The William and Mary women's track team turned in a slew of all-time best performances at the Navy Track Classic on Saturday, with five athletes ranking among the top-16 ever at W&M and one coming in under the ECAC qualifying standard. Another all-time top performance came at the George Mason Patriot Games, in the weight throw.
Mile Run
In the mile,
Elaina Balouris (Allison Park, Pa.) ran 4:55.93 to take second overall and qualify for the ECAC Championships. The sophomore beat her previous best in the event by nearly three seconds, and now stands 10th in school history.
400m Dash
In the 400m dash, the Tribe's outstanding freshman sprint corps showed its mettle with two of the top three finishes.
Sarah Katz (Manakin-Sabot, Va.) ran 59.27 for second place, and
Maggie Gutierrez (Purcellville, Va.) was right behind in third with a time of 59.87 seconds. Katz now ranks fifth all-time at the College, while Gutierrez stands 12th in school history.
800m Run
In the 800m, junior
Katie Buenaga (Greenville, Del.) chopped a couple seconds off of her previous best in taking fourth with a time of 2:16.20. Her performance ranks Buenaga 11th all-time indoors among half-milers.
1,000m Run
Sophomore
Christina Lee (Sterling, Va.) also turned in a career-best performance, taking second in the 1,000m run with a time of 2:56.95. She now ranks 15th in school history for that distance.
Weight Throw
Navy's meet only including track events, so junior thrower
Natalie Baird (Sterling, Va.) competed instead at George Mason's Patriot Games meet in Fairfax. There, she threw 15.44 meters (50-8) with her final attempt to move up to second overall in the weight throw. It was the 10th-longest throw ever for a Tribe athlete, and the second-longest of Baird's career.
5,000m Run
Back over at Navy, sophomore
Lanie Smith (Reston, Va.) ran a career-fast 17:44.09 in the 5,000m run to take third place overall.
4x400m Relay
Another third came in the 4x400m relay, where the Tribe's team of freshmen
Grayson Llerandi (Ridgewood, N.J.),
Maggie Gutierrez,
Mary Beth Berg (Grays Lake, Ill.), and sophomore
Olivia Harding (Roanoke, Va.) combined to time 4:08.67.
Distance Medley Relay
The College's DMR also took third on Saturday, getting the baton around the 20 laps in 12:27.61.
Christina Lee and
Sarah Katz ran the first two legs, before handing off to senior
Brittany Sevachko (Centreville, Va.) and junior
Michelle Britto (Woodbridge, Va.) to finish things off.
Shot Put
Natalie Baird also had a fifth-place finish in the shot put, heaving the 12-lbs steel ball 12.26m (40-2.75).
William and Mary is back in action next weekend at the Vince Brown Invitational, hosted by Christopher Newport.