Cavalier Men’s 4xMile Squad Impresses at Penn Relays
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams wrapped up their competition at the prestigious Penn Relays on Saturday (April 29), with the men’s 4xMile team turning in an impressive performance that set a school record and posted a top-10 time amongst collegiate programs all-time.
In the men’s 4xMile, Wes Porter led things off for the Cavaliers with little separating the teams at the front of the pack by the end of the first leg. Gary Martin then took the baton for a blazing fast second leg, nudging the Cavaliers in front by running the fastest split of the day at 3:58.38 before passing the baton to Nate Mountain. Mountain did well to set up Conor Murphy in second place ahead of the anchor leg.
Murphy settled in amongst the pack, as the field slowed with each runner waiting to time their move. At the finish, Murphy crossed fourth to help the Cavaliers post a Virginia record in the 4xMile Relay, with the team combining to run a time of 16:14.48. The performance bested a time posted last season at Penn Relays by Ka’eo Kruse, Nate Mountain, Yasin Sado, and Wes Porter (16:17.89). In addition to setting the Virginia record, the Cavalier time ranks ninth on the all-time collegiate performance list, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association.
The Cavalier women’s 4×100 meter relay team took to the track for the finals after qualifying automatically by winning their heat a day earlier (April 28). A team of Kayla Bonnick, Jada Seaman, Jada Pierre, and Sarah Akpan raced to a fourth-place finish in the finals, as the team posted a time of 44.46 seconds.
The Cavaliers also competed in the women’s 4×1500 and the men’s 4×800. The women’s 1500 team of Keara Seasholtz, Esther Seeland, Anna Workman, and Margot Appleton clocked a time of 17:34.32, finishing eighth overall. The men’s 800 squad of Liam Bellamy, Kenton Bachmann, Nate Mountain and Myles Plummer combined to run 7:23.08, in another eighth-place finish.
The performances wrapped up a strong showing from the Virginia program at the Penn Relays, after the Cavalier men’s and women’s DMR squads each took third place on Friday (April 28), while Sophie Atkinson posted a strong performance with a personal best of 16:12.68 in the 5000 meters on Thursday (April 27).
Up Next:
The Cavaliers will return to Lannigan Field on Sunday (April 30) for the program’s regular-season finale, as the teams host the Virginia High Performance. The meet will begin at 12 p.m. with the women’s hammer throw and will include a ceremony dedicated to honoring the program’s graduating seniors at 6 p.m.