The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams completed the two-day Lou Onesty/Milton Abramson Invitational, their last meets of the regular season, at Lannigan Field Saturday in impressive fashion. The squads broke several records and qualified two more athletes for next month’s NCAA East Regional Championships.
Senior Andrew Jesien and freshman Sintayehu Taye joined fellow mile-runner sophomore Emil Heineking as regional qualifiers, bringing the number of Cavalier qualifiers to 15. The trio swept the mile run Friday, with two-time ACC champion Jesien — competing in his first meet of the season — leading in 4 minutes, 2.18 seconds. Heineking followed shortly with 4:04.80, and Taye finished in 4:05.38.
Fellow junior Ayla Smith followed up her Friday outing with a record-breaking performance Saturday. Smith’s first-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles in 13.65 seconds bested senior teammate Lauren Echko’s previous school record of 13.72 seconds, set last year.
Sophomore Malcolm Carradine, junior Rainer Fiala, senior Brain Lee and freshman Kevin Anding took the 4-by-100-meter relay race with a winning time of 41.58 seconds. Sophomore Robbie Eckardt also added to the win column for the Cavaliers, finishing first in the 3000-meter race with a personal best time of 8:34.64.
The field event also saw success for the Cavaliers both days. Junior Meghan Briggs added to Friday’s victories by winning the javelin with a throw of 155 feet, 6 inches. Senior Yemi Ayeni then won the men’s discus Saturday with a season-best toss of 197’2”. Senior Billie-Jo Grant also turned in a season-best toss, winning the women’s event with a throw of 167’8”.
The Cavaliers will compete Thursday through Saturday in the ACC Championships at Miami.
—compiled by Nick Eilerson
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