Knight, Meyer advance to event finals at NCAA Championships

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Andrenette Knight and Michaela Meyer advanced to the finals in their respect events during the first day of women’s competition at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. Knight will race in the 400-meter hurdle finals on Saturday while Meyer advanced in the 800-meters. Both Cavaliers earned automatic qualifying spots by placing second in their heats.

Knight ran a time of 56.88 in her heat of the 400-meter hurdles while Meyer clocked a time of 2:03.63 in her 800-meter race. This is Knight’s fourth appearance at the NCAA Championships and it marks the first time she had advanced out of the semifinal round. Meyer will be the first Cavalier to race in the 800-meter finals at the NCAAs since Gail Bryant finished eighth in 1985.

In the finals of the long jump competition, freshman Jada Seaman finished ninth while sophomore Khyasia Caldwell placed 23rd in her first NCAA Championship appearance. Caldwell’s best effort was 5.88 meters (19’ 3.5”). Seaman recorded a distance of 6.36 meters (20’ 10.5”) on her first jump that qualified her for the final round, but she could not improve on that mark in her remaining attempts.

Seaman and Caldwell were the first Cavaliers to compete in the long jump at the NCAA Championships since 2003. Seaman’s finish earned her second-team All-America status and was the best by a UVA competitor since Kelly Miller placed ninth in 1997.

Freshman Maria Deaviz was 19th in the shot put competition. Her top effort was 16.36 meters (53’ 8.25”). She was just the sixth Cavalier to compete in the event at the NCAA Championships.

In the 4×100-meter relays, the Cavaliers team of Anna Jefferson, Jada Seaman, Kayla Bonnick and Halle Hazzard finished 16th overall with a time of 44.21 to earn second-team All-America honors. That etched their names into UVA’s history book by becoming the first Cavalier 4×100 relay team to compete at the NCAA Championships.

The Cavalier 4×400-meter relay team capped off the evening with a 17th-place finish. The team of Jefferson, Seaman, Meyer and Knight combined for a time of 3:37.53.

Friday will mark the final day of the men’s competition and UVA will have four participants in event finals.

Freshmen Jacob Lemmon and Claudio Romero will compete in the discus at 7:35 p.m. ET while Owayne Owens makes his NCAA Outdoor Championship debut in the triple jump at 8:20 p.m. Derek Johnson, who was second in his qualifying heat of the 3000-meter steeplechase, will race at 8:24 p.m.