Story Links
CORAL GABLES, Fla. Led by junior Meghan Briggs’ second-consecutive ACC Title in the javelin and a dominating performance in the men’s 10,000m, the Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams lead all competition following the first day of action at the 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships at Cobb Stadium on the campus of the University of Miami.
Behind a 1-3-5 performance in the women’s javelin to start the day, the women have accumulated 29 points to lead Virginia Tech’s second-place effort of 26 points and Clemson’s third-place standing of 22 points.
The men concluded the day going 2-3-4-5 in the 10,000-meters to pick up 23 points, en route to a 30-point point total on the day to lead second-place Florida State at 28 points and Virginia Tech at 23 points.
“What a day for our men’s and women’s track and field teams,” head coach Jason Vigilante said. “Already on the women’s side, we’ve nearly accumulated as many points as we did at the indoor championships. We have a conference champion in Meghan Briggs and have had several others score. I am so proud at how our women have stepped up.
“As for our men, we’ve scored in every event so far. All of these people return again next year, and the year after. Our team is headed for big things in the future.”
Briggs started the day for the Cavaliers on a good note, winning the javelin with a mark of 162’ 0” on her first throw. Freshman Tara Karin earned her first All-ACC honor, finishing third in the event with a throw of 142’ 3”, while freshman Indira Morton picked up a fifth-place finish with the program’s seventh longest throw of 139’ 0”.
“This is only the beginning for Jav Nation,” Briggs said. “To come here with teammates to compete with was awesome. It was really encouraging to have their support in starting the meet on a good note. To win a second title was amazing too, especially when you’re expected to win because you know people are trying to beat you.
“As a team we knew coming into the meet that we wanted to finish in the top-three. So to have people like Tara step up at the end of the competition to throw four centimeters longer than the girl ahead of her to move into third place is the kind of mentality we’re going to need from the entire team all weekend long.”
Freshman Anna Corrigan, junior Lauretta Dezubay and senior Alexa Manning all earned points for the Cavaliers, also. Corrigan and Dezubay finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 10k to pick up eight points in the event, while Manning took eighth in the hammer throw. Corrigan ran 36:43.83, while Dezubay crossed the line in 36:52.92. Manning tossed 162’ 1”.
On the men’s side, in the 10k, sophomores Ryan Collins and Emil Heineking earned All-ACC honors, with Collins battling Florida State’s Steeve Gabart until the end, before finishing runner-up in 30:39.08 Gabart won the title in 30:38.48. Heineking finished third in 30:52.30, while junior Trey Miller finished fourth in 31:00.44 and junior Graham Tribble took fifth in 31:13.34.
In other events, freshman Andy Fahringer collected four points in the javelin, finishing fifth with a mark of 203’ 1”, while freshman Vincenzo Chiariello finished sixth in the hammer throw, tossing 168’ 4”.
The Cavaliers will return to action tomorrow for day two of the conference meet. Field events begin at 1 p.m., while track events kick off at 3 p.m.
2009 ACC Champions
Meghan Briggs Javelin
2009 All-ACC Performers
Meghan Briggs Javelin
Tara Karin Javelin
Ryan Collins 10k
Emil Heineking 10k