CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field program continued competition at the 2026 Virginia Challenge at Lannigan Field in Charlottesville, Va. on Friday (April 17) as Nathan Mountain broke the school record, meet record and facility record in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase to lead the list of six Cavaliers achieving program top 10 marks.
Cavalier Top 10s...
- Nathan Mountain broke the school record, meet record and facility record in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase clocking a new personal best of 8:11.92. Mountain set the meet and facility record at his meet a year ago with his time of 8:17.94. His time ranks No.2 in the NCAA this season.
- Tatum David ran a huge personal best in the women's 1500-meters invite to finish runner-up and clock the No.3 all-time mark in program history at 4:06.51.
- Also, in the women's 1500-meter invite, Tatum Olesen clocked a new personal best of 4:14.57 to finish seventh and become No. 10 all-time.
- Sam Rodman ran his way to a season best in the men's 800-meters clocking 1:46.29 to finish in fifth place and rank No. 5 all-time in program history.
- In the men's 1500-meters, Will Daly crossed the line in a new personal best of 3:40.02 to finish sixth and become No. 7 all-time.
- Gillian Bushee ran a new personal best of 15:56.07 in the women's 5000-meter invite to finish fourth and move up to No. 4 all-time in program history.
Hoos in the Field...
- School record holder, Charlotta Sandkulla finished third in the women's hammer throw invite with her fourth-round throw of 66.81m/219-2.
- In the women's hammer, Aixa Corbacho and Bree Lumpkin recorded top five finishes as Corbacho took second with her mark of 60.82m/199-6. Lumpkin finished fifth with her mark of 58.18m/190-10.
- Cale Ayers rounded out the top five finishers in the men's hammer throw with his third-round attempt of 63.84m/209-5.
- Celia Rifaterra won the women's high jump invite clearing a season best 1.78m/5-10. She cleared the first five bars on the first attempt at the height.
- Elsa Spoor equaled her season best of 1.72m/5-7.75 to finish fifth in the women's high jump invite.
- In the women's pole vault invite, Madison Townsend equaled her personal best of 3.93m/12-10.75 to finish 10th overall.
- Liam Paneque leapt out to 7.14m/23-5.25 on his third trip down the runway to finish 14th overall.
Cavaliers take to the Track...
- Gary Martin won the men's 5000-meter invite clocking 13:25.42 and led fellow Cavaliers Justin Wachtel (13:47.02, SB) and Will Anthony (13:52.02) to strong performances.
- Just behind his teammate Nate Mountain, Brett Gardner finished runner-up in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase invite clocking 8:31.14.
- In the women's 3000-meter steeplechase invite, Katie Payne finished in fifth place with her time of 10:37.03.
- Richard Moreno won the men's 10,000-meters clocking 29:39.59 and was the only competitor under the 30 minutes mark.
- Pulled along by his teammate Will Daly in fifth place, Billy Atkinson achieved a new personal best of 3:40.96 in sixth place in the men's 1500-meter invite.
- Cate DeSousa (4:14.62) and Ella Woehlcke (4:21.97) ran new personal bests in the women's 1500-meter invite as four total Cavaliers clocked new bests.
- Kaela Swift clocked a personal best of 11.74 (+1.8) to secure a qualifying spot to the women's 100-meter dash final. In the final, Swift clocked 11.89 to finish in eighth place.
- Finishing in third place, Brooke'Lyn Drakeford notched a new personal best of 59.89 in the women's 400-meter hurdles.
- In the men's 400-meter hurdles, Anders Felts (52.13) and Gage Gose (52.35) finished fifth and sixth. Felts time ranks No. 4 all-time among freshman in program history.
- Ma'Khi Falkquay (11.95, -1.4), Lola Kolawole (12.03, +1.4) and Sarah Akpan (12.05, -1.4) also competed in the women's 100-meter dash.
- Katie Dorsey (4:28.36) and Alex Valencia (3:47.48) both clocked new personal bests to finish in fifth place in the men's and women's 1500-meters.
Up Next
The Cavaliers continue competition at Lannigan Field at the 2026 Virginia Challenge on Saturday (April 18) with action on the track beginning at 9:30 a.m. with the women's 5000-meters section 2 and action in the field events set to begin at 11:45 a.m. with the women's discus. At the conclusion of events on Saturday, the program will honor the senior class with a recognition and reception.