Virginia Looks For Regional Qualifying Marks at Weekend Competitions

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia track and field team will split up for one final weekend of competition before heading to the 2011 NCAA East Regional. Several Cavaliers will head to the ECAC/IC4A Championships at Princeton this Friday through Sunday (May 13-15), while a handful of distance runners will travel south for the Kent Taylor-Texas Roadhouse Carolina Relays on Saturday, May 14.

Live results for all events will be available at VirginiaSports.com.

So far this season, Virginia has 13 Cavaliers nationally ranked in their respective events. Led by redshirt senior Stephanie Garcia, who is ranked in both the 3000m steeplechase and the 1500m, the Cavaliers have placed five women and eight men in the nation’s top 50.

Garcia holds the third-best time in the NCAA in the steeplechase, winning the ACC Championship in a school and meet record time of 9:55.10. The All-American is also ranked 41st in the 1500m, running 4:20.99 at the conference meet.

Junior Morgane Gay joins Garcia in the 1500m, holding the 23rd-fastest time in the nation. A 2009 All-American in the event, Gay ran 4:18.94 at the ACC Championships.

On the men’s side, sophomore All-American Robby Andrews leads the way with a sixth-place ranking in the 1500m. The ACC runner-up in the event, Andrews finished with a time of 3:40.77. Classmate Brett Johnson is also ranked in the 1500m, as he finished the Mason Spring Invitational with a mark of 3:44.44 – the 43rd-best time in the NCAA this year.

In the 800m, freshman ACC Champion Anthony Kostelac and junior All-American Lance Roller sit 32nd and 42nd, respectively. Kostelac won the ACC title in 1:49.02, while Roller finished runner-up in 1:49.44.

A trio of Cavaliers are ranked in the hurdles. Senior All-American Adams Abdulrazaaq sits 29th in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13:82 from ACCs, while senior All-American Ayla Smith and classmate Kristina Chapman are ranked in the 400m hurdles. Smith holds the nation’s 27th-fastest time, a mark of 58.59 from ACCs, while Chapman is ranked 50th with a time of 59.61 from the conference meet.

Senior Andrew Mearns rounds out the Cavaliers that are ranked in track events, as he sits 46th in the steeplechase with a third-place finish in 8:56.41 from the ACC Championships.

Virginia has three Cavaliers ranked in field events, led by junior Andy Fahringer in the javelin. Fahringer threw 239′ 7″ at the Raleigh Relays, the nation’s 14th-best mark.

In the hammer throw, junior Vincenzo Chiariello broke the school record with his throw of 198′ 11″ at the Liberty Invitational. That mark ranks 48th in the NCAA.

Sophomore Pearl Bickersteth is the final Cavalier ranked as she sits 43rd in the high jump. She cleared 5′ 8.75″ at the Spec Towns Invitational.

The qualifiers for the 2011 NCAA East Region Championships will be announced on Thursday, May 19. The regional meet will be held on Thursday through Saturday (May 26-28) at Indiana University’s Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex.