The William and Mary women's track and field team completed a successful first day at the 47th Annual Colonial Relays Friday in 10th place out of 25 teams, scoring 19 points. Behind a strong showing in the middle distances and four championships overall, Villanova holds a commanding 104-43 edge over second-place Virginia. Individually, the Tribe earned one ECAC qualification on the day, and had a pair of performances land in the record books.
5,000m Run
In the 5,000m, sophomore
Elaina Balouris (Allison Park, Pa.) ran a lifetime-best and ECAC-qualifying 16:19.89 to finish sixth overall and score six points for the Tribe as the third collegiate finisher. Balouris' performance is the ninth-fastest ever run outdoors at W&M, and ranks her eighth all-time among athletes.
Long Jump
Sophomore
Nicole Dory (Fort Worth, Texas) jumped her second-best mark ever outdoors in the championship section of the long jump, hitting the sand at a distance of 5.52 meters (18-1.5) to take sixth in the event. Dory's performance is the 15th-best long jump outdoors in school history.
Pole Vault
Dory also competed in the championship section of the pole vault, clearing the bar at a height of 3.55m (11-7.75) despite strong winds to take fifth overall.
Hammer Throw
Thursday event, the first event of the weekend was the women's hammer throw out at the Stimson Throwing Events Area. Junior
Natalie Baird (Sterling, Va.) took third in the event, throwing for 47.60m (156-2) and six team points.
Overall Colonial Relays Notes
There were 63 ECAC-qualifying performances on Friday ... Rena Chesser, competing unattached, ran 10:04.59 to win the 3,000m Steeplechase and qualify provisionally for the U.S. Olympic Trials ... Chesser's time also broke the meet and stadium records, both 10:24.52 set by Villanova's Allison Smith last year ... Villanova's Sheila Reid became the first woman to win both the 800m and 1,500m in the same year since 1990, and just the third ever ... The other two women were Michelle DiMuro (Reebok) in 1990, and Gina Procaccio (Tortuga) in 1989 ... Procaccio is Reid's coach at Villanova ... Virginia's Catherine White broke the stadium and meet records in winning the 5,000m in 16:04.58 ... The previos best mark for both the Colonial Relays and Zable Stadium was 16:09.2, run by Laura Mason of adidas in 1995
... There were 13 finals events Thursday and Friday, along with the trials and semifinals of the 100m dash and the trials of 110m hurdles ... Full list of winners below.
| Event |
Performance |
Winner |
Affiliation |
| 200m Dash |
23.81 (+2.4) |
Victoria Caruso |
Delaware |
| 400m Dash |
54.45 |
Christie Verdier |
Villanova |
| 800m Run |
2:07.65 |
Sheila Reid |
Villanova |
| 1,500m Run |
4:20.78 |
Sheila Reid |
Villanova |
| 5,000m Run |
16:04.58 |
Catherine White |
Virginia |
| 10,000m Run |
37:11.06 |
Nicole Tassello |
Rider |
| 400m Hurdles |
1:02.80 |
Kristen Stuart |
Fordham |
| 3,000m Steeplechase |
10:04.59 |
Rena Chesser |
Unattached |
| High Jump |
1.77m (5-9.75) |
Ellie Tidman |
Vanderbilt |
| Pole Vault |
4.05m (13-3.5) |
Mandissa Marshall |
George Mason |
| Long Jump |
6.31m (+2.8)(20-8.5) |
Asha Ruth |
Rutgers |
| Hammer Throw |
51.82m (170-0) |
Meaghan McGovern |
Richmond |
| Javelin |
46.19m (151-6) |
Julia Arduini |
Villanova |
Women's Team Standings - 13 Events
1. Villanova 104
2. Virginia 43
3. Delaware 41
4. Rutgers 35
5. Vanderbilt 33
...
10. William and Mary 19
