Foerster, Ayeni Earn All-American Honors

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June 8, 2007

Sacramento, Calif. – Virginia’s Jan Foerster and Yemi Ayeni both earned All-American honors today at the NCAA Track and Field Championships, with Foerster smashing the school record in the steeplechase en route to a sixth-place finish and Ayeni using a monster final throw to move up two spots to take seventh in the discus. The two are Virginia’s first All-Americans on the men’s side since 2002 and it is the first time since 2001 that UVa men have earned All-American honors in the same meet.

Foerster’s 8:34.78 was a personal-best for him by exactly seven seconds, bettering his 8:41.78 from Wednesday. He broke the school record by 4.58 seconds, which had been held by All-American Rob Cook, who ran a 8:39.36 in 1994 en route to his All-American honors that season.

Ayeni completed the preliminary round in the discus today in ninth and was the final competitor to qualify for the final round. He stood in eighth with his sixth and final throw of the day and unleashed a195′ 9″ (59.67m) to move up to seventh, earning him his first All-American citation. The school record holder is Virginia’s first-ever All-American in the discus.

School record holder Erin Crawford, despite suffering from extreme dehydration and a bout of food poisoning, competed in the semifinals of the 400 intermediate hurdles. She ran a 59.50 but did not advance. Teammate and fellow All-American Tomika Ferguson leapt 13.04m (42′ 9.5″) in the triple jump and missed the finals by a scant three centimeters. Today’s competition was the final day for the Cavalier competitors.