Charlotte LaRoche, Maura McMahon Win Conference Titles
RICHMOND, VA - Seniors Charlotte LaRoche (Centreville, VA) and Maura McMahon (Westfield, NJ) both captured individual crowns as three-time defending champion William and Mary women's track and field raced to a strong start on the first day of the 2004 CAA Track and Field Championships. The Tribe tallied 71 points on the day, 20 clear of second place UNC Wilmington. George Mason sits only one point further back in third with 50. Seven conference schools are contesting the Championship which is held at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, VA. In addition to the College's two champions, two additional Tribe athletes netted all-conference honors, awarded to the top-three finishers in each event, while the squad had a number of scorers, as the top-eight in each event accumulate team points.Two distance events were run Friday evening, and the Green and Gold made the most of scoring opportunities in each. McMahon punctuated the effort with her dominating win in the 10,000m, where she paced the field by over 30 seconds with a time of 38.11.68. Fellow senior Kristin McGough (Mickleton, NJ) scored valuable points for the squad with her fifth-place finish (39:04.47) as did freshman Christy Dannenberg (Reston, VA) who claimed seventh with a 39:29.26. Just missing scoring a point was junior Becca Velarde (Albuquerque, NM) who took ninth with a 39:40.86. The team had two scorers in the 5,000m, led by the all-conference, runner-up performance of freshman Julia Cathcart (Starkville, MS), who impressed in her first CAA Championship by clocking an ECAC-qualifying time of 17:22.14. Close behind was three-time All-American Ali Henderson (Parkville, MO) who timed an 18:15.64 for fifth.
LaRoche, the 2002 CAA champion in the pole vault, reclaimed the conference title in sparkling fashion, clearing a meet-record height of 11'9.75", over three feet higher than the previous mark. The height also broke the ECAC qualifying mark.
The Tribe had two more athletes earn all-conference honors on the day, as each captured runner-up honors in her event. In the hammer, junior Cassidy Harris (Geneva, IL) broke her career best by over four feet with a throw of 150'9" to claim second place. In the javelin, freshman Brenna Blevins (Pulaski, VA) dazzled in her first collegiate javelin throw, posting an ECAC-qualifying distance of 139'1" for runner-up honors.
Also scoring points for the team were sophomore Liz Hager (Max Meadows, VA), a double scorer with a sixth (134'4") in the hammer and a seventh (119'3") in the javelin, and freshman Kathleen Woody (Oakton, VA) who leapt to 17'11.5" in the long jump to claim fourth. Freshman Kate Ham (Bozeman, MT) just missed scoring in the javelin, as her personal-record throw of 117'8" placed her ninth. Through four events of the heptathlon, sophomore Sarah McHale (Winchester, VA) is tied for second with 2,395 points.
The CAA Championship concludes Saturday with action beginning at 9:30 a.m.
CAA Championships Team Standings - 6 Events Scored
1) College of William & Mary 71
2) UNC Wilmington 51
3) George Mason 50
4) James Madison University 41
5) Towson University 34
6) VCU 22
7) Delaware 4