Cavaliers Gear Up for Promising Outdoor Season Following Impressive Indoor Campaign
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams each put together impressive campaigns in the 2023 indoor track and field season. As the teams look forward to a promising outdoor season, we take a look at the numerous accomplishments the teams have achieved indoors.
A Look at the 2023 Outdoor Schedule
Virginia opens the outdoor schedule with the Raleigh Relays on March 23. The Cavaliers will also travel to the Texas Relays (Austin, Texas), the Spec Towns Invitational (Athens, Ga.), and the Penn Relays (Philadelphia, Pa.) as a part of a road schedule packed with prestigious meets.
Home Meets at Virginia
Virginia is also set to host an exciting slate of four meets on its home turf at Lannigan Field in 2023 including the highly competitive Virginia Challenge (April 21-22). The Virginia Challenge was a national highlight of the 2022 outdoor season as the meet produced 139 qualifying marks for the NCAA East Regional qualifiers.
Virginia Home Schedule
- Virginia Quadrangular – Sat., April 1 | 2 p.m. Field Events | 3 p.m. Running Events
- Virginia Grand Prix – Sat., April 15 | 11 a.m. Field Events | 1:15 p.m. Running Events
- Virginia Challenge – Thu./Fri./Sat., April 20-22 | Thu. 12 p.m. (Dec., Hep., Hammer)
- Virginia High Performance – Sun., April 30 | Late Afternoon Start
All-American Cavaliers
Virginia traveled to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico (March 9-11) where three individuals earned All-American Status.
Owayne Owens returned to the site of the 2020 NCAA Championships where he was sent home before being able to compete in his first NCAA Championship due to the cancellation of the meet. This time, the seasoned veteran jumper soared to a personal-best performance in the triple jump (16.69m/54’9.25”) to place third in the NCAA – his highest finish at an NCAA Championship. Owens was named the Southeast Regional Field Performer of the Year.
Margot Appleton and Conor Murphy capped what was an impressive season for the Cavalier middle-distance runners. Appleton entered the NCAA Championships as the 16th and final seed in the women’s mile. With an incredible kick on the final lap of her qualifying race, Appleton went from seventh into fourth place to secure automatic qualification. She would go on to put forward another heroic effort to place fourth in the finals and claim her first individual All-American honor. On the men’s side, Murphy placed sixth in the mile claiming his first All-American honors as well.
Seven School Records Fall in 2023
The Virginia men and women routinely rewrote history throughout the season as the Cavaliers took down a total of seven school records throughout the season. Esther Seeland made a habit of breaking the Virginia indoor 800-meter record as she set the mark three times over the course of the season.
The Cavalier freshman came for the record books in 2023 as well. Five freshman records were broken over the course of the season by six Virginia first-years.
Virginia Indoor Records Broken (7):
- Women’s 800 meters – Esther Seeland, 2:03.43 (x3)
- Women’s 3000m – Margot Appleton, 9:04.17 (x2)
- Women’s Pent. – Alix Still, 4,177 points (Scottish National Record)
- Women’s DMR – Seeland, Alexandru, Seasholtz, Appleton, 10:55.94
- Men’s Mile – Conor Murphy, 3:55.24
- Men’s 5000m – Derek Johnson, 13:39.88
- Men’s DMR – Martin, Sherman, Murphy, Porter, 9:23.71
Virginia Freshman Indoor Records Broken (5):
- Women’s Triple Jump – Jordan Hardy, 12.86m (42’2.25”)
- Women’s Pole Vault – Sam Romano, 4.20m (13’9.25”)
- Men’s Mile – Gary Martin, 3:56.83
- James Donahue, 4:01.97
- Men’s Pole Vault – Justin Rogers, 5.18 (17’0”)
- Men’s Weight Throw – John Fay 20.72m (67’11.75”)
Success in the Mile
The Virginia men and women engineered an exceptional season in the mile. Their success was on full display on the weekend of February 10-11 in Boston, Mass.
At Boston University’s David Hemery Valentine Invitational, five different Cavalier men broke the renowned four-minute barrier. Conor Murphy led the way setting the school record at 3:55.24 – his first time running under four. He was followed by Wes Porter and Gary Martin who each ran 3:56.83, Martin set the Virginia freshman record with the performance. James Donahue and Nate Mountain ran 3:57.44 and 3:59.01 respectively.
Just one day prior, Margot Appleton ran a personal best in the mile clocking 4:33.82. The Massachusetts native came just .28 seconds from the Virginia record running the time that would eventually qualify her for the NCAA Championships.
At the ACC Championships, the milers once again made a statement. The Cavalier men put on a clinic in the prelims as Wes Porter, Nate Mountain, Gary Martin, James Donahue and Jack Eliason all punched their ticket to the finals. The total of five runners made up half of the field of 10 in the finals. Virginia took 13 points from the men’s mile as Porter took third, Donahue took fourth and Jack Eliason placed seventh.
Hear from our men’s milers after ALL FIVE went under four minutes last weekend 🎙️
Watch full race replays on @FloTrack: https://t.co/kqp7qgZTIu#GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/qadey6GHdS
— Virginia Track & Field and Cross Country (@UVATFCC) February 16, 2023
The Lemke Era Begins
In Steve Lemke’s first season at Virginia as the assistant coach for throws, he oversaw an impressive season from Jacob Lemmon and John Fay in the weight throw. Lemmon improved his season-best in each meet at each meet of the season including the ACC Indoor Championships where his mark of 22.18m (72’9.25”) was good for a second-place finish.
An impressive season from Fay included three personal-best throws at the ACC Championships to place seventh and score for Virginia. Lemmon and Fay climbed to second and fourth respectively on the Virginia all-time list in the weight throw.
Virginia and XC23 at Panorama Farms
Virginia’s home course cross country course at Panorama Farms will play host to a highly-anticipated slate of meets throughout the fall of 2023 culminating with the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Virginia will host the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships on Saturday, November 18 at Panorama Farms. The 2023 championships will mark just the second time Virginia has hosted the event, and the first time since the 1987 championships.
The Cavaliers will host the Virginia Invitational on Saturday, September 23, 2023. An exciting slate of competition will include many of the teams that qualified for the 2022 NCAA Cross Country Championships.
Panorama Farms will also host XC23 on Saturday, October 14, 2023. XC23 will serve as a pre-national meet where NCAA Division I teams from across the country will be provided the opportunity to preview the course for the 2023 NCAA Championships.
