As the saying goes, three things in life are inevitable — death, taxes and Bowerman finalist junior Gary Martin delivering a clutch performance on the track. His heroics as anchor helped lift Virginia men’s Distance Medley Relay — along with graduate Wes Porter, senior Alex Sherman and graduate Conor Murphy — to the Cavaliers’ first ever NCAA title in the event. The electric showdown headlined a series of otherwise solid performances for Virginia.
Not having to travel too far, the Cavalier crew of three individual athletes and one relay team went to Virginia Beach to compete at the Virginia Beach Sports Center against the nation's best in the Division I NCAA indoor championships. The weekend’s event marks the first time an NCAA indoor championship was held at the facility.
Going treasure hunting in the tidewater region, the Cavaliers came back with some hardware — as all six performers received All-American honors. Alongside the men’s DMR, junior Jeremiah Nubbe placed fourth overall in the men's weight throw, Martin grinded out a runner-up finish in the men's 3000m and senior Margot Appleton placed tenth overall in the women’s mile.
All three individual athletes were not foreign to the high stakes at hand — Nubbe and Martin made their second appearance at the championships and senior distance runner Appleton made her fourth as a well-seasoned veteran.
Friday night was the battle of DMR heavyweights as Virginia's historical lineup looked to make some noise after setting a collegiate record at the Arkansas Qualifier with a time of 9:14.19. The race started off with Porter’s 1200m establishing solid positioning as first leg — splitting a 2.52.97 — exchanging a third place lead to Sherman who maintained it in his 400m leg. After a smooth 46.54 run, Sherman handed the reins to Murphy, whose 1:47.50 800m gradually made them fall behind two spots during his third leg. And that led to Martin, with everything on the line.
Despite all the eyes on Martin to deliver a masterful comeback as the final leg, he knew he had what it took.
“It’s a lot of pressure,” Martin said after the win. “But like you said, we’ve done this before, we’ve been there, so I just gotta treat it like any other race and stay calm.”
Martin most definitely weathered the storm of the race as he methodically made his way from fifth to first. It wasn’t an easy comeback as he had to battle out North Carolina’s senior Ethan Strand to the finish line, a battle of two collegiate greats. Martin finished with a sensational split of 3:48.12, aiding the Cavaliers to a 9:15.12 facility and meet record win.
Round two of this heavyweight match between Martin and Strand occurred less than 24 hours later, and it was cinematic. The two pulled off brilliant races in the men's 3000m final Saturday night. Martin emerged from the back and placed himself in perfect position to win with one lap to go, but in the waning moments of the race, Strand pulled away and emerged victorious. The two embraced each other at the end as Martin finished with a second place time of 7:52.69.
Virginia’s NCAA championship slate opened up Friday afternoon with Appleton’s women’s mile semifinal run. Coming into the race, the reigning ACC indoor mile champion was ranked third overall and she proved to the field why that was the case. Establishing her dominance early in her race, Appleton kept herself in front and fought off the pack to emerge as victor of heat one running a smooth 4.34.97.
After a day of rest, Appleton went into the women's mile final with the fifth best time overall, but struggled to perform at her peak. Starting off fast, she remained in the top of the mix, but as the race got quicker, she slowly fell behind eventually finishing tenth. She was able to battle through a feisty pack that was deemed uncatchable, finishing with a 4:36.01.
Less than an hour later, Appleton had to lace back up for the women's 3000m final. She fought the weight of her previous races like a true warrior, but the fatigue ultimately caught up as she never was able to push her way to the front, eventually finishing 13th overall running a 9:08.02.
Nubbe kicked off Virginia men’s action Friday evening, coming off an impressive ACC title clinching throw of 23.67m. He continued his consistency as he was able to throw a new personal best of 24.17m with his second attempt. This apex in his career earned him a fourth place spot on the podium. Nubbe represented Virginia’s throwing team with great honor, holding it down for the squad.
Overall, the Cavaliers’ men finished tied for sixth — tallying 23 total points — their highest placement in program history. After a second place finish in the ACC indoor championships, expect the team to continue its ascent into the outdoor season, which begins Saturday at the Virginia Opener.
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