As the Virginia track and field indoor team prepares for the NCAA Indoor Championships March 11-12, the squad refuses to rest on its laurels after a record-setting 2011 indoor regular season. The Cavaliers have broken plenty of program records and personal bests this season - most recently at the ACC Championships - and their ability to sustain season-long success bodes well ahead of the Indoor Championships and the subsequent start of the outdoor season, which begins March 25.
This past weekend at the 2011 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, the women's distance medley relay team of junior Morgane Gay, freshman Vanessa Fabrizio, senior Lyndsay Harper and senior Stephanie Garcia shattered Virginia's 28-year-old program record with a winning time of 11:14.15 that ranked No. 14 nationally.
Harper also broke Virginia's school record in the 800m on the final day of the meet. Her personal-best time of 2:07.64 earned her a fourth-place finish in the conference.
"[Breaking the record] sort of just happened," Harper said. "I finally learned how to race and not fall apart in my last 200 meters."
Additionally, senior Ryan Collins became the first conference performer to win three-straight ACC titles in the 5000m after another successful performance at this year's contest, where his time of 14:07.68 was the third-fastest winning time in the 23 years of the event. The All-American is just the 16th ACC athlete to win three titles in an individual track event in the 51-year history of the conference championship. He also is only the second Cavalier to achieve this feat.
On the final day of the conference championships, freshman Anthony Kostelac won his first-ever crown in the 800m. His personal-best time of 1:49.24 makes him the top freshman in the country at that distance. Also earning his first ACC title was senior Marcus Robinson, who won the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 52'8" - a mark that ranks second in Virginia history.
All told, the indoor squad boasts seven ACC Champions and 11 All-ACC performers. More importantly, Virginia has enjoyed outstanding performances throughout the indoor regular season that should give the team plenty of confidence prior to the NCAA Indoor Championships in College Station, Texas.
In late January, senior Adams Abdulrazaaq was named back-to-back ACC Men's Track and Field Player of the Week after he broke the school record in the 60m hurdles during two consecutive meets. His impressive time of 7.75 at the Hokie Invitational led the conference and ranked fourth nationally.
In mid-February, Collins became the only Cavalier to run the 5000m in less than 14 minutes during the indoor season at the University of Washington's Husky Classic. At that same tournament, All-Americans Garcia and senior Emil Heineking both tallied the second-best times in Virginia history in their respective 3000m races.
More school records were broken when junior Vincenzo Chiariello surpassed his own record in the weight throw by 9.25 inches at the Virginia Tech Elite meet, throwing 61 feet, 11.5 inches on his final attempt. He previously had broken the school record in 2010.
"I broke it last year when I was a second year, so this year it wasn't hard to do," Chiariello said. "You look for a personal best kind of thing, so it was just about furthering my best."
While some squad members will compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March, the rest will be gearing up for the switch to the outdoor season.
"With the transition comes some technical stuff, little things, but the nicest thing is going out in the sun," Chiariello said. "So, it's not a hard transition to make"
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