Cavaliers Dominate at ACC Track and Field Championships

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April 17, 2004

Virginia’s Will Christian, fresh off his personal-best time in the 10K last night in which he took runner-up honors at the ACC Championships, doubled back to take home an ACC title in the 5K today with a dominating performance in the race. Inge Jorgensen threw a season-best toss in the javelin by more than two feet to dominate that event, beating the runner-up by almost 26 feet and winning her third consecutive ACC javelin title. McGavock Dunbar also medalled, taking home the silver in the 800m, missing the gold by .05 seconds, and Kellen Blassingame went sub-47 yet again in the 400 to take home the bronze.

Christian ran with the pack for the first mile-and-a-half before making his move with a mile-and-a-half to go. With four laps to run he had placed himself well in the lead before a pair of runners from NC State tried to pull him in. Christian kept pace with their move and finished in 14:24.20, nine seconds in front of Andy Smith from NCSU. Christian’s time is another PR to go along with his PR from last night in the 10K, and it also moves him up to #8 all-time at Virginia over the 5K.

Dunbar, the 2003 ACC Champion in the 800m, made his move at the start of the second lap and tried to put some distance between himself and Brendan Mahoney, the indoor 800 champion. Dunbar took the lead but Mahoney caught him at the tape, leaning across the tape by .05 seconds over Dunbar. Fellow two-lapper Jon Britt also scored, taking eighth.

Blassingame turned in another sub-47 in the 400, something done by only two other Cavaliers in school history, and finished third with a 46.99. Teammate Jason Young took eighth and also scored for the Hoos. These two teamed up with Dunbar and Zach Davis to help UVa finish fifth in the 4x400m relay with a 3:13.45.

Caroline Harvey finished seventh in the 100m with a 12.22. She also led off the 4×100 team that took fifth overall in a season-best time of 46.93. Erin Crawford just missed medalling twice today, taking fourth in the 400IH with her 60.38, and then anchoring the 4x400m team that took fourth with a season-best 3:46.33. Sharon O’Connor ran a season-best 4:26.68 in the 1500 but just missed scoring by .14 seconds.

Jorgensen’s winning throw came on her second attempt, and four of her six throws were better than the runner-up toss. She was the only athlete to clear 150 feet and has won every ACC javelin competition in which she has competed. Jorgensen won the 2000 and 2001 titles before injuries did not allow her to compete at either the 2002 or 2003 meets. Last year, teammate Annie Bobiak won the javelin title, and despite an accident that limited her training over the last two weeks, Bobiak came back to throw more than 13 feet farther than her longest throw this season to take fourth. Teammate Sarah Convery also scored, taking seventh overall.

As a team, Virginia finished seventh on the women’s side while the men took sixth overall.

Full results listed below:WOMEN: 100m : Harvey, 12.22, 7th; 1500m: O’Connor, 4:26.68, 9th; 5K: Cheryl Carr, 17:29.76; Laura Hodges, 17:45.42; Kelly Behan, 18:10.40; 400IH: Erin Crawford, 60.38; 4x100m: 46.93, 5th; 4x400m: 3:46.33, 5th; TJ: Tomika Ferguson, 38′ 11.5″, 7th; Jav: Jorgensen, 173′ 6″, 1st; Bobiak, 143′ 2″, 4th; Convery, 129′ 8″, 7th;

MEN: 400m: Blassingame, 46.99, 3rd; Young, 48.24, 8th; 800m: Dunbar, 1:51.20, 2nd; Britt, 1:54.30, 8th; 1500m: Alex Tatu, 3:52.45; Grady Sullivan, 3:53.76; 5K: Will Christian, 14:24.20, 1st; Ryan Neuhart, 15:10.97; Matt Gutridge, 15:27.58; 110HH: Herb Reid, 14.92, 8th; 4x400m: 3:13.45, 5th; HJ: Chris Clementson, 6′ 4″ David Sullivan, 6′ 2″ SP: Anderson, 48′ 3.5″ Hammer: Anderson, 155′ 7″