Twenty-nine Cavaliers Qualify for NCAA East Preliminary Rounds
Female Qualifiers | Male Qualifiers | Meet Information
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Twenty-nine members from the Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Jacksonville, Fla., the NCAA announced on Thursday (May 16). The Cavaliers will take their largest roster since 2012 to the three-day meet (May 23-25) at Hodges Stadium.
Fifteen Cavaliers from the women’s team advanced to regional qualifier as redshirt seniors Mia Barron (Minnetonka, Minn.), Bridget Guy (Greensburg, Pa.) and Caitlin Mautz (Doylestown, Pa.), seniors Jade Baker (North Richland Hills, Texas), Marija Bogavac (Mojkovac, Montenegro), Ciara Leonard (Elkins Park, Pa.) and Kelly McKee (Lenexa, Kan.), juniors Anna Jefferson (Warren, Mich.), Andrenette Knight (Morant Bay, Jamaica) and Alexis Woodley (Cheaspeake, Va.), sophomores Khyasia Caldwell-Adams (Pocono Summit, Pa.), Halle Hazzard (Commack, N.Y.), Brittany Jones (Bloomfield, Conn.) and Eva Mustafic (Zagreb, Croatia), and freshman Thelma Kristjánsdóttir (Reykjavik, Iceland) will look to qualify for the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.
On the men’s side, graduate student Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.), redshirt senior Oghenakpobo Efekoro (Brooklyn, N.Y.), seniors Hilmar Jonsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) and Nace Plesko (Ljubljana, Slovenia), redshirt juniors Alex Corbett (Burke, Va.), Matthew Novak (Glen Allen, Va.) and Sam Young (Lewes, Del.), juniors Lachlan Cook (Brisbane, Australia), Brenton Foster (Townsville, Australia) and Jordan Scott (Portmore, Jamaica), sophomore Jordan Willis (Williamsburg, Va.), and freshmen Trey Causey (Winchester, Va.), Ethan Dabbs (Johnstown, Pa.) and Ayende Watson (Baltimore, Md.) qualified for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds.
Twenty-two Cavaliers will return to the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds as Barron (triple jump – seeded No. 35), Bogavac (javelin – No. 22), Caldwell-Adams (long jump – No. 18), Guy (pole vault – No. 5 ), Jefferson (400m -No. 7), Jones (shot put – No. 25), Knight (400m hurdles – No. 10), Leonard (100m hurdles – No. 18), Mautz (javelin – No. 38 ), McKee (triple jump – No. 4) and Woodley (100m hurdle – No. 37) make a return trip for the women’s team, while Cook (5000m – No. 33, 10000m – No. 17), Corbett (10000m – No. 23), Demarest (5000m – No. 17, 10000m – No. 21), Efekoro (shot put – No. 2, discus – No. 44, hammer – No. 31), Foster (high jump – No. 4), Jonsson (hammer throw – No. 2), Novak (3000m steeple chase – No. 28), Plesko (shot put – No. 24, discus – No. 23), Scott (triple jump – No. 1 ), Willis (400m – No. 37) and Young (pole vault – No. 26) return to the meet from the men’s team.
Baker (hammer – No. 18), Causey (high jump – No. 29), Dabbs (javelin – No. 3), Hazzard (100m – No. 20), Kristjansdottir (discus – No. 33), Mustafic (hammer – No. 30) and Watson (long jump – No. 30) will make their first appearance.
Additionally, the women’s 4x100m relay team will compete as the No. 18 seed.
Of those who qualified, six Hoos have previously represented the Cavaliers at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Guy advanced to national championships in the pole vault, recording the program’s first female All-America honor in the event with a fourth-place finish. Knight earned All-America honors for the Cavaliers at the 2018 championships, finishing 10th in the 400m hurdles, and All-America honors for San Diego State at the 2017 national championships with an 11th-place finish. McKee advanced to the outdoor championships for the first time in her career in 2018, earning first team honors with a ninth-place finish.
On the men’s side, Efekoro is a three-time All-American in the outdoor shot put including a sixth-place finish at last year’s championships. Jonsson will look for his third All-America honor in the hammer throw, placing fourth in 2017 and 11th in to 2018. Scott is a two-time All-American in the outdoor triple jump. He will look to added an NCAA outdoor title to his resume after topping the 2019 indoor meet in the event.
The NCAA Preliminary Rounds will serve as the qualifier for the NCAA Championships at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas June 5-8. The top-12 finishers from each individual event and top-12 relay teams will advance from the East Preliminary Round.
UVA Qualifiers for NCAA East Preliminaries
Jade Baker – hammer
Mia Barron – triple jump
Marija Bogavac – javelin
Khyasia Caldwell-Adams – long jump
Bridget Guy – pole vault
Halle Hazzard – 100m
Anna Jefferson – 400m
Brittany Jones – shot put
Andrenette Knight – 400m hurdles
Thelma Kristjansdottir– discus
Ciara Leonard – 100m hurdles
Caitlin Mautz – javelin
Kelly McKee – triple jump
Eva Mustafic – hammer
Alexis Woodley – 100m hurdles
Trey Causey – high jump
Lachlan Cook – 5000m, 10000m
Alex Corbett – 10000m
Ethan Dabbs – javelin
Brent Demarest – 5000m, 10000m
Oghenakpobo Efekoro – shot put, discus, hammer
Brenton Foster – high jump
Hilmar Jonsson – hammer
Matthew Novak – 3000m steeplechase
Nace Plesko – shot put, discus
Jordan Scott – triple jump
Ayende Watson – long jump
Jordan Willis – 400m
Sam Young – pole vault