UVA Opener Kicks off Hoos’ Outdoor Season
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams open their outdoor season Saturday, March 20 when the Cavaliers host the UVA Opener meet at Lannigan Field. Joining the Cavalier competitors will be the Bucknell men’s and women’s teams and the Delaware women’s program.
Competition is slated to start at 1 p.m. with the field events. Running competition begins at 2:20 p.m.
Due to the pandemic canceling the 2020 outdoor season, the meet marks the first time the Hoos have competed in a regular-season outdoor event since the Virginia Grand Prix was held April 26 & 27 in 2019. This will be Vin Lananna’s first home meet as UVA’s director of track & field and cross country.
Noting the Hoos
Two Cavaliers expected to compete fresh off the NCAA Indoor Championships are senior Halle Hazzard (Commack, N.Y.) and sophomore Jada Seaman (Pikesville, Md.). Hazzard was named a first-team All-American at last weekend’s NCAA meet in the 60-meter dash thanks to an eighth-place finish. During the prelims, she set the Virginia school record with a time of 7.32. Seaman placed 12th in the long jump event to pick up second-team All-America honors. Both are slated to race in the 400 meters.
Graduate student Michaela Meyer (Southbury, Conn.) will make her UVA debut after transferring from Delaware. Running unattached during the 2021 indoor season, she set the facility record (2:05.46) in the 800m at Liberty’s Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational. In 2020, she qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with the fourth best time in the nation. While competing at Delaware, she set seven school records.
In addition to Hazzard and Caldwell, the men’s and women’s teams will both have six other entrants who earned All-ACC honors at this year’s indoor championships. For the women, the group features (UVA Opener Events): Rebecca Hawkins (HJ), Maya Maloney (PV), Khyasia Caldwell (100m, LJ), Kayla Bonnick (200m, relays), Andrenette Knight (100m, relays) and Brittany Jones (HT, SP). The men’s team include: Kane Aldrich (PV), Jacob Lemmon (HT, discus), Elby Omohundro (SP, discus), Claudio Romero (SP, discus), Jordan Willis (200m, relays) and Brandon Outlaw (100m, 200m, relays).
How to Follow
A link to live results will be available at VirginiaSports.com. Updates throughout the competition will also be provided on the team’s official Twitter account (@UVATFCC).
Attendance Guidelines
Due to health and safety considerations, in addition to the current guidelines for sports venues set by the Commonwealth of Virginia, attendance for UVA home meets is limited to the family of student-athletes and coaching staff until further notice.