A number of provisional and automatic NCAA qualifiers, personal records and all-ACC titles were attained by the Virginia men's and women's track teams culminating in a sixth place finish for both teams at the ACC Track and Field Meet, which the Cavaliers hosted this past weekend at Lanigan Field.
In the ACC, which is one of the most competitive conferences with many nationally ranked athletes, Virginia coach Randy Bungard said this sixth place finish out of ninewas one to be quite proud of.
"Sixth place looks bad, but when you look at the performances we had, it really isn't," Bungard said. "I felt like we were winners."
The Virginia women's team finished with 92 points, just seven-and-a-half away from fourth place, while the men's competition was not quite so close with 67.50 points. North Carolina won the women's meet with 176.5 points, and Florida State University accumulated 201.5 points, making them the ACC men's outdoor track and field champions.
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"We had a number of qualifiers and [personal records], the other [teams] just have depth that we don't quite have," Bungard said, "I knew that we could be third through sixth. Our goal is always to be top three - to get as close as possible."
Bungard said that he was most impressed with the "grit and hunger" with which the team competed.
"When you watch someone, you can see it in their face and I saw a lot of that," he said. "When you step out there you want to make a statement. I think they did that."
Such an attitude culminated in a number of NCAA qualifiers for the Cavaliers, including distance runner Dawn Cleary, who provisionally qualified for the national meet in the 3,000-meter steeplechase where she placed second. Provisional qualification means that Cleary may compete at Nationals, depending upon how many people run faster than her time of 10 minutes, three seconds, which beat her previous best by 22 seconds. Being only three seconds away from the automatic qualifying standard, Cleary's chances look positive.
"I am overwhelmed with joy and excitement, and so excited that my teammate [Melanie Matthews] was right there with me," Cleary said. Matthews also earned a provisional qualifier with her time of 10:13 and fifth place finish.
Another exciting moment during the meet was Eliese Mitchell's victory in the discus throw. On her final attempt, she threw 52.19 meters, which surpassed her nearest competitor by 1.78 meters.
"Her competitors were even running up to her and giving her hugs," Bungard said.
For Bungard, as a coach, he said he was very touched by Jarrott Hagwood's multiple accomplishments throughout the weekend. Hagwood finished third in the 110 hurdles, fourth in the 400 hurdles, fifth in the long jump, and was the lead-off leg for the third place 4x100-meter relay team.
Hagwood "has done so much for Virginia track and field during his four years here," Bungard said. "He does anything you want him to. Every year from his first year on he contributed. To see him run the way he did this weekend was wonderful. He bleeds orange and blue."
The list of Cavalier athletes who garnered accolades is quite long. In the long jump, Kiamesha Otey broke the ACC record and won the event with a jump of 6.54 meters. She is currently ranked second in the nation in this event.
John Welch out-threw his nearest opponent in the javelin throw by almost two meters, to win with a 72.18 meter throw. Curtrell Frye was All-ACC with her third place finish of 4706 points in the heptathlon.
With these Cavalier accomplishments, among others, the team did not focus on their sixth place finish.
"Our goal was to get into the finals, and try to do our best for the team," Gemayel Haza said. Haza finished fourth in the 110 hurdles, competing as a freshman.
This was the first time since 1989 that Virginia has hosted the ACC meet. Both the athletes and the coaches agree that in many ways it was a positive experience. Competing at home meant a track that the team was comfortable on, a bed that was familiar, and the chance to compete in front of friends and family.
"I hope people at U.Va. got to watch a really competitive meet," Bungard said. "People try to compare it to other sports and you don't really get an appreciation until you go to a championship meet. I hope people got to see what some real student-athletes can do."
Although this was the conference meet, the season is far from over, as a number of athletes will be competing in the prestigious Penn Relays, ECACs/IC4A's, as well as the JMU Invitational, and an elite group will be vying for national titles at the NCAA meet in June. In the next few weeks, many athletes will be pressing for automatic qualifiers, improving upon, or achieving provisional marks, and competing with that "grit and hunger" for personal pride, their team and Virginia.
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