Kostelac Sweeps ACC Freshman of the Year Honors

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GREENSBORO, N.C. – Virginia’s Anthony Kostelac has been named the 2011 ACC Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year, as voted on by the league’s 12 head coaches and announced Friday by the conference office. Kostelac, the 2011 ACC Men’s Indoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year, becomes the third-straight Cavalier to earn the league’s top rookie honor, as sophomore NCAA Champion Robby Andrews earned the accolade last year and junior All-American Morgane Gay was tabbed the women’s freshman of the year during the 2009 outdoor season.

In addition, Kostelac is the fifth student-athlete in league history to claim the awards for both the indoor and outdoor seasons, and the second Cavalier to do so. Andrews was tagged the top rookie during both seasons last year.

At the 2011 ACC Outdoor Championships, Kostelac earned top honors in the men’s 800m run, edging teammate and All-American Lance Roller by 42-hundredths of a second at the finish line. Kostelac turned in a time of 1:49.02 to earn Virginia its league-leading 12th conference championship in the event.

The Charlottesville, Va., native’s time stands as the second fastest in the league this year. Andrews leads the way with his winning time of 1:44.71 from the 2011 NCAA Championships.

In sweeping both the indoor and outdoor 800m conference titles, Kostelac becomes the seventh student-athlete in league history – and second at Virginia – to win both events in the same year. Olympic gold medalist Paul Ereng won both titles for UVa in 1989. He also helped the Cavaliers sweep both the indoor and outdoor events for the second-consecutive year (Andrews won indoors and Roller won outdoors in 2010).

Kostelac concluded his first outdoor season with a Penn Relays Championship of America title in the 4x800m and a school record in the event, as the quartet of sophomore Brett Johnson, Roller, Kostelac and Andrews ran 7:12.15 at Penn. That time ranks second in the 117-year history of the Penn Relays and trails only Penn State’s legendary meet record of 7:11.17 from 1985. It is also the top time in the NCAA this year.

In Virginia’s record books, Kostelac is tied with John Hinton (1984) for fifth in the 800m indoors, running 1:49.24. During the outdoor season, his personal-best time of 1:47.28 ranks fifth and on Virginia’s all-time freshman list, he sits third.

Kostelac’s 2011 Season Honors
ACC Indoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year
ACC Outdoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year
ACC Indoor Champion in the 800m
ACC Outdoor Champion in the 800m
Penn Relays Champion in the 4x800m relay
School record holder in the 4x800m relay