Willis Sets School Record, Dukes Excel at ECAC Championships

Friday, March 6

Boston, Mass.

TBA

James Madison University

ECAC Indoor Championship

Willis Sets School Record, Dukes Excel at ECAC Championships

3/8/2020 3:27:00 PM | Track & Field

@JMUTrackField Results (PDF)

Boston, Mass. – Meredith Willis put a cap on a dominant indoor season by setting a James Madison track & field school record in the final day of action at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships held at Boston University on Sunday.

Willis won the gold medal in the 200m race in a school-record setting time of 23.85 seconds. The previous record was held by Tanique Carter (2007-09) who ran the race in 23.98 seconds in 2009.

In the 60m race, Willis crossed the finish line in 7.60 to secure fifth place. After her dominating performances, Willis was the highest point scorer in the entire meet.

In the 4x400m race, Tally Lott, Dardlie Lefevre, Tess Lee and Willis teamed up to place fifth in 3:46.55, which is the second fastest time in program history. 4x800m team of Sophie Bollinger, Maggie Linton, Annie Dunlop and Sinead Sargeant finished in fifth in 9:03.05.

Skyla Davidson moved her name up the top-ten list in the triple jump as she recorded a leap of 12.15m. Davidson bumped up to third all-time, previously sitting fifth with a mark of 12.09m.

Day Two Recap
Meredith Willis qualified for two finals to lead James Madison track & field in the second day of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Championships held at Boston University on Saturday.

Willis began the day in the 60m preliminary round, finishing in sixth with a time of 7.64 to advance to the semifinal. In the semifinal race, Willis grabbed the last spot in 7.60 seconds to qualify for the final on Sunday at 11:30 a.m.

Willis also ran fast enough to qualify for the 200m finals on Sunday at 12:35 p.m. as she won the preliminary race with a time of 24.18 seconds.

Sophie Bollinger, Brooke Manion, Annie Dunlop and Sinead Sargeant teamed up to run the 4x800m prelims race and nearly cracked JMU's all-time top-ten as the team finished second with a season-best time of 9:01.48. The team was 0:00.02 from surpassing the 10th fastest time in program history.

4x400m relay team of Tally Lott, Dardlie Lefevre, Jordan Bourgeois and Tess Lee qualified for the finals with a 10th-place finish in 3:50.96 seconds. The final is set for 2:50 p.m. on Sunday.

Day One Recap
Freshmen Erin Babashak and Bethany Biggi began action for James Madison track & field at the ECAC Conference Championships held at Boston University on Friday evening.

The freshmen duo competed in the pentathlon with Babashak leading the way finishing in 12th with a personal record total of 2,977 points. Her best finish in an event came in the high jump as she placed 10th with a mark of 1.54m.

Earlier this season, Babashak set her original best mark in the event with a total of 2,919 which placed her ninth all time. Her point total today pushed her into eighth in program history.

Biggi recorded 2,863 points in the competition to place 14th. Biggi finished in the top-10 in two events as she placed ninth in the shot put with a mark of 8.73m then landed in 10th in the high jump at 1.54m

Quoting Coach McCown
"Our performances were good today and I am very pleased with the competitive mentality and determination I saw from everyone today," head coach Ron McCown said. "Meredith Willis had exceptional performances! It is an awesome accomplishment for her to set the school record and be ECAC champion in the 200. Congratulations to her and Coach Ta' Frias for that accomplishment! This was a good ending to our 2020 Indoor season, go Dukes!"

Up Next
JMU will begin its outdoor slate at the UTSA Invitational in San Antonio, Texas on Thursday, March 19-21.