Cavaliers sweep VaSID Track Rookie of the Year awards: ‘Hoos land 16 All-State selections

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Mia Barnett and Nathan Mountain of the Virginia men’s and women’s track and field program have captured the 2021-22 Virginia Sports Information Directors’ University Division All-State Track Rookie of the Year Awards, VaSID announced Monday.

As a freshman out of La Crescenta, California, Barnett claimed the Track Rookie of the Year award after an outstanding indoor campaign for the Wahoos. The first year set a Virginia freshman-record in the mile on two separate occasions in the early portion of the season. She finished fourth in the mile at the ACC Championships where she also ran the 1200m leg of the DMR to help Virginia win silver and set a school record in the event at 10:56.84.

Barnett would go on to set a Virginia record in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships where she led her preliminary heat for the majority of the race before finishing fifth as the only true freshman in the field. After finishing seventh in the DMR, Barnett came out of Birmingham with first team All-American honors in the DMR and second team All-American honors in the mile.

Another freshman out of Cincinnati, Ohio, Nathan Mountain burst onto the scene for Virginia to claim the Track Rookie of the Year award. Mountain ran the third-fastest mile time by a Virginia freshman in school history at the Armory in New York City as he clocked 4:03.27. Mountain would go on to claim fourth place in the mile at the ACC Indoor Championships to come away with second team All-ACC honors in his first indoor campaign.

VaSID names 44 all-state teams in 23 sports each year, as well as an Academic All-State squad and an all-sports champion in both the University and College Divisions. Membership in VaSID is open to all media relations professionals working at a university or conference in the state of Virginia.

Virginia also landed a total of 16 athletes to the all-state teams between its men’s and women’s squads.