The University of Delaware women's track and field team finished in fourth place while junior Sarah Hillman was named the meet's most outstanding field performer as the Blue Hens hosted the Colonial Athletic Association conference meet this weekend at Stuart and Suzanne Grant Stadium.

Hillman won the discus title with a throw of 186-feet, 2-inches, which now ranks seventh nationally and shatters her previous school record and the CAA record. Earlier in the day she placed fourth in the shot put with a toss of 45-11.25.

"This has been my dream since I've been here," said Hillman of winning a conference title. "I've just been trying to get better and better every year and hopefully that will continue at regionals (next week) and hopefully at nationals. I had a lot more confidence this year. Last year (CAA meet) was rough because I didn't make the finals, but this year I had the home field advantage. My whole family was here and all the throwers on the team have been great. I've had such great support from the entire team and that means the world to me."

UD finished fourth out of eight conference squads with 108.5 total points, improving on last year’s sixth place finish. Towson claimed the CAA women's title with 163.5 points, followed by Elon (158), James Madison (140) and the Blue Hens. Northeastern won the men's team title, outdistancing William and Mary and the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).

"Our Blue Hens did a great job this weekend," said UD head coach Wendy McFarlane-Smith. "We had the right energy at the right time. Congratulations to Sarah Hillman on her elite performance in the discus. We are so proud to have an athlete earn a conference title and set a conference record in her event."

"We had a lot of performances to be proud of," she continued. "We knew going in it would be a battle with the depth in performances from all the teams. We look forward to building as a team and improving on our position in the CAA next season. We would like to thank all the teams and congratulate Towson on their win."

Leslie Ope placed second in the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.40 for the Blue Hens while Jeanette Bendolph was second in the 800 meter finals by finishing in 2:10.63 and London Freeland was second in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.38.

Also for the Hens on Saturday, Liz McGroarty was second in the 1,500 meters (4:29.73) and third in the 800 meters (2:12.14) and Anisa Fortt was fourth in the triple jump (38-2.25).

UD also had two top three finishes in the relay events. The Hens placed second in the 4x400 meter as the team of Carolyn Darr, Nadia Khoury, Carly Pettipaw and Freeland ran to a time of 3:46.57 and the 4x400 meter relay tandem of Darr, Isis Pinkney, Haley Berkeley and Tyler Jackson placed third with a time of 47.83.

Several members of the squad will continue action next weekend when the Blue Hens compete at the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) championship regionals at Princeton.