CLEMSON, S.C. – The Virginia indoor men’s and women’s track and field teams opened competition at the 2021 ACC Championships with several performances that earned all-conference honors and reset personal best marks.
Topping those efforts was senior Halle Hazzard’s (Commack, N.Y.) performance in the prelims of the 200 meters. She turned in the top time for the field, crossing the finish line in a UVA record time of 23.45 seconds. Hazzard bettered the mark of 23.56 set by UVA teammate Jada Seaman (Pikesville, Md.) earlier this season.
Seaman joins Hazzard in Saturday’s event final after posting the fifth best time (23.96) in the event. Freshman Kayla Bonnick (St. Catherine, Jamaica) grabbed the final spot in the finals with the eighth top time (24.14). A personal best, that ranks as the No. 7 all-time performance at UVA and third on Virginia’s all-time freshman performance list.
Notable Individual Performances
Junior Rebecca Hawkins (Sidcup, London) tied for fourth place in the women’s high jump with a mark of 1.73m (5’-8”) to earn second-team All-ACC honors.
Sophomore Maya Maloney (Boise, Idaho) bettered her person best height twice on the way to a sixth-place showing in the pole vault. Entering the meet with a top clearance of 3.97m, Maloney topped out at 4.12m (13’-6.25”) to improve her second-place standing on UVA’s all-time performance list.
On the men’s side of the event, junior Kane Aldrich (Naples, Fla.) also picked up second-team All-ACC honors thanks to a fifth-place finish. He top bar clearance was 5.02m (16’-5.5”), which was a personal best and the top effort this year by a UVA competitor and figures No. 6 on UVA’s all-time performance list.
UVA redshirt freshman thrower Jacob Lemmon (Sanibel, Fla.) set a personal best mark in the weight throw to place fifth and earn second-team All-ACC honors. On his final throw, Lemmon posted a mark of 20.05m (65’-5.5”). That ranks him No. 3 on UVA’s all-time list and second on the all-time freshman list.
Sophomore Elby Omohundro (Midlothian, Va.) finished the first day of competition in the heptathlon in sixth place thanks to a third-place finish in the high jump. UVA reigning heptathlon champion Derek Pekar (Ventura, Calif.) did not record a score in the long jump event to upend his chances to repeat as the event winner.
Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Vin Lananna on the Hoos
“It was a great night for the three women in the 200 with Halle, Jada and Kayla all advancing to the finals. I was very pleased with Jacob Lemmon’s performance in the weight throw and the men’s and women’s pole vaulters had some clutch jumps to score points for us. Rebecca Hawkins’ scoring performance in the high jump was very impressive. We are looking forward to day two of the championship.”
Next Up
Day two of the three-day championship gets underway at 9:30 a.m. Friday with the final heptathlon events. The pentathlon takes place Friday as well as a number of track and field events including Seaman’s attempt to repeat as long jump champion.