Coming off of a history-making win for the Virginia women at ACCs, the Cavaliers’ track and field postseason resumed in Jacksonville, Fla. this weekend for NCAA East Regionals.
Though it was not as clear of a victory for Virginia, a bevy of Cavaliers clinched their spot in Eugene, Ore. for the NCAA Championships. At the forefront, as per usual, was junior Gary Martin.
Martin returned to the track this weekend after skipping the finals for the ACC 1,500 meters due to a tweaked hamstring, but he was in for a challenge. Most of the top collegiate runners in this event were at the East Regionals, including Villanova senior Liam Murphy and North Carolina senior Ethan Strand –– respectively ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the NCAA. Martin quickly qualified for the 1,500 meter finals, where the top five of each heat would score a trip to Oregon along with the two fastest times after that.
In the finals, Martin was in a heat without Strand or Murphy, but that did not mean he had a clear path to victory with Georgetown senior Abel Teffra a mere half second behind Martin’s personal record in the event. At the start of the race, Martin had secured himself around fourth, moving up into third by the end of the third lap behind Teffra and Princeton senior Harrison Witt. This heat had set a fast pace, quite a bit faster than the heat that would follow.
Martin attempted to move around the two at the top of the last curve but could not outkick either Witt or Teffra, who had swung around Witt and opened up a small gap between him and the rest of the runners. Teffra nabbed the win, and Martin took third in 3:38.94 about three tenths of a second behind Teffra.
After the second heat had finished, Martin maintained his overall third place and had clearly qualified for NCAA Championships. Martin will definitely have a challenge if he aspires to win NCAAs in this event, but given how close he was to Teffra, Martin should not be counted out just yet. Martin also ran in the 5k but did not end up qualifying for Eugene.
Meanwhile, senior Margot Appleton won her heat of the women’s 1,500 finals, finishing sixth overall in 4:08.04, which was around three seconds faster than what she had run at ACCs two weeks ago. Appleton also managed to qualify for the 5k, placing second in her heat and overall behind NC State junior Grace Hartman.
A duo of Cavaliers — graduate student Will Daley and senior Justin Wachtel — will be heading to Oregon to compete in the men’s 5,000 meters. Daley placed third in 13:39.97 and Wachtel eleventh in 14:07.91. Another distance runner at Eugene will be senior Jenny Schilling, who took ninth place this weekend in 32:51.43.
In the field, junior Celia Rifaterra, fresh off her win in high jump at ACCs, jumped her way into third with a height of 1.82. Her teammate, senior Carly Tarentino, will be alongside her in two weeks after tying for eighth with two other athletes at 1.79 meters.
Hammer throw at NCAAs will also include two Virginia field athletes — Annika Kelly for the women and Keyandre Davis for the men. Kelly also claimed a new personal best this weekend of 64.94 meters — up from 64.81 — allowing her to take eighth. Meanwhile, Davis placed sixth overall for his 66.71 meter throw.
Rounding out the NCAA team for the Cavaliers, graduate student Estel Valeanu will compete in women’s discus following her eighth place finish and throw of 55.06 meters, and senior Alex Sherman will compete in the 400 meter hurdles after placing ninth in 50.13 seconds.
These 11 athletes will begin competition June 11 and vie for titles until June 14. Virginia is not likely to win the NCAA Championship as a whole, but there are more than enough individual races that are well worth watching.
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