Cavaliers Impress at Virginia Grand Prix
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the second of four home meets at Lannigan Field on Saturday (April 15) as the Virginia program saw impressive performances across the board at the Virginia Grand Prix.
The Cavalier men and women posted impressive performances on both sides of the 800 meters. Esther Seeland led the way for the women as she made her UVA outdoor debut in the event. Seeland raced to a victory while posting the fourth-fastest time in Virginia history running 2:04.89.
The men’s side featured fast times as well. Gary Martin and Conor Murphy went 1-2 for UVA as Martin ran the eighth-fastest time in Virginia history, and third-fastest among freshmen, in his outdoor 800-meter debut taking the victory at 1:47.74. Conor Murphy ran an outdoor-best in a second-place finish clocking 1:48.12.
The Virginia women impressed in the hammer throw competition. Bree Lumpkin turned in a break-out performance throwing a personal-best mark of 58.54 meters (192’1). The mark is nearly 10 meters farther than Lumpkin’s previous best and places her at No. 4 on the Virginia all-time list. Lumpkin finished as the top collegian in the event behind only Jill Shippee who set a Lannigan Field record throwing 73.01 meters (239’6”).
Also in the women’s hammer throw, Jada Marsh placed fourth posting a mark of 54.57 meters (179’0”). Morgan Johnson recorded a personal best of 51.99 meters (170’7”). On the men’s side of the event, John Fay placed second recording a mark of 61.62 meters (202’2”). Ashley Anumba recorded a victory in the women’s discus posting a mark of 58.00 meters (190’3”).
In the men’s 4×100 meter relay, the Cavaliers took the victory posting a season-best time of 40.57 seconds. The performance is good for the fourth-fastest on the UVA all-time list.
In the 400 hurdles, Emily Alexandru picked up a win in the women’s competition as she posted a time of 48.79 seconds. On the men’s side, Alex Sherman placed second running 52.22.
Alix Still took second place in the women’s 100-meter hurdles running 13.69 seconds, a time that ranks fifth on the Virginia all-time performance list. Jada Pierre also cracked the Virginia all-time list in the event posting a personal-best of 13.73 which ranks seventh all-time at UVA.
Nate Mountain kickstarted his 2023 campaign in the 3000m steeplechase with a personal-best performance. The sophomore won the event clocking 8:44.99 to post the fourth-fastest time in UVA history. Derek Johnson finished second running 3:38.54.
Owayne Owens posted a personal-best mark in the long jump. The ACC Men’s Indoor Scholar Athlete of the Year cleared a distance of 7.59 meters (24’11”). That mark ranks fourth all-time on the Virginia outdoor list. Heldi Valikaj placed third in the event jumping 7.19 meters (23’7.25”).
On the women’s side of the event, Virginia went 1-2-3 as Jada Seaman, Alix Still and Jordan Hardy led the pack. Seaman jumped a season-best 6.26 meters (20’6.5”) while Still (6.17/20’3”) and Jordan Hardy (6.04m/19’9.75”) each posted personal bests.
Janae Profit and Ashley Anumba went 1-2 in the women’s shot put as each posted personal bests of 15.75 meters (51’8.25”) and 15.73 meters (51’7.25”) respectively. Profit and Anumba rank sixth and seventh on the Virginia all-time list.
In the men’s 1500 meters Wes Porter placed second finishing as the top collegian in the race with a season-best time of 3:41.51. Jack Eliason (3:42.07) and Jacob Hunter (3:44.48) each posted personal-bests finishing third and fifth respectively. On the women’s side of the 1500 meters, Anna Workman won the event with a season-best time of 4:21.65 while Ellie Desmond Sophie Atkinson and Amelia Maughan went 4-5-6.
Carly Tarentino won the women’s high jump with a personal-best mark of 1.74 meters (5’8.5”) which ranks 10th all-time at UVA.
Hanne Borstlap capped the day with an impressive showing in the women’s pole vault. The graduate transfer cleared a height of 4.11 meters (13’5.75”) to win the event and set a personal-best mark that ranks second all-time at Virginia. Trina Barcarola finished second clearing 4.01 meters (13’1.75”).
From Director of Track & Field Vin Lananna:
“This was a great meet for our team. The conditions were great and the competition was excellent. Our student-athletes rose to the occasion today and competed very well across all event areas. We are looking forward to another great weekend of competition at the Virginia Challenge next week.”
Up Next:
The Cavaliers will be back at Lannigan Field next week to host the Virginia Challenge from Thursday (April 20) through Saturday (April 22).
The meet will be live streamed on ACC Network Extra from 7-9 p.m. on Friday (April 21).