Cavaliers to Compete in Last Chance Track Meet on Saturday

Story Links

Feb. 21, 2002

The Virginia Cavaliers will be competing at the Virginia Tech Last Chance meet this Saturday at Blacksburg, Va. With the National Indoor Track Championships coming up, many athletes are looking to improve upon their time/distance in order to better their national rank. The NCAA invites a select few for each event, therefore the Last Chance meet will be just that, a last chance to improve their odds on getting the invite to Nationals.

Virginia has six athletes with national rankings. The highest ranked is Kiamesha Otey, who is 14th in the nation for the long jump (6.20m). Otey is no stranger to national rankings, last indoor season she was ranked 32nd in the long jump. The 2001 outdoor season Otey was invited to Nationals to compete in the 100m where she finished 20th in the nation. This season has been promising for Otey, where she earned All-ACC honors by finishing second in the long jump. Other accomplishments so far this year are winning the Father Diamond and Virginia Tech Invitational long jump and also finishing first in the 60m at the Pepsi One Invitational. She leads the team in the 60m (7.47s), the 200m (24.39s) and the long jump (6.20m).

2001 All-American Naccole Guinn currently ranks 20th in the triple jump. Her jump of 12.70m at ACCs earned her a provisional qualification and All-ACC honors with her second place finish. Guinn is an accomplished performer, last indoor season she was an All-American, ACC Champion and winner of four meets in the triple jump. She holds the school record in the triple jump with a distance of 13.14m. She leads the team this season in the triple jump and is second in the 60mHH.

Shay Clark represents the Virginia men with his rank of 21st in the 60m dash. His time of 6.71s earned first at the Terrapin Invite. His time this season is a substantial change from his 2001 season best time of 6.87. Clark consistently leads the team in the sprints, in the 2001 indoor season he led the 60m and in the outdoor season he had a 21.76 in the 200m. He leads the team in the 60m and 200m (21.81s).

Carielle Doe currently ranks 24th in the 400m. Her time of 54.52s earned her a provisional qualifying mark and All-ACC honors with a runner-up finish. Doe has led Virginia in the 400m for the past three seasons, with a time of 54.13s for the 2001 outdoor season. Her time of 54.52s is a significant improvement on her 2001 indoor season best of 56.21s. Her accomplishments include finishing second at the Father Diamond meet this year in the 500m (1:14.55s), fourth at 2001 ACC Outdoors and 2001 ECAC Championships in the 400m.

Sharon O’Connor’s mile time of 4:48.40 puts her in the rankings as 23rd. She ran this time at ACCs, where she finished sixth in a competitive field of runners. O’Connor has had a successful 2001-2002 season, in indoor track, she was the runner-up in the mile at the Pepsi One Invitational (4:52.57s) and leads Virginia in the mile. She’s coming off an excellent cross-country season, where she was a scoring member at the NCAA Regional meet. The team finished third overall and had a national rank of 14th. She also won the Lou Onesty XC Invite.

School record holder Eliese Mitchell currently ranks 24th in the weight throw. Her throw of 18.77m at the Virginia Tech Invitational was a provisional qualifying mark and broke the school record that she had set just last year. Four of her throws this season had been good enough for provisional qualification. She finished second at the Pepsi One Invitational and 5th at ACCs for the weight throw. Last indoor season, she ended with a national rank of 20th (18.71m) in the throw. She leads the team in the weight throw and the shot put (14.58m).