Feb. 8 was a day of new records for William and Mary, as both the men’s and women’s teams shattered school records at the Friday Navy Select. The men placed second in a seven-squad meet, trailing only Navy. Meanwhile, the women came in third in a nine-team contest behind Navy and Delaware.
Redshirt sophomore Victoria Gersch was once again the star of the day for the women’s team, setting two more school records in a single meet. After snapping a decade-long 200-meter dash record Feb. 2 at a Penn State meet, Gersch broke two more with a 55.95 in the 400 meter and then breaking her own 200 meter record with a 24.79, beating last week’s 25.05 by more than a quarter of a second. Additionally, her 400 meter time qualified her for the 2019 Eastern College Athletic Conference championships. Junior Susanna Maisto also claimed a spot with her third-place finish in the race.
The Tribe claimed another spot in the championships with a first-place finish in the distance medley relay. Maisto, sophomore Lauren Finikiotis, junior Charlotte Kowalk and sophomore Lauren Kroepfl combined for a team of just over 12 minutes and will be competing in the ECAC championships. Additionally, senior Brianna Miller placed first in the long jump, while Finikiotis claimed a lifetime-best time of 5:01.67 in the mile run and finished second.
On the men’s side of the meet, the day was highlighted by senior Duncan Goodrich, who completed the 400 meter in 48.92 seconds to smash a school record that had been set in 1983 and claim second overall. The Tribe took a first-place finish in the 500 meter with a 1:05.78 time from redshirt sophomore Skander Ballard and in the mile with a 4:17.05 from redshirt freshman Evan Goodell.
Both teams will head to Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Feb. 15 to compete in the JDL Fast Track Invitational.