Virginia's Lake Wins Steeplechase on Second Day of ACCs

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May 15, 2015

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla.–Graduate student Iona Lake won the 3,000-meter steeplechase as the Virginia women’s track and field team finished action on the second day of the ACC Outdoor Championships Friday at Mike Long Track.

The Cavaliers sit in fourth place with 26 points after the second day, behind North Carolina (42), Florida State (36) and Louisville (32). Miami is fifth (24), followed by Notre Dame (17), Boston College (15), NC State (15), Syracuse (14), Wake Forest (13), Virginia Tech (13), Duke (11), Pittsburgh (9), Clemson (5) and Georgia Tech (1).

“A championship is about scoring points,” UVa head coach Bryan Fetzer said. “Personal bests and school records are nice, but it’s all about scoring team points and I think our women handled that well today.”

Lake (Norwich, England) came from behind on the last lap to defeat Danielle Winslow of Florida State by less than a second, 10:08.31 to 10:09.02. Sophomore Sara Sargent (Philadelphia, Pa.) placed seventh in a time of 10:20.64. Lake’s time was a new facility record, while Sargent’s time places her sixth on UVa’s all-time list.

“It was outstanding the way Iona was able to respond in the last lap,” UVa assistant coach Todd Morgan said. “She was near the front most of the race, but was passed towards the end and dug down deep to come back. It was great to gain 10 key points for the team. Also, for Sara to drop 14 seconds off her best time, be able to pick up a couple of team points and score at the conference meet for the first time was awesome to see. Really proud of both of them.”

Sophomore Christine Bohan (Avon Lake, Ohio) placed fourth in the shot put with a mark of 16.02m (52-6.75).

In the javelin, sophomore Caitlin Mautz (Doylestown, Pa.) finished fourth with a throw of 44.87m (147-2), while Bohan placed seventh with a mark of 41.01m (134-6).

“Caitlin did a great job competing in her first ACC meet with a lot of pressure on her and handled herself in a very workmanlike way,” UVa assistant coach Mario Wilson said. “To get fourth in her first conference meet was an awesome achievement.”

“Christine scoring in two events for us today was huge,” Fetzer said. “I know she wished she had done better in the shot put, but she is continuing to learn how to compete at major championships and scoring twice was big.”

Senior Jordan Lavender (Knoxville, Tenn.) won her 400 meters heat and qualified for Saturday’s final in a time of 53.21.

The meet concludes Saturday with field events at 11 a.m. and track events at 5 p.m. ESPN3 coverage starts at 6 p.m.