In the first and only home meet of the season, the Virginia track team performed well as the host team. Though the Lou Onesty/Milton G. Abramson Meet is an unscored invitational meet, the Virginia women finished first and the men finished second. The Virginia women totaled a whopping 216.5 points in 19 events, ahead of second-place Monmouth University (66.50 points). The Virginia men finished with 131 points in an equal number of events, just 39 points behind the leader, Penn State University (180 points).
"I thought it was a really strong meet," Virginia coach Randy Bungard said. "We had a lot of season bests and regional qualifiers. We had some really big performances from players who were struggling and broke through. I thought it was a really good meet from both sides."
The meet was highlighted by the record-setting day of Cavalier sophomore Tomika Ferguson, who set a school record in the triple jump with a NCAA Regional meet qualifying leap of 13.08 meters. The record previously was owned by Dana Boone who set it in 1990.
In addition to earning a school record, Ferguson ran a personal-best time of 12.27 seconds, finishing sixth in the 100-meter dash yet. As a versatile athlete for Virginia, Ferguson also participated in the long jump and finished third with a 5.68-meter jump.
"Ferguson made a huge jump," Bungard said. "She ran the 100 and the 4 X 100. She was our workhorse."
Ferguson, along with three other Cavaliers, qualified for NCAA regionals in Saturday's meet.
Senior Shannon Hawrylo set a personal record with a 2:09.60 time in the 800-meter run. Hawrylo's time makes her the No. 8 all-time performer in school history. Hawrylo finished five seconds ahead of teammate freshman Sara Ensrud, who recorded her season-best time of 2:14.13.
McGavock Dunbar qualified for NCAA regionals with a 1:50.32 time in the 800-meter run. Dunbar finished within a second of first place. Dustin Emrani of American University placed in first with a time of 1:50.17.
Freshman Isi Azeke finished fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles with a NCAA qualifying time of 14.31 seconds, just half a second behind the leader.
Apart from the NCAA qualifying performances, several Virginia athletes improved.
Freshman Janne'a Bridgeford won both the 100 and 200-meter dash with times of 11.90 and 24.99 seconds, respectively. Bridgeford became the first Cavalier this year to break 12 seconds and 25 seconds, respectively in both events.
Bridgeford "was a superstar sprinter in high school, but she has been struggling," Bungard said. "She has made a lot progress in the last two weeks. When kids come to college, us college coaches give college training on top of the school work. She is getting used to it."
Bridgeford agreed her running has not been the same as it was in high school, but it is improving.
"A lot of my training has been different recently, but I got out of the blocks well," Bridgeford said. "My running is fine, but it is still progressing to what it was in high school."
Virginia freshman Billie Jo Grant was the other Cavalier dual-event winner. Gramt placed first in both the shotput and the discus.
Virginia record-holder in the 400-meter dash, junior Kellen Blassingame, won the event with a time of 46.32 seconds. In addition, Blassingame took second in the 200-meter dash with a team-leading time of 21.89 seconds.
"I knew that I had to come out today and do my best, because I needed to get the regional-qualifying time," Blassingame said. "I knew that we had a big crowd today and had the support, so I wanted to do my best today."
With the ACC Outdoor Championships beginning Thursday in Tallahassee, Fl., the Cavaliers looked at last weekend's home meet as a trial for the conference's best.
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