Virginia to Send 22 Athletes to NCAA East Preliminary Round
Virginia to Send 22 Athletes to NCAA East Preliminary Round
Date: May 22, 2014
Sport: Track & Field (@UVa_Track)
Web Link: http://wahoowa.net/1vNu01T
Contact: Steve Kirkland
Virginia
to Send 22 Athletes to NCAA East Preliminary Round
Meet to be held May 29-31 in Jacksonville,
Fla.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia men’s and women’s track and
field teams had 22 athletes selected to compete in the NCAA East Preliminary
Round, the NCAA announced on Thursday. The preliminary round will be held May
29-31 at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida in
Jacksonville.
Each individual event (excluding the heptathlon and
decathlon) will have 48 competitors, while relays will have 24 teams. The top
12 from every event will move on to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, to be held
in Eugene, Ore., on June 11-14.
Virginia will have 14 women and eight men competing in 17
events at the preliminary meet. Eight of the 22 athletes have competed in a
NCAA preliminary meet previously in their career, while 14 Cavaliers will be
making their debut at the event.
The list of Cavaliers selected to compete is highlighted by five
2014 ACC Champions. VirginiaÂ’s highest-seeded athlete in the meet is Filip
Mihaljevic (Livno, Bosnia and Herzegovina), the ACC champion in the menÂ’s
discus. Jordan Lavender (Nashville, Tenn.), the ACC womenÂ’s indoor and outdoor
400m champion, is seeded seventh in the event at the meet. Dallas Rose
(Pearland, Texas) is seeded 11th in the womenÂ’s triple jump, while Ryan
Satchell (Central Islip, N.Y.) is seeded 13th in the menÂ’s triple jump. Kyle
King (Yorktown, Va.), the ACC steeplechase champion, is seeded 10th.
Mihaljevic is one of two Cavaliers competing in a pair of
individual events in the meet, as he will throw the shot put in addition to the
discus. Maria Hauger (Shakopee, Minn.) will run a pair of distance events, the
womenÂ’s 5000m and 10000m.
The Cavalier distance runners will be well represented at
the meet. Hauger is one of three Virginia competitors in the womenÂ’s 10000m, as
she is joined by fellow first-years Sarah Fakler (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Jen Flack
(Alexandria, Va.). Cleo Boyd (Kingston, Ont.) will join Hauger in the womenÂ’s
5000m, while Vicky Fouhy (Buckinghamshire, England) will run the womenÂ’s 3000m
steeplechase. Virginia will also have three men competing in the 10000m, with
Adam Visokay (Ruckersville, Va.), Thomas Porter (Fredericksburg, Va.) and Zach
Herriott (Kansas City, Mo.) selected to compete.
The womenÂ’s contingent headed to Jacksonville also includes
Vanessa Fabrizio (Denver, Colo.), who is seeded eighth in the 800m. The
Cavaliers will also compete in both womenÂ’s relays, with Tori McKenzie
(Chatham, Va.), Andrea Wright (Chesapeake, Va.), Peyton Chaney (Belleville,
Ill.) joining Lavender on the 4x100m relay, and the team of Lavender, Wright,
Fabrizio and Chimere Ezumah (Gardena, Calif.) competing in the 4x400m relay. In
the field events, Edy Ndem (Roanoke, Va.) makes her NCAA debut in the long
jump, while Abbey Karin (Byfield, Mass.) makes her third straight appearance in
the javelin.
The menÂ’s contingent also includes a pair of middle distance runners, with
Payton Hazzard (Huntington, N.Y.) running the 400m and Mike Marsella (Hope
Valley, R.I.) competing in the 800m.