The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams put forth an impressive showing Saturday at the Virginia Invitational at Lannigan Field. Twelve Cavaliers won individual events and both teams finished the day in second place.
Many Virginia athletes improved by leaps and bounds, shattering their previous personal bests.
“The team did a very good job of stepping things up,” Virginia coach Bryan Fetzer said. “We had some folks have some monster PRs today. Each week we want to build from where we were, we need to continue this and raise our level again next week.”
The men and women each claimed an early win and 10 points in the high jump. Junior Tommy DeVita set a personal best with a jump of 2.07m. Sophomore Moira Cronin also broke her previous personal record in the high jump, clearing a bar set at 1.80m for the win and the fifth-highest jump in school history.
Junior Abbey Karin took the final field event for the Cavaliers in the women’s javelin throw, launching her javelin 47.32m down range in the finals to secure top marks. The throw was also the fourth-longest ever recorded in Virginia women’s history.
The Cavaliers carried their success into the running events. The Virginia men dominated the long distance events, winning all four, while the women won three races as well.
Sophomore Vanessa Fabrizio and senior Vicky Fouhy dueled for first place in the women’s 800 meter run. Fabrizio would get the best of Fouhy, edging her out by four-tenths of a second. The winning time of 2:06.45 was the fifth-fastest time in program history.
Barbara Strehler continued her dominance in the 1500 meter run. The junior won with a time of 4:29.50, notching her second consecutive personal best and race victory in the 1500.
Junior Katherine Walker made her season debut in the 5000 meter run, cruising her way to an easy victory as she finished more than a minute before the next-fastest runner.
It did not take long for the Virginia men to assert their dominance in the distance events. Junior Bryan Lewis finished the men’s 3000 meter steeplechase with soaking feet and a first place finish. Lewis worked the race in a pack of fellow teammates sophomore Colin Mearns and freshman Adam Visokay, helping to cut down headwinds and provide a significant psychological edge, before separating himself down the stretch.
“Our goal was to out there and hang out for the first kilometer, and then get a little faster,” Lewis said. “It is always good to run with a group to make sure you keep going.”
Juniors Anthony Kostelac and Chris Foley and sophomore Kyle King all won their respective distance races. Kostelac won the 800 meter run in relatively easy fashion. King defeated junior teammate Taylor Gilland for the 1500 meter title. The 5000 meter run came down to a final sprint between Foley and Lewis, with Foley winning by a hair and crossing the finish line with a time of 14:56.94 — a mere three-thousandths of a second faster than Lewis.
The Virginia Invitational featured an impressive amount of talent amassed at one track meet, and the Virginia team held up against stiff competition.
“Competition is huge,” sophomore Jordan Lavender said. “You can be running against people who aren’t very talented and come out in first without running a good time, or you can run against people who will push you to a great time. At the end of the day you really just want to improve.”
The Cavaliers will next travel to Berkeley, Calif. Saturday for a tri-meet against Michigan and California.
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