Mihaljevic and Young Shine in Discus at NCAA Championships
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June 12, 2015
EUGENE, Ore. – Sophomores Filip Mihaljevic (Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Jordan Young (Windsor, Ontario) had a strong showing in the discus to lift the Virginia men’s track and field team to a 17th place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships Friday at historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
The Cavaliers’ 17th-place finish was the best in program history and Virginia was the highest ACC finisher at the meet.
“This meet was another step in the right direction,” said head coach Bryan Fetzer. “All year, the men have continued to get better. Filip and Jordan bounced back in a big way, as both of them were not happy with how the shot put went on Wednesday. For them to come back and perform as well as they did today shows how far they have come.”
In the discus, Mihaljevic was third and Young was sixth as the Cavaliers had two athletes score in the same event for the first time since 2010. Mihaljevic was the only competitor in the field to clear 60 meters on all six throws, with his best mark of 61.29m (201-1) coming on his third attempt. It is the second straight year Mihlajevic has earned All-America honors in the discus, after finishing eighth in the event last year.
Young was in 23rd place going into his third attempt, but threw 58.52m to move up to seventh place and make the final. He then topped that mark on his next two throws, posting a mark of 60.13m (197-3) on his fifth attempt to finish sixth. After a seventh place finish in the hammer throw on Wednesday, Young becomes the second athlete in program history to earn first-team All-America honors in two events at one meet. Mihaljevic was the first to accomplish the feat, scoring in both the shot put and discus last year.
“It is amazing what they did today,” said assistant coach Martin Maric. “They are both sophomores and were the two youngest guys to make the final. For both of them to throw 60 meters shows that they have a bright future ahead of them.”
Ryan Satchell (Central Islip, N.Y.) concluded his collegiate career with a 23rd place finish in the triple jump. A first-team All-American in the event last year, he had a mark of 15.37m (50-5.25) to earn honorable mention status this season.
Virginia’s previous best finish at the men’s NCAA Outdoor Championships was in 2010, when the Cavaliers tied for 23rd place.