Cavaliers Cap off Thrilling Weekend in Raleigh

RALEIGH, N.C. –The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field programs closed out an exhilarating weekend at the 2024 Raleigh Relays on Saturday (March 30) at the Paul Derr Track & Field facility. The Cavaliers recorded 23 personal-bests, four school records, one meet record and one facility record over the course of the three-day competition.

A Force in the Field

• In his outdoor season opener, John Fay threw a new personal-best mark of 68.41m/224-5 to finish third in the men’s hammer throw.
• On his third throw of the competition, Fay launched one out 68.41m/224-5 to rank third in program history, just behind Hilmar Jonsson ’19 (75.26m) and Jordan Young ’15 (70.73m).
• The dynamic duo of Samantha Romano and Hanne Borstlap recorded season-best marks in the women’s pole vault invitational section. After clearing 4.15m/13-7.25 with ease, Romano passed on the next height before clearing 4.25m/13-11.25 to tie for first place. Borstlap cleared the first three heights on her first attempt to tie for fourth place clearing 3.95m/12-11.50.

Cavaliers Finish in the Top-5

• Sarah Akpan raced to a fourth-place finish in the women’s 200m dash crossing the line in 23.66.
• In the women’s long jump, Jordan Hardy recorded a season-best 6.03m/19-9.50 on her third attempt to finish third overall. Hardy nearly eclipsed her outdoor personal-best of 6.04m/19’ 9.75”.
• Alex Sherman gutted it out in the men’s 400m hurdles crossing the line in 51.42 to finish fourth in the competition. Sherman betters his finish at the Raleigh Relays as the junior clocked 51.89 at last year’s event.
• Both the men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams recorded season-best performances with the women finishing second in 3:38.33 while the men clocked 3:10.37 for fourth place.

Hoos Poised in Competition

• Keara Seasholtz (2:05.75), Maggie Hock (2:06.82) and Alahna Sabbahkan (2:08.80) had a solid outing in the women’s 800m. Seasholtz won her heat to finish 13^th overall, followed by her teammate Hock who was fourth in heat 15 and 17^th overall.
• The men’s 4x100m relay team did not waste any time getting the baton around the track. The quartet combined for a season-best 41.03.
• Emily Alexandru and Sophia Akpan ran a clean race in the women’s 400m hurdles finishing sixth and eighth respectively. Alexandru cleared all of the hurdles in 1:01.47 just ahead of Akpan in 1:01.93.

Thursday/Friday Highlights:

• Will Anthony made a statement in the men’s 10,000m picking up his first collegiate win in a school record time of 28:21.93. Anthony crushed the previous program record of 28:44.22 held by Zach Herriot from 2017 by nearly 20 seconds as well as crushing the freshman record that previously stood at 29:14.50 by Adam Visokay in 2014.
• Gary Martin shattered the school record kicking in the final 100 meters to cross the line in 13:31.51 for second place in the men’s 5000m. The previous record was held by teammate Wes Porter at 13:36.84 from 2022.
• Nate Mountain also ran under the previous 5000m school record clocking a new personal-best time of 13:32.65 to finish third among the competition.
• James Donahue led the charge for the Cavaliers in the 1500m crossing the line in 3:40.27 to become the eighth fastest Cavalier in program history. His time also ranks as the second fastest freshman in Virginia history, second to his teammate Gary Martin’s 3:39.53 from 2023.
• Margot Appleton won the women’s 5000m finishing seven seconds ahead of the field crossing the line in 15:18.21 to break her own school record in the event which previously stood at 15:36.28. Appleton also shattered the previous meet record and facility record of 15:33.35 set in 2021 by Katie Wasserman of Notre Dame.
• In her first 10,000m race of the season, Jenny Schilling took down the 36-year-old school record crossing the line in 32.44.19. The previous record was held by Patty Matava at 32:58.64 from 1987. Schilling stuck with the leaders for the duration of the race and ultimately finished fifth overall (fourth collegiate) in the invitational section.
• Esther Seeland (4:12.64) and Anna Workman (4:12.73) led the way for the Cavaliers in the women’s 1500m finishing in fifth and sixth place. Workman recorded a new personal-best eclipsing her previous best of 4:14.65 by two seconds and become the fifth fastest Cavalier in the event in program history.
• Jacob Lemmon won the men’s discus competition throwing for 55.33m/181-6. After fouling his third attempt, Lemmon threw the mark that would ultimately win the competition on his fourth throw.

From Director of Track & Field Vin Lananna
“This was a thrilling weekend highlighted by Margot Appleton (5000m), Jenny Schilling (10,000m), Gary Martin (5000m) and Will Anthony (10,000m) all breaking school records with Appleton also getting the meet and facility record. We saw impressive runs in the 1500m by James Donahue, Alex Leath, Esther Seeland and Anna Workman. Sarah Akpan had a successful weekend in the short sprints. I am proud of the way both men’s and women’s 4x400m relay teams battled to the finish. The team competed well over the course of the weekend achieving multiple Virginia top-10 performances and personal-bests. I am excited to see the team continue to improve over the coming weeks and into the conference championships.”

Up Next
The Cavaliers are back in action as the team travels to High Point, N.C. for the Vertklasse Meeting on the campus of High Point University Friday (April 5) through Saturday (April 6).