Smith Wins 400m Hurdles With Nations Top Time

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RALEIGH, N.C. – Junior Ayla Smith put in two of Virginia’s all-time top-three performances – in the 100m and 400m hurdles – to lead the track and field team on the opening day of the Raleigh Relays.

Smith won the 400m hurdles in an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 58.28, marking the program’s third fastest time and the nation’s top time so far this season. She also finished fifth in the 100m hurdles in another regional qualifying time of 13.77 to qualify for tomorrow’s finals, ranking behind only Lauren Echo’s 13.72 outing from last year on Virginia’s all-time records.

Sophomore Chidi Uche also advanced to tomorrow’s finals in the 100m hurdles, finishing ninth in a personal-best time of 14.21.

Junior Trey Miller had a solid performance to conclude the day for Virginia, narrowly missing the program’s top-10 times, but finishing the seeded 5000m race in sixth in an NCAA Regional qualifying time of 14:11.68.

Other top performances include senior Caitlin Kelly winning her second-consecutive discus competition with a heave of 160’ 5”, while senior Billie-Jo Grant threw 156’ 9” for third place.

The Cavaliers’ quartet of senior Sara Casscells, junior Lauretta Dezubay, junior Stephanie Garcia and freshman Morgane Gay claimed first in the 4x1500m relay in 18:08.63 – outdistancing Georgetown’s second-place finish by over 11 seconds, while Virginia’s men’s 4x1500m relay team of sophomore Andrew Lobb, senior Kevin Tschirhart, senior Alex Bowman and sophomore Emil Heineking finished runner-up to conference-foe Duke in 15:30.26.

Freshman Anna Corrigan finished third in the unseeded section of the 5000m in 17:29.27, while sophomore Andrew Fahringer threw Virginia’s 10th-best mark in the discus, tossing 154’ 2”.

The Cavaliers will return to the track tomorrow to conclude the meet. Events on the track will begin at 9:40 a.m., with field events kicking off at 10 a.m.