Echko smashes 14-Year Old School Record in 100m Hurdles
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PRINCETON, N.J. Lauren Echko smashed a 14-year old school record in the ECAC 100m hurdles, finishing the semifinals in a time of 13.72, while Yemi Ayeni competed in the discus and broke the IC4A meet record with a first-place throw of 59.79m at the ECAC/IC4A Championships on Saturday afternoon.
Billie-Jo Grant, Amy Bilmanis and Cailtin Kelly all competed in the discus, with Grant winning the event with an NCAA regional mark of 54.41m. Bilmanis finished seventh with an NCAA regional throw of 47.32m, while Kelly threw a personal-best 44.36m.
Reuben Jones is among six Cavaliers who have placed in the top of their respective events to move on to tomorrow’s finals in the championships. Jones is the favorite in the 100m and has qualified in the 200m and the 4x100m, while being the defending champion in each of the events. Jones took first in the preliminaries of the 100m dash in 10.47 and took third in the 200m dash in an NCAA qualifying mark of 21.24.
Meghan Briggs placed fifth in the ECAC javelin, while Jones joins Adams Abdulrazaaq, Janne’a Bridgeford, Lauren Echko, Huma Husain and Ayla Smith as Cavaliers who have placed in the top of their respective events to move on to tomorrow’s finals at the championships.
Briggs threw 42.86m in the javelin to take fifth and push the women into first place going into the final day of competition. The women have collected 31 points, while the men currently sit sixth with 15 points.
Bridgeford leads the pack going into tomorrow, qualifying for the finals in both the 100m and 200m dashes. Bridgeford finished seventh in the preliminaries of the 100m dash to qualify for the semifinals. Her sixth place finish in 11.90 in the semis was enough to advance her to tomorrow’s finals, while her fifth place finish of 23.73 in the 200m dash advances her to tomorrow’s final event.
Smith is the favorite going into tomorrow’s 400m hurdles event, as she won the race in 59.77 Saturday afternoon.
Echko took fourth in the preliminaries of the 100m hurdles to move on to the semifinals, where she finished fifth in a personal-best and NCAA regional qualifying time of 13.72. Kristina Chapman also raced the event, and advanced out of the preliminary race, finishing with a personal-best 14.18. She finished the semifinal round with a time of 14.32.
In the 110m hurdles, Abdulrazaaq finished seventh in an NCAA regional qualifying time of 14.19 to advance him to tomorrow’s finals.
Husain finished the 800m in her best time of 2:08.66, marking the fastest finish for a Cavalier since Kim Liggins ran a 2:08.24 in 1992. The time qualifies her for both tomorrow’s finals and the NCAA Regional Meet.
Virginia’s men’s and women’s 4x100m relay, in addition to the men’s 4x400m and 4x800m teams, have both qualified for tomorrow’s finals.
The championships will kick off tomorrow with the ECAC shotput at 10 a.m. The meet will conclude with the IC4A 4x400m relay at 3:05 p.m. The presentation of the awards will wrap up the championships following the last event.
WOMEN
100m prelims: Bridgeford (7th 11.85); 100m semis: Bridgeford (6th – 11.90); 100H prelims: Echko (4th 13.84), Chapman (14.18); 100H semis: Echko (5th 13.72), Chapman (14.32); 200m: Bridgeford (5th 23.73), Wise (24.63); 400m: Wise (56.05); 400H: Smith (1st 59.77), Chapman (1:02.62), Ashe (1:03.07); 800m: Husain (8th 2:08.66), Hovland (2:23.15); 1500m: Dezubay (4:33.13); 4×100: (46.41); 4×400: (3:52.11)
LJ: James (5.68m); Jav: Briggs (5th 42.86m); PV: Darraugh (3.65m); Ham: Manning (48.50m); Disc: Grant (1st – 54.41m), Bilmanis (7th 47.32m), Kelly (44.36m)
MEN
100m: Jones (1st 10.47); 110H: Abdulrazaaq (7th 14.19); 200m: Jones (3rd 21.24); 400m: Paschal (48.09), Bonner (48.57); 400H: Abdulrazaaq (53.21); 800m: Orr (1:51.04); 1500: Biladeau (3:49.79), Bowman (3:51.25); 3000m: Finley (9:07.21); Dec: Lewis (4675); 4×100: 41.04; 4×400: 3:12.08; 4×800: 7:30.01.
LJ: Robinson (FOUL); Disc: Ayeni (1st 59.79m), Pickle (43.35m)