovern and senior Dylan Hassett earning respective second- and third-place finishes in the 5000-meter. McGovern ran an indoor-best 16:31.23, while Hassett set a personal-best 16:32.13. The distance medley relay finished in fifth with a time of 11:44.56 for another qualifier.
The Tribe’s last ECAC qualifier at Penn State went to junior Claire Tito who ran the 800-meter run in 2:14.37.
At the Vince Brown Invitational in Newport News, Va. Sunday, the College’s men earned another IC4A qualifier from freshman Davion Hutt, who again broke the school record during the finals of the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.81 seconds, shaving 0.04 seconds off the record he set earlier this year.
On the women’s side at CNU, sophomore Meredith Meyer, freshman Audrey Gordon and senior Elizabeth Crafford came in third place in high jump, the mile run and pole vault, respectively. More freshmen talent emerged from two Tribe athletes, with Mistowski’s fourth-place finish in weight throw and Jessica Destry’s seventh-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles.
The College continues its schedule with its full squad competing in the Liberty Quad Meet in Lynchburg, Va. next Friday.