FAIRFAX, Va.-- VCU captured the 2022 Atlantic 10 Women’s Indoor Track and Field title Sunday, claiming its fifth championship overall at the George Mason Fieldhouse with 126 total team points.
 
Lauryn Freeman gave VCU first-place points in the 60 meter hurdles, taking gold with a time of 13.95, and placed second in the 60 meters with a time of 7.53. Freshman and Most Outstanding Field Performer, Eryn Byrd took gold in the shot put with a mark of 14.80 meters, while teammate Makayla McGowan was second in the shot put with a throw of 14.70 meters. VCU’s Dasia Mayo and Nayome Shipp took the top two spots in the high jump, with Mayo (1.70m) earning gold, and Shipp (1.67m) taking silver. Four other VCU athletes placed in the top three in their respective events. VCU coach Jon Riley was named A-10 Coach of the Year, his fifth coach of the year award in Women’s Indoor Track & Field.
 
Dayton's Lainey Studebaker won the one mile with a time of 4:48.90, finished third in the 3,000 meters with a 9:47.59, and second in the 5,000 meters with a 16:34.53 to take home Most Outstanding Track Performer honors. UD freshman Chante Clinkscale set a new conference and school record in the 60 meters with a time of 7.33, topping the 7.40 she set in Saturday's preliminaries. Clinkscale also earned gold in the 200 meters with a 24.27 time, earning Most Outstanding Rookie Performer.
 
La Salle’s Christine Mancini set a new meet and school record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 2:48.63. She eclipsed the old mark of 2:49.08 set in 2019 by Rhode Island's Lotte Black. Liz Mancini took home gold in the 3,000 meters with a time of 9:35.87.
 
Richmond finished second in the two-day meet with 121 points and Dayton placed third with 84.5 points. There were five record-breaking performances across the board in the championship. George Mason finished fourth in the meet with 78 points, just ahead of UMass 71 points. La Salle was sixth with 60 points and Rhode Island seventh with 59.5 points. Duquesne (57), Fordham (42) and Davidson (35) placed eighth through 10th respectively. Saint Louis, Saint Joseph’s and George Washington rounded out the field.
 
The Spiders finished the championship with six gold, three silver, and three bronze to earn second place.  Rachel Helbling took gold in the 400 meters with a time of 55.93. Senior Brooke Fazio defended her title in the 800 meters with a time of 2:07.35, adding to Richmond's gold collection, with teammate Kate McAndrew, in second with a time of 2:11.13.  The Spiders won all three relays, taking the 4x400-meter in 3:46.56 with a team of Kayla Woods, Helbling, Kamryn Ross, and Fazio. UR's gold in the 4x800-meter relay came in 9:01.83, with a team of Kendra Smither, McAndrew, Lyndsay Colfesh, and Kayla O’Connell. The distance medley relay gold team was Fazio, Smither, McAndrew and O'Connell checking in at 11:46.37. 
 
Mason's Grace Furlong won the triple jump with a leap of 12.44 meters while Duquesne's Hannah Seitzinger won the 500 meters.