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May 16, 2002
This Saturday, the Virginia Track team will be competing at ECAC/ IC4A meet in Princeton, New Jersey. Each of the athletes has met a qualification standard and look to improve their national rankings with their performance this weekend. Kiamesha Otey (Quinton, VA- New Kent) and Dawn Cleary (Woodbrige, VA) lead the women’s team into Princeton while Jarrett Hagwood (Martinsville, VA- Laurel) leads the charge for the men.
Kiamesha Otey holds down the sprints and jumps for the Virginia women. Otey is ranked third in the nation in the long jump. Her leap of 6.54m automatically qualifies her for Nationals, and was the ACC winning jump in 2002. Otey is a 2002 Indoor All-American in the long jump and she looks to continue her trend in the outdoor season. She leads the team in the 100m (11.67) and the 200m (24.07); last weekend at JMU she finished first in the long jump and second in the 100m.
Dawn Cleary is the school record holder in the steeplechase with a time of 10:03.13. This time ranks her fourth in the nation and All-ACC honors. Cleary has continued to improve her time, her school record time was 25 seconds faster than her previous best earlier this season. Cleary won the steeplechase at Raleigh Relays and was a leg of the 4x1500m team that placed sixth at Penn Relays.
Melanie Matthews (Waynesboro, VA- Waynesboro) holds the ninth spot in the nation in the steeplechase and she also provisionally qualified for the 5000m. Her time of 10:31.31 in the steeplechase finished fifth at the ACC meet. Last weekend, she finished second in the 3000m with a season best time of 9:38.19. Matthews leads the team in the 3000m and the 5000m (16:45.54).
Eliese Mitchell (Narvon, PA- Gardon Spot) leads the throws with provisional qualifications in the discus and hammer. Mitchell is the school record holder in the hammer (56.35m), a record she broke this season. She is also the ACC Champion in the discus, and she ranks 21st in the nation. Mitchell consistently ranks in the throws, last season she provisionally qualified in the weight throw, and last outdoor season she provisionally qualified in the hammer.
First Year Annie Bobiak (Media, PA- North Penn) has been a top performer in the javelin. She earned All-ACC honors this season with a third place finish in the javelin, and last weekend she was the runner-up. She leads the team in the javelin with a 42.54m. Bobiak is a former high school All-American.
Senior Jarrett Hagwood (Martinsville, VA- Laurel) is the team’s top performer in the hurdles and long jump. Hagwood earned All-ACC honors in the 110HH, and he scored in the 400IH and long jump at the ACC meet. He ranks in the top five in the ACC in these three events (110HH- 14.13; 400IH- 52.50; LJ- 7.39m).
Scott Kimball (Bridgewater, MA- Bridgewater-Ryn) and Shay Clark (Big Stone Gap, VA- Powell) lead in the sprints. Clark leads in the 100m (10.59) while Kimball holds the 200m (21.46). Clark is a 2002 All-ACC and provisional qualifier in the 60m. Last weekend, Kimball won the 100m at the JMU Invitational, and was runner-up in the 200m.
First year Pat Slattery (Flanders, NJ- Mt. Olive) continues to improve his time in the steeplechase. At ACCs, he scored and ran a 9:18.81. Last weekend, Slattery finished third overall with an improved time of 9:13.78. He was a runner-up in the steeplechase at the Lou Onesty Invitational. Slattery is the former High School New Jersey champion in the 2000m steeplechase.