Three UVA Sprinters Advance to Quarterfinals on Opening Day of NCAA East Preliminary Rounds
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.- The Virginia women’s track and field team opened the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds on Thursday (May 23) at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., with three sprinters qualifying for the quarterfinals in an event.
Junior Andrenette Knight (Morant Bay, Jamaica) advanced to Friday’s 400m hurdles quarterfinals after finishing with the top time in heat five. Her time of 57.99 was the third fastest of the day.
Junior Anna Jefferson (Warren, Mich.) raced to the finish line in the 400m dash with a time of 52.83. The performance placed her third in heat five, automatically qualifying her for Friday’s quarterfinals. Jefferson tied for the 10th-best time of the day.
In the 100m dash, sophomore Halle Hazzard (Commack, N.Y.) ran a time of 11.51 to advance to the quarterfinals in the event. She finished fourth in her heat and 16th overall.
Also competing during the day, senior Jade Baker (North Richland Hills, Texas) placed 14th overall in the hammer throw. Baker threw a mark of 61.07m (200’04”) to conclude the second flight in fourth place with one heat remaining. She entered the competition as the 18th seed.
Senior Marija Bogavac (Mojkovac, Montenegro) placed 17th in the javelin. She threw 48.36m (158’8″) on her final attempt. She was seeded 22nd in the event.
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.