Virginia track and field will split its team to compete in two separate meets this weekend. Sprinters and members of relay teams will travel to the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, while distance runners will stay much closer to home at the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina. Athletes in field events will be found in both meets.
Coach Bryan Fetzer has said he strongly dislikes dividing his team, but has done so out of necessity. With the ACC Outdoor Championships beginning in three weeks, Fetzer needed to give his athletes — especially the relay teams — a chance to meet postseason qualifying marks. With the Raleigh Relays focusing more on distance events, the relay teams needed to travel to Austin.
“You have to go to certain places to get relay teams qualified,” Fetzer said. “We do it once a season and try to pick our spots. This year, the best sprint relays will be in Austin.”
Junior sprinter Payton Hazzard knows the importance of seeding firsthand, having run anchor for the men’s 4×400 meter relay team at the ACC Indoor Championships. Coming from a slower heat, the Cavaliers were able to claim fourth place — though Hazzard believes faster competition may have produced a different result.
“We ran in the first heat, and we still got fourth,” Hazzard said. “Had we been in the faster third section, we would have been in the race more and maybe finished higher. We are not looking to replicate that during outdoors.”
Despite its name, the Texas Relays features formidable competition in other events as well. The field events will likely be a challenging test for the Cavalier athletes.
Senior Abbey Karin is set to compete against Stephen F. Austin junior Madison Johnston and Nebraska sophomore Maggie Malone. Both Johnston and Malone fell meters shy of scoring points at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Freshman Filip Milhaljevic will be thrown into the deep end in the men’s discus throw in only his second collegiate appearance. He will face Nebraska senior Chad Wright, last year’s runner up, and Texas junior Ryan Crouser, who placed eighth in 2013.
Crouser is also the defending national champion in the shotput — an event in which Milhaljevic will also compete.
The Texas Relays will offer a glimpse at the competitors expected to be present at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. in June.
“Filip is going to throw against the best folks in the country,” Fetzer said. “The triple jump has an unbelievable field, as [does] the women’s javelin field. It’s giving them a forecast as to what the NCAA Championships will be like, and hopefully that gets a spark going.”
The Raleigh Relays will also be a source of fierce competition, especially in long-distance events. This event features races not offered every week, such as the 10,000 meter run. Senior Thomas Porter received second-team All-American Honors in this event last season.
Raleigh will provide an opportunity for distance runners to get acclimated to these longer distances before ACCs.
“Raleigh is a very distance-heavy field,” Fetzer said. “There aren’t many opportunities to run 10Ks or 5Ks. You want to put your athletes in the best position possible.”
With the conference championship in mid-April just weeks away, the stakes of each race are raised.
“Every day is a process to an outcome,” Fetzer said. “Having ACCs early doesn’t change our focus. We take each meet one at a time.”
Read More
Payton Cormier breaks Division I goals record
By Michael Liebermann | 21 hours agoCormier has forever cemented his legacy as one of the greatest lacrosse players in NCAA history.
Cavaliers advance to NCAA Championship with second place finish at Baton Rouge Regional
By Stephen O'Dea | 23 hours agoVirginia will head to the National Championship in Carlsbad, Calif., with a chance to make history.
Thank you, Reece Beekman
By Ben Istvan | YesterdayBeekman will leave Charlottesville as the program's all-time leader in steals.
