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Cavaliers to compete at Duke Invitational
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March 31, 2004
This week, after many improved times at the Raleigh Relays, the Cavaliers will head to Durham, NC for the Duke Invitational. The meet is hosted by Duke University and will be held at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The women will look to improve yet again this weekend at the Duke Invitational. Caroline Harvey leads the Virginia women, participating in three events. Harvey will participate in the 100m dash, the 200m dash, and the long jump, an event in which she has already improved in this season. Keep an eye on high jumpers Rachel Marks and Meggie Schuelke. Last year at the Duke Invitational, Marks set a personal best and qualified for the NCAA regionals based on her performance. Marks will also run the 100m hurdles with Janine Holman. Holman will also run the 400m hurdles with teammate Erin Crawford. Crawford will set her sights on going under one minute for the 400m hurdles and will also look to qualify in the 400m dash. Ashley Gore and Tiffany Roberts will join Crawford in her quest to qualify for the NCAA regionals in the 400m dash. Gore is coming off of her best time of the season and will try to trim even more off of her season best. Huma Husain should shake things up in the 800m, her first 800m of the season. Sharon O’Connor came within a second of qualifying for the NCAA regionals in the 1500m run last week. This week, O’Connor will get another chance to redeem herself. O’Connor will run the 1500m with Shannon Hawrylo. Hawrylo will also run the exciting 3000m steeplechase. The Javelin throw should also be very exciting this weekend. Anne Bobiak, the defending ACC Champion, and Sarah Convery are two of the best throwers in the ACC, and are just a few feet away from solidifying a qualifying performance. Tomika Ferguson will compete in the triple jump; an event in which she is ranked third in the ACC and nine inches short of a regional qualifying distance. Kathryn Pettine, Lauren Taggart, and Alicia LaRoche will all push themselves in the pole vault. Taggart is the closest to qualifying, but Pettine and LaRoche will be nipping at her heels. The Virginia women will also add a 4x400m relay team.
The men are coming off of stellar relay performances heading into this weekend’s meet. The Virginia men are led by sprinters Kellen Blassingame and Kevin Carson, who led the Cavaliers to first place in the Sprint Medley last week. Carson will compete in the 100m and the 200m dash. Daniel Garrett and Damon Hoyle will join Carson in the 100m. In the 200m, Carson will be joined by Blassingame, Jason Young, Isi Azeke, and Shadion Buckley. Blassingame and Young will also run the 400m dash. Azeke, along with the 200m, will run the 110m hurdles with teammates Gemayel Hazard, Herb Reid, Devin Canaday, David Sullivan, and Scott Robinson. Azeke will also compete in the long jump with Buckley, Sullivan, Canaday, and Garrett. Sullivan, already competing in the long jump and the 110m hurdles, is also competing in the high jump with Chris Clementsen and the pole vault with Greg Blair and Robert Smythe. Canaday and Reid will also add the 400m hurdles to their race lists, along with Stephen Hiltner. James Atchison will be the sole entry in the 3000m steeplechase, as will Alex Tatu in the 1500m run, Walker Anderson in the hammer throw, and Andrew Dumm in the 3000m run. The Virginia men will also add a team in the 4x100m and in the 4x400m relay.