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April 25, 2007
Despite the fact that it is mid-April, the Virginia track and field team just finished up the 2007 Outdoor ACC Championship meet. The ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships are the earliest of the major conferences as most of the other major conferences (Big 10, Big 12, SEC, Pac 10) occur the second week of May. The ACC meet, however, is just the midpoint of our season. While we have been training all year long, we had to perform at a conference meet in April and then will have to maintain that high intensity as we compete at such prestigious events as the Penn Relays and other qualifying meets in preparation for the IC4A/ECAC meets as well as NCAA regionals. Because the conference meet is a major culmination for most teams, I feel it is important to bring to our fans attention that, even though our conference meet is completed, we still have most of our season ahead of us.
We feel very good about the results of our conference meet. We came out of the competition with two ACC Champions (Jan Foerster at 5000m and Yemi Ayeni in the Discus), 10 All-Conference performances – Jan Foerster (Steeple and 5K), Yemi Ayeni (Discus), Meghan Briggs (Javelin), Amy Bilmanis (Discus), Kara Scanlin (5K and 10K), Erin Crawford (400H), Andrew Dumm (10K), and Kevin McHale (1500m) and six NCAA Regional qualifying performances. In addition, Kara Scanlin qualified provisionally in the 10K and we also had 21 ECAC and 12 IC4A qualifying performances.
Our fourth place finish with the men is a place in which we have been camping for the past couple of years. Our goal for next year is to move up to the top three. Our women ended up in sixth place. Had we had our All-American thrower, Billie-Jo Grant, we would have been a fourth place team. That is a much improved placing from last year and getting close to where we should be as a team. I am very proud of both squads!
As we come off of the ACC Championships we look ahead and are excited to head to the Penn Relays this weekend. Coming off of an emotional conference meet, we head into Penn Relays with a goal of having fun and running some relays that we don’t usually get to run. Following the Penn Relays we have a week of exams and then head to the IC4A/ECAC Championships at Princeton on May 11th-13th. This will be our last chance to qualify for the NCAA Region meet, which takes place in Gainesville, FL on May 24th and 25th. Those who qualify for the NCAA Championships have a week off and then travel to Sacramento, CA on June 6-10 for the final collegiate meet of the season. The ACCs was simply a springboard to the rest of the season, and with the results we had there, I am excited for the rest of the season.
Thanks for following along and we hope to see you at one of our meets down the road.
Randy Bungard and the UVA track and field staff