KINGSTON, R.I. -- VCU won its third straight Atlantic 10 Conference Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship Sunday at Mackal Fieldhouse. It's the sixth title in eight years for the Rams, who finished with 149 total points and six event victories.
The Rams set two records and recorded 13 medal performances (top three) in eight different events. Lauryn Taylor ran the 60 meters in 7.35 seconds, topping both the A-10 championship meet record and the facility record that was set by VCU’s Kiara Porter in 2015. Taylor also won the 200 meters with a 24.24 time. In the 60 meter hurdles, Symone Foster clocked a A-10 championship meet best time of 8.42 meters. It surpassed a shared record of 8.45 seconds set by George Mason’s Shavon Briscoe and Massachusetts Jada Harris.
Jon Riley was named A-10 Coach of the Year for the sixth time after leading the Rams to a title by 33 points. George Mason, the day one leader, finished second with 116 points followed by Richmond in third with 92 points. La Salle (67 points) edged UMass (66 points) for fourth place. Rhode Island was sixth with 62 points and Davidson rounded out the top half of the team finishes with 57 points to place seventh.
VCU’s Eryn Byrd was named Most Outstanding Field Performer for her gold medal finish in the shot put with a 14.87 meter shot and a third-place finish in the weight throw with a 18.18 meter toss. Her teammate Gudrun Hallgrimsdottir won the weight throw tallying a 20.03 meter throw. The Rams also won the triple jump thanks to Raquel Hawkins 11.94 meter leap.
La Salle’s Eleanor Mancini was named Most Outstanding Track Performer for winning both the 3000 meters with a 9:34.94 and the 5000 meters with a 16:28.62. She edged her sister Liz in the 3000 meters by just .04, and her other sister Christine was the 1000 meter champion with a 2:48.98.
The Most Outstanding Rookie Performer went to Rhode Island freshman Lily Saul, who ran the 800 meters in 2:10.86 to win gold.
Other event champions included Davidson’s Rachel Horowitz won the 400 meters with a 56.63 time. Duquesne’s Emily Brozeski, who finished top five in every pentathlon event, including a win in the shot put to tally 3,639 points and take gold. Her teammate Hannah Seitzinger was the 500 meter champion with a 1:13.65 time. George Mason’s Hannah Robertson had a pole vault of 3.77 meters to earn the win. La Salle’s Olabisi Adams earned top podium tier with a 5.91 meter leap in the long jump. UMass’ Elizabeth Lodge and Fordham’s Jana Rokitta tied in the high jump at 1.74 meters. Richmond’s Madison Trippell was the mile champion with a 4:52.27 time.
Richmond won the 4x800 meters in 9:00.60, and on Saturday set a meet record in the DMR with a time of 11:34.45. The Spiders’ topped the record of 11:35.23, set in 2014 by Duquesne. Rhode Island won the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:51.80.