Several members of the VCU Rams women’s track and field team achieved personal and season bests during competitions held on April 19 at the Virginia Challenge in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Georgia Tech Invitational in Atlanta, Georgia.
The event served as a final opportunity for sprinters, jumpers, distance runners, and throwers to prepare ahead of the upcoming conference championships. At Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, one athlete set a new personal record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.91 seconds while another recorded a season best at 11.92 seconds. In hurdles events, one competitor completed the 400-meter hurdles in 1:02.49 and also participated in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.70 seconds. Another hurdler finished her race at 14.24 seconds.
In other sprint events, an athlete placed seventh overall in the competitive field for the 400-meter dash with a finish time of 54.33 seconds.
Distance runners took part in races at George C. Griffin Track during the Georgia Tech Invitational where one runner completed her heat of the 1500 meters at 4:51.34 while another set her own personal record with a time of 4:51.67.
Field event highlights included long jump performances measuring up to distances such as one athlete’s leap reaching 5.87 meters and another recording a mark of 5.58 meters; meanwhile, another team member secured ninth place overall in triple jump by clearing a distance of 12.40 meters.
In throwing events, two athletes finished among the top four competitors for hammer throw—one placing second with a mark of 57.50 meters while her teammate followed closely behind securing fourth place at an even distance of over fifty-six meters (56.33m). Shot put results saw additional success as Matalatala earned second place by reaching out to fourteen-point-zero-six meters (14.06m) followed by Akaolisa who finished fourth after achieving thirteen-point-eight-zero meters (13.80m).
Looking forward, VCU will compete next at the Atlantic 10 Outdoor Championships hosted by George Mason University beginning Saturday May 2nd through Sunday May 3rd.
