JMU Wins Inaugural William Walton Invitational

Saturday, April 15

Harrisonburg, Va.

James Madison University

William Walton Invitational

4/16/2017 12:45:00 AM | Track & Field

@JMUTrackField Results Photo Gallery Highlights

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison track & field tallied several PRs and event victories en route to a team victory at the inaugural William Walton Invitational on Saturday at Sentara Park.

The first of two home meets, the Dukes tallied 173 points across 18 scored events, taking first-place finishes in 11 of the events. The four-team meet featured Marshall in second place (108 points), George Mason in third (44) and VCU in fourth (32).

Freshman Alexys Taylor won both the the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash, setting personal records with a 23.92-second 200 meter and a wind-aided ( 3.8) 11.50-second 100 meter. Her 100-meter mark is the fastest in school history with a wind mark, surpassing Tanique Carter's mark of 11.64 seconds from 2009. Her 200-meter mark ranks second in program history.

Junior Tyrah Burrow improved on her season-high, ECAC-qualifying mark in the 400-meter dash, winning with a time of 54.86 seconds. Senior Annie Johnson followed in second place with a collegiate PR of 55.32 seconds, qualifying her for competition at ECACs.

The Dukes went 1-2-3 in the 800-meter run and the 3000-meter run. In the 800 meter, JMU was led by senior Carol Strock (2:11.06) in first and junior Erica Gray in second (2:12.94) with ECAC-eligible times. Junior Madeleine McCarty rounded out the top-three sweep in third place (2:14.89). Later in the evening, junior Angelique DeMeo won the 3,000-meter run with a personal best 10:37.17, followed by sophomore Jackie O'Shea (10:54.53) and sophomore Nicole Harrison (11:06.78).

Beautiful sunset to start off these distance races at Sentara Park @JMUTrackField pic.twitter.com/qDTfVoeZTE
— Meredith Willis (@meredith_willis) April 15, 2017

Senior Tessa Mundell claimed the individual victory in the 1,500-meter run with an ECAC mark and personal best of 4:33.70. Sophomore Olivia Viparina also set a personal record in the event, shaving almost nine seconds off her previous mark with a third-place finish in 4:36.86.

Junior Gina Bischof placed second in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 1:03.27, which ranks eighth on the JMU top-10 list. Senior Summer Walter closed out the top three finishers in 1:04.49.

JMU led both sprint packs as Taylor was followed in the 100-meter dash by sophomore Meredith Willis in 11.73 seconds, senior Kennedy King in 11.79 seconds and junior Aereale Scott in 11.83 seconds. Taylor, Willis and King also went 1-2-3 in the 200, as Taylor finished in 23.92 seconds with Willis right behind in 23.98 and King in 24.38.

Scott claimed the victory in the 100-meter hurdles (13.76 sec, 4.2). King won the long jump with two jumps of 5.63 meters while fellow senior Ebony Owusu-Sampah was second in 5.39 meters. Owusu-Sampah placed second in the triple jump (11.41m) as well, an event won by sophomore Jantsen Wilson (11.50m).

Freshman Emily Murphy won the 5,000-meter run at 18:00.75 while freshman Caitlin Swanson finished third in 18:24.77. The Dukes relay team of Johnson, junior De'Ana Forbes, freshman Cleo Morris and senior Abigail Duncan won the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 46.73 seconds.

PHOTO OF THE DAY
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Full photo gallery available here.

UP NEXT
JMU will send part of its squad to the UVA Challenge on Friday, April 21 in Charlottesville, Va. The Dukes return to Sentara Park next weekend when they host the annual JMU Invitational on Saturday, April 22.