The William and Mary women's track and field team won three of six events Friday, earning a 62-51 lead on the first day of the Colonial Athletic Association Championships.  Northeastern is second in the standings behind W&M, with Delaware third at 49 points.  Friday's events included six finals, seven prelims, and the first half of the heptathlon.

Complete Results

Javelin
The first event of the day was the javelin throw, where sophomore Katie Johnston (Haddonfield, N.J.) defended her conference title in an upset win.  Seeded third coming into the weekend, Johnston threw a lifetime-best 46.37m (152-1) for the win, the second-best throw in school history.  Johnston now ranks 29th in the NCAA East Region, and qualified for the ECAC Championships.  Also with an impressive lifetime-best was senior Anna Rose Gellert (Providence, N.J.), who threw 39.92m (131-0) for fourth place, improving her previous best from last year's conference meet by five feet.  Gellert improved to seventh all-time at W&M.

5,000m Run
In the 5,000m, the Tribe swept the top three positions as all three women broke the conference record and qualified for ECACs.  Sophomore Meghan McGovern (North Wales, Pa.) won for the second year in a row in 16:30.10, a lifetime-best by three seconds that improved her to 10th in school history.  Senior All-American Elaina Balouris (Allison Park, Pa.) was runner-up for the second year in a row in 16:30.62, and sophomore All-American Emily Stites (Wyoming, Ohio) took third in 16:30.70.  Junior Carolyn Hennessey (Herndon, Va.) also picked up a team point for the Tribe in eighth place with a time of 17:24.06, and freshman Molly Applegate (Toms River, N.J.) re-qualified for the U.S. Junior Championships with her 10th-place 17:33.63.

10,000m Run
Shortly after the 5,000m, junior Dylan Hassett (Alpharetta, Ga.) added her name to the list of CAA Champions with her winning run in the 10,000m.  Hassett timed 36:18.57 for the win, re-qualifying for the ECAC Championships for the second time in a week.  Sophomore Erica Amatori (Cary, N.C.) took fourth in her first 10,000m race, timing 36:55.19, and senior Lauren Strapp (Raleigh, N.C.) ran a lifetime-best 37:08.30 for sixth place, both qualifying for the ECAC Championships along the way.  Senior Allison Bartels (Bristow, Va.) also ran a lifetime-best by more than 17 seconds, finishing just outside the scoring with her ninth-place 38:18.68.

Pole Vault
In the pole vault, junior Nina Ullom (Chantilly, Va.) added four points to the team total, finishing fifth overall at 3.40m (11-1.75).

400m Hurdles
The Tribe also had eight women advance to finals out of the preliminary heats on Friday afternoon.  Three of those came in the 400m hurdles, where sophomore Ashley Woodards (Franklinville, N.J.) ran the fastest time of the day in 1:02.65.  Also a lifetime-best for Woodards, it was the fifth-fastest hurdle race in school history, and ranks her third all-time among Tribe athletes.  Classmate Breanna Brukalo (Staten Island, N.Y.) ran 1:04.04 to advance in fifth place, improving her lifetime-best by more than 1.2 seconds.  Brukalo now ranks eighth all-time at W&M.  Junior Brittany Biagi (Mullica Hill, N.J.) was third advancer, timing 1:05.09 for eighth place, and freshman Savanna Craib (Boxborough, Mass.) ran a collegiate-best 1:06.51 for 10th place, missing the finals cutoff by one place.

1,500m Run
W&M also had four advancers in the 1,500m run, all four of whom would later score in the 5,000m.  Balouris earned the second seed in the finals with her 4:36.68, just ahead fo Stites in 4:36.79 who was running her first 1,500m.  Hennessey timed 4:40.71 to claim the seventh seed, and McGovern was eighth in 4:41.25.

800m Run
The final qualifier came in the 800m run, where sophomore Claire Tito (Richmond, Va.) won her heat and ran fifth overall in 2:13.50.  Sophomore Shelby Feliciano (Winchester, Va.) was just shy of advancing in 11th place, but improved her lifetime-best by more than a full second with her time of 2:15.60.

Other Notables
In the 100m dash, all three of the Tribe's freshmen competing ran collegiate-best times despite facing stiff headwinds.  Erika Garrison (Roanoke, Va.) and Laura Klosterman (New Market, Md.) both timed 12.77 seconds, moving up to a tie for 16th all-time at W&M.  Redshirt-freshman Pippin Saunders (Mittagong, NSW) also improved her best by more than third of a second, crossing the line in 13.18 seconds.  Saunders also ran a personal-best in the 200m, chopping 1.2 seconds from her previous best, as the all-conference field hockey player timed 26.80 seconds.  Junior Grayson Llerandi (Ridgewood, N.J.) stands 16th at the end of the first day of the heptathlon, scoring 2206 points including a ninth-place showing in the 200m dash.  Llerandi is 400 points out of the scoring as she enters her three best events on Saturday (the long jump, javelin, and 800m).

The CAA Championships conclude on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m.

2014 CAA Women's Track and Field Championships
Team Standings Through Six Events

1. William and Mary 62
2. Northeastern 51
3. Delaware 49
4. UNCW 30.50
5. Towson 21.50
6. James Madison 16
7. College of Charleston 4