The William & Mary women's track & field team continued its strong start to the 2020 campaign on Saturday, picking up its third freshman record at the Penn State National Open. The Tribe also added six ECAC qualifying marks on the day, bringing the season total to 16 qualifying performances in just three meets.
- First up on the day was the 400m dash, where freshman
Carly Swierbut (Newtown, Conn.) broke the freshman record she set just last week, and won the college section of the event in 56.28 seconds. That was the fourth-fastest single race ever for W&M, and ranks the rookie third all-time among athletes. Redshirt-junior
Victoria Gersch (Mercer Island, Wash.) was right behind her teammate, finishing second in 56.42 seconds, the seventh-fastest race ever in program history. Later in the day, redshirt-junior
Susanna Maisto (Silver Spring, Md.) ran 56.61 for 10th place in the invitational section, the ninth-fastest race ever at W&M. All three women qualified for the ECAC Championships, and Maisto's time was also an indoor personal-best and improved her to fifth all-time among Tribe athletes.
- Those three teamed up with senior
Gabby Runge (Midlothian, Va.) in the final race of the day, the 4x400m relay, and the quartet won the relay in another ECAC-qualifying 3:47.95. That was the sixth-fastest race ever in program history.
- In the 800m run, junior
Taylor D. Jones (Virginia Beach, Va.) ran an indoor-best 2:13.35 for seventh overall and an ECAC-qualifying mark. That is tied for the 15th-fastest race in school history, and rocketed Jones up to eighth all-time among Tribe athletes.
- The final qualifying mark of the day came in the 3,000m invitational section, where senior
Liv Paxton (Rock Hill, S.C.) ran a lifetime-best 9:49.59 for fifth overall. That improved her previous best by more than 1.3 seconds, and qualified her for the ECAC Championships for the second year in a row.
William & Mary will return to Penn State next Saturday, Feb. 8, for the Sykes-Sabock Challenge Cup, a team-scored competition. The Tribe was seventh in the cup a year ago.
