The Virginia men’s and women’s track teams opened the long outdoor season last Saturday with the Virginia Cup at Lannigan Field. The Cavaliers did not field a full squad but still managed to win 10 individual events.
The women’s high jump provided exhilarating competition early in the morning. Two Cavaliers, sophomore Moira Cronin and senior Pearl Bickersteth, found themselves engaged in a duel for top marks in the first field event with Virginia participants. The duo exchanged fouls for several attempts before Cronin cleared 5’7” to claim a close victory.
Later in the day, Virginia junior Aaron Shepperd dominated the men’s 110 meter hurdles. Shepperd bolted to a time of 14.72 in the preliminary heat then followed up with a 15.03 in the finals to capture first place.
Both the men’s and women’s 1500 meter run culminated in decisive triumphs for Virginia. Sophomore Drew Paisley implemented a textbook burst in the race’s final 400 meters to overtake Radford junior Brian Gorwitz for the win.
“I saw him coming back to me pretty quickly, and I knew I could not let him win,” Paisley said. “Having a kick like that will be great when preparing for championship meets.”
In the women’s 1500, a trio of Cavaliers — junior Barbara Strehler, sophomore Kathleen Stevens and freshman Audrey Batzel — swept the top three places in commanding fashion. Stevens held the lead for two laps, but a strong move propelled Strehler to the lead with 600 meters remaining. Strehler opened up the gap with 200 meters left and crossed the finish line with a time of 4:31.87.
Sophomore Jordan Lavender highlighted the Virginia women’s performances with wins in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Lavender sprinted to a time of 11.94 seconds in the 100 meters to edge senior Dionna Hayes of Virginia Commonwealth. The dominance would carry over into the 200 meter run, where Lavender’s 23.79-second run earned her the title.
Despite scattered individual successes, Virginia struggled overall in the team competition. The women’s team defeated Radford and VCU, but fell to James Madison and Liberty in the dual meet-formatted competition. The Virginia men fell short in the team standings, as well, falling behind Radford, VCU and Liberty.
But the coaching staff was not overly troubled by the team losses, saying the focus of the event was on experimentation and diversifying athletes’ skill sets.
“A lot of athletes were doing their non-traditional events, and we were working on some different techniques,” coach Bryan Fetzer said. “Of course, in a team competition the scores count and losing isn’t fun.”
Sophomore Payton Hazzard’s outing embodied Fetzer’s penchant for early-season tinkering. Normally a sprinter, Hazzard competed in the men’s 800 meter run. Hazzard opened up a sizeable lead only to be challenged by VCU freshman Khalid Khamis in the closing stretch. Channeling his sprinter’s speed, Hazzard held off Khamis’ advance and captured the 800 meter title.
Hazzard attributed his gritty effort to his recent trip to the NCAA finals in indoor track.
“I am a little tougher mentally because I competed with the best of the best,” Hazzard said. “When [Khamis] caught me, what went through my mind was ‘I made it to NCAAs, I don’t care if this isn’t my event, I am going to beat him.’”
Coaches hope the extra learning experience provided by the Virginia Cup will pay immediate dividends for Virginia as it faces an increasingly challenging schedule in the coming weeks.
“We’ll fine-tune things, and make some adjustments,” Fetzer said. “Our schedule builds, and hopefully each week our team gets better and better.”
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