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Virginia Shines in Season-Opening Meet at Clemson
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Jan. 11, 2014
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track & field teams kicked off the 2014 indoor season Saturday with a strong performance at the Orange & Purple Classic at the Clemson Indoor Track & Field Complex. The Cavaliers won nine events at the meet, setting numerous school top-10 performances and personal bests on the day.
“Today was a good start to the indoor portion of our year, building on the momentum that our cross country teams started in the fall,” said head coach Bryan Fetzer. “Our focus is on the process, not the outcome. If we continue to keep that focus, the results will take care of themselves as the year continues.
Among the nine event victories for the Cavaliers were two first-year athletes who won their collegiate debuts. Andrea Wright (Chesapeake, Va.) won the women’s 200m in a time of 24.75 seconds, while Christine Bohan (Avon Lake, Ohio) won the women’s shot put with a throw of 14.11m.
Junior Payton Hazzard (Huntington, N.Y.) won the men’s 200m in a time of 21.78, tied for the second-best time in school history. Since the race was on a flat track, that time converts to 21.39 for ACC and NCAA seeding purposes, which would have been an indoor school record.
Virginia dominated several events at the meet. The Cavaliers took the top four places in the men’s 3000m with Adam Visokay (Ruckersville, Va.) and Connor Rog (Fairfield, Conn.) both running PRs to finish 1-2, followed by Thomas Porter (Fredericksburg, Va.) and Drew Paisley (Virginia Beach, Va.). Virginia had the top two finishers in the men’s 5000m and mile, with Ed Schrom (Harrisburg, Pa.) and Mike Marsella (Hope Valley, R.I.) going 1-2 in the mile and Zach Herriott (Kansas City, Mo.) and Jack St. Marie (Westlake, Ohio) dominating the 5000m.
The Cavaliers swept the 800m titles with Vanessa Fabrizio (Denver, Colo.) winning the women’s race and Anthony Kostelac (Charlottesville, Va.) winning the men’s race. Virginia also won the men’s distance medley relay with the team of Henry Wynne (Westport, Conn.), David Bartha (Bonyhad, Hungary), Philip Todd (Dallas, Texas) and Marsella.
Junior Drequan Hoskey (Richmond, Va.) finished second in the men’s 60m hurdles. His time of 7.95 is the third best time in school history. Junior Ryan Satchell (Central Islip, N.Y.) had a PR of 23-4 in the men’s long jump, just shy of cracking the school top 10.
In the women’s 60m, the Cavaliers had two strong performances. First-year Tori McKenzie Chatham, Va.) ran 7.60 in the prelims, tied for the second-best freshman time in school history and ninth-best overall. Junior Jordan Lavender (Nashville, Tenn.) ran 7.55 in the finals, the sixth-best time in school history.
“Our freshmen performed as if this wasn’t their first meet in college,” said Fetzer. “That says a lot about their mental toughness. Our veterans continued on the path they started last season, either indoors, outdoors or cross country. They did an outstanding job of leading our team today.”
Virginia will return to action on Friday with several individuals competing at the Dick Taylor Invitational in Chapel Hill, N.C.