RALEIGH, N.C. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field programs closed out what was an excellent opening meet for the 2023 outdoor campaign on Saturday (March 25) at the Paul Derr Track & Field facility. The Cavalier sprinters punctuated a meet that saw a total of seven Cavaliers post marks that rank in the nation’s top-five in their respective events.
John Fay carried his momentum from the indoor season into the outdoor campaign as he broke the 60-meter mark in the hammer throw for the first time in his career posting 62.36 meters (204’7”) to place sixth. The mark sees Fay climb to sixth on the Virginia all-time list.
In the 400-meter hurdles, Emily Alexandru won her heat to finish second overall as she posted a personal-best time of 58.91 seconds, a time that ranks ninth on the Virginia all-time list. Alex Sherman kept it rolling for the Cavaliers on the men’s side as he followed with a heat win of his own in the 400 hurdles. Sherman posted a personal-best clocking 51.89, a time that ranks eight all-time at Virginia.
The Cavalier women got their season off to a hot start in the 4×100-meter relay. In their first race of the season a team of Kayla Bonnick, Jada Seaman, Jada Pierre and Sarah Akpan posted a time of 44.49 which ranks as the fourth-fastest time in UVA history.
In the women’s 200 meters, the Cavaliers were led by freshman Sarah Akpan making her outdoor debut. Akpan raced to a first-place finish in her heat posting a time of 23.79 to break 24 seconds for the first time in her career. Jada Seaman took fourth place in her heat clocking 23.93.
On the men’s side of the 200 meters Virginia was led by Jay Pendarvis who posted 21.67 in his season opener. Freshman Jaden Lyons picked up a third-place finish crossing the line in 21.70 seconds, which ties for the third-fastest time amongst freshman in Virginia history.
In the men’s 4×400-meter dash, a Cavalier squad of Luke Schroeder, Alex Sherman, Evans White and Jaden Lyons raced to a second-place finish posting a time of 3:10.07.
Thursday/Friday Highlights:
- Conor Murphy started his season with a victory and a PB in the 1500 meters running 3:39.75 to set the national lead and record the third-fastest time in Virginia history
- Gary Martin set the Virginia freshman record in the 1500m clocking 3:40:08 placing second
- Wes Porter and Yasin Sado went 4-5 in the 1500m to put four Cavaliers in the top-five
- Murphy, Martin, Sado and Porter all rank in the nation’s…