CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the second of four home meets at Lannigan Field on Saturday (April 15) as the Virginia program saw impressive performances across the board at the Virginia Grand Prix.
The Cavalier men and women posted impressive performances on both sides of the 800 meters. Esther Seeland led the way for the women as she made her UVA outdoor debut in the event. Seeland raced to a victory while posting the fourth-fastest time in Virginia history running 2:04.89.
The men’s side featured fast times as well. Gary Martin and Conor Murphy went 1-2 for UVA as Martin ran the eighth-fastest time in Virginia history, and third-fastest among freshmen, in his outdoor 800-meter debut taking the victory at 1:47.74. Conor Murphy ran an outdoor-best in a second-place finish clocking 1:48.12.
The Virginia women impressed in the hammer throw competition. Bree Lumpkin turned in a break-out performance throwing a personal-best mark of 58.54 meters (192’1). The mark is nearly 10 meters farther than Lumpkin’s previous best and places her at No. 4 on the Virginia all-time list. Lumpkin finished as the top collegian in the event behind only Jill Shippee who set a Lannigan Field record throwing 73.01 meters (239’6”).
Also in the women’s hammer throw, Jada Marsh placed fourth posting a mark of 54.57 meters (179’0”). Morgan Johnson recorded a personal best of 51.99 meters (170’7”). On the men’s side of the event, John Fay placed second recording a mark of 61.62 meters (202’2”). Ashley Anumba recorded a victory in the women’s discus posting a mark of 58.00 meters (190’3”).
In the men’s 4×100 meter relay, the Cavaliers took the victory posting a season-best time of 40.57 seconds. The performance is good for the fourth-fastest on the UVA all-time list.
In the 400 hurdles, Emily Alexandru picked up a win in the women’s competition as she posted a time of 48.79 seconds. On the men’s side, Alex Sherman placed second running 52.22.
Alix Still took second place in the women’s 100-meter hurdles running 13.69 seconds, a time that ranks fifth on the Virginia all-time performance list. Jada Pierre also cracked the Virginia all-time list in the event posting a personal-best of 13.73 which ranks seventh all-time at UVA.
Nate Mountain kickstarted his 2023 campaign in the 3000m steeplechase with a personal-best performance. The sophomore won the event clocking 8:44.99 to…