Fifth-year senior Marvin Edison took second in the shot put with a personal record of his own of 14.47 meters. He broke his previous record by over a foot en route to his second place finish. His throw was just one centimeter short of the winning throw.
The men's throwers rounded out their top five finished with Kevin Parkhurst (40.95 meters) finishing fourth in the discus throw and Luke Thomason (12.98 meters) finished fifth in the shot put. Parkhurst's final toss bester his personal record by ten feet.
On the track, VCU sprinters torched their way to two IC4A qualifying times. DeAngelo Wilson's 21.78 seconds in the 200 meter dash, and Donnie Seward's victory in the 100 meters at 10.81 seconds, which was also a personal record, gave the duo championship qualifying times.
For the VCU women, Samantha Mosley led the throwing charge. Mosley, the junior from Farmville, Va., won the shot put with a best throw of 13.01 meters. Supporting Mosley's effort was supported by Julia Anyaugo. The junior's throw of 40.06 meters in the discus throw gave the Rams another top five finish. Following that top five trend was junior Brandy Preston of Rocky Mount, Va. Preston's 38.75 meters in the hammer throw was good for fifth place.
Rachel Montague led the way for the VCU women on the track with her new personal best in the 100 meter hurdles. Her time of 14.53 seconds was good for second place.
RAMS POST STELLAR SHOWING AT PRESTIGIOUS FLORIDA RELAYS
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (April 2,2011)– Most people head to Florida for a little vacation and time on the beach. Not the Virginia Commonwealth University track & field program, who headed to the "Sunshine State" for a business trip at the prestigious Florida Relays. It was a successful business trip as the Black & Gold posted an outstanding showing against some of the nation's top athletes.
"Our team was excited and hungry for an opportunity to get out into some warm weather and compete for the first time this season," Head Coach Jon Riley said. "They definitely made the best of their opportunity and performed at a very high level with some of the best athletes from all over the country."
For the men, senior DeAngelo Wilson had a strong weekend with a seasonal best in the 100-meter dash. Into a very strong head wind, Wilson posted a time of 10.83 against some of the nation's best.
He then teamed with classmates Donnie Seward and Axel Mostrag, as well as sophomore Dominic Costanzo in the sprint medley relay. The quartet posted the strongest showing by the Black & Gold all weekend with a fourth-place finish and a time of 3:21.24, missing the school record by less than two seconds.
Seward and Costanzo then teamed with Josh Bostick and Jeff Hernandez in the 4x400 relay to notch the third fastest time in school history, clocking in at 3:14.72.
On the individual side, senior Walid Berkhedle recorded a personal best in the 1500-meter run with a time of 3:47.94. That ranks him as the third-best runner in school history. Mostrag rounded out the Rams weekend with a top-15 showing in the 800-meter run, posting a time of 1:52.46.
"Walid had a solid weekend and we look forward to his continually improvement in our school rankings in the 1500," Riley said.
For the women, junior Julia Anyaugo was the top performer for the Rams, crushing her own school record by over 10 feet in the discus throw with a heave of 150' 3". Her mark landed her a sixth-place finish, the highest women's finish of the weekend.
The school-record breaking continued in the women's sprint medley where senior Quina Fortune, sophomore Dionna Hayes, junior Jazlynn Finney and classmate Nicole Walters blew past the old school record by 17 seconds with a time of 3:56.42.
Fortune, Walters and Finney then joined freshman Niaimani Aduma in the 4x400 meter relay to post the second-fastest time in school history with a time of 3:49.96, just .56 off the 18-year old school record.
On the individual side, Fortune followed suit in the 200-meter dash by breaking her own school record with a time of 23.79, good for a top-10 finish. Hayes always had a great early season performance with a time of 11.89 in the 100-meter dash.
"As a staff, we're really excited about the way Julia and Quina showed the ability to better themselves and their school records consistently," Riley said.
The Rams head to Knoxville, Tenn. for the Sea Ray Relays next weekend as their final meet before the first home meet of the spring with the VCU Invitational set for Apr. 16th.
RAMS LOOK STRONG DESPITE TOUGH CONDITIONS AT VCU INVITATIONAL
RICHMOND, Va. (APRIL, 16, 2011)– If you looked up "perfect track & field conditions" on Google, blustery winds and heavy rain probably don't make the list. However, that's what the VCU track & field programs dealt with Saturday afternoon at their first home meet in over a year at the VCU Invitational. The meet was actually cut a few hours short and an official winner was unable to be declared after lightning surrounded the Metro Richmond area for much of the afternoon. That didn't slow down the Black & Gold, who grabbed 15 top-five finishes on the day.
"I was pleased with the efforts our kids give today in very tough conditions," Head Coach Jon Riley said. "Bottom line is that you can't let the conditions be an excuse because it's the same for all the athletes, our kids didn't do that today and took another solid step toward being prepared for the ultimate goal at the conference meet in a few weeks."
