Three Tar Heel Medalists On Day 1 Of ACC Outdoor Meet

RALEIGH, N.C.—North Carolina placed three medalists on the first day of the ACC Track and Field Championships on Thursday, kicking off the three-day meet with strong performances in several events by both men and women’s competitors.

James Joycey (silver in the men’s hammer), Ben Finger (bronze in the men’s pole vault) and Jordan Fong (bronze in the women’s hammer) all earned top-three finishes at NC State’s Paul Derr Track.

After the completion of five of an eventual 21 men’s events, Carolina ends Day 1 in third place place with 23.5 points, trailing Duke (31) and Virginia Tech (24.5). The UNC women sit in eighth place with eight team points. Virginia Tech leads the women’s standings with 42.5 points after finishing four of 21 events.

The ACC Championships will resume on Friday morning for the first two Day 2 sessions, then conclude on Saturday in Raleigh.

Event-by-Event Tar Heel Highlights:

• Roman Mitchell finished eighth in the men’s javelin to score points for the Tar Heels with a throw of 202-11 (61.85m).

•  Joycey won the first medal of the day for Carolina when he took second in the men’s hammer with a throw of 214-4 (65.34m).

• After the first day of the decathlon, three Tar Heels stood in the top eight of the standings at the halfway point. Max Stakun-Pickering is in fifth place entering Saturday’s action, while Bryce Kazmaier is in seventh and Isaac Young is eighth.

• Ben Finger and Paul Signorelli both set new outdoor personal bests in the men’s pole vault at 5.13m, finishing third and fourth, respectively. 

• Jordan Fong took the bronze medal in the women’s hammer with a throw of 203-10 (62.14m).

• Brianna White (women’s 200m), Craig Sadler II (men’s 400mH) and Blaise Atkinson (men’s 400mH) all posted qualifying sprint times in their respective events to move on to Friday’s final rounds of competition.

• Three Tar Heel men and two women had strong runs in the 1500m prelims and qualified for Saturday’s final. Ethan Strand, Jesse Hunt and Parker Wolfe made the standard on the men’s side, while Taryn Parks and Carlee Hansen did so on the women’s team.

MEN’S STANDINGS

(5 of 21 events completed)

1. Duke – 31

2. Virginia Tech – 24.5

3. North Carolina – 23.5

4. Notre Dame – 20

5. Virginia – 18.5

6. Miami – 16

7. Florida State – 13

t-8. Clemson – 10

t-8. Wake Forest…