Virginia track and field divided and conquered this weekend, traveling all over the East Coast this weekend as parts of the team headed to Boston, Lynchburg, Va., and Clemson. Senior Margot Appleton had a stunning performance in the women’s mile, cracking her own school record and further setting a standard for Virginia excellence on the track.
Also of note, graduate student Wes Porter nabbed a new personal record — meaning he is now the second fastest miler in Virginia history behind only junior Gary Martin. Another notable event came from junior Celia Rifaterra, who took down a meet record for women’s high jump at the Darius Dixon Memorial meet.
As for the Boston meet, some of the Cavaliers went up north to the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Porter had a great run, dropping just over 2.5 seconds in the men’s mile — placing him in seventh in a mere 3:54.58.
Appleton had a commanding run in the women’s mile, breaking her own school record by four seconds for an outstanding time of 4:25.03. She was boxed out at the beginning of the race, causing her to drift back towards the back of her heat until the last couple laps she began to kick–pulling her back into the middle of the pack. She placed eighth in a race that included professional athletes from Adidas and New Balance.
Elsewhere, some of the Cavaliers stayed in Virginia this weekend, attending the Darius Dixon Memorial in Lynchburg, Va. at Liberty University. Sophomore Cate DeSousa dropped a whopping 30 seconds in the women’s 3,000 meters, finishing in 9:31.59 and claiming fourth place.
Senior Myles Plummer and graduate student Tobias L’Esperance finished well in the men’s 800 meters, with Plummer nabbing second in 1:51.73 and L’Esperance fourth in 1:52.08. Crossing the finish line with a time of 2:11.64 in third for the women’s 800 was junior Amelia Maughan.
Junior Richard Moreno seized the top spot in the men’s 5k in 14:22.50, nearly 20 seconds ahead of the runner up from Liberty. For context, each mile he ran was at an average pace of about 4:38.
Jumping to a height of 5.94 meters, graduate student Lauren Yeboah-Kodie placed third in long jump, while senior Trina Barcarola was busy also taking third but in women’s pole vault, reaching a height of 3.94 meters, just a touch under 13 feet high.
The duo of senior Billy Atkinson and freshman Jimmy Wischusen climbed their way to a respective third and fourth place finish in the men’s mile, the former running 4:05.14 and the latter clocking in at 4:06.64.
Another two Cavaliers also placed side by side in the women’s triple jump — graduate student Lily Hulland and Yeboah-Kodie — decisively taking first and second with a 12.76 meter jump for Hulland and 12.45 meters for Yeboah-Kodie.
Rifaterra broke the meet record of 1.76 meters with her jump of 1.79 meters in the women’s high jump. Senior Carly Tarentino was close behind with 1.74 meters, positioning her in third.
Moving down south to the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson University, junior Jeremiah Nubbe had another dominant performance in the men’s weight throw, winning the event by 0.77 meters with a throw of 23.75 meters. Junior Keyandre Davis also had a strong throw, posting a new personal record of 21.46 meters, moving him into fifth place for the meet.
This weekend was a strong showing for Virginia, particularly from Appleton and Porter and shows promise for the upcoming postseason. Next weekend, the Cavaliers will attend the Arkansas Qualifier, the Virginia Tech Challenge and the Boston University Terrier Distance Medley Relay Challenge.
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