Cavaliers Open NCAA Outdoor Championships Wednesday
Note: Updated to match NCAA’s changes to schedule
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-11 members of the Virginia track and field program travel to Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Wednesday through Saturday (June 6-9).
The 11 student-athletes are the most Virginia has sent to the national outdoor meet since 1983, when a record 12 Cavaliers competed. The Virginia women have sent a student-athlete to every NCAA outdoor meet since its inception in 1982.
The entire event will be streamed live. Wednesday’s events will be available via NCAA.com, and Thursday through Saturday on ESPN3.com. Saturday’s events also will be televised on ESPNU in a window beginning at 12 p.m. Links for live video and live results will be linked through VirginiaSports.com.
On Wednesday, senior Lance Roller (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) will run in the semifinals of the men’s 800 meters at 7:15 p.m. Roller finished sixth in the 800 at the 2010 NCAA Championships and won the ACC crown for a second time in April at Lannigan Field. The final is Friday at 7:10 p.m.
Junior Sean Keveren (Brentwood, Tenn.) competes in the final event on Wednesday in the men’s 10,000 meters final at 9:45 p.m. Keveren earned silver in the 10,000 and bronze in the 5,000 meters at the ACC Championships.
On Thursday, senior Maureen Laffan (Toms River, N.J.) makes her first NCAA appearance in the women’s hammer throw at 4 p.m. Laffan owns the school record in the event (59.62m – 195′ 7″).
In the men’s 1,500 meters semifinal, juniors Brett Johnson (Ocean City, N.J.) and Patrick Todd (Highland Park, Texas) will compete at 7:15 p.m. Johnson earned Second-Team All-America honors in the event a year ago, while Todd will make his first trip to the NCAA outdoor meet. The final will be run Saturday at 12:17 p.m.
Junior Morgane Gay (Bethesda, Md.) will run in the women’s 1,500 meters semifinal at 7:30 p.m., looking to better her seventh-place finish at last year’s meet. She finished fifth in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. The final is Saturday at 12:28 p.m.
At 9:45 p.m., senior Catherine White (Roanoke, Va.) will compete in the women’s 10,000 meters final. White won the event at the NCAA East Preliminaries and ACC Championships earlier this season. At Arkansas, White finished sixth in the event in 2009.
Senior Vincenzo Chiariello (Staten Island, N.Y.) opens Friday’s action with the men’s hammer throw at 3 p.m. Chiariello, the school record holder with a distance of 64.29m (210′ 11″), will make his first NCAA appearance.
Also on Friday, senior Marcus Robinson (Richmond, Va.) compete in the men’s triple jump at 5:30 p.m. Robinson won the ACC title in April and finished fifth in the event at the NCAA indoor meet in March.
On Saturday, the women’s 5,000 meters final will see redshirt freshmen Chelsea Ley (Woolwich Township, N.J.) and Kathleen Stevens (Blacksburg, Va.) run at 1:19 p.m.
Texas A&M is the three-time defending champions on both the men’s and women’s sides.
All times are Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).