Track & Field: Romano sets freshman pole vault mark at Virginia Tech Challenge

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams closed out the regular season of competition on Saturday at the Virginia Tech Challenge, where Sam Romano vaulted her way up the Virginia all-time list while setting a freshman pole vault record in the process.

Romano led off the day for the Cavaliers in the pole vault. After passing on the first five heights, the freshman had no problem soaring past her previous best mark, clearing 4.00 meters (13’1.5”) with ease to surpass Bridget Guy’s freshman record of 3.97 meters (13’0.25”) set in 2015. However, Romano did not stop there. She went on to clear three more heights to hit a mark of 4.20 meters (13’9.25”) surging up the Virginia all-time performance list into second trailing Guy’s mark of 4.41 meters (14’5.5”) in 2019.

Romano was the second first-year pole vaulter to hit a freshman record mark for the Cavaliers over the weekend. She joins Justin Rogers who tied a Virginia freshman record last night (Feb. 17) clearing 5.10 meters (16’8.75”) to tie Sam Young’s mark set in 2017. Rogers is tied for fourth on the Virginia all-time indoor list.

In the women’s 200-meter dash, Jada Pierre took home her second victory of the weekend after winning the 60-meter dash on Friday (Feb. 17). Pierre set personal-best times in both events.

Jay Pendarvis claimed a victory on the men’s side of the 200-meter dash posting a time of 21.61 while Nigal Davis took third clocking a personal-best time of 22.25 seconds.

FROM DIRECTOR OF TRACK & FIELD VIN LANANNA

“I am very proud of the way our teams competed this weekend at Virginia Tech. Sam Romano and Justin Rogers were both excellent posting Virginia freshman record marks in the pole vault. We also saw Jada Pierre, Alahna Sabbakhan, Anzhelika Parenchuk and Jay Pendarvis win their events at a tune up for the ACC Championships next week. Our teams have had a very strong season to this point with excellent individual performances spanning each event area. We look forward to the opportunity to put it all together and compete as a team at the ACC Championships.”

UP NEXT

Virginia turns its attention to the championship season as the Cavaliers travel to compete at the ACC Indoor Championships from Thursday to Saturday. The ACC Championships will be hosted by Louisville and held at the Norton Healthcare Sport and Learning Center in Louisville.