Wealth of Season Bests Positions Tribe for Title Defense
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA - Four-time defending CAA Champion William and Mary women's track and field witnessed a wealth of season best performances as athletes tuned up for next weekend's CAA Championships by competing this Saturday at Virginia's Lou Onesty/Milton G. Abramson Invitational.The Tribe throwing corps had a strong performance during the meet, highlighted by sophomore Jen Showker's (Harrisonburg, VA) person-record distance of 43'7.25" in the shot which netted third place. Freshman Elise Helgesen (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) also threw for a career best in the event with an eighth-place distance of 38'8.25". Junior Liz Hager (Max Meadows, VA) claimed fourth in the hammer with a career best of 142'4" and also finished fourth in the discus with a personal best of 125'6". Showker claimed ninth in the hammer with a season best of 127'9". The Tribe also saw solid performances in the javelin as sophomore Brenna Blevins (Pulaski, VA) captured third after throwing for 130'8" while Hager claimed fourth with a throw of 127'1".
The Tribe saw two strong performances in the high jump as Blevins earned runner-up honors with her height of 5'3" as junior Bonnie Meekins (Herndon, VA) finished third at 5'1", tieing a season best. Meekins also set a personal record with a 15.15 in the 100m hurdles. Junior Erica Johnson (Stephens Church, VA) ran a season fast 12.52 in the 100m for ninth while senior Naomi Mattos (Woodbridge, VA) claimed sixth in the 400m at 57.59. Sophomore Kate Willever (Pennington, NJ) claimed fifth in her debut in the 3,000m steeplechase by timing an 11:45.49, ahead of junior Shelley Knewstep (Madison, VA) in sixth. The Tribe's 4x100m relay just missed an ECAC qualification by clocking a 48.98 for seventh, just sixth tenths off the standard.
Tribe track and field will seek its fifth-consecutive CAA Championship next weekend, April 22-23 in Fairfax, VA.