The William & Mary men's track & field team collected a dozen IC4A qualifiers for the second week in a row on Saturday, finishing third overall at the Dan Stimson Memorial Meet. W&M won four events on the way to 108 points, behind only Navy (234) and George Mason (121) in the five-team event. Cornell scored 65 points and Buffalo 41 to round out the field.
Discus
The final event of the day was also one of the most fruitful, with four Tribe throwers all earning IC4A qualifiers in the discus. They were led by freshman
Troy Yearwood (Chesapeake, Va.), who popped a huge throw of 52.35m (171-9) in the second round that held up for the win. That was the 10th-best throw in school history, and moved Yearwood all the way up to fourth all-time among Tribe athletes. Grad student
Preston Richardson (Franktown, Va.) was second with a throw of 50.42m (165-5), and sophomore
KJ Cook (Buena Vista, Va.) added another team point with his sixth-place throw of 49.03m (160-10). His classmate
Connor Scott (Mechanicsville, Va.) just missed scored in eighth place, but still re-qualified for the IC4A meet at 47.30m (155-2).
Shot Put
Earlier in the day, it was Cook's turn to shine with the win in the shot put. He put the shot an outdoor-best 17.37m (57-0), the ninth-best performance in school history. Cook now ranks third all-time in school history. Richardson was third at 16.82m (55-2.25), and Scott was sixth at 15.78m (51-9.25) as all three men surpassed the IC4A standard in the event.
Hammer Throw
The first event of the day was the hammer throw, where Cook finished second overall and improved his lifetime-best for the second week in a row. He threw 55.93m (183-6) for the silver medal and IC4A qualifier, and improved to eighth all-time among Tribe athletes. Fellow sophomore
Jason Wright (Huntington Station, N.Y.) was fifth overall with another IC4A-qualifying throw of 54.62m (179-2).
Pole Vault
W&M got another win in the pole vault, with sophomore
Michael Fairbanks (Fairfax Station, Va.) taking the victory with an outdoor-best height of 4.83m (15-10). That improves the reigning CAA Champion to 10th in school history outdoors.
3,000m Run
The final win of the day came on the track, where senior
Ryan McGorty (Fairfax, Va.) defended his title in the 3,000m from a year ago. McGorty took control early and kept pulling away before finishing in 8:20.61, the 11th-fastest race ever outdoors at W&M.
Cooper Leslie (Camp Hill, Pa.) was fifth in 8:34.03 in the race.
1,500m Run
In the 1,500m run, the redshirt-freshman duo of
Evan Goodell (St. Louis, Mich.) and
Micah Pratt (Lynchburg, Va.) both qualified for the IC4A Championships, and both ran their way onto the podium. Goodell finished second overall in 3:55.76, with Pratt right behind him in 3:55.96.
800m Run
Sophomore
Miles Owens (Yorktown, Va.) also qualified for the IC4A meet, finishing second in the 800m at 1:52.77. Junior
Raul Chavez-Gutierrez (Marshall, Va.) was sixth overall in 1:54.94.
400m Dash
In the 400m dash, senior
Duncan Goodrich (Richmond, Va.) ran an outdoor-best time of 49.28 for fourth place overall, and redshirt-sophomore
Theo Chambers (McLean, Va.) was right behind him with a lifetime-best of 49.40 seconds for fifth place. Goodrich now ranks 12th all-time among W&M athletes outdoors in the 400m, while Chambers improved to 15th in school history.
4x400m Relay
Owens, Goodrich, and Chambers also had a hand in the the 4x400m relay, joining with
Cole Clark (Weston, Conn.) to finish third overall in 3:19.82.
Triple Jump
Redshirt-sophomore
George Cross (Leesburg, Va.) was fourth overall in the triple jump, hitting the sand with a leap of 13.59m (44-7).
High Jump
Rounding out the notable performances was freshman
Ryan Thomas (Leesburg, Va.) in the high jump, where he cleared the bar at 1.87m (6-1.5) to finish sixth overall.
William & Mary hits the road for the first time next week, traveling south to the Raleigh Relays on Friday and Saturday, March 29-30.
Dan Stimson Memorial Meet
Team Standings
1. Navy 234
2. George Mason 121
3. William & Mary 108
4. Cornell 65
5. Buffalo 41
