Tribe Sweeps Distance Events in Quest for Third-Straight Title
FAIRFAX, VA - By sweeping all three distance events, William and Mary men's track and field rocketed into the lead after day one of the CAA Track and Field Championships as the Tribe aims for its third-consecutive conference crown. Three-time All-American Ed Moran (Dayton, NJ), senior Pat Comstock (Portsmouth, VA) and senior Adam Otstot (Richmond, VA) all won individual titles to lead a dominant showing by the Green and Gold distance corps as the College swept 8 of the 9 available All-CAA honors and 93 of 107 available points in the events. The distance corps accounted for all of the Tribe's 93 points on day one, which gives the College a healthy lead over second-place UNC-Wilmington (75.50) and third-place Virginia Commonwealth (45). All-CAA honors are awarded to the top-three finishers in each event while the top-eight positions pay points. The CAA Champion of every event, excluding the 10,000m and decathlon, also receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals in that event.With a wealth of headliners, it is difficult to single out any of the events as the Tribe's most dominant as each was not only highlighted by wins and all-conference performances, but also included the breaking of qualification standards and meet records in addition to the sheer depth displayed in all three races. In the 5,000m, for example, Moran led a one-two Tribe finish as he and runner-up Christo Landry (Falls Church, VA), also an All-American, both broke the NCAA Regional and IC4A standards. Moran clocked a winning time of 14:12.31 to earn his first CAA title on the track while Landry timed a personal best 14:13.88 to earn All-CAA honors in his Championship debut. 2004 CAA 5,000m champion Keith Bechtol (Alexandria, VA) and sophomore Adam Tenerowicz (Blackstone, MA) made it four Tribe runners in the top five as Bechtol ran a 14:19.83 for fourth as Tenerowicz claimed fifth in 14:41.19 as both earned IC4A qualifications with their times.
The College saw equal brilliance in the 10,000m as Comstock led a sweep of the podium with his meet-record time of 30:44.02, some four seconds better than the previous best at the CAA Championship. Claiming runner-up honors behind Comstock was sophomore Steve Hoogland who clocked a sharp 30:46.89 for All-CAA acclaim as senior Kyle Pawlaczyk (Orchard Park, NY) rounded out the Tribe's all-conference honorees in the race with his third-place effort of 30:51.94. Freshman Jared Campbell (Franklin, IN) impressed with his fifth-place time of 31:12.19 as all four runners broke the IC4A standard with their performances. Senior Jon Healey (Wayne, NJ) in sixth (31:44.15) and sophomore Dan Nally (Warrenton, VA) in eighth (32:00.49) rounded out the squad's scorers in the event.
Mathematically, the 3,000m steeplechase was the Tribe's best event where Otstot led a sweep of the top-five and six of eight scoring positions for an event-high 34 points. Otstot, with his winning time of 9:12.62 and sophomore Anthony Arena (Manassas, VA), with his runner-up pace of 9:14.16, both earned IC4A qualifications in the event as Otstot also won the CAA\'s NCAA Regional autobid in the steeplechase. Redshirt freshman Jonna Reinhardt (Williamsburg, VA) completed a College sweep of all-conference honors with his third-place performance of 9:25.15 as he just edged fellow redshirt freshman Spencer Kirk (River Forest, IL) who finished in fourth at 9:25.72. Freshman Rob Dennis (Little Silver, NJ) completed the sweep of the top five with a time of 9:32.62 while fellow rookie Bryce Wilk (Millbrook, NY) finished eighth (9:44.83) to score for the team.
The CAA Championships conclude Saturday.
Men - Team Rankings - 7 Events Scored
1) College of William & Mary 93
2) UNC Wilmington 75.50
3) VCU 45
4) Delaware 25.50
5) James Madison University 18
6) George Mason 16