Virginia to Represent at US Olympic Trials

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.– Virginia has 15 current or former student-athletes who will be competing at the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials starting Friday, June 21 and running through Sunday, June 30 at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.

The eight current Cavaliers set to compete include Margot Appleton (1500m), Shane Cohen (800m), Jacob Lemmon (Discus), Gary Martin (1500m), Nate Mountain (3000m Steeplechase), Yasin Sado (3000m Steeplechase), Alex Sherman (400m hurdles) and Wes Porter (1500m). The seven alumni include Ethan Dabbs (Javelin), AJ Ernst (1500m), Derek Johnson (3000m Steeplechase), Kelly McKee (Triple Jump), Michaela Meyer (800m), Henry Wynne (15000m), and Bridget Williams (Pole Vault). The contingent of current Cavaliers with the exception of Sherman, will make their return to Hayward Field as they recently competed at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in TrackTown USA. Competition for Virginia is set to being Friday, June 21 with the men’s javelin qualifying rounds.

How To Follow
Coverage of the US Olympic Trials will be streamed live each day between NBC, Peacock and USA. Check out the streaming schedule at usatf.org. Links to the live stream, live stats and the overall meet schedule are available at VirginiaSports.com. Updates will also be posted to the team’s official Twitter account (@UVAtfcc).

The Run Down…

• Cohen comes off a thrilling performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships where he won the fourth 800m National Title in program history clocking new personal-best 1:44.97.
• The steeplechase duo in Mountain and Sado will look to make their third podium of the post season. Mountain earned back-to-back gold medals at the ACC Outdoor Championships before finishing runner-up at NCAAs. Sado finished runner-up to his teammate at ACCs before turning in a seventh-place finish at the NCAA meet.
• Mountain led the NCAA all season long with his personal-best of 8:20.68 earlier this season and to achieve the olympic trials standard. Not far behind is Sado with his personal-best of 8:27.13 which set the NCAA East preliminary record.
• Martin and Porter will make appearances in the 1500m as the two come off of earning silver and bronze at the conference championships. In his NCAA Outdoor Championships debut, Porter earned the first All-American honors of his career with a sixth-place finish. In route to the trials, Porter set the school record previously held by Martin clocking 3:35.63 for 1500m. Martin comes in with a personal-best of 3:35.77.
• The ACC silver medalist, Lemmon will enter the ring in Eugene after finishing sixth in the discus at the NCAA meet just one week ago. Lemmon enters the competition with his personal-best of 60.50/198-6.
• Appleton will look to continue her dominant season as she is set to compete the 5000m at the trials. Appleton recently finished fourth in the event at the NCAA Championships after winning back-to-back gold medals in the 1500m at the ACC Championships as well as earning the bronze in the 5000m. The junior comes in with a personal best and school record time of 15:18.21 for 5000m set earlier this season.
• Barely missing the mark to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the ACC silver medalist in Sherman will look to make waves in the 400m hurdles in Eugene. Sherman owns a personal-best of 50.34.
• Johnson qualified for his second consecutive US Olympic Trials after qualifying for the 3000m steeplechase in 2021 where he finished 15th overall in the first round.
• Virginia’s first outdoor NCAA Champion in the 80om in 2021, Meyer will be in the competition in the women’s 800m in Eugene.
• Williams, formerly Guy, qualified for her second consecutive Olympic Trials and will look to redeem herself after a ninth-place finish in the pole vault in 2021.
• A two-time All-American for the Cavaliers, McKee qualified for her first US Olympic Trials in the triple jump.
• The 2016 NCAA Indoor Mile Champion and two-time ACC Performer of the Year for the Cavaliers, Wynne will take the track in the 1500m along with fellow alum in All-ACC and All-Southeast Region AJ Ernst.
• Virginia increases participation at US Olympic Trials from six current or former athletes in 2021 to 13 current of former Cavaliers in 2024.

Complete List of Virginia Qualifiers, Past and Present…