Heading down south this weekend, a crew of Virginia runners, throwers and pole vaulters faced off against Duke and others in Durham, N.C. at the Duke Invitational.
The Cavaliers showed improvement from earlier this season, and a few members of the team — namely graduate student Estel Valeanu, freshman Maya Rollins and junior Jeremiah Nubbe — produced standout performances.
Valeanu placed in the top three in a trio of events. In women’s discus, she took the win with 55.59 meters and simultaneously broke the meet and Morris Williams Stadium record, previously set at 54.92 meters. She also established a new personal best — an improvement from her Raleigh Relays 53.97 mark.
In addition to discus, she won women’s shot put and placed third in hammer throw, recording 15.29 meters in shot put and 58.97 meters in hammer throw. Taking the win in hammer throw was graduate student Annika Kelly with her throw of 63.45 meters.
On the men’s side of hammer throw, junior Keyandre Davis and senior John Fay placed side by side in third and fourth. Davis threw 63.53 — a new personal best by 0.12 meters — and Fay threw 63.47.
Nubbe won men’s discus. His mark further establishes him as the top Virginia discus thrower this season as he continues to hold the No.1 spot in the event. Nubbe threw 54.62 meters.
Back on the track, Rollins secured a second place finish in the women’s 100 hurdles with her time of 13.45. Rollins had a personal best and now holds the program’s fourth-best mark of all time in the event. This moved her up from seventh on the list, showing that Rollins is becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Two other Virginia hurdlers — senior Alex Sherman and sophomore Gage Gose — nabbed a first and second place finish in the men’s 400 hurdles. Sherman took the win in 50.51, and Gose, the runner up, 51.12. Sherman holds the program’s No. 3 mark of all time with his new personal record, while Gose ranks in ninth.
Junior Samantha Romano placed fourth in women’s pole vault, reaching a height of 4.12 meters.
This meet was largely just another chance to compete and not hugely indicative of what Virginia’s NCAA performance will look like, but the Cavaliers have continued to challenge themselves to be stronger and faster, bettering themselves with each opportunity.
The next meet for Virginia will be back on home turf Friday and Saturday for the Virginia Challenge.
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