Jonsson, Demarest Advance to NCAA Championships on Opening Day at East Prelims
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Senior Hilmar Jonsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) and graduate student Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.) qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Thursday (May 23), leading the Virginia men’s track and field team on the opening day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
Jonsson recorded the top mark in the hammer throw to punch his ticket to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas (June 5-8). He held the lead through all three rounds of competition, recording a mark of 72.17m (236’9″) on his opening throw. He advanced to the NCAA Championships for the third time in his career.
In the men’s 10000m run, Demarest captured a third-place finish to qualify for his first NCAA Outdoor Championship. Demarest finished with a personal-best time of 28:54.69. His time ranks second all-time in UVA history. Demarest entered the meet as the 21st seed in the event.
“Brent (Demarest) ran great tonight and I’m thrilled for him to earn his first trip to nationals on the track,” assistant track and field coach Jason Dunn said. “Now we will turn our attention to Saturday night to see if he can make it in the 5k as well.”
Virginia will return to action at noon tomorrow for day two of the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. The top-12 finishers from each individual event and top-12 relay teams will advance from the East Preliminary Round.