Last week saw Virginia track and field travel to Lexington, Ky. from Wednesday to Saturday to compete in the NCAA East Regional. Many Cavaliers were seeking to punch their tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which are set to be held in Eugene, Ore. June 5 to June 8.
48 athletes per event qualify to each regional site — East and West — of which the top 12 advance to the NCAA Championships. In track events 1500-meters and below, athletes competed in first rounds and quarterfinals. 24 athletes advanced to quarterfinals, after which 12 qualified for the NCAA Championships. In the longer track and field events, athletes contested only in a semifinal, vying for a spot in the straight final in Eugene.
Virginia qualified 29 individual athletes — 15 men and 14 women — to the NCAA East Regional. Following an impressive weekend, 11 of these athletes — eight men and three women — ultimately progressed to the championship.
Day One
The first day of competition got off to an electric start as sophomore Will Anthony finished second in the men’s 10,000-meter semifinal with a time of 29:08.24 to qualify for the final in Oregon. The event is poised to be an exciting competition in Eugene, as Anthony’s second-place finish puts him well in the mix for a podium run, particularly coming off his excellent performances at the ACC Outdoor Championships, where he placed second in the 10,000-meter event and third in the 5,000-meter event.
Additionally, sophomore James Donahue, sophomore Gary Martin and senior Wes Porter all advanced to the quarterfinals in the men’s 1500-meter event. Porter won his heat while Martin placed second and Donahue fifth in their respective heats, sending them to Friday’s quarterfinal.
There was much to be celebrated on the field as well, as junior John Fay punched his ticket to Oregon with an 11th-place finish in the first round of the men’s hammer throw with a mark of 64.65 meters. Fay, too, looks to be a serious contender at the NCAA Championships after a spectacular season thus far, highlighted by a third-place finish at the ACC Outdoor Championships.
Day Two
The second day of competition began just as day one had ended — with excellence on the field. Junior Janae Profit placed 12th — taking the final qualifying spot — in the first round of the women’s shot put with a personal-best throw of 16.28 meters. This was a huge performance for Profit, as she advanced to the Outdoor Championships for the first time and improved massively from being seeded 43rd coming into the East Regional.
Day Three
Martin and Porter got things started by advancing to the men’s 1500-meter semifinals that will take place in Eugene, crossing the line together in second and third place in their quarterfinal heat. Martin crossed the line in 3:45.54 and Porter in 3:45.73. The duo will look to provide some fierce competition at Hayward Field in June. While Donahue ran a quick time of 3:41.92 in the faster first heat, he placed ninth and ultimately missed advancing to the championships by two places.
The heat continued on the track, as senior Shane Cohen ran a tactical and thoroughly impressive race in the men’s 800-meter event to move on to the semifinals at the Outdoor Championships. Running a new personal-best of 1:45.36, Cohen ran a sit-and-kick race — sitting at the back of the pack for most of the race and executing a stellar kick at the end to move up to second place and earn an automatic qualifier. The run was also good enough to earn the third-best time in Virginia history. Cohen will now race in his first Division I Outdoor Championships after being a fierce competitor at the Division II Championships with Tampa before coming to Virginia.
The men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase quarterfinal was a fantastic one for the Cavaliers, as two athletes were able to advance to the NCAA Championships. Senior Yasin Sado and junior Nathan Mountain dominated the event, finishing in first and second place, respectively. Sado won the first heat and ran a blistering new personal-best time of 8:27.13 while he was at it, rewriting the facility record and NCAA East preliminary record. Mountain won the second heat with a time of 8:31.36. Both athletes crushed the competition — Sado was the fastest in his heat by 11 seconds, and Mountain was four seconds ahead of his next competitor. If these stellar times are any indication of what is to come, the duo are poised to bring the heat to Hayward Field, where they are seeking to improve off of their performances from previous championships — Mountain placed fourth last year and Sado placed 14th in 2022.
Back on the field, senior Jacob Lemmon earned his place at his third NCAA Outdoor Championship with a second-place finish in the men’s discus first round with a throw of 59.51 meters. This was a great comeback for Lemmon after not making last year’s event following strong appearances in the years prior.
Day Four
The concluding day of competition saw some fantastic performances by the women, highlighted by junior Margot Appleton’s eighth-place finish in the women’s 5,000-meter semifinal. Appleton ran a smart race to place second with a time of 15:43.02 in the first heat of the event and earn an automatic qualifier to Eugene. She looks to build upon the phenomenal showing she had at last year’s NCAA Championships, where she placed third in the women’s 1500-meter event, opting this time to move up in distance. She has shown a great deal of strength in the longer event and is poised to make some waves in Oregon — the Virginia record of 15:18.21 she set this season would have been enough to win the East Regional.
To round out the qualifiers, sophomore Celia Rifaterra earned her first NCAA Outdoor Championship berth with a personal-best clearance of 1.81 meters for 12th place in the women’s high jump. Earning the final spot to advance to Eugene, Rifaterra stepped up to the plate impressively after missing out last year.
With the slew of Cavaliers headed for the NCAA Outdoor Championship, Vin Lananna, director of track and field, is pleased with his incredible group of athletes.
“It was a historic four days of performances by the U.Va. track and field teams,” Lananna said. “I could not be more proud of these student athletes.”
This weekend’s performances certainly bode well for the Cavaliers heading into the NCAA Championship. The men’s team will bring a great deal of strength in numbers with an impressive eight qualifiers, showing they are certainly a team to be reckoned with — particularly coming off their impressive showing at the ACC Championships where they took the victory amongst an incredibly stacked field. They will look to make similar waves in Oregon in June.
While the women’s team is not as strong in numbers, there are some real standout talents in Appleton, Profit and Rifaterra, and they will be looking to deliver some spectacular individual performances in Eugene.
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