Virginia began its outdoor track season on home turf with an opening meet Saturday at Lannigan Field. The Cavaliers competed against a handful of teams which included Navy, Ohio Wesleyan and Merrimack. It was not a very competitive meet, but rather, more of a warm up for Virginia. It won the vast majority of events, particularly on the women’s side.
The Cavalier women dominated the 100 meter dash, earning all of the top six finishes. Junior Sarah Akpan took the win with her time of 11.63 followed by sophomore Lola Kolawole in second and freshman Laila Simpson in third.
The women’s 200 meters were fruitful as well, with Akpan and Simpson maintaining their places from the 100 — respectively running 23.64 and 24.64 — and sophomore Ariel Fletcher in second with a time of 24.28.
Fletcher nabbed a first-place finish in the 400 meters in 55.43, while graduate student Annie Jackson did the same in 800 meters in 2:09.47. The distance women continued this trend, as senior Luci Ilnicki-Lambert crossed the line in first for the 1500 meters in just 4:33.26, and junior Katie Dorsey capped off a win in the 3000 meters in 9:55.58.
Freshman Maya Rollins rolled into first in the 100 meter hurdles. Later in the first women’s 400 meter hurdles of the year, senior Emily Alexandru claimed the win in 1:00.27.
In both the women’s 4x100 and 4x400, Virginia defeated all other teams successfully, placing first.
Senior Trina Barcarola vaulted to a height of 4.08 meters, mastering the event with a first place finish, while graduate student Lauren Yeboah-Kodie took the win in long jump, jumping 5.84 meters, and sophomore Libby White triple jumped her way into first with a jump of 11.93 meters.
Graduate student Estel Valeanu had two decisive wins in the weight throw and discus, throwing 15.84 meters in weight throw and 53.56 in discus.
On the men’s side, Cavalier runners in senior Alex Sherman and junior Evans White IV finished in first and second. Sherman ran 21.03 and White IV 21.11. White IV also had a solid win in the men’s 400 meters, running 47.77.
Another Cavalier duo of graduate student Scott Sikorski and sophomore Cayden Dyer took the top two places in the 3000. Sikorski had a commanding win in 8:14.80, running a little less than 18 seconds faster than Dyer. After that duo came a trio composed of junior Peter Djan, junior Jeremiah Wilson and junior Henry Sullivan in the 110 meter hurdles, taking first through third with times spanning 14.23 to 14.41.
Paralleling the women’s relays, the Virginia men also won both the 4x400 and 4x100.
Freshman Isaiah Hewton won the men's triple jump with a jump of 14.55 meters, while junior Keyandre Davis won the men's hammer throw, throwing 62.72 meters.
Overall, Saturday was an incredibly fruitful beginning to the outdoor campaign for the Cavaliers. With wins galore, expect Virginia to carry significant momentum into its next meet, which begins Thursday at the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C.
Read More
Ryan Odom catalogues program ties and big plans in introductory press conference
By Michael Liebermann | 5 hours agoOdom spoke in a nearly hour-long introductory press conference Monday at JPJ.
No. 6 men’s tennis defeats No. 8 Stanford after heartbreak against No. 14 California
By Margaret Piatos | 7 hours agoSunday's win felt like a monumental result for a team scrabbling for footing.
No. 23 Virginia takes first two games to win home series versus California
By Victoria Blankenship | 14 hours agoAll told, though, the series was an unqualified success, a victory over a top-five ACC opponent.
