RAMS TAKE DOWN SEVEN PERSONAL BESTS, FOUR SCHOOL RECORDS AT COLONIAL RELAYS

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Commonwealth University women's track & field program has continually made steps in the right direction each week and this past weekend was no different.

The Rams capitalized on an abundance of beautiful weather by taking down six personal bests and four school records at the prestigious Colonial Relays, hosted by Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary.

Leading the way was the shuttle hurdle relay team of sophomores Theresa Trader (Purcellville, Va.) and Rachel Montague (Marlton, N.J.), senior Sernarra Archie (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and freshman Chaneka Perry (Newport News, Va.) who captured the event title, broke a school record and posted a personal best with a time of 59.65.

On the individual side, freshman sensation Dionna Hayes (Bowie, Md.) (right) was outstanding, finishing second and breaking a seven-year-old school record in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.70. It breaks Shaunette Davey's record of 11.84, set in 2003.

"Dionna put a string of good races together this weekend," Head Coach Jon Riley said. "She improved her technique in every round of the 100-meter and she's working extremely hard at perfecting that and understanding how to run this event. I'm very proud of her efforts this weekend. She had a slight mishap last week, but came to practice determined to get it right and that's how champions bounce back."

Hayes wasn't done as she teamed with senior Whitney Key (Goochland, Va.), junior Quine Fortune' (New Orleans, La.) and sophomore Jazlynn Finney (Virginia Beach, Va.) to capture a third-place finish with the 4x100-meter relay, breaking the tape in 46.25.

The record breaking continued with the distance medley squad of Key, sophomores Nicole Walters (Orange, Va.) and Heather DelaCruz (Williamsburg, Va.) and freshman Sarah Earman (Nokesville, Va.) posting a school record time of 12:22.86. That broked a 12-yeard-old school record of 12:24.60.

Freshman Jessica Williams (Virginia Beach, Va.) wrapped up the record-breaking performances with her toss of 134' 11" in the discus. It was a personal best for the newcomer, which broke Nikki Arrington's old school record of 134' 7" set in 2006.

Other outstanding performances include personal bests by Archie posting a in the 100-meter hurdles (14.63), sophomore Nicole Walters (Orange, Va.) in the 800-meter (2:13.87), sophomore Julia Anyaugo (Washington, D.C.) in the discus (134' 9 ¾") and Perry in the high jump (5' 5").

The Rams are back in action at another CAA rival, George Mason, next weekend before returning home to host the VCU Invitational on April 17th at Sports Backers Stadium.