The Virginia track and field team did its best to bring on the heat against 16 other teams Saturday at the Lou Onesty/Milton G. Abramson Invitational. Even though the meet was not scored, Virginia came away with some personal bests and regional-qualifying times, said Randy Bungard, director of track and field.
"We had lots of good individual scores," Bungard said.
Because the Lou Onesty Invitational was not scored and the ACC Championships in Atlanta are approaching this weekend, many athletes sat out their events to rest.
"Really what it was, was a sharpening meet to get us ready for the ACC Championships," Bungard said. "It was a way to tell how we are doing and a way to sharpen up for the ACC Championships."
The meet started Friday night before sunset with the hammer throw, the mile run and a victory for the Cavaliers.
Junior middle distance runner Andrew Jesien finished first in the mile and qualified for the regional event.
"We set up a fast race with the purpose of getting some regional-qualifying times," Jesien said. "It was a pretty low-key race. It was all Virginia runners and two other guys from William & Mary."
Bungard added that this meet was not the only time athletes could qualify for regionals.
"You get to the region meet by hitting a specific mark," Bungard said. "You can get there as a conference champion or by hitting a regional mark, which you can do any time during the outdoor season."
Using the meet as preparation for regionals, junior discus and shot put thrower Yemi Ayeni, a native of Nigeria, placed first in the discus with a regional-qualifying result of 59.92 meters. In a previous meet, Ayeni qualified for regionals for both the discus and shot put events.
"It is a personal best this season, but it is also still quite early in the season," said Ayeni, who will head to Ethiopia to compete for the Nigerian national team after participating in the ACC Championships.
Saturday's mild weather may have contributed to the team's solid overall performance; Ayeni noted the meet featured better weather conditions than did last year's Lou Onesty Invitational.
"Our coach told us he's looking forward to us competing in ACCs because these are the best results we've had so far," he said.
Bungard said Saturday's invitational was an indicator that Virginia's outlook is good for the championships.
"We feel good and ready to go," Bungard said. "Both teams, the men's and women's teams, have a shot of placing in the top three. That's our goal going in. If you look at the ACC list, a lot of our kids are in really good positions to do really well."
Bungard added that because there are so few scoring meets in a track season, this weekend's competition certainly will be a team effort.
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