No. 7 Virginia Finishes Second at ACC Championships
May 14, 2017
Atlanta, Ga. -The No. 7 Virginia men’s track and field team concluded the ACC Championships in second place, on Sunday (May 14) at the George C. Griffin Track and Field Facility in Atlanta, Ga.
The Cavaliers tallied 119 points over the three-day competition, just one point shy of Virginia Tech with 120. Florida State finished in third with 104 points.
UVA’s final day of competition was highlighted by senior Filip Mihaljevic (Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina), who tallied his fourth consecutive gold medal in the discus. He threw for a distance of 60.69m (199-1).
Mihaljevic was named the co-ACC Outdoor Championship Men’s Field MVP. He is the third student-athlete in ACC history to win four discus titles and just the ninth student-athlete to earn four titles in any single ACC outdoor event. Earlier in the meet, Mihaljevic earned the shot put title with a championship record performance of 20.27m (66-6). He concludes the weekend with 10 ACC gold medals between the shot put (indoor and door) and discus.
Adding to the success of the discus, senior Jordan Young (Windsor, Ont.) finished third with an effort of 59.34m (194-8). Redshirt sophomore Oghenakpobo Efekoro (Brooklyn, N.Y.) recorded a mark of 51.19m (167-11) for seventh place.
The Cavaliers also posted an outstanding effort in the 5,000 meters. Redshirt sophomore Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.) led UVA with a personal-best time of 14:04.92. He finished the event in fifth place. Freshman Lachlan Cook (Brisbane, Australia) finished sixth (14:04.92), while junior Thomas Madden (Front Royal, Va.) placed eighth (14:16.19).
Senior Henry Wynne (Westport, Conn.) finished the 1,500m in fifth place, earning him an All-ACC honor. He recorded a time of 3:47.54 in the event.
Sophomore Charles Bowman (Harrisburg, Pa.) tallied three points for the Cavaliers in the 110m hurdles, placing sixth. He recorded a time of 14.62.
Senior Nathan Kiley (Chantilly, Va.) ran a mark of 46.95 to finish sixth in the 400m dash.
The men’s 4x400m relay concluded the night with Bowman, Kiley, sophomore Jake Dixon (Falmouth, Maine) and junior Logan Carrington (Leesburg, Va.), respectively, finishing in sixth place (3:08.52).
“Our men performed phenomenally,” head coach Bryan Fetzer said. “It is difficult to swallow when you lose the way we did. It’s a tough one. All things happen for a reason. We are going to handle everything with class. Our season is not over yet. I am very proud of this group and the team culture we have now. It is indescribable and as a coach that is what you want.”
A pivotal moment for UVA’s team score came when freshman Jordan Scott’s (Portmore, Jamaica) triple jump came under protest. After originally registering a mark that would have placed first in the final standings (16.34m), his effort was disqualified under protest and ruled a foul. He fouled on his other two attempts and did not post any points in the event’s final round.
The meet also signified the men’s and women’s outdoor track and field matchups between Virginia and Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash, sponsored by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of University of Virginia Athletics. By virtue of Virginia Tech winning both the men’s and women’s ACC titles, the Hokies won the Clash by tiebreaker after both schools finished with 11 points. Learn more about Virginia529 and this competition at TheCommmonwealthClash.com.
Next, the Cavaliers will compete in the East Regional Qualifier in Lexington, Ky., May 25-27.