Scott Smashes Triple Jump Mark to Lead UVA at Virginia Challenge
Charlottesville, Va. – Virginia junior Jordan Scott shattered the UVA and ACC record for the triple jump to highlight the Cavalier men’s performances during the second and final day of the Virginia Challenge at Lannigan field.
The 2019 NCAA Indoor triple jump champion, Scott posted a mark of 17.07 meters (56-0) on his first attempt to easily win the event and post the best mark in a NCAA competition this season. His effort ranks No. 3 in the world this year.
A Lannigan Field record and meet record, Scott’s jump bettered the ACC mark set in 1979 at the NCAA Championship that year by Dennis Ivory of Maryland. Ivory’s conference-best mark stood at 16.84 meters (55-3).
Scott was not the only Cavalier posting a school record during Saturday’s competition. In the hammer throw, Hilmar Orn Jonsson finished second, posting a UVA mark of 73.13 meters (239-11). He set the previous UVA best mark in 2017 with a throw of 72.83 meters (237-6).
UVA picked up a win in the men’s high jump when junior Brenton Foster cleared a height of 2.16 meters (7-1). That ranks as the third best individual performance in UVA history. Freshman Trey Causey was fourth at 2.13 meters (6-11 ¾) which stands as the third best height by a Cavalier first-year.
Senior Brent Demarest capped off the competition for the Cavaliers by winning the 10,000 meters with a time of 29:17.65
“It will be hard to sleep tonight after the excitement from our performances,” said Bryan Fetzer, UVA’s director of track and field and cross country head coach. “Wow. This is always the true start of our outdoor season. The guys tend to raise their level each year competing at the Challenge, and it was no different today. The season will build from here as we head into the championship portion of our schedule. There is a lot left in the tank for this group, which is really exciting.”
Other notable performances included:
• Matthew Novak placed third in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of personal best time of 8:56.48
• Jordan Willis was third in the 400-meter invite with a time of 46.59. That moved him up to fourth place on UVA’s all-time list for the competition.
• Sophomore Spencer Dodds set a PR in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:48.21.
“This competition continues to grow and develop into one of the best college meets,” Fetzer said. “All you have to do is look at the performances overall. Our officials and facilities crew are amazing. We couldn’t do it without them. They made adjustments that were needed to be made with the weather to make this a world-class competition. I can’t say enough about how thankful I am for their work this weekend.”
The Cavaliers are back at Lannigan Field next Friday and Saturday when they host the Virginia Grand Prix meet to wrap up the regular season.