Cavaliers Hosts Two-Day Virginia Challenge
Schedule of Events | Live Results | Notes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams will welcome 52 schools to Lannigan Field for the two-day Virginia Challenge beginning on Friday (April 19). Competition will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, while the meet starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Admission to all regular season home track and field meets is free to attend.
Follow the Action
A link to live results is available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also follow the action with updates through the team’s official Twitter account (@UVATFCC).
Promotions
Friday’s competition will feature a youth race for participants in eighth grade or younger. Fans can register for the race at the promotions table at 5:20 p.m. or by emailing bmr3a@virignia.edu. The race will begin at 5:45 p.m. A t-shirt toss will follow the conclusion of the youth race.
The Ragged Mountain Masters Mile will race on Saturday at 6:35 p.m. Fans wishing to run in the race can register by emailing alec@raggedmountainrunning.com.
A face painter and balloon artist will be present from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. on both days of competition.
Leading the Field
• Four Cavaliers hold a top 25 mark in an event heading into this weekend’s competition.
• Senior Hilmar Jonsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) captured the country’s third-best hammer throw at UVA’s home meet against Maryland and Pittsburgh. The performance earned Jonsson ACC Field Performer of the Week honors as he threw the best mark in the ACC this season at 72.21m (236’11”), seven inches shy of his career-best mark in the event.
• Redshirt senior Oghenakpobo Efekoro (Brooklyn, N.Y.) captured the fifth-best shot put mark in the nation at 20.37m (66’10”) in the team’s last outing.
• Junior Andrenette Knight (Morant Bay, Jamaica) ranks 22nd in the 400m hurdles, running a time of 58.72, while freshman Ethan Dabbs (Johnstown, Pa.) threw 68.57m (225’0″) in the javelin to rank 25th in the nation.
Hoo’s Throwing Top Marks
• The men’s and women’s hammer led the Cavaliers at the team’s first home meet of the season (April 6).
• Senior Jade Baker (North Richland Hills, Texas) and sophomore Eva Mustafic (Zagreb, Croatia) captured the two-best hammer throws in school history. Mustafic opened the competition with 61.18m (200’9″) to hold the school record in the event until the last round of competition. Baker snatched the school record from Mustafic on her final throw, recording 62.67m (205’7″).
• Jonsson led the men’s hammer throw, recording the third-best throw in the country and capturing a season-best mark that fell seven inches shy of his career-best and school record throw of 72.38m (237’6″).
• In his first time competing in the event, Efekoro recorded the fourth-best throw in school history in the hammer, capturing a mark of 60.88m (199’9″).
• In addition to the UVA hammer throwers, Dabbs set a freshman record in the javelin. His throw of 68.57m (255’0″) ranks sixth all-time in Cavalier history and 25th in the NCAA this season.
Clearing New Heights
• Redshirt senior Bridget Guy (Greensburg, Pa.) will look to defend her win from the 2018 Virginia Challenge in the pole vault.
• Guy set a facility, meet and school record in the pole vault during the competition.
• With her first attempt at the height, Guy cleared 4.46m (14’7.5″) to win the event and capture the fourth-best mark at the time in the NCAA.