Earlier this week, Riley spoke about fine tuning some things including both 4x100 meter relay teams. Look like both squads got the message, taking home the top spot on both the men's and women's side. The senior quartet of Kyle Jones, Donnie Seward, Allan Moody and DeAngelo Wilson broke the line in 41.71, while the women's team of senior Quina Fortune, junior Jazlynn Finney, sophomore Dionna Hayes and freshman Niaimani Aduma clocked in at 46.37.
Those weren't the only victories on the day for the Rams as Wilson took home the title in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.09, sophomore Jennifer McAvoy claimed her first collegiate title with a leap of 37' 5 ¼" in the triple jump, junior Julia Anyaugo topped her competition in the discus throw with a mark of 149' 3" and senior Walid Berkhedle posted the best time, 3:53.31, in the 1500-meter run.
Other highlights from the day include junior Allison Morris finishing second in the high jump (5' 5"), Hayes finishing second in the 100-meter dash (11.80) and Fortune finishing second in the 200-meter dash at 24.60. Freshman Andre Hunter posted a strong showing in the long jump with a leap of 22' 7 ¾", good for fourth place in the event.
Wilson, who is in his fifth season after battling hamstring issues for much of his career, rounded out a great afternoon with a third-place finish in the 100-meter dash, clocking in at 10.39.
"DeAngelo had a pretty good day and that's what we're going to need from him come conference time," Riley said. "As a veteran on this squad, he's going to need to continue to show his leadership skills if we want to reach the goals we set for the team entering this year."
The Rams return to action next Saturday as they head out to the JMU Invitational in Harrisonburg, Va.
VETERANS LEAD RAMS ON BUSY TRACK & FIELD WEEKEND
RICHMOND, Va. (April 23, 2011)– With only a few meets left in their collegiate careers, the seniors of the Virginia Commonwealth University track & field program are doing their best to leave a legacy with the Black & Gold. This past weekend added to that legacy as a slew of veterans led the Rams to outstanding showings at both the Vanderbilt Invitational and the James Madison Invitational on a busy weekend for the Black & Gold.
"At this point in the year, you always look for your seniors to really show their leadership and give it their all with the end of their careers on the horizon," Head Coach Jon Riley said. "This weekend was just another great example of how hard work pays off and it's just another step toward our goal, which will take place in a couple weeks with the conference championships."
In all, the Black & Gold claimed 27 top-three finishes and 10 victories between the two meets. VCU posted 14 different qualifying marks for the IC4As and ECAC Championships, which take place later this spring.
The performance of the weekend came from senior Quina Fortune, who scorched the track and her competition in the 200-meter dash at the Vandy Invite en route to a time of 23.38. That time not only won the event, but also puts her in among the top-10 200m times in the East Region this year. It would be a school record, but because of wind readings being above 2.0, it doesn't qualify.
Fortune wasn't done as she posted a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash, right behind teammate Dionna Hayes. The duo posted times of 11.53 and 11.55 respectively, both of which are personal bests and rank in the top-25 times in the East Region.
That had to be it for Fortune, right? Think again. She then teamed with juniors Nicole Walters and Jazlynn Finney, as well as freshman Niamani Aduma to break an 18-year old school record in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:46.70.
The record breaking continued in the 4x100 meter relay when Fortune, Finney and Aduma teamed with Hayes to post a time of 45.67
It wasn't much different on the men's side where the Rams dominated the sprints thanks to seniors DeAngelo Wilson (pictured, right) and Donnie Seward. Wilson won both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes with times of 10.61 and 21.36, both are career bests for the Richmond, Va. native.
Seward finished fourth in the 200-meter with a personal best of 21.78 and then went on to pick up a victory of his own in the 400-meter dash with a time of 47.91.
VCU's success was not limited to the track as junior Julia Anyaugo broke her own school record yet again in the discus throw, this time by over seven feet. Her mark of 157' 8" was good for third in the event. Anyaugo has broken the record three times this year and has now increased the school record by over 23 feet this year.
"Coach Tussing has done a great job of continuing to find new ways of improving our throwers skills and Julia is a true testament to that," Riley said. "She's an extremely hard worker and it's nice to see it starting to be big dividends."
Rounding out the strong performances at the Vandy Invite was the senior distance duo of Axel Mostrag and Walid Berkhedle, who finished first and third respectively in the 800-meter run with times of 1:51.75 and 1:52.28.
At the JMU Invitational, senior Joe Edwards (pictured, left) won both the high jump (6' ½") and the triple jump (47' 5 ¾"). Sophomore Alex Hinton was the other Ram to post a victory in Harrisonburg, crossing the line in 1:58.07 to best his competition.
The Black & Gold will take a few athletes to the prestigious Penn Relays next weekend, but the majority of the squad will focus on the CAA Championships, which take place at VCU's Sports Backers Stadium on May 6-7.
