Cavaliers Impress on Day 2 of Virginia Grand Prix, Martin Sets School Record at Bryan Clay Invitational

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field programs capped off a strong weekend of competition at the Virginia Grand Prix at Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, Va. and Bryan Clay Invitational at Cougar Stadium in Azusa Calif. on Saturday (April 13) as Gary Martin set the 1500m school record and David Frasier, Celia Rifaterra, Brooke Lumpkin, Carly Tarentino, Wes Porter and Janae Profit earn spots on Virginia’s all-time list.

Bryan Clay Invitational
Cavaliers Go the Distance, Martin Sets School Record

• Gary Martin ran a blistering 3:37.66 for 1500m to break the school record previously held by Henry Wynne in 2016 at 3:38.05.
• Racing to a new personal-best, Martin finished third in his heat and eighth overall in a competitive field.
• The sophomore now has two outdoor school records to his name including the 5000m record (13:31.51) set two weeks ago at the 2024 Raleigh Relays.
• Wes Porter also had an impressive showing on the west coast. Porter ran a new personal-best 3:39.54 to round out the top-15 finishers in the invitational section. Porter’s time ranks third all-time in Virginia history.

Virginia Grand Prix
David Frasier Wins Decathlon

• David Frasier won the men’s decathlon with 7055 points to become the eighth best decathlete all-time in Virginia history.
• Ethan Robinson and David Frasier went 1-2 in the 110m hurdles to start the second day in the decathlon. Robinson crossed the line in 14.20 (+1.3) followed by Frasier in 14.49 (+1.3).
• The dynamic duo took the top two spots in the discus throw as Frasier threw for 40.19m/131-10 on his final throw of the competition to jump in front of his teammate Robinson’s mark of 39.10m/128-3.
• Frasier continued his dominant day finishing second in the pole vault clearing 4.05m/13-3.50.
• Pulled along by his teammate Robinson, Frasier finished the day with a third-place finish in the 1500m crossing the line in 4:56.28.

Setting a High Bar

• Celia Rifaterra, Carly Tarentino and Grace Flynn all recorded a new personal-best marks in the women’s high jump competition.
• Rifaterra won the competition clearing 1.79m/5-10.50 on her second attempt at the height. Her mark ties Rachel Marks from 2006 at 1.79m for sixth all-time in Virginia history.
• After clearing the first two heights with ease, Tarentino cleared 1.76m/5-9.25 on her third attempt to finish third overall and move up to seventh all-time in program history.
• Grace Flynn cleared 1.66m/5-5.25 on her first attempt to take fourth place overall in only her second competition of the outdoor season.

Virginia Dominates the Field Events

• On her second to last attempt, Janae Profit threw a season-best 50.34m/165-2 in the women’s discus to best the competition by nearly a meter.
• In the shot put, Profit threw a big personal-best 16.11m/52-10.25 to win the competition and move up to sixth on Virgina’s all-time top-10 list. Her previous outdoor best stood at 15.75m/51-8.25 from this meet last season.
• On her final throw of the day, Brooke Lumpkin launched one out 15.38m/50-5.50 for a new personal-best in the women’s shot put. Lumpkin’s mark was good for second place overall and number nine all-time in Virginia history.
• On her final attempt of the competition and after fouling all but her first jump, Jordan Hardy jumped into first place with her mark of 5.99m/19-8 (+0.3) in the women’s long jump.
• Mahkaia Lee (5.71m/18-8.75) and Gabriella Recce (5.62m/18-5.25) finished third and fourth in the women’s long jump. Recce’s mark was good for a season best on her third attempt.
• Heldi Valikaj won the men’s long jump leaping out to a season-best 7.44m/24-5 (+2.2) on his third and fourth attempt in the competition.

Strong Outing in the Sprints

• Emily Alexandru won the women’s 400m hurdles in a season-best 59.71. Not far behind was Brooke’Lyn Drakeford in third clocking a personal-best 1:02.13 .
• Freshman Elizabeth Imoh recorded a new personal-best 1:03.70 in the women’s 400m hurdles to finish sixth overall.
• In the men’s 400m hurdles, Gage Gose battled to the finish for a new personal-best of 53.12 to finish second among the competition.
• The 400m dash saw top marks from both men’s and women’s Cavaliers. Alex Sherman and Evans White IV went 1-2 in the men’s 400m crossing the line in 47.67 and 48.03 respectively.
• In the women’s 400m dash, Ariel Fletcher (55.24) and Angel Parenchuk (55.71) finished second and third overall though top among collegiate athletes.
• The quartet of Angel Parenchuk, Emily Alexandru, Alahna Sabbahkan and Tori Daniels combined to win the women’s 4x400m relay in a time of 3:46.28 while the men’s 4x400m relay finished runner-up in a time of 3:13.91.

Day 2 in the Heptathlon

• On the second day of competition in the heptathlon, Elsa Spoor jumped 4.60m/15-1.25 in the long jump and threw for 23.25m/76-3.50 in the javelin.
• In the final event of the day, Spoor took the top spot in the 800m crossing the line in 2:17.28. Her performance was good for 861 points.
• The freshman racked up a total of 4323 points over the course of the two day competition to finish third overall.

Up Next
The Cavaliers are back in action at Lannigan Field next Friday (April 19) and Saturday (April 20). At the conclusion of the meet on Saturday (April 20), Virginia will honor its senior class.