Rams clean up at Fred Hardy Invitational

You would have thought the track-and-field teams were competing at home with the performances the Rams put forth Friday and Saturday. After all, they only had to travel to cross-town rival Richmond’s First Market Stadium.

The men’s team finished with a season-high six top finishes, and Lauren Stewart (Richmond/Maggie Walker) set a new school record in the pole vault for the women’s team, competing in the 2nd Annual Fred Hardy Invitational hosted by the University of Richmond.

Stewart vaulted 11 feet, 5 3/4 inches on the first day of competition. Stewart, who also owns the indoor pole vault record, topped former Ram Crystal Jordan’s record of 11′.

In men’s competition, junior James Frierson (Richmond/ Highland Springs High School) grabbed his second straight first-place finish in the 200 meters, and sophomore Jackie Deshazo (Mechanicsville/ Atlee High School) followed close behind for second.

Junior Davion Lambert (Richmond/ Varina High School) also grabbed his second consecutive first-place finish, earning the top spot in the triple jump. Distance runner Mariusz Mostrag (Krajnik, Poland) also grabbed a second first-place spot in as many meets, finishing the 800 with a time of 1 minute, 50.82 seconds.

Freshman sprinter Jason Gallo (Rochester, N.Y.) took home his first career first-place finish with a win in the 100, and junior Lukasz Matusiewicz (Warsaw, Poland) earned his first top finish of the season in the 1500.

The relay team rounded out the first-place finishes with a time of 41.67 in the 400 relay.

Stewart wasn’t the only one to establish a school record over the weekend. With a limited squad competing in the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina, sophomore distance runner Jay Wyss (Richmond/ J.R. Tucker High School) set a new school record in the 10,000 with a time of 30:31.67, edging the 2001 record set by Daniel Ndungu.

In the women’s events, senior Tanika Brown (Powhatan/Powhatan High School) finished first in the high jump with a mark of 5’07”. Frankie Moore (Chesapeake/Great Bridge High School) tied for third in the high jump.

Verniece Johnson (Mineral/ Louisa High School) recorded a mark of 17’7 1?2″ in the triple jump for first, and finished fifth in the 200 with a time of 25.88.

Sophomore Megan Seay (Burke/Lake Braddock Secondary School) finished fifth in the long jump out of 22 jumpers with a personal best 17’2 3?4″.

Emily Thompson (Crozet/ Western Albemarle High School) and Danielle Williams (Virginia Beach/ Salem High School) each finished third in their events. Thompson posted a time of 11:51 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, and Williams ran a 4:49.89 in the 1500.

Hurdles specialist Octavia James (Newport News/ Heritage High School) placed second in the 100 hurdles, finishing with a time of 14.90, and finished fifth in the 400 hurdles. Junior Pia Ruth (Rahway, N.J.) finished two spots behind James in the 100 hurdles.