The Virginia Cavaliers track and field team will be competing in this season's first and only home competition of the season, the Lou Onesty/ Milton Abramson Invitational, this weekend at Lannigan Track. Both days will feature some of the east coast's best track programs. Among the notable schools in attendance will be Maryland, Virginia Tech, Hampton, Monmouth and St. Joseph's. In total, 75 teams will be represented and approximately 2,100 athletes will be competing.
This meet will serve as an excellent barometer for how prepared the Cavaliers are before heading into the ACC Championships April 20-22 at Wake Forest University.
"Typically, we use this meet to get one last competition in before the ACCs, so it will be a good tune-up for next weekend," senior Kevin McHale said.
The meet can also prove beneficial for those athletes who are on the bubble to represent the Cavaliers in the conference championship. These athletes will have an opportunity to demonstrate what they are capable of and earn a spot at the ACCs.
With the conference finals less than a week away, many of the long distance and middle distance runners will find themselves running in events in which they normally do not participate.
"You don't want to run too much of your event before championships," Bungard said. "It's just a time to see where we are before conference."
This competition also has serious implications for the NCAA East Regional outdoor track and field meet held May 26-27 in Greensboro, N.C. Athletes who are able to qualify for the East Regional competition will then have an opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Championship meet held in Sacramento, Calif. in early June.
"I think we're going to qualify some more people this weekend," Bungard said. "We've got a good shot at qualifying 30 to 40 kids for the region meet."
To qualify for the regional meet, the athletes must demonstrate they can surpass the designated time and distance marks set by the NCAA. Among those to have already qualified is All-American and school record holder in the triple jump, Tomika Ferguson. Erin Crawford (400IH), Billie Jo Grant (shot), Yemi Ayeni (discus) and Kevin McHale (1500m) have also qualified, along with the women's 4x400 relay team and Kara Scanlin, Andy Biladeau and Jan Foerster in the 5-kilometer.
Most notably, those who will not be competing in the meet are team captain David Sullivan and Kellen Blassingame. Blassingame, the men's top 400m runner, suffered a season ending injury and has been redshirted for the remainder of the season. Between the two of them, they accounted for 22 points in last year's ACC Championship meet.
"We're hoping that the other guys on our team will be able to step it up and make up some of those points," Bungard said. "But we still have a good team."
With two key athletes out of competition this weekend, the fact that the meet is at home may help make up for Blassingame and Sullivan's lost production.
"It's pretty easy to get excited for the home meet because it gives us the opportunity to compete in front of a good crowd," McHale said. "The desire to defend our home track should play a factor in all our performances."
The meet will start today at 1:30. Saturday events will begin at 8:00 a.m. and continue until 7:00 p.m.
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