The William and Mary men's track and field team opened the 2012 campaign with a trio of IC4A qualifications Sunday at the CNU Holiday Open, with all three qualifying times coming in the 5,000m run. The Tribe also had one athlete turn in a top-16 all-time showing.
5,000m Run
In the 5,000m, the Tribe swept the top three positions with all three athletes qualifying for the IC4A Championships. Alex McGrath (Marlborough, N.H.) led the way in 14:32.88, improving his indoor personal-best by more than seven seconds to claim the win. Senior Tom Burke (Edina, Minn.) was second in 14:39.18, and sophomore Rad Gunzenhauser (Pittsburgh, Pa.) lopped more than a minute off of his previous indoor best to take third in 14:39.94.
High Jump
In the high jump, junior Ben Katz (Manakin-Sabot, Va.) improved his best mark indoors by two inches to finish sixth overall at a height of 2.03 meters (6-8). The defending CAA Champion, Katz is now tied for 11th all-time indoors at the College with five-time Southern Conference Champion Fred "Flip" Toepke '73, who jumped 6-8 at Navy in 1973.
Mile Run
In the mile, sophomore David Gunnerson (Yorktown, Va.) picked up the win in 4:21.99 in his first collegiate mile. Two freshmen also earned top five performances, with Colin Taylor (Springfield, Va.) taking fourth in 4:28.86, and David Waterman (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) beginning his college career in fifth with a time of 4:29.98.
3,000m Run
In the 3,000m, sophomore Joshua Mercado (Citrus Heights, Calif.) improved his indoor best by more than 13 seconds en route to a fourth-place 8:31.45. Liam Anastasia-Murphy (Gloucester, Mass.) took fifth, timing 8:39.00.
Shot Put
In the shot put, freshman Brian Waterfield (Chesapeake, Va.) got his college career off to a very solid start with a fourth-place showing of 14.35m (47-1). It was the best freshman throw for W&M since 2007.
60m Hurdles
The day's final notable performances came in the 60m hurdles, where senior Matt Clark (Richmond, Va.) ran 8.60 in the prelims and 8.55 in the finals, finishing 10th overall. His time was .08 seconds better than his debut time last season, which saw him go on to run 8.37 to become the second-fastest hurdler in school history.
William and Mary will spend the next month training around final exams and the winter holidays, before returning to the track on Jan. 13-14 at the Virginia Tech Invitational.
