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May 31, 2002
Virginia’s John Welch (Upper St. Clair, Pa./Upper St. Clair) earned All-American honors for the second consecutive year with his seventh-place finish at the 2002 NCAA Track and Field Championships in Baton Rouge. Welch, who was seeded tenth coming into the meet, threw 234′ 5″ (71.46m) to take the seventh spot. Welch, who was also the seventh-place finisher in 2001, becomes one of only two Virginia male track and field athletes to earn All-American honors in a field event in consecutive years.
Three Virginia women also competed on Thursday night as Kiamesha Otey (Quinton, Va./New Kent) participated in the long jump and Dawn Cleary (Woodbridge, Va./Woodbridge) and Melanie Matthews (Waynesboro, Va./Waynesboro) both ran in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Otey leapt 5.93m (19′ 5.5″) but did not qualify for the finals. Cleary, the UVA record holder in the steeple, ran 10:22.70 and Matthews ran 10:32.18, but neither advanced to the finals.