Martin, Women’s DMR Highlight Thrilling Finish to Penn State National Open

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field program closed out competition with a bang at the Penn State National Open on Saturday (Jan. 27). The distance runners put on a spectacular performance as Gary Martin, in his home state of Pennsylvania, set a UVA record in the 3000 meters while the women’s distance medley relay squad set a Virginia record of their own at the Horace Ashnfelter III Track.

Historic Performance from Women’s DMR

• Margot Appleton, Alahna Sabbakhan, Caroline Timm, and Anna Workman all put in impressive efforts to take out the DMR school record set last season at the 2023 ACC Championships.
• The Cavalier women clocked a time of 10:55.45 with Anna Workman crossing the finish line splitting 4:31.73 in the 1600 leg just one day after going 4:31.91 in the women’s mile.
• The Virginia men recorded a victory of their own in the DMR with a time of 9:36.69.
• The Cavalier squad was made up of James Donahue on the 1200 meters, Gage Gose in the 400 meters, Shane Cohen on the 800 leg, and Yasin Sado bringing it home with a 4:01.77 split in the 1600-meter anchor leg.

Rewriting the Record-Books in the 3000 Meters

• Gary Martin set a school record of 7:47.49, taking 4 seconds off Ari Klau’s 3000 meters record set in 2020. Will Anthony wasn’t far behind, running 7:53.77 to move to No. 3 on the UVA all-time list.
• Nate Mountain placed fifth in the first heat with his time of 7:59.44 while Jacob Hunter claimed a third-place finish running in heat two clocking 8:01.74.
• Running steady from the gun, Jenny Schilling posted a time of 9:16.17 in the women’s 3000 meters cruising to a runner-up finish. The performance puts her second on the all-time list, trailing only Margot Appleton.
• In the same race, Gillian Bushee ran 9:35.58—the third-fastest freshman 3000-meter time in UVA history.

Seasholtz Betters Her Own 600 Record

• Placing second in her heat, Keara Seasholtz broke her own school record in the 600 meters with a time of 1:31.16.
• Myles Plummer placed eighth in the men’s 600 meters, running 1:20.73.

Freshman Records Fall

• Alex Leath took 4 seconds off the 1000-meter freshman record with a time of 2:23.36, to win the event and take down a record that has held for 27 years.
• Continuing the success, Cayden Dyer ran 2:24.33 in the event, to put him second on the freshman all-time list in the men’s 1000 meters.
• Running 2:56.09, Cate DeSousa claimed the fifth-fastest freshman 1000-meter time in UVA women’s indoor history.

Akpan Wins 200 Meters

• Sophomore Sarah Akpan took home the win in the women’s 200 meters, clocking a time of 24.18. The result places her tenth on the women’s all-time indoor performance list.
• In the men’s race, Jay Pendarvis ran 22.01 and placed eighth.

White Cracks the Top-10

• Evans White IV powered to a runner-up finish in his heat of the men’s 200 meters clocking a personal-best 21.89 seconds. The performance tied him for 10^th on the UVA all-time indoor list with Brandon Outlaw (’20).
• Continuing the trend, Alex Sherman ran 47.58 in the men’s seeded 400 meters, giving him the number eight all-time spot. Jayden Lyons raced in the same event, placing tenth.
• In the unseeded men’s 400 meters, White IV finished as the runner-up in heat two of the race, running a time of 48.39.
• On the women’s side of the 400 meters, Brooke’Lyn Drakeford raced to a win in her heat posting a time of 57.41 seconds. Emily Alexandru placed fourth in her heat running 57.78.

Profit Leads the Field Events

• Janae Profit and Brooke Lumpkin represented the Cavaliers in the shot-put. Profit took third in the competition marking 15.32 meters (50’ 3.25”) while Lumpkin placed fourth with a mark of 15.19 meters (49’ 10”).
• Carly Tarentino placed eighth in the unseeded high jump clearing 1.70 meters (5’ 7”)
• UVA had three competitors in the women’s pole vault. Sam Romano placed the highest of the three, taking fourth with a height of 4.18 meters (13’ 8.5”). Caroline Dannenbaum and Gabriella Recce both cleared 3.78 meters (12’ 4.75”).

From Director of Track & Field Vin Lananna:
“Since I arrived in Virginia, it has been my goal to build a complete championship track and field team. This weekend’s performance by our men and women really demonstrated that our staff has placed our student-athletes in a position to achieve that goal.”

Up Next
The Cavaliers will be back in action next week when the team travels to Blacksburg, Va. to compete at the Doc Hale Virginia Tech Elite meet on Friday (Feb. 2) and Saturday (Feb. 3).