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April 5, 2007
Virginia All-American Erin Crawford, who holds the school record in the intermediate hurdles, will compete this weekend in the prestigious Texas Relays, hosted by the University of Texas. Crawford will be joined in the blocks by first-year Ayla Smith as the Virginia duo competes against the top collegiate intermediate hurdlers in the nation.
The Cavaliers also feature All-Americans Billie-Jo Grant and Tomika Ferguson as well as Yemi Ayeni. All three student-athletes hold school records that they set earlier in 2007. Grant and Ferguson are two-time All-Americans who will compete in a pair of events this weekend. Grant, one of the top discus throwers in the nation, will throw in the disc and shot competitions, while Ferguson will jump in both the triple and the long. Ayeni, who set the school record two weeks ago in the discus and is the first UVa athlete to record two throws of 190′, will compete in the discus as well.
“The best intermediate hurdlers in the country are going to be at the Texas Relays,” said Virginia head coach Randy Bungard. “Last year Erin proved she belongs in that group. Our goal for her is to continue to prove that and to get a chance to face the competition that she will see later in the year. Ayla has a couple of goals for this meet. Hitting the regional qualifying standard is our first goal and having Ayla realize her potential is the second goal.”