Foerster Wins 5K ACC Title, Men Finish in Fourth
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April 21, 2007
With a mile to go in the men’s 5K at the ACC Outdoor Championships, Virginia’s Jan Forester led a charge and pulled away from the pack en route to the ACC title in the event with a personal-best 14:07.16. His time not only moves him up to the No. 7 performer all-time in school history but also qualified him for the NCAA Regional meet. His win led a 1-4-6 finish for the Cavalier men, who scored more points in the event than any other team for the second consecutive year and helped Virginia finish fourth overall for the second consecutive year. The women’s 5K also saw Kara Scanlin earn All-ACC honors for the second time in 2007, as she took third in a 16:33.36, a personal-best time that ties her for the No. 9 position all-time in Virginia history.
Foerster won the ACC title one day after finishing up as the runner-up in the steeplechase. Andrew Dumm finished fourth in 14:17.73 while Ryan Foster finished sixth in 14:26.05. On the women’s side, Katie Read ran a personal-best 16:52.39, a mark that qualified her for the ECAC meet and just missed the NCAA Regional standard by .39. Teammates Emily Harrison, Janine Ricci, and Lauretta Dezubay all qualified for the ECAC meet with their times today.
Kevin McHale scored in two events for the men, taking home runner-up honors in the 1500 with his 3:47.33, just ahead of teammate Kevin Tschirhart, who took fourth in 3:49.20. With the 2-4 finish, combined with the men’s 5K results, the Virginia men scored 51 points in the four distance events, 32.7% of the possible total and 10 more than the next closest school, N. C. State. McHale also took seventh in the 800m, running 1:53.77.
In the field, Yemi Ayeni continued his hot streak by powering himself to a fourth place finish in the shot put with a huge personal-best throw of 56′ 4.75″, the second-best thrown in school history. Ayeni now holds the school record in the discus and ranks second all-time in the shot put; his throw today qualified him for the NCAA regional. Eric Pickle also qualified for the post season with his 51′ 7.25″ he now ranks No. 10 all-time in school history and has qualified for the IC4A meet.
Jeff McClurg’s pole vault of 16′ 2.75″ made him just the fifth person in school history to clear 16 feet; he now ranks No. 4 all-time; he finished seventh in the meet today. Tomika Ferguson took fifth in the triple jump, clearing 41′ 0.5″ on her final jump in the preliminaries to qualify for the finals, and then holding on to that jump to take fifth.
In the intermediate hurdles, Erin Crawford took third and teammate Ayla Smith took fourth with her personal-best 1:00.02, moving her up to the No. 7 all-time spot in school history. These two combined on the 4×400 relay along with Keshia Ashe and Tiffany Roberts that took seventh in 3:43.63; the women’s 4×100 relay took fifth in 45.78, just missing the NCAA mark by .08. That quartet was Talia Wise, Janne’a Bridgeford, Tomika Ferguson and Tiffany Roberts. The men’s 4x100m team finished sixth in 41.22, a season-best time that qualified the men for the IC4A meet; the foursome was Cedric Peerman, Brian Lee, Jr., Reuben Jones and Kellen Blassingame.
The women took sixth overall with 69 points, just eight out of third. The men scored 81 points and were in fourth.
Women’s Results: 5000m: Scanlin, 16:33.36, 3rd; Read, 16:52.39, 8th; Harrison, 17:20.79; Ricci, 17:21.00; Dezubay, 17:23.30; 400IH: Crawford, 57.48, 3rd; Smith, 1:00.02, 4th; SP: Manning, 42′ 9″ TJ: Ferguson, 41′ 0.5″, 5th; Tershel, 38′ 6.75″ 4×100: 45.78, 5th; 4x400m: 3:43.63, 7th
Men’s Results: 400m: Blassingame, 47.59, 4th; 800m: McHale, 1:53.77,7th; 1500m: McHale 3:47.33, 2nd; Tschirhart, 3:49.20, 4th; Jesien, 3:58.14; 5000m: Foerster, 14:07.16, 1sst; Dumm, 14:17.73, 4th; Foster, 14:26.05, 6th; PV: McClurg, 16′ 2.75″, 7th; SP: Ayeni, 56′ 4.75″, 4th; Pickle, 51′ 7.25″ Rankin, 49′ 8.5″ 4x100m: 41.22, 6th; 4x400m: 3:21.67