Track & Field: UVA set for ACC Outdoor Championships in Raleigh

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The championship season begins for the Cavalier men’s and women’s track and field teams as they travel to Raleigh, N.C. to compete at the ACC Outdoor Championships, to be held at NC State’s Paul Derr Track from Thursday through Saturday.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Expanded coverage of the ACC Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be streamed live each day via ACC Network Extra as follows: Thursday from 11 a.m. until 9 p.m., Friday from 11 a.m. through 9 p.m., and Saturday from 2 p.m. until the championship’s conclusion at approximately 9 p.m. Steve Schlanger will be on the call, with former Duke head coach Norm Ogilvie returning on color commentary and Hailey Hunter as sideline reporter.

Links to the ACCNX live stream, live stats and the overall meet schedule are available at VirginiaSports.com. Updates will also be posted to the team’s official Twitter account (@UVAtfcc).

HOOS IN THE RANKINGS

Members of the Virginia men’s and women’s teams occupy 13 top-25 positions among their respective events.

Men
2. Ethan Dabbs – Sr., Javelin, 80.82m (265’2”)
6. Owayne Owens – Sr., Triple Jump, 16.53m (54’2.75”)
8. Nate Mountain – So., 3000 SC, 8:34.99
12. Derek Johnson – Gr., 3000 SC, 8:38.54
14. Conor Murphy – Jr., 800 meters, 1:47.27

Women
3. Margot Appleton – So., 1500, 4:08.96
6. Ashley Anumba – Gr., Discus, 59.37m (194’9”)
11. Margot Appleton – So., 5000m, 15:36.28
13. Jordan Hardy – So., Triple Jump, 13.41m (44’0”)
14. Alix Still – Jr., Heptathlon, 5662 points
18. Esther Seeland – Gr., 800m, 4:12.55
24. Sam Romano – Fr., Pole Vault, 4.20m (13’9.25”)

THE START LINE

• Nate Mountain (3000 SC) and Ethan Dabbs (Javelin) both lead the ACC in their individual events – The women’s 4x100m also leads the conference
• Ethan Dabbs, the reigning ACC Champion in the Javelin has a chance to win his fourth consecutive title in the event
• A total of 22 Cavalier men and women enter the meet ranked in the top five of their event

VIRGINIA AT THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• In 2022, the Virginia men placed third while the women placed seventh
• In all, three Cavaliers won ACC titles at last season’s ACC Championships – only one returns in 2023
• Ethan Dabbs looks to defend his title after setting an ACC and ACC Championships record at the meet last season (82.92m/272’0”)
• The Virginia men have won the ACC title once in program history (2009)
• Virginia’s men’s team has finished top-3 for three straight years
• The Cavalier women won their first five ACC titles (1983-87) but have not earned the title since then
• Virginia’s women have finished top-3 in two of their last three seasons
• A total of three Cavaliers on the 2023 squad have won gold at an ACC Championship in their careers

📍 Raleigh, N.C.#GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/Ioir6jOoGe

— Virginia Track & Field and Cross Country (@UVATFCC) May 10, 2023

DABBS’ QUEST FOR FOUR

• A season ago, Ethan Dabbs won gold at the ACC Championships in the javelin marking a conference and meet record (82.92m)
• Dabbs won his third consecutive title in 2022 becoming one of just six men to win three ACC javelin titles
• A fourth consecutive title would make him the first to do it in the javelin and the 12th to accomplish the feat in any event

VIRGINIA’S SEVEN SUB-FOUR MILERS

Charlottesville-area native Jack Eliason became the seventh active member of the Virginia team run the prestigious four-minute mile – five of whom ran under four minutes on the same day during the 2022-23 indoor season. The list includes:

Conor Murphy — 3:55.24
Wes Porter — 3:56.83
Gary Martin — 3:56.83
James Donahue — 3:57.44
Yasin Sado — 3:58.92
Nate Mountain — 3:59.01
Jack Eliason — 3:59.64

The Cavaliers currently rank fourth nationally in the 1500m according to the USTFCCCA’s Event Squad Rankings. Six Cavaliers rank in the ACC’s top 15:

4. Gary Martin — 3:39.53
6. Nate Mountain — 3:39.68
7. Conor Murphy — 3:39.75
11. Yasin Sado — 3:40.67
12. Wes Porter — 3:41.51
14. Jack Eliason — 3:41.89 (Conv.)

ON THE HORIZON

Following the ACC Outdoor Championships, the Cavaliers will turn their attention to the NCAA East Regional Preliminaries in Jacksonville, Fla. (May 24-27). Top 48 individuals (and 24 relays) in the east region will qualify for the meet and a chance to advance to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas (June 7-10).