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Lavender Breaks 200m School Record at Terrier Invitational
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Jan. 30, 2015
BOSTON, Mass. – The Virginia women’s track and field team had a strong performance Friday at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational on the campus of Boston University. Senior Jordan Lavender (Nashville, Tenn.) broke her own school record in the 200m to highlight the day for the Cavaliers.
“We walked away from today with a lot of positives,” said head coach Bryan Fetzer. “This week, we had several individuals have breakthroughs for the first time this season. It’s all about getting better everyday and today we did that.”
Lavender won the 200m in a time of 23.84, breaking her own indoor school record of 23.94, set last year. It is the fourth school record set this year by the Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams.
Lavender’s record-setting performance led a strong showing by the Cavaliers in the 200m. Peyton Chaney (Belleville, Ill.) was third in a time of 24.06, a PR that moves her into third place on Virginia’s all-time list. Kiana Hairston (Manassas, Va.) was sixth in a time of 24.48, the third-best freshman time in school history and 10th-best overall.
Later in the day, Lavender teamed with Hairston, Andrea Wright (Chesapeake, Va.) and Chimere Ezumah (Gardena, Calif.) to win the 4x400m relay. The Cavalier team posted a time of 3:41.26, the fourth-fastest time in school history.
“Jordan continues to learn to run how to run aggressive, but in a relaxed state,” said Fetzer. “She split 52.8 (in the 4×400 relay) and essentially ran a school record (in the 200m) as a time trial because her heat only had one other runner, who ran 25.2.”
The Cavaliers had a pair of strong performances in the 3000m from graduate students. Morgan Kelly (San Francisco, Calif.), who competed at nearby Harvard as an undergraduate, finished fifth in a time of 9:23.21, the fourth-best time in school history. Iona Lake (Norwich, England) was seventh in a time of 9:28.02, the eighth-best time in school history.
Virginia had several top times in other middle distance and distance races at the meet. Vanessa Fabrizio (Denver, Colo.) was fourth in the 800m, crossing in 2:08.45, putting her into the top 20 nationally in the event. Sara Sargent (Philadelphia, Pa.) was the top collegiate finisher in the 1000m, finishing in a time of 2:49.71. Ezumah posted a time of 1:13.64 in the 500m, placing third at the meet. Megan Rebholz (Stafford, Va.) ran 4:53.87 in the mile, the third-best freshman time in school history. Sarah Fakler (Phoenix, Ariz.) concluded the day with a 16:33.86 time in the 5000m.
The Cavalier men will compete Saturday at the John Thomas Terrier Invitational. Both the men and women will be in action next week at the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite Meet, Feb. 6-7 in Blacksburg.