Scott Named Men’s ACC Field MVP, Virginia Finishes Second at ACC Championships
Full Results | Saturday’s Results
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.- The Virginia men’s track and field team concluded the ACC Championships on Saturday (May 11) as the conference runners-up, scoring 117 points. Junior Jordan Scott (Portmore, Jamaica) won the men’s ACC Field MVP award, winning two events at the meet and scoring 20 points for the Cavaliers. Virginia has won the men’s ACC Meet Field MVP award five times since 2012 with its last recipient, Filip Mihaljevic, winning the honor for the second consecutive year in 2017.
Virginia finished second at the meet for the third time in five years. Virginia Tech won the conference title, scoring 123 points. Florida State finished third with 102.5 points.
The Cavaliers won six individual ACC titles, the most individual titles in program history, and 16 All-ACC honors over the course of the three-day meet.
Scott completed his sweep of the horizontal jumps, winning the triple jump with a wind-assisted mark of 17.37m (57-0) on his last attempt of the day. The 57-foot jump is the top jump in the NCAA and is the third-best mark in the world this season. Scott jumped a wind legal mark of 17.08m (56-0.5) in the third round, setting an ACC, meet, Lannigan Field and UVA school record.
The win was the first outdoor ACC triple jump title for Scott and his fourth career conference title. He captured his first outdoor championship on Thursday, winning the long jump with a mark of 7.83m (25-8.25).
With his last throw of the day, senior Nace Plesko (Ljubljana, Slovenia) jumped into the top three of the discus to place second and earn All-ACC honor. He threw a season best 54.77m (179-8) to leap from seventh to second in the last round of the event.
Redshirt senior Oghenakpobo Efekoro (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished fourth in the discus. He threw a mark of 52.14m (171-1) in the second round, a personal-best, for second-team All-ACC honors in the event.
Sophomore Jordan Willis (Williamsburg, Va.) finished fifth in the 400m dash, running a time of 47.14. He earned second-team All-ACC honors, the first conference honor of his career.
In the 5000m, graduate student Brent Demarest (Charleston, S.C.) and junior Lachlan Cook (Brisbane, Australia) earned second-team All-ACC honors, finishing in the top six. Demarest recorded a time of 14:02.18 for fourth place, while Cook placed sixth with 14:05.32. Additionally, redshirt junior Ari Klau (West Hartford, Conn.) scored a point for the Cavaliers, finishing eighth with a season-best time of 14:12.59.
The 4x400m relay team of senior Jake Dixon (Falmouth, Maine), Willis, sophomore Brandon Outlaw (Moorestown, N.J.) and junior Spencer Dodds (Temecula, Calif.) concluded the meet with a fifth-place finish. The four ran a time of 3:15.24.
“Not all events end in Hollywood fashion,” director of track and field Bryan Fetzer said. “Of course, winning is part of the objective and it is disappointing when it does not happen. Trust me, I despise getting beat in a competition, but it isn’t the ultimate prize. It’s really about making the most of opportunities and doing the best you can with what you are blessed with, and such a large part of our team did so this weekend. I’m so proud of this entire program, the effort put forth this weekend and the whole outdoor season. We’ve had a special weekend.
“Our seniors are a special group. Most of the time you don’t see the fruits of your labor for some time to come, both as a coach and as an athlete. My desires are that this group can see the impact of accepting accountability, grow in faith, see the vast possibilities of teamwork and embrace the importance of lifelong friendships.”
Commonwealth Clash
The ACC Championships served as the men’s and women’s matchup between Virginia and Virginia Tech in the Commonwealth Clash. The Commonwealth Clash presented by Virginia529 is a head-to-head, points-based competition between the athletic teams at University of Virginia and Virginia Tech. The Hokies claimed the point at stake during the event.
The Commonwealth Clash encourages a friendly, statewide rivalry between the two schools across all school-sponsored sports with 21 individual event points on the line. The school that accumulates 11 points or more will be crowned the winner and take home the Virginia529 Commonwealth Clash trophy. Visit www.TheCommonwealthClash.com for more information and updated standings.
Virginia will await selection for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Jacksonville May 23-25.