Ricci Leads Nation in Steeple; Dumm Runs Sub-29
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March 31, 2007
Virginia’s Janine Ricci not only set a personal-best mark by over 12 seconds in the steeplechase but also ran the top time by a collegiate athlete, just toppping the former best mark by .08. She led for the majority of the race at the Stanford Invitational but was nipped in the closing laps by China’s Yuan Jin; Ricci finished second overall but was the top collegiate finisher. Her time of 10:24.65 puts her on top of the national leaderboard, edging Georgia’s Sarah Madebach’s 10:24.73 from last week. Ricci easily qualified for the NCAA Regional meet.
Andrew Dumm hung with the leaders for the entirety of the 10000m and became just the second athlete in school history to run a sub-29, running 28:59.25 to take seventh overall. The Cavalier just missed the 16-year-old school record by 3.91 seconds but he easily hit the NCAA provisional mark in his first 10K of the year. Dumm’s time is a 30-second personal best mark and moves him to the No. 2 position all-time at Virginia. Teammate Andy Biladeau ran a 29:53.99 and became just the ninth man in school history to run a sub-30; his time ranks him sixth all-time in school history.
All-American Emily Harrison and teammate Katie Read finished 4-5 in the women’s 10K; they also moved into 4th and 5th, respectively, in Virginia history. Harrison, who earned All-American honors on the cross country trails in November, became just the fourth woman in school history to run a sub-34 with her 33:59.52. Read finished just seconds behind her, running a 34:06.45. Harrison led for most of the race, including at the halfway mark where the pair came through at 17:03, just four seconds off Read’s PR in the 5K. Harrison ran a sub-17 for the second half of the race while Read was able to maintain her pace, enabling both women to hit the NCAA Provisional mark easily.
Yemi Ayeni continued his hot streak by winning the shot put, tossing 15.87m (52′ 1″), just edging Matt Jarvis by one centimeter. Ayeni hit the mark on his second throw of the competition to set the standard.
The Cavaliers continue competition tomorrow as Kevin McHale and Andrew Jesien will compete in the 1500 while Kara Scanlin and Ryan Foster will run in the 5K.