Rose and Mihaljevic Shine on Day Three of NCAA Championships

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June 13, 2014

EUGENE, Ore. – The Virginia track and field teams had two athletes earn first-team All-America honors Friday during the third day of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon. Dallas Rose (Pearland, Texas) had a seventh-place finish in the women’s triple jump and Filip Mihaljevic (Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina) finished eighth in the men’s discus.

Rose, a fifth-year senior competing for the final time as a Cavalier, posted a seventh place finish in the women’s triple jump. Her second attempt was a jump of 43-3 (13.18m), just shy of her PR that she set in the NCAA East Preliminaries two weeks earlier. That jump put her in sixth place heading into the finals. She was not able to improve on that mark on her final three jumps, but finished in seventh place for the best NCAA result in the women’s triple jump in school history.

“Dallas has been very focused all year,” said assistant coach Mario Wilson. “Since she didn’t have any eligibility left for indoors, to come out and have this kind of outdoor season is impressive. She put in a lot of hard work on her own and to have this result shows that all that hard work paid off. I am proud that she was able to reach the podium in her final competition as a Virginia Cavalier.”

Mihaljevic, who finished seventh in the shot put on Wednesday, became the first Virginia male athlete to score in two events at the same NCAA Outdoor Championships with his eighth place finish in the discus. His first throw of 193-1 (58.86m) put him into the finals in eighth place. He held that position over the final three throws to earn All-America honors for a second time at the meet.

Mihaljevic becomes the third overall Cavalier to score in two events at a NCAA Outdoor Championship, joining two Virginia women who have accomplished the feat. In 1991, Dana Boone was fifth in the long jump and eighth in the triple jump. Martha White, who was seventh in the 5000m and eighth in the 10000m in 1983, was the first Cavalier to score in two events.

“It was a great performance by Filip,” said assistant coach Martin Maric. “It is amazing what he was able to do this week as a first-year athlete. He kept his composure and was technically sound. He wasn’t seeded in the top eight in either event, but finishes as an All-American in both. That is a special accomplishment.”

The Virginia men have recorded three points at the meet and are tied for 42nd place after Friday’s events. The Cavalier women are in a tie for 43rd place with two points.

The meet will run conclude Saturday at Hayward Field with two Cavaliers in action. Ryan Satchell (Central Islip, N.Y.) will compete in the men’s triple jump, beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET. Kyle King (Yorktown, Va.) will run in the final of the men’s steeplechase at 5:57 p.m. ET. Television coverage of Saturday’s action will begin at 5 p.m. ET on ESPNU.