Women’s track sets records

For the JMU women’s track and field team, it was the distance runners who stole the spotlight this past weekend in the team’s outdoor debut.

In Palo Alto, Calif., Saturday, junior Shannon Saunders broke the school record by 24 seconds in the 10,000-meter run and qualified for the National Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento this June.

Saunders clocked 33:54 to break the record set by Lauren Burawski in 2002. Saunders is currently ranked 13th in the nation among Division I runners for the 10,000-meter.

"I thought she was capable of doing it," coach Dave Rinker said.

Rinker’s plan for Saunders was to run the race evenly, running steady 81 or 82-second laps. Saunders executed the plan almost to perfection, as she ran each of the 25 laps between 80.5 and 82.7 seconds.

"She’s a very dedicated person," Rinker said. "She’s very easy to coach because she does what she needs to do, when she needs to do, and how she needs to do it."

Saunders was one of two JMU athletes to attend the Stanford Invitational. The other, junior Nelly Anderson, also qualified for the NCAA postseason in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Anderson took the lead at the start of the second mile and widened the gap to win her heat in 10:34.17, 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Sariah St. Laurent of Weber State. She finished ninth overall.

"Stanford is a great opportunity to go where the competition is," Anderson said.

Anderson and Saunders are both making return trips to the postseason. Saunders are both making return trips to the postseason. Saunders placed 16th at nationals last year while Anderson finished 21st at regionals, but failed to qualify for nationals. Her teammates are optimistic that she will have a better showing this year.

"This year she has a lot more strength and has started to bring her times down more," senior Cindy Dunham said.

Dunham, the No. 5 runner for the Dukes this past cross-country season, also set a new personal record in the 1500-meter, with a time of 4:38.61. Dunham finished 13th in the 1500 at the Raleigh Invitational.

The team next competes at the Duke Relays, April 8 and 9.