Virginia headed down south this week to Raleigh, N.C. for the Raleigh Relays, and the usual standouts sparkled, as did some new faces. Three records were broken this weekend in the men’s 1,500-meter race, the men’s 10k and women’s hammer throw.
The Virginia hammer throw record was usurped by graduate student Annika Kelly, who, in her first outdoor season, upped the record by over a meter, while senior Andrew Jones ran 25 laps on the track to a new 10k record.
Junior Gary Martin had a challenging race against two runners from Villanova in the men’s 1,500, culminating in a somewhat surprising result and a new Virginia standard in the event, while senior Margot Appleton had a strong race that brought her closer to the Virginia women’s 1,500-meter record and granted her the fourth fastest NCAA women’s 1,500-meter time.
Thursday kicked off the meet with a few Cavalier performances in the 1,500 meters, the 10,000 meters, shot put and javelin.
Martin waged a hard fought race in the men’s 1,500, coming in third behind Villanova fifth-year Liam Murphy and junior Marco Langon. Martin had led out in front from the very beginning, only getting passed in the last 100 meters of the race.
All three came under the previous NCAA record of 3:33.74, with Martin running 3:33.71. Martin also claimed a new Virginia record, breaking the previous record set by graduate student Wes Porter by almost two seconds.
In the 10k, Jones also struck a new record for Virginia. Jones finished in seventh with a time of 28:20.95 just a hair in front of Harvard junior Shane Brosnan. Jones’s new record puts him ahead of junior Will Anthony’s time of 28:21.12 from the last outdoor season. Anthony actually first set the record at last year’s Raleigh Relays.
Graduate student Estel Valeanu had a decisive third place finish in women’s shot put, coming in well ahead of the fourth place finisher. She threw 16.01 meters.
The highest place performance of that day came from junior Christiana Ellina, who won the women’s javelin, throwing 52.59 meters, which comes as the sixth best Virginia performance of all time.
Valeanu’s strong performance carried into Saturday when she won the women’s discus in 53.97, a personal best and another sixth best ranking for the Cavaliers. Another first place finish came from junior Celia Rifaterra in the women’s high jump, who had a 1.78 meter mark.
Freshman Caleb Holman jumped his way into third in the men’s triple jump, while, in the men’s 400 meters, Evans White IV finished in fourth in 46.67 — a personal best.
Senior Margot Appleton had a very strong race in the women’s 1500 meters, placing first and dropping three seconds with her time of 4:05.68. Appleton’s time is now the fourth fastest NCAA time ever. Virginia alum Michaela Meyer still holds the school record with her 2021 run of 4:04.02, but this marks a significant advance from Appleton towards gaining the title/
Sophomore Tatum David placed fifth in this event, running 4:14.95.
Saturday’s field events contained impressive finishes in both men’s and women’s hammer throw. Kelly climbed her way to a first place finish and a Virginia record with her throw of 64.71 meters. Junior Jeremiah Nubbe also won the men's hammer throw, throwing 73.04 meters.
Junior Samantha Romano, too, took the win — this time in the women’s pole vault — reaching a height of 4.15 meters.
Senior Alex Sherman placed second in the men’s 400 meter hurdles, running a time of 50.60 seconds.
The outdoor competition is starting to heat up, but, as shown by these new records, the Cavaliers appear excited to get to work and ready to take on this season. The next event for Virginia is the Virginia Grand Prix back at Lannigan Field, which will run Friday and Saturday.
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