(photo by Tim O'Dowd)

The William and Mary men's track and field team earned two conference-leading performances Thursday night at the Penn Relays.  Both times rank among the top 30 in the region, and far-surpassed the IC4A qualifying standard.

First, senior Liam Anastasia-Murphy (Gloucester, Mass.) made a triumphant return to the 3,000m steeplechase with a 10th-place 9:01.48.  The second-fastest time of his career, Anastasia-Murphy's performance was the fastest for a Tribe athlete since the 2010 NCAA Championships, and ranks 28th in the East Region so far this spring.  It was just the second race in the past 14 months for the senior, and his first steeplechase since the 2011 NCAA quarterfinals (23 months).

Later in the evening, senior Josh Hardin (Sterling, Va.) ran 29:29.37 in the 10,000m to place sixth as the top Division-I finisher.  It was the 17th-fastest time in school history and just over a second behind his lifetime-best set last year.  Hardin currently leads the CAA by 11 seconds, and ranks 15th in the East region, 28th nationally.

The veteran duo will lead W&M in search of its first conference title since 2004 next weekend, as Towson hosts the Colonial Athletic Association Championships on Friday and Saturday, May 2-3.