Virginia Hosts Three Meets in April
March 21, 2018
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams will host three competitions during the month of April at Lannigan Field.
All home track and field competitions are open to the public and are free to attend.
“Who doesn’t like competing at home?” head coach Bryan Fetzer said. “Just as John Paul Jones Arena and Davenport Field at Disharoon Park have played a role in the success of basketball and baseball, so has Lannigan Field for us. Having the opportunity to be at home for the majority of the outdoor season is a great benefit for our program. It allows our athletes to be comfortable, to sleep in their own beds, eat at their places and be around friends. We have a great home crowd and support which speaks to the performances at Lannigan.”
The Cavaliers open the home series with a quad meet against Maryland, Bucknell and Georgetown on April 7. Each team will be scored against each other, with UVA recording an individual-competition score against Maryland, Bucknell and Georgetown.
Virginia will offer a youth clinic the morning of the meet, while the UVA cheer squad and Cav Man will make an appearance at the collegiate competition.
“It is a great way to kick off our series of home competitions,” Fetzer said.
On April 20-21 UVA will host the seventh annual Virginia Challenge. The meet will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.
The competition features several prominent programs including ACC foes Syracuse, North Carolina, NC State, Miami and Notre Dame.
The meet will also feature Florida, who won the 2018 men’s indoor track and field championship, in addition to Western Virginia, Rutgers, Maryland, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Eastern Michigan (women only), Eastern Kentucky, Kennesaw St, Furman, Liberty and Georgetown
The Virginia Challenge has attracted professional athletes to the competition with Lolo Jones, Queen Harrison, Bershawn “Batman” Jackson and Kemal Mesic competing in previous performances. Former UVA athletes Stephanie Garcia, Henry Wynne and Jordan Young will participate in this year’s competition.
The Cavalier band and a DJ will play during the two-day meet. Friday will feature a youth race, face painter and balloon artist, in addition to the UVA cheer squad and Cav Man being in attendance. The first 200 students will receive Papa John’s pizza.
The master mile will take place on Saturday.
“Our incredible running community creates an amazing atmosphere,” Fetzer said. “This is one of the premier competitions in the country occurring right here in Charlottesville over the last six years. The performances speak for themselves.”
UVA will round out its home schedule with the Virginia Grand Prix on April 28. The meet will serve as the teams’ senior day.
The competition will showcase Syracuse, North Carolina, NC State, Duke, Charlotte, Radford, Norfolk State and Wake Forest in addition to a few professional athletes.
“Each we year we try to improve the competition,” said Fetzer. “This is our last meet prior to ACCs to compete.”