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SEATTLE, Wash. – Junior Ryan Collins shattered Virginia’s 21-year-old school record and automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in the 5000m Friday evening at the Husky Classic at Dempsey Indoor Track at the University of Washington, while junior Catherine White hit the NCAA provisional standard in the event.

Collins finished fourth overall in the 81-competitor field and was among five automatic qualifiers in the 5k. His time of 13:46.41 replaces Kris Herdt’s time of 14:02.00 from 1989 atop Virginia’s program records and was just 14 seconds shy of the all-time ACC record set by Clemson’s Robert deBrouwer at 13:32.00 in 1985. Collins, the defending conference champion in the 5k, holds the fastest time in the ACC this season by 30 seconds.

White’s finish of 16:31.61 places her sixth on Virginia’s all-time records, right behind Martha White’s handheld time of 16:31.6 from 1982, as she finished 15th in a field of 66 competitors. Her performance ranks second in the ACC this season and is the second provisional qualifying mark she’s met this year. White also qualified in the 3000m, running the program’s second-fastest time of 9:24.43 on Jan. 30 at the Armory.

The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships are scheduled for the University of Arkansas on March 12-13. Collins is Virginia’s first automatic qualifier this season, while White has provisionally qualified in the 3000m and 5000m, senior Stephanie Garcia hit the provisional mark in the mile (4:45.73) and sophomore Maureen Laffan met the provisional standard in the shot put (50′ 0″).

The Cavaliers will continue competition tomorrow at the NYRR Saturday Night at the Armory III in New York City. Events are scheduled to run from 6-10 p.m. Live results can be found on VirginiaSports.com.

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