This weekend was an exciting one for Virginia track and field as the majority of the team competed at the East Coast Invitational in Virginia Beach — breaking quite a few meet and facility records. Meanwhile, junior Gary Martin traveled to New York for the Millrose Games and had an incredible performance in the men’s mile. His individual effort and the men’s 4x4 led to two new school records for the Cavaliers.
“Another strong weekend for the team.” Coach Vin Lananna said. “We saw multiple meet and facility records and a school record from the men’s 4x400m relay. At Millrose, Gary Martin was phenomenal … It was truly a clinic on how to run and Gary will be one to watch in the post season.”
Martin arrived at the Millrose Games ready to make an impact, and he did just that. He shaved several seconds off of his personal record in the men’s mile, going from a previous mark of 3:54.73 to 3:48.82. Martin’s time is now the second-fastest collegiate mile in NCAA history, just a half-second behind North Carolina senior Ethan Strand’s mark set Feb. 1.
As for most of the team down south at the East Coast Invitational, Friday’s distance events began with the men’s mile, in which the Cavaliers took a first through fourth place finish. Senior Andrew Jones claimed first in 4:01.21, a new personal best, then graduate student Will Daley nabbed second with a time of 4:01.62.
Right on Daley’s heels was graduate student Jack Eliason in 4:01.70 and senior Billy Atkinson, who placed fourth, with 4:04.27. For the women’s mile, freshman Tatum Olesen battled it out with North Carolina freshman Reese Dalton, finishing just behind her in 4:45.92. Sophomores Cate DeSousa and Gillan Bushee took fourth and fifth, and senior Sophie Atkinson took sixth.
Continuing a successful trend, junior Peter Djan placed fourth in the men’s 60 meter dash, and Sarah Akpan took fifth for the women. Senior Emily Alexandru and sophomore Ariel Fletcher placed fourth and fifth in the women’s 400 meters, with Alexandru finishing just 0.06 seconds before Fletcher in 56.42.
The highlight of the day though, as usual, came in the form of an electric performance from senior Margot Appleton She broke the meet record in the 800-meter run and gained a new personal record of 2:06.27. Graduate student Annie Jackson finished a second behind Appleton in 2:07.53, while freshmen Ella Woehckle and Stella Kermes took fifth and sixth.
The men’s distance team continued to have a strong day as well, taking second and fourth through sixth in the 800. Graduate student Wes Porter placed second with a time of 1:49.42, with freshman James Ford taking fourth, graduate student Scott Sikorski fifth and freshman Alex Valencia sixth. In long distance, junior Richard Moreno placed second in the men’s 3000 in 8:32.46.
Going to field events, junior Justin Rogers won the men's pole vault, jumping a height of 4.85 meters. In women’s long jump, graduate student Lauren Yeboah-Kodie was the runner up with a jump of 5.84 meters.
On the men’s side, Virginia took first and second with senior Heldi Valikaj and freshman Caleb Holman, with Valikaj jumping 7.3 meters and Holman 7.29 meters.
Junior Jeremiah Nubbe had another strong meet, breaking the meet and facility record with a throw of 22.25 meters. Two other Cavaliers, junior Keyandre Davis and senior John Fay, finished close behind in third and fourth.
For the 4x400 meter relays Saturday, the women placed first and the men fourth. The men’s relay, composed of Sherman, sophomore Gage Gose, graduate student Max Russo and junior Evans White IV set a new school record of 3:10.56, breaking the previous record by 0.96 seconds.
The Cavalier women dominated in shot put as senior Brooke Lumpkin won the event and set the new meet and facility record for her throw of 16.74 meters. Graduate student Estel Valeanu placed second and senior Janae Profit third. For women’s high jump, junior Celia Rifaterra won the event and set a new meet record for her jump of 1.83 meters.
Fueled by Martin’s success and a plethora of top-five finishes across the board, Virginia enjoyed a successful weekend. The Cavaliers will be back in action next week, where prominent competition awaits.The next meets for Virginia will be the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson — featuring ACC stars — and the David Hemery Valentine Invitational at Boston University Friday and Saturday.
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