Jon Grey Clears U.S. Senior, NCAA Provisional Qualifying Marks with Third-Fastest 10K Ever at W&M

William and Mary Goes 3-for-3 in Distance Races at Payton Jordan Invitational

05/03/09 3:00AM

PALO ALTO, CALIF - The William and Mary track and field teams ran as well as could be expected late Saturday night out at Stanford, qualifying all three athletes who competed for the NCAA Championships and one further on to the U.S. Senior Championships.

Complete Results

Men's 10,000m
Tribe sophomore Jon Grey (Lancaster, Pa.) provided the highlight of the night, finishing 11th in his heat of the 10,000m with a career-best, and third-fastest all-time at W&M, 28:55.48. The transfer from Oklahoma qualified provisionally to the NCAA Championships with his time, only about 10 seconds off of the automatic standard, and also came in under the U.S. Senior Championships standard of 29:01 to guarantee himself a spot at the meet. It was the latest performance in a long spring of impressive showing by Grey, who opened the season with an NCAA provisional time at the Raleigh Relays and later became the first athlete to win both the 5,000m and 10,000m at the CAA Championships, earning Athlete of the Meet honors. Tonight's time improved his career-best by over 30 seconds from 29:25.71, which he ran at the Raleigh Relays.

W&M Top Five Performers
1. Matt Lane -- 28:28.97 (2001)
2. Ken Halla -- 28:35.20 (1986)
3. Jon Grey -- 28:55.48 (5/2/09)
4. Keith Bechtol -- 28:55.57 (2007)
5. Jeff Hough -- 29:01.20 (1992)

Women's 5,000m
All-American Emily Anderson (Golf, Ill.) dropped 30 seconds from her CAA-winning performance in the 5,000m to run 16:10.63 and place 10th in the top heat Saturday. Anderson, who took ninth in the indoor 5,000m for All-American honors in March, has run only four of the 12.5 lap races in her career all in the last two months, and already holds the school indoor record, overall record, and now the second-fastest outdoor performance ever at W&M. Anderson's time qualifies her for both the ECAC Championships and the NCAA East Regional, and according to the lastest NCAA rankings, is the second-fastest time in the East Region so far this spring.

Emily Anderson 5,000m Performances
March 1 - 16:08.49 -- NCAA Automatic Qualifier
March 13 - 16:03.15 -- Ninth at NCAAs, All-American
April 17 - 16:40.99 -- CAA Champion
May 2 - 16:10.63 -- 10th at Payton Jordan Invitational

Men's 5,000m
Senior All-American Ian Fitzgerald (Glenshaw, Pa.) was just off of personal-best pace in the second heat of the men's 5,000m, but still posted the Tribe's top-time of the spring with his NCAA Regional-qualifying time of 13:56.52, placing 14th in the race. Last year at this meet, Fitzgerald ran slightly faster, 13:56.35, before going on to run 13:55.19 five days later at North Carolina. He would eventually reach the NCAA Championships, bowing in the semifinal round. Fitzgerald will have the opportunity to re-enact his late-season run this year, as W&M is again scheduled to appear at the North Carolina last-chance meet at the end of this week.

NCAA East Region 5,000m List (through May 2)
1. Samuel Chelanga (Liberty) -- 13:28.31 (5/2)
2. Michael Maag (Princeton) -- 13:41.17 (4/17)
3. David McCarthy (Providence) -- 13:42.11 (4/17)
4. Mark Steeds (Ga. State) -- 13:46.97 (3/27)
5. Matt Leeder (Fla. State) -- 13:54.42 (5/2)
6. Ryan Collins (Virginia) -- 13:55.94 (5/2)
7. Ian Fitzgerald (W&M) -- 13:56.35 (5/2)

William and Mary is back in action on Friday, May 8, at the North Carolina Last-Chance qualifier. Championship season gets started after that, with the ECAC and IC4A Championships May 15-17, and the NCAA East Regional May 29-30.