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DURHAM, N.C. – Freshman Anthony Kostelac led the Virginia track and field team on the final day of the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships at Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium Saturday. Kostelac, the indoor 800m conference champion, edged his junior All-American teammate – Lance Roller – down the homestretch to capture his first 800m outdoor conference title in a personal-best time of 1:49.02. Roller finished runner-up in 1:49.44.

“I knew that I had to maintain distance with Lance,” Kostelac said. “I had to stay with the leader and move with him before kicking in the last 200m. To win is phenomenal.”

With the win, the Cavaliers have swept the indoor and outdoor 800m titles the past two years. Sophomore All-American Robby Andrews won the 2010 indoor title, while Roller won the outdoor crown last year. Kostelac swept both titles this year to become the seventh person in ACC history to win both events in the same year and the second in UVa history – Paul Ereng won both in 1989.

Virginia also had four other Cavaliers make the podium throughout the day. Junior Maureen Laffan started the day by using a huge personal-best throw in the hammer to earn her first All-ACC accolade in the event. Laffan threw 181′ 7″ on her final attempt to move from sixth to second in the competition. Her final mark trails only Eliese Mitchell’s school record of 186′ 10″ on Virginia’s all-time records.

Junior All-American Morgane Gay opened individual events on the track with a third-place finish in the 1500m and Andrews followed that up with runner-up honors on the men’s side. Gay finished in 4:18.94, while Andrews turned in a time of 3:40.77. Florida State’s Ciaran O’Lionaird claimed the men’s title in a meet-record time of 3:40.69.

Redshirt senior Stephanie Garcia, senior John Minen and sophomore Brett Johnson also scored for the Cavaliers in the 1500m. Garcia finished fifth on the women’s side with a personal-best time of 3:20.99, while Minen finished fifth on the men’s side in 3:45.65. Johnson completed the race in 3:48.83 to take sixth overall.

Senior All-American Adams Abdulrazaaq rounded out the Cavaliers on the podium for the day, finishing third in a new school record time of 13.83. His mark betters his previous record of 13.85 from 2010.

Six other Cavaliers scored throughout the day for Virginia, in addition to three relay squads.

Junior Erin Wykoff joined Laffan in the hammer, finishing eighth with a personal-best throw of 171′ 0″. On the men’s side, junior Vincenzo Chiariello finished fourth with a throw of 196’4″.

In the 400m dash, freshman Patrick Farmer – the only rookie in the finals – finished sixth in a personal-best time of 47.83. That time ranks fourth on Virginia’s all-time freshman records.

Senior Kristina Chapman, making her first 400m hurdles final, finished seventh in 1:00.33 and junior Anna Corrigan finished eighth in the 5000m. Corrigan completed the race in 16:52.12.

Sophomore Dallas Rose rounded out the Cavaliers in today’s finals, finishing eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 40′ 4.25″.

The women’s 4x100m relay team of senior Kisha Garrick, Chapman, junior Meagan Gillespie and sophomore Danielle Williams finished fourth in 45.87, while the men’s squad of junior Malcolm Carradine, sophomore Austin VonOhlsen, freshman Ozzie Bryan and freshman Leo McLaughlin took fifth in 41.51.

Virginia’s women’s 4x400m relay team wrapped up events on the track with a fifth-place finish in 3:42.78. That squad won the first heat and consisted of Williams, Chapman, freshman Ali Gillen and Gillespie.

The Cavalier women finished fifth overall with 62.5 points. Clemson ran away with the team title, earning 202 points. Florida State finished second with 132.5 points and North Carolina was third with 117.5 points. Duke finished fourth with 81.5 points.

The men took sixth-place with 67 points. Florida State won the team title with 174.5 points, while Virginia Tech was second (153.5 points) and North Carolina was third with 112.5 points.

Virginia will return to will return to action next weekend, heading to Philadelphia, Pa., for the prestigious Penn Relays.

2011 ACC Champions
Stephanie Garcia – Steeplechase
Anthony Kostelac – 800m

All-ACC Performers

Adams Abdulrazaaq – 110mH, 3rd
Robby Andrews – 1500m, 2nd
Stephanie Garcia – Steeplechase, 1st
Morgane Gay – 1500m, 3rd
Tara Karin – Javelin, 3rd
Anthony Kostelac – 800m, 1st
Maureen Laffan – Hammer, 2nd
Andrew Mearns – Steeplechase, 3rd
Lance Roller – 800m, 2nd

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