The William & Mary women's track & field team hits the road for the first of two consecutive meets at Penn State this weekend, competing on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 31-Feb. 1, at the Penn State National Open.  Friday's events begin at 4 p.m. with the pole vault, and at 10:20 a.m. on Saturday with the 400m dash.  Every event can be followed via live results on TribeAthletics.com, and can be watched live on FloTrack.org with a FloSports subscription.

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W&M has already picked up an impressive number of ECAC Championships qualifiers through the first two meets of the season, as well as a pair of freshman records, and despite a limited number of entries (11 women in nine events) competing this weekend, looks to add to both of those totals in State College.  Things get underway at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoon with the pole vault, with the Tribe represented by senior Lauren Graves (Fredericksburg, Va.), redshirt-junior Sophie Caplan (Clarksville, Md.), and junior Taylor E. Jones (Fairfax Station, Va.).  Graves is already qualified for the ECAC Championships thanks to her indoor-best vault of 3.70m (12-1.5) at Navy in early December, while Jones is a veteran ECAc qualifier from last year and jumped 3.56m (11-8) in her first appearance last week at George Mason.  Caplan, the conference's representative to the NCAA national Student-Athlete Advisory Council, has been enjoying a career-best year with lifetime-best marks in each of the meets so far.  Also competing on Friday is senior Alexis Brender a Brandis (Williamsburg, Va.) in the triple jump.  Brender a Brandis is the outdoor school record-holder at 12.12m (39-9.25), and is just seven inches short of ECAC qualifying this season with a best of 11.61m (38-1.25) coming at Navy.

Saturday, W&M has three entries in the 400m dash, which begins with the college sections at 10:20 a.m.  That morning session will see races from redshirt-junior Victoria Gersch (Mercer Island, Wash.), who set the school record indoors last year at 55.95, and by freshman Carly Swierbut (Newtown, Conn.) who broke the rookie record that had stood since 1984 when she ran 57.59 last weekend at George Mason.  That race gave Swierbut her first ECAC individual qualifier, while Gersch is already qualified in the 500m from her season-opening race at Navy.  Later in the early afternoon, redshirt-junior Susanna Maisto (Silver Spring, Md.) will race in the invitational 400m section.  Maisto, who is already qualified in the 500m and was fifth in that event at the ECAC Championships last winter, ran 55.52 in the 400m last spring and was sixth at the ECAC Outdoor Championships in that event.

The distance events will also see three top entries this weekend.  First, junior Taylor D. Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.) will run in the 800m at 10:55 a.m. after qualifying for ECACs at 1,000m last weekend.  Jones ran 2:11 outdoors last year, and is coming off her best-ever cross country season last fall.  An hour later, junior Lauren Finikiotis (Gibsonia, Pa.) will hit the track for the mile run.  She ran 5:01 last winter, just two seconds off the standard, but ran two strong anchors on the DMR at the ECAC Championships to lead W&M to All-East honors and was an ECAC individual qualifier in the 1,500m outdoors.  Rounding out the distance line-up will be senior Liv Paxton (Rock Hill, S.C.), racing the invitational 3,000m on Saturday evening.  Paxton ran personal-bests in every distance last yearm including a lifetime-best 9:50 in the 3,000m on this same weekend, and was W&M's top runner throughout the fall cross country season.

Finishing out Saturday's line-up will be two more field event entries.  Brender a Brandis will be back in action in the long jump, where she was an ECAC qualifier indoors a year ago.  She has a best of 5.66m (18-7) from outdoors in the long jump.  In the shot put, freshman Keeley Suzenski (Fleetwood, Pa.) will be looking to notch her first ECAC qualifier and improve on her own W&M rookie mark.  In Suzenski's first appearance in a Tribe uniform, at Navy in December, she put the shot 13.47m (44-2.5) to break the freshman record set a bit over a decade previously.


Friday, Jan. 31
4:00 PM - Pole Vault - Lauren Graves, Taylor E. Jones, Sophie Caplan
NCAA Predicted - 4.34m (14-2.75); ECAC - 3.65m (11-11.75); School Record - 4.17m (13-8.25)

5:00 PM - Triple Jump - Alexis Brender a Brandis
NCAA Predicted - 13.29m (43-7.25); ECAC - 11.80m (38-8.75); School Record - 12.95m (42-6)


Saturday, Feb. 1
10:20 AM - 400m Dash - Victoria Gersch, Carly Swierbut
NCAA Predicted - 52.77; ECAC - 57.04; School Record - 55.95; Freshman Record - 57.59

10:55 AM - 800m Run - Taylor D. Jones
NCAA Predicted - 2:05.66; ECAC - 2:14.44; School Record - 2:09.68

11:55 AM - Mile Run - Lauren Finikiotis
NCAA Predicted - 4:35.67; ECAC - 4:59.04; School Record - 4:43.33

2:45 PM - 400m Dash Invitational - Susanna Maisto
NCAA Predicted - 52.77; ECAC - 57.04; School Record - 55.95

3:00 PM - Long Jump - Alexis Brender a Brandis
NCAA Predicted - 6.28m (20-7.25); ECAC - 5.80m (19-0.5); School Record - 5.81m (19-0.75)

3:00 PM - Shot Put - Keeley Suzenski
NCAA Predicted - 16.94m (55-7); ECAC - 13.70m (44-11.5); School Record - 14.68m (48-2); Freshman Record - 13.47m (44-2.5)

4:35 PM - 3,000m Run Invitational - Liv Paxton
NCAA Predicted - 9:01.66; ECAC - 9:55.00; School Record - 9:09.74