The Demon Deacon women's track and field team saw considerable action this March 29-31. They also saw considerable success.

Split between the Raleigh Relays at N.C. State and the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., multiple Deacons set new school or personal records.

"We had a real nice performance, Director of Track and Field Annie Schweitzer-Bennett said. "We felt there were good showings across the board."

Highlighting the weekend for the Deacons was sophomore Carol Merritt, who broke her own school records in the 400 meters with a time of :55.10, placing her ninth, and the 200 meters with a time of :24.16, which put her fourth in Raleigh.

The only thing novel about the performance was that it came in her hometown, as Merritt is no stranger to records, having already held four school outdoor records entering this season.

While Schweitzer-Bennett was pleased with the sophomore's performance, she also sees room for improvement.

"I was impressed with (Merritt's) performance, but it's only her second meet outdoors, so she was a little rusty, she still has some areas to capitalize on," Schweitzer-Bennett said. "It's a different feeling when you run indoor and outdoor, so we felt like she has a lot more in her. We expect her just to keep learning. It's a different track, you really have to have a different focus when you go outdoors."

Of course, Merritt was not the only one setting new standards in Raleigh. Sophomores Becca Veenstra and Kara Mullin each set personal records during the meet, Veenstra's in the 5,000 meters with a time of 17:57.30 and Mullin's coming in the 3,000 meter steeplechase after a time of 10:49.08, placing them 42nd and sixth in their respective events.At Stanford freshman Anne Bersagel placed 17th in the 5,000 meters with a time of 16:40.43, which was good enough to provisionally qualify her for the NCAA Championships.

Schweitzer-Bennett was impressed with the array of good performances for the weekend.

"Annie Bersagel, a freshman, provisionally qualified for nationals in the 5,000 meters. She ran 16:40 which is an outstanding time for a freshman," she said. "Another freshman, Danielle Coon, ran 17:22, which is another outstanding time for a freshman, so we feel like we're moving in the right direction. We had a sophomore run two personal bests in the 3K steeple and the 1,500, which is a tough double, Kara Mullin. We're really proud of that, she's kind of made a nice jump and we know she's been ready for that, so that was real nice to see that happen."

Freshman Cassy Richards tied for 19th place in the long jump with a jump of 17'11.75". Senior Sandra Jenkins took 19th in the shot put with a distance of 43'2.5". Freshman Tess Fath finished 12th in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:38.09.

The Deacs also placed well in the relays, with the 4x1,500 meter team placing sixth with a time of 19:00.57 and the 4x800 meter team finishing 12th with a time of 9:13.92.

Also at Stanford, sophomore Nikeya Green ran a 2:12.25 in the 800 meters, placing her 24th.

With the ACCs looming on the horizon, Schweitzer-Bennett feels there is definitely a difference in preparation.

"With ACCs so close, it just comes so fast outdoors for us that all of us, all of our coaches, we're trying to make the best decisions we can for what events to put our kids in these last couple of meets and all that stuff," she said. "So there is a sense of urgency."

The Deacons will return to action April 6-7 at the Duke Invitational in Durham.

"Certain event areas we're starting to peak," Schweitzer-Bennett said.

"Certain events we may take on further to a national level but overall for our team we're starting to really look at the ACC, where can we be and starting to let our athletes know, 'Hey, this is where the conference is, this is where we are. It's time to focus in and see where we can make a difference.'"