The William and Mary men's track and field team put together one of its finest weekends of the past 30 years, winning the Colonial Athletic Association Championship for the first time since 2004 and fifth time overall. The Tribe scored 185 to defy all predictions and down UNCW (178) and Northeastern (158). Along with the women's teams, W&M won all four of the CAA championships this year (both cross country and track and field) for the third time, matching the feats of the 2003 and 2004 squads. William and Mary is the only school ever to accomplish the "double-double" of championships.
Tribe sophomore
Brian Waterfield (Chesapeake, Va.) was named the Most Outstanding Field Athlete of the championships, after scoring in all four throwing events to the tune of 28 points. In addition to winning the shot put, Waterfield was second in the discus, third in the javelin, and fourth in the hammer throw. He joins All-Americans
Matt Lane '01 (in 2001) and
Jon Grey '11 (in 2009 for track) in being named an MVP of the championship meet. Overall, Tribe athletes set 34 lifetime-bests during the two-day championship, and won six individual titles as well as 26 all-conference awards.
Complete ResultsShot PutWaterfield's first conference title came courtesy of a massive lifetime-best in the shot put. He put the shot 16.34 meters (53-7.5) for the win and to re-qualify for the IC4A Championships. Waterfield now ranks eighth all-time in school history. Freshman
Taylor Frenia (Virginia Beach, Va.) was second with a put of 16.08m (52-9.25), also well past the IC4A-qualifying barrier.
3,000m Steeplechase
The race that locked up the meet for W&M was the 3,000m steeplechase, where senior
Liam Anastasia-Murphy (Gloucester, Mass.) won his first CAA title with an easy 9:33, but more importantly lead a Tribe sweep of the six scoring places for a massive 31 points. UNCW had been projected to win eight points, but the Tribe shutout generated a 16-point swing that decided the championship. After Anastasia-Murphy, all seven of W&M's other entrants had never run the steeplechase outside of practice but came through in the moment of need.
Rad Gunzenhauser (Pittsburgh, Pa.) was second in 9:36.08 for his second all-conference nod of the weekend, and freshman
Ryan Gousse (Apopka, Fla.) earned his first All-CAA award with a third-place 9:37.74. Classmate
Jacob Sears (Cary, N.C.) was fourth in 9:38.22, and
Joshua Mercado (Citrus Heights, Calif.) ran 9:46.43 for fifth. Freshman
Nathan Thomas (Brentwood, Tenn.) completed the sweep with a sixth-place 9:46.62, while classmates
David Pennesi (Fredericksburg, Va.) and
Keith Holleran (Herndon, Va.) ran ninth and tenth, respectively.
Discus
In the discus, Waterfield was second overall with a lifetime-best throw of 45.04m (147-9), improving to 15th all-time at W&M. Frenia was named All-CAA for the second time on the day, throwing 44.85m (147-2) for third. Junior
Matt Renn (Annandale, Va.) threw 33.25m (109-1) for ninth, just the start of a terrific day for him.
High JumpIn the high jump, senior
Ben Katz (Manakin-Sabot, Va.) set a season-best and matched the winning height of 1.99m (6-6.25), but was judged to finish second on the basis of attempts. This was his third year in the last four to clear the highest bar of the meet, including a win in 2011 and a third-place finish as a freshman in 2010.
4x100m Relay
Four men earned all-conference honors in the 4x100m relay, finishing second overall in 51.22 seconds. Freshman
Jomar Aryee (Hillside, N.J.) led off, before handing the baton to Katz, freshman
Greg Gallagher (Elmsford, N.Y.), and Renn in turn. All three athletes other than Katz earned their very first all-conference awards with the performance.
1,500m Run
Senior
John Muller (LaGrangeville, N.Y.) finished second overall in the 1,500m for All-CAA honors, re-qualifying for the IC4A Championships in 3:48.49.
David Waterman (Huntingdon Valley, Pa.) was seventh in 3:58.47 to add two more team points, and
David Gunnerson (Yorktown, Va.) was 11th in 4:00.38.
Ian MacFawn (LaVale, Md.) ran 4:05.25 for 12th, and Pennesi was 13th in 4:07.27.
4x400m Relay
The last event of the day was the 4x400m relay, where the Tribe finished third in 3:32.64 for one final all-conference performance. Once again, it was Aryee handling the lead-off, with
Ricky Cappetta (Stafford, Va.) second and Gunnerson and MacFawn finishing out the mile-long baton carry.
Decathlon
Sophomore
Jackson Stone (Hingham, Mass.) soldiered through his first ever decathlon to finish fifth on Saturday and add two points to the Tribe score, finishing with a 10-event total of 3,347 points. Stone now ranks eighth all-time at W&M in track and field's toughest event. In Saturday's five disciplines, he won the discus with a throw of 35.88m (117-8), and finished second in the javelin at 43.74m (143-6).
800m Run
A fifth-place effort and accompanying two points also came in the 800m run, where Cappetta ran a collegiate-best 1:54.66 to improve his best mark by nearly a full second. Anastasia-Murphy was sixth in the race, running 1:54.96 for one more point.
400m Hurdles
In the 400m hurdles, Aryee stumbled over one of the 10 barriers and took a bad spill, but gamely got up and continued the race to finish just outside the scoring in seventh place overall.
With the CAA title in hand, William and Mary heads next weekend to the IC4A Championships to try and earn several more individual championships as well as bids to the NCAA East Preliminaries.
2013 CAA Men's Track and Field ChampionshipsFinal Team Standings1. William and Mary 1852. UNCW 178
3. Northeastern 158
