Virginia Cavaliers Official Athletic Site
Open Search
Track & Field
. Track & Field

Dabbs Makes History at ACC Championships

UVA Stats/Records
UVA Twitter
UVA Instagram
UVA Facebook
UVA Sports App

RALEIGH, N.C. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams completed the first day of action at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday (May 11) as Ethan Dabbs highlighted the day with a historic accomplishment in the javelin at the Paul Derr Track.

History in the Javelin

  • Ethan Dabbs entered a class of his own as he became the first-ever competitor to win four ACC men’s javelin titles. His first throw of the competition was enough to seal the title as he marked 73.09 meters (239’9”).
  • The first to win four titles in the javelin, Dabbs becomes just the 12th competitor to win four ACC titles in any men’s event. Among both men and women, Dabbs is only the 20th to accumulate four titles.
  • Freshman Tyler Zawatski threw a personal-best of his own reaching a mark of 64.70 meters (212’3”).
  • Zawatski’s performance was good for a seventh-place finish to add a pair of points to the Virginia total. The Cavalier men took 12 points from the Javelin

Women’s Pole Vaulters Shine

  • Virginia freshman Sam Romano soared to a mark of 4.28 meters (14’0.5”) to break her own UVA freshman record in the event and place third. The performance banked six points for the Cavalier women and earn her first-team All-ACC honors.
  • Romano now owns the UVA freshman record in the indoor and outdoor pole vault while ranking second on both all-time lists.
  • Hanne Borstlap turned in an impressive performance for the Cavaliers as well clearing a personal-best mark of 4.18 meters (13’8.5”).
  • Borstlap tied for fifth place to earn second-team All-ACC honors and help the Cavalier women take 9.5 points from the event

Dominance in the 1500
Five of Virginia’s six 1500 runners between the men’s and women’s teams advanced to the finals of the 1500 meters on Saturday.

  • Esther Seeland and Anna Workman led things off in the first heat as the Cavalier pairing went 2-3 to grab the final two qualifying places. Margot Appleton followed in the final heat on the women’s side with a second-place finish to clinch her place.
  • On the men’s side, Gary Martin raced to an impressive finish to win his heat securing automatic qualification to the finals
  • Conor Murphy impressed once again in the final heat on the men’s side. After losing his right shoe halfway through the race, the junior powered through the final two laps to place third. Though he missed automatic qualification, Murphy’s time of 3:41.41 secured his place in Saturday’s finals

Combined Events Update:

  • Alix Still ended the first day of competition in the women’s heptathlon in fourth place with a total of 3331 points. She opened the day with a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles posting a time of 13.90 before equaling a personal best in the high jump clearing 1.66 meters. In the shot put she threw 11.75 meters and ran 25.00 in the 200 meters
  • Ethan Robinson ended his day in third place in the Decathlon. Robinson started by posting a time of 11.03 in the 100 meters and marked a personal-best in the long jump clearing 6.67 meters. Robinson ended the day clearing a personal best of 1.95 meters (6’4.75”) and running 49.78 in the 400 meters.

More Highlights:

  • John Fay scored five points for the Cavaliers in the men’s hammer throw marking a personal-best of 63.72 meters (209’1).
  • Justin Rogers tied for seventh in the men’s pole vault clearing a height of 4.88 meters (16’0”) to earn 1.5 points for the UVA men
  • Emily Alexandru punched her ticket to the finals of the women’s 400 hurdles. Alexandru raced to a second-place finish in her heat but qualified on time posting 58.92.
  • On the men’s side of the 400 hurdles, Alex Sherman got through to the finals posting the fifth-fastest qualifying time of 51.40. The finals of both the men’s and women’s 400 hurdles are set for Saturday (May 13).

The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash
The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been a part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014. It is an all-sports, points-based program with the Commonwealth Clash trophy presented to the winning school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions. In men’s and women’s track and field, the points are awarded to the team that finishes highest at the ACC Championships. The Virginia men’s golf team clinched the competition at the ACC Championships giving Virginia an 11-8 advantage.

Up Next:

The ACC Outdoor Championships will resume tomorrow (May 12) beginning with the women’s javelin at 11 a.m.

Related Stories