Track & Field Travels to Blacksburg for ACC Indoor Championships

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Feb. 25, 2015

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams travel to Virginia Tech this week for the 2015 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The meet will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Rector Field House in Blacksburg. Live results will be available at the ACC Championship website on theACC.com and ESPN3 will provide online coverage on Saturday.

The meet begins at 10 a.m. Thursday with the women’s pentathlon and day one action of the men’s heptathlon. The opening day concludes with the distance medley relays at 6 p.m., while the men’s and women’s weight throws will be at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively. Friday’s schedule starts at 11 a.m. with the conclusion of the heptathlon. Friday’s field events (high jump, long jump and women’s pole vault) begin at noon and running races (preliminaries for the 60m, 200m, 400m, 800m, mile and 60m hurdles and the finals of the 5000m) begin at 2 p.m. The meet concludes Saturday with field events (shot put, men’s pole vault, triple jump) starting at 10 a.m. and running events (finals of the 60m, 200m, 400m, 800m, mile, 3000m and the 4x400m relay) starting at noon.

ESPN3 will broadcast coverage of the meet online beginning at noon on Saturday.

Both Cavalier squads are looking to improve upon last year’s finishes at the indoor championship, when the men were sixth and the women tied for 10th. The Virginia women won the title in 1987, while the men’s best finish was a third-place showing in 2009.

Three Cavaliers who earned All-ACC honors at last year’s ACC Indoor Championships are looking for more accolades this season. Jordan Lavender (Nashville, Tenn.) is the defending champion in the women’s 400m and was named the track MVP of last year’s meet having also finished runner-up in the 200m. Ryan Satchell (Central Islip, N.Y.) has earned All-ACC honors in the men’s triple jump each of the past two years, while Mike Marsella (Hope Valley, R.I.) was second last year in the men’s 800m.

Two Cavaliers enter the meet as the top seed in their event. Jordan Young (Windsor, Ontario), who set the school record this year in the men’s weight throw, is the favorite in that event. In the men’s shot put, Filip Mihaljevic (Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Young are the top two seeds in that event, having both broken the previous school record this year.

The meet will also signify the indoor track and field matchup between Virginia and Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash, sponsored by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of University of Virginia Athletics. There are two points at stake in the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash, the new point rivalry series between University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. The school that finishes higher in each competition, men’s and women’s, will receive a point in the competition. Virginia leads the 2014-15 Commonwealth Clash, 7 to 2.5. Learn more about Virginia529 and this new competition at thecommonwealthclash.com.

The Cavaliers will conclude the indoor season March 13-14 at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The team opens the outdoor season the following week when it hosts the Virginia Cup on March 21 at Lannigan Field.