Virginia track and field delivers strong performance at Virginia Challenge – The Cavalier Daily

This past weekend, Virginia athletics stayed in Charlottesville to host the Virginia Challenge Friday and Saturday. The event was filled with Cavaliers on Virginia's all-time lists recording personal bests and was highlighted by junior Nathan Mountain toppling the Virginia steeplechase record and running the A cut for the next trials Olympics. The weekend concluded Saturday with a Senior Day celebration that honored the teams' graduating athletes.

Day one

The first day of competition got off to an impressive start as Mountain took the middle school victory and second place overall in the men's invitational 3,000-meter steeplechase, running a personal best time of 12 seconds to break the Virginia record with a time of 8:20.68. This blistering time ranks No. 1 in the NCAA this season and meets the A standard for the 2024 Olympic Trials. Senior Yasin Sado rounded out the top 10 overall with a time of 8:34.08 to finish ninth in the general classification and fourth among middle school students.

Sophomore Gary Martin ran a whopping 1:47.46 in the men's invitational 800 meters to record a personal best and finish second by a thousandth of a second. Senior Shane Cohen was close behind to finish in third place with a personal best as well, running a fantastic 1:47.54 to earn the tenth-fastest time in program history. Senior Conor Murphy also ran well, placing 13th in 1:48.79.

Sophomore Will Anthony kept the Cavaliers' victory lane going with a victory in the men's 5,000 meter event by a whopping margin of 15 seconds. Her winning time of 13:35.50 moved her to third best in Virginia program history. Junior Justin Wachtel also clocked 13:53.28 to finish fourth, while senior Jack Eliason clocked 13:59.52 to take ninth.

The Cavaliers continued to impress as they progressed in distance, with junior Andrew Jones clocking 29:05.56 to record a personal best and the seventh-fastest time in Virginia history at the 10 000 meters men's invitational, finishing sixth. place.

The women also had impressive performances, which started with graduate student Esther Seeland's third-place finish in the women's invitational 800 meters in 2:03.72 and senior Alahna Sabbakhan's fourth-place finish in a personal best of 2:03.72. 05:45. With that time, Sabbakhan rises to sixth in Virginia program history. She was closely followed by senior Keara Seasholtz, who ran 2:06.63 to finish sixth in the event.

Junior Camryn Menninger ran a blistering personal best of 16:17.30 in the women's invitational 5,000 meters to finish fifth among collegians and 12th overall, while freshman Gillian Bushee crossed the finish line in 16:22 .66 for ninth place among middle school students and 16th overall. also recording a huge personal best.

The Cavaliers also dominated the sprint events. Sophomore Sarah Akpan took first place in the women's 100 meters in 11.58 seconds, and sophomore Evans White IV was fifth in the men's 400 meters in 47.69.

Field trials saw similar success. Junior Janae Profit placed second among middle schoolers and third overall in the women's discus throw with a mark of 50.81 meters, and senior Jacob Lemmon won the men's discus with a throw of 57.81 meters.

The first day ended with strong performances in the pole vault, as sophomore Justin Rogers moved from eighth all-time to fifth all-time in Virginia history with a personal best of 5.10 meters in the men's invitational pole vault, winning the event while he was at it. The women's pole vault saw similar success, as sophomore Samantha Romano won the invitational section with a personal best of 4.34 meters. Senior Gabriella Recce finished in fifth place with a personal best of 3.99 meters, while graduate student Hanne Borstlap placed sixth with a clearance of 3.79 meters.

Day two

The second day of competition was a great day for Virginia sprinters, as Akpan continued her winning streak with a victory in the women's 200 meter event in a personal best time of 23.51 seconds. Freshman Ariel Fletcher impressed with a sixth-place finish in 23.85 seconds, making her the third-fastest freshman in Virginia history.

The men's 110-meter hurdles saw freshman Jeremiah Wilson run a personal best time of 14.01 seconds to place second in the event and move into fourth all-time in Virginia history. Sophomore Peter Djan did much the same, clocking 14.03 seconds to finish third in the event and move into fifth all-time in Virginia history. Senior Alex Sherman also excelled, running a personal best 50.54 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles to move into third place all-time in Virginia history.

The Cavaliers also shined in the women's hurdles, with senior Emily Alexandru finishing in second place with a season-best time of 59.31 seconds and freshman Brookelyn Drakeford placing sixth with a time of 1:01.68.

The excellent performances in the track events were concluded by the 4×400 meter relays, where the men's and women's teams raced to take second place, the men with a season best time of 3:09.13 and the women in 3:09.13: 40.89.

The Cavaliers also had plenty of success on the field. In the women's high jump, freshman Elsa Spoor earned the victory after recording a personal best of 1.69 meters, and freshman Grace Flynn tied for second place with an effort 1.64 meters tall. Junior Carly Tarentino also excelled in the event, recording a massive personal best in the invitational section of the women's high jump, jumping 1.77 meters to finish second in the event and move up to seventh all-time in the history of Virginia.

Senior Mahkaia Lee jumped 6.21 meters in the women's long jump to take fourth place, and junior Jordan Hardy recorded 6.14 meters to secure fifth place. Junior Heldi Valikaj also excelled on the men's side, placing fourth with a jump of 7.38 meters.

Junior John Fay finished third in the men's hammer throw with a mark of 65.44 meters, and Lemmon wasn't far behind with a throw of 64.58 meters for fourth place. To round off a great weekend, Profit finished fourth in the women's shot put with a mark of 15.21 meters.

The Cavaliers now turn their attention to the nation's largest track meet, the Penn Relays. Virginia track and field will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Thursday through Saturday, before returning to Charlottesville for the Virginia High Performance Meet on Sunday.