Indoor Track: UVA men finish 5th, women 7th at ACC Championships

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams capped off a weekend of competition at the ACC Indoor Championships in Boston on Saturday, where Margot Appleton, Samantha Romano, Anna Workman and Conor Murphy earn spots on the podium. The Virginia men finished fifth overall while the women placed seventh.

The Virginia men’s team finished fifth with a total of 64 points and the women finished seventh with 50.5 points. Both teams scored more than ten points higher at this year’s championships than last year.

In the first track event of the day, the Cavaliers tallied 23 total points (13 for the men, 10 for the women) in the one mile final. Gary Martin stormed to the finish in 3:56.15 to secure the silver medal. Not far behind were teammates Nate Mountain (4:00.21) and Wes Porter (4:00.88) in sixth and seventh respectively. In the women’s mile, Anna Workman posted a time of 4:39.37 to finish third earning the bronze medal. Caroline Timm finished fifth in a time of 4:40.84. Both women raced in their first indoor conference final with Workman earning her first indoor ACC medal.

Later in the day, Martin went on to finish third in the 3000m clocking 7:54.59. Doubling in the mile and 3000m at the conference championships displays the Warminster, Pa. native’s depth in the distance events. Also standing atop the podium after 3000 meters was junior Margot Appleton. Appleton ran a seven second indoor personal-best crossing the line in 8:57.53 to finish second and break her own Virginia school record set at this meet one year ago. Appleton continues her record setting weekend as the Mattapoisett, Mass. native was part of the record setting distance medley relay (DMR) team Thursday night.

In the women’s pole vault, Samantha Romano cleared 4.23m (13’ 10.5”) to finish third. Her mark is just off her personal-best of 4.24m (14’ 0.5”). All four of Romano’s clearances came on her third attempt at each height. The sophomore improves upon her finish at the conference championships after finishing fifth in the event a year ago.

In the men’s triple jump, Heldi Valikaj cleared a distance of 15.34 meters (50’4”) for a new personal-best mark. Picking up a point for the Cavaliers was Alex Sherman in the 400m dash finishing sixth in 47.25 and Peter Djan in the 60m hurdles clocking 8.01 for a sixth-place finish.

The quartet of Evans White IV, Alex Sherman, Gage Gose and Jayden Lyons ran a solo 4x400m relay after Boston College and Georgia Tech got tangled up on the back stretch. The Virginia men crossed the line in 3:14.61 to win the heat and finish fifth overall. In the final event of the weekend, the women’s 4x400m relay team of Sarah Akpan, Ariel Fletcher, Brooke’Lyn Drakeford and Anzhelika Parenchuk combined to finish seventh in a time of 3:41.11.

Over the course of the weekend, 10 Cavaliers won medals receiving first team All-ACC honors including Margot Appleton (3000m), Shane Cohen (DMR), Celia Rifaterra (High Jump), Jacob Lemmon (weight throw), Jayden Lyons (DMR), Gary Martin (mile, 5000m), Conor Murphy (DMR), Jenny Schilling (5000m), Samantha Romano (pole vault) and Wes Porter (DMR).

Thirteen more receive second-team All-ACC nods for finishing in places four through six. Those include Margot Appleton (DMR), Will Anthony (5000m), Peter Djan (60m hurdles), John Fay (weight throw), Maggie Hock (DMR), Nate Mountain (mile), Conor Murphy (800m), Justin Rogers (pole vault) , Alahna Sabbahkan (DMR) Alex Sherman (400m), Carly Tarentino (high jump), Caroline Timm (mile) and Anna Workman (DMR).

FROM DIRECTOR OF TRACK & FIELD VIN LANANNA

“We started the season focused on outdoor scoring 100 points, that’s our goal and we are halfway there. We saw many great performances especially from the athletes that doubled and tripled in events over the course of the weekend. It was exciting to see the men’s distance medley relay win gold and see school records from the women’s distance medley and Margot Appleton (3000m). We have a really good team and group of student-athletes, and I am excited for what is a head of us.”

FINAL TEAM SCORES

Women
Virginia Tech 92
Clemson 80.5
Notre Dame 70
Duke 64
Florida State 61
Miami 52
Virginia 50.5
NC State 41
Louisville 34
Pittsburgh 31
North Carolina 23.5
Georgia Tech 21.5
Boston College 18
Wake Forest 13
Syracuse 10

Men
North Carolina 93
Florida State 84
Virginia Tech 82
Clemson 81
Virginia 64
Miami 53
Louisville 48
Notre Dame 41
Duke 27
Syracuse 26
Wake Forest 18
Pittsburgh 17
Georgia Tech 9
NC State 8
Boston College 6

THE SMITHFIELD COMMONWEALTH CLASH

The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been a part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014. It is an all-sports, points-based program with the Commonwealth Clash trophy presented to the winning school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions. In men’s and women’s track and field, the points are awarded to the team that finishes highest at the ACC Championships.

With Virginia Tech women winning the ACC title and men finishing third ahead of Virginia, the score begins to narrow in the Commonwealth Clash at 5.5-4 points.