The natural process of warm, humid air rising and condensing until there is a column of cumulus clouds with an anvil-shaped top can produce one hell of a thunderstorm.

The men's track and field team, at the Colonial Relays in Virginia, saw Mother Nature in action this weekend. Thunderstorms are not uncommon, but they can postpone track events or add a twist to an event already in progress.

On Friday, the 3,000 meter steeplechase was "run in a torrential holocaust," Coach Harry Groves said.

Brian Laird ran the event during the storm and finished in second place in 8:56.3.

"Everybody had to run in it, so it wasn't bad," Laird said. "There's nothing I can do. I can't blame the race on the weather."

After the steeplechase, the meet was put on hold for about 45 minutes due to the storm.

On Saturday, C.J. Hunter won the shot put with a toss of 63' 8", a new personal best. Hunter's toss was only three inches short of the stadium record. Hunter was presented the Outstanding Collegiate Athletic Award for the most outstanding performance of the meet.

The shuttle-hurdle relay team of Sam Harris, Mark Saunders, Ricardo Hall and Michael Timpson placed second in 58.99, behind the Pitt team that won the event in 57.53.

William & Mary's distance-medley relay team ran for first place in 9:46.20, while Penn State's Mark Anderson, Jon Strange, Chris Mills and Ken Frazier finished second in 9:48.50.

Aidan O'Reilly finished the 1,500-meter run in second place (3:57.10). Phil Caraher placed third in the shot with a 54' 8 1/2" toss. Tom Kleban earned a second-place finish in the pole vault, jumping 15' 6".

"That was the first time we vaulted outside this year," Kleban said. "It was a big change. My feet and my steps were about four feet off."

Mark Algeri finished fourth in the pole vault at 15 feet.

The 800-meter relay team of Harris, Strange, Timpson and Marshall Cannon placed first in 1:27.39, though it had a faster trial time (1:26.30).

Laird, Frazier, O'Reilly and Doug Walter finished the 6,400-meter relay in third (16:54.8), behind first-place Providence and second-place East Tennessee St.

The 3,200-meter relay team also finished in third. First and second went to Villanova (7:30.68) and Yale (7:34.34), respectively. Walter, Anderson, Mills and Mike Castillo ran a time of 7:36.08.

Harris (14.73) placed sixth in the 110-hurdles and the 400-meter relay team finished sixth in a time of 43.14.