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Cavaliers Split for Weekend Competition
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia track and field team will head to two competition sites this weekend for meets. Virginia’s sprinters, jumpers and throwers will travel to Athens, Ga., to compete in the Spec Towns Invitational, while the Cavaliers’ distance runners will head north to Fairfax, Va., for the George Mason Invitational. Events in Athens are scheduled for Friday and Saturday, while competition at George Mason will be Saturday only.
So far this season, 12 Cavaliers are ranked within the top five of the ACC in their respective events.
Junior Andy Fahringer leads the league and the team with a personal-best throw of 239′ 7″ in the javelin. That mark was good enough to earn him the individual title at the Raleigh Relays last weekend.
Three Cavaliers are ranked second in the conference – redshirt senior Stephanie Garcia, senior Andrew Mearns and freshman Chris Foley. Garcia holds the second-best time in the league in the 1500m, running 4:22.64 at the Colonial Relays. Mearns has run the second-best time in the ACC in the steeplechase, 9:12.15 from the Colonial Relays, while Foley ran 30:25.14 in the 10k at that meet.
Colin Mearns is also ranked among the top five of the ACC in the steeplechase, as the freshman finished in 9:18.14 at the Colonial Relays to earn the fifth-best mark in the league this year. Junior Robbie Eckardt joins Foley in the conference rankings in the 10,000m. Eckardt currently sits fourth with a time of 31:13.48 from the Relays.
Rounding out events on the track, senior Adams Abdulrazaaq is fifth in the ACC in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.43 from the Liberty Invitational.
In field events, juniors Vincenzo Chiariello and Erin Wykoff are third in the hammer throw and discus, respectively. Chiariello broke the school record with his best throw of 198′ 11″ from the Liberty Invitational, while Wykoff threw a personal-best in the discus at the Raleigh Relays – 157′ 8″.
Junior Tara Karin is ranked fourth in the javelin, as she threw 148′ 7″ at the Liberty Invitational.
Virginia has a pair of high jumpers ranked fifth in the league. On the men’s side, senior Greg Nelson tied a personal-best at the Raleigh Relays, clearing 6′ 10.75″, while sophomore Pearl Bickersteth owns a mark of 5′ 8″ this season.
The 2011 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships are set for Durham, N.C. Events are scheduled to run Thursday-Saturday, April 21-23.