Bickersteth Wins High Jump as Track and Field Concludes Hokie Invite

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BLACKSBURG, Va.-The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams completed action at the Hokie Invitational Saturday (Jan. 21) at Rector Fieldhouse. The Cavaliers earned four top-two finishes.

“We had some outstanding performances this weekend,” Virginia director of track and field/cross country Bryan Fetzer said. “We now know where we stand and have a bunch of positives we can take away from this meet.”

Junior Pearl Bickersteth (Dumfries, Va.) won the women’s high jump with a mark of 1.73m (5’8″), while sophomore Emily Kianka (Pennington, N.J.) earned second at 1.68m (5’6″). Freshman Moira Cronin (Andover, Mass.) placed sixth.

In the men’s shot put, freshman Nick Vena (Morristown, N.J.) threw a second-place distance of 17.40m (57’1), the third-best mark in school history. Sophomore James Fuson (Glen Allen, Va.) finished fifth with a throw of 15.42m (50’7.25″).

Sophomore Vanessa Fabrizio (Denver, Colo.) finished second in the women’s 800-meter run in a time of 2:09.26.

Sophomore Tommy Devita (Ridgewood, N.J.) placed fifth in the men’s high jump with a mark of 2.04m (6’8.25″), while Senior Matthias Meyer (Suhlendorf, Germany) finished fifth in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.00m (22’11.75″).

The women’s 4x400m relay team of Colette Gnade, Jennifer Weatherly, Fabrizio and Ali Gillen placed sixth in a time of 3:50.57.

In the men’s 200-meter dash, senior Kevin Anding (Houston, Texas) placed eighth in 22.15.

The Cavaliers return to action next weekend, Jan. 27-28, at the Penn State National Invitational in State College, Pa.