No. 4 UVA Men Wins Four Events at Virginia Challenge

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April 23, 2016

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-The No. 4 Virginia men’s track and field team captured four event wins against a strong field at the Virginia Challenge Saturday (April 23) at Lannigan Field.

Junior Henry Wynne (Westport, Conn.) broke the school record and posted the top time in the country in the 1,500 meters, winning in a time of 3:38.05. Wynne broke his previous school record of 3:38.35, set at the Florida Relays earlier this season. Wynne’s time broke the Lanngian Field and meet record and was set in a field where all 12 competitors in his section had broke the four-minute barrier in the mile.

“I’m really happy with the race tonight at the Virginia Challenge,” Wynne said. “I’m proud to have bested my personal record and set the new Lannigan Field record against an amazing group of competitors. I was a little disappointed to be .05 off the Olympic Trials standard, since that is one of my big season goals, but tonight was a great step in the right direction for myself and for the whole team.”

In the shot put invite, junior Filip Mihaljevic (Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina) won with a mark of 19.96m (65′ 6″), which ranks third in the NCAA this year, while redshirt freshman Oghenakpobo Efekoro (Brooklyn, N.Y.) was fourth with a distance of 19.27m (63′ 2.75″), which ranks 10th in the NCAA, fourth on UVA’s all-time list and third on Virginia’s freshman list.

Redshirt sophomore Cam Collins (Calhoun, Ga.) and senior Christian Lavorgna (Jefferson, N.J.) went 1-2 in the decathlon with scores of 7,004 and 7,001 points, ranking sixth and seventh on UVA’s all-time list, respectively.

The Cavaliers also went 1-2 in the 10,000 meters with junior Adam Visokay (Ruckersville, Va.) and sophomore Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.) finishing in 29:19.84 and 29:24.80, respectively. Demarest’s time moves him up to seventh all-time on UVA’s all-time list.

“We keep taking steps in the direction we need to take to raise the bar,” Virginia director of track and field/cross country Bryan Fetzer said. “I’m very proud of how this group continues to step up with the level of competition. I’m also so happy for Christian (Lavorgna) and Adam (Visokay) going out they did on their home track in their final home meets.”

Freshman Hilmar Jonsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) placed fourth in the hammer throw invite with a mark of 69.14m (226′ 10″). Each of the nine student-athletes in the competition were ranked in the top 15 in the NCAA.

In the javelin, sophomore Anthony Bouselli (Hawley, Pa.) finished sixth with a mark of 60.36m (198′ 0″).

Over the entire weekend, 13 Virginia Challenge records and 10 Lannigan Field records were either tied or broken between the men’s and women’s sides.

“It is amazing how the Virginia Challenge continues to develop,” Fetzer said. “The performances this weekend were impressive overall and those that came to watch truly saw a show.”

The Cavaliers return to action next weekend for the Highlander Invitational April 29-30 in Radford, Va.

Records broken at 2016 Virginia Challenge:
– Women’s 4x100m relay – Javianne Oliver, Precious Hitchcock, Destiny Carter, Kianna Gray (Kentucky) – 43.14 – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Women’s 100m – Destiny Carter (Kentucky) – 11.43 – meet record
– Women’s 10,000m – Tara Jameson (Iona) – 33:38.50 – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Men’s 200m – Rondell Sorrillo (Nike) – 20.56 – ties Lannigan Field and meet record
– Men’s Long Jump – Luca Wieland (Minnesota) – 7.91m (25′ 11.5″) – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Women’s Long Jump – Kenyattia Hackworth (unattached) – 6.79m (22′ 3.5″) – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Men’s High Jump – Ryan Lockard (Minnesota) – 2.20m (7′ 2.5″) – meet record
– Heptathlon – Carrie Carrier-Eades (USA) – 5,930 points – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Men’s Hammer – Sean Donnelly (Minnesota) – 73.31m (240′ 6″) – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Women’s 400m hurdles – Autumne Franklin (Harvard) – 55.70 – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Men’s 1,500m – Henry Wynne (Virginia) – 3:38.05 – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Women’s Javelin – Irena Sediva (Virginia Tech) – 55.96m (183′ 7″) – Lannigan Field and meet record
– Men’s 5,000m – Donnie Cowart (Saucony) – 13:50.63 – meet record