The William & Mary men's track & field team had a remarkable day at the Navy Spring Invitational on Saturday, setting 12 new marks in the all-time record books including shattering the school record in the pole vault.  The Tribe won five events on the day, including a sweep of the four throws.

Leading the way was redshirt-junior Michael Fairbanks (Fairfax Station, Va.), who had a major breakthrough and jumped 5.43m (17-9.75) to win the pole vault and surpass the school record of 5.36m (17-7) previously held by Derek O'Connell '16.  Fairbanks' performance ranks him top-15 in the NCAA so far this season, and second in the East Region.

Also coming through with a big lifetime-best was All-American KJ Cook (Buena Vista, Va.), who won the hammer throw with a throw of 62.86m (206-3).  That was the 12th-longest throw ever at W&M, and ranks Cook third all-time among Tribe athletes.  Jason Wright (Huntington Station, N.Y.) was third in the hammer with a lifetime-best of his own at 56.68m (185-11), improving to eighth in school history, while Connor Scott (Mechanicsville, Va.) was ninth with a throw of 45.55m (149-5).  Scott came into his own in the shot put and discus, however, sweeping both events.  In the shot put, the redshirt-junior was just three centimeters off his outdoor best with a put of 16.77m (55-0.25), before setting a lifetime-best at 51.99m (170-7) in the discus.  That was the 16th-longest throw ever at W&M, and ranks Scott sixth all-time among athletes.  Cook was second in the discus, throwing 50.71m (166-4), while redshirt-freshman Daniel Layton (Waynesburg, Pa.) was seventh in the shot put at 11.85m (38-10.5).

Taking the win in the javelin this week was redshirt-freshman Jared O'Riley (Woodstock, Ontario, Canada), who set a lifetime-best with his throw of 64.15m (210-5).  O'Riley moved up to seventh all-time at W&M.  Freshman Chris Arias (Red Bank, N.J.) was sixth overall, throwing the javelin 54.45m (178-8).  Freshman Ethan Buenviaje (Chesapeake, Va.) was fourth in the long jump at 6.64m (21-9.5), and Layton was third in the 110m hurdles at 15.11 seconds, ranking ninth in school history.

Grad student Theo Chambers (McLean, Va.) ran a lifetime-best in the 400m dash at 48.19 seconds, taking third overall.  Chambers' race was the fifth-fastest ever run at W&M, and he now ranks fifth all-time among Tribe athletes.  Redshirt-freshman Jack Bunting (Summit, N.J.) was sixth in the race, running 50.56 seconds.  In the 100m dash, freshman Jackson Cooley (Reston, Va.) was fourth in 10.95 seconds, making him the 11th-fastest athlete in school history, while grad student Matt Chabala (San Ramon, Calif.) tied the personal best he set last week, taking eighth in 11.15 seconds.  Cooley and Chambers would go on to team up with Colin Grip (Acton, Mass.) and Sam Pritchard (Springfield, Va.) in the 4x400m, running 3:23.02 for second overall.

In the 800m, the redshirt-junior Grip took third overall in 1:54.35, ahead of Joshua Shackelford (Hayes, Va.) who was sixth in 1:57.53, and Jack Mackey (Alexandria, Va.), seventh in 1:59.28.  Both of those men also ran in the 1,500m, taking seventh and 10th, respectively, in 3:57.82 and 4:00.92.  Redshirt-junior Johnny Rogers (Vienna, Va.) was third in the 1,500m, running a lifetime-best 3:55.45, while Tyler Lipps (Virginia Beach, Va.) was sixth in 3:57.45.  Freshman Alex Sawyer (Virginia Beach, Va.) was eighth in 3:58.56, and Pritchard was ninth in 3:58.66.

William & Mary returns home next weekend, hosting the 55th Annual Colonial Relays on Friday and Saturday, April 2-3.