Lananna Named ACC Men's Coach of the Year

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Atlantic Coast Conference office announced the yearly awards Thursday (June 20), naming Virginia Head Cross Country and Track and Field Coach Vin Lananna the Outdoor ACC Men’s Coach of the Year. 

After earning his first outdoor USTFCCCA Southeast Region Men’s Coach of the Year honor, Virginia Head Coach Vin Lananna picked up another accolade being named the Outdoor ACC Men’s Coach of the Year. This is first Coach of the Year honor for the Cavaliers since Bryan Fetzer earned the award in 2019.

Lananna, in his fifth year as Director of Track and Field and Cross Country/Associate Athletics Director at Virginia, led the Cavalier men to the first ACC Championship men’s team title outright in program history scoring a total 107 points. The team as a back-to-back champion with Nate Mountain. Mountain led the Cavaliers to go 1-2 in the event for the second consecutive year at the conference championships. The distance men accounted for 69 of the team’s 107 total points while the team accumulated a total of 10 medals.

Gary Martin and Wes Porter earned silver and bronze in the 1500 meters while Shane Cohen secured the bronze in the 800 meters. Will Anthony turned in a pair of stellar performances earning silver in the 10,000m before bringing home the bronze in the 5000m. Alex Sherman upgraded his bronze medal in 2023 to silver in 2024 in the 400m hurdles. In thr throws, Jacob Lemmon and John Fay earned their spot on the podium with Lemmon earning silver in discus and Fay with the bronze in hammer. The Cavalier men totaled 11 All-ACC honorees in nine separate events.

At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, the Virginia men qualified eight athletes in six events in route to an eighth-place finish in the team standings with a total 26 points. Lananna led the team to post the third-highest finish at the Outdoor NCAA meet in program history, in which Virginia finished higher than any other ACC team at the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year. Lananna adds another NCAA Champion to his resume, as Shane Cohen demolished the field with 120 meters remaining to win the 800-meter NCAA title.The Cavalier men totaled five First-Team All-American honors and three Honorable Mentions. First Team All-American’s include Shane Cohen, Jacob Lemmon, Nate Mountain, Wes Porter and Yasin Sado. Honorable Mention includes Will Anthony, Gary Martin and John Fay.