Track & Field: Virginia milers go sub-four in regular-season finale

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams closed out their regular season at home at the Virginia High-Performance Meet where Wes Porter and Yasin Sado each recorded sub-four-minute miles for the first time in their careers on Wednesday night.

The highlight of the competition came in the final event as the Cavaliers lined up in hopes of breaking the remarkable four-minute mile. Virginia stand-outs Porter and Sado entered the meet having just missed the elusive feat on several occasions. In a nearly identical situation last season, Porter missed the mark by less than a second at the final meet of the season recording a time of 4:00.08.

This time Porter would not be denied. He and Sado paced an excellent race before emptying the tank for the final 100-meters. The pair of Cavaliers each surged past Lucas Guerra of Georgetown as Porter took first clocking 3:58.84 while Sado recorded a time of 3:58.92.

Jack Eliason also recorded a personal-best running a time of 4:05.32 in a fifth-place finish. Just behind him in sixth was Ethan Zeh who ran 4:05.70.

The Cavaliers’ 100-meter runners put their names down in the Virginia record books in their final attempts of the regular season. Jay Pendarvis finished second only to Kuron Griffith of Nike as he threw down a time of 10:49 which ranks third on the Virginia all-time list. Following Pendarvis was teammate Nigal Davis who shattered his previous-best time of time of 10:81 by posting a time of 10.54.

In the discus competitions Ashley Anumba and Claudio continued to perform at the high standard they have established this year as each recorded wins in the event. Anumba reached a mark of 56.70m (186’0”) to surpass 56.50 meters for the third time this season. Romero let go of a throw that 63.33m (207’9”) to remain undefeated on the season.

Maria Deaviz won the shot put competition surpassing the 17-meter mark for the second time this season. She won the event with her third throw of the series that reached 17.22m (56’6”).

In the men’s pole vault Colin Duignan soared to a personal-best mark clearing 4.90m (16’0.75”). Teammate Kyle Mosteller followed in second clearing a height of 4.75m (15’7”).

In the men’s 3000m Jacob Hunter set a Lannigan Field record winning the race with a time of 8:22.38. The time bests a record set by Garret Jeffries of Missouri back in 2008.

FROM DIRECTOR OF TRACK AND FIELD VIN LANANNA:

“I thought that was a really fun way to end our season with great performances in the mile. We are looking forward to competing in the ACC Outdoor Championships next week.”

UP NEXT:

The Cavaliers will travel to Durham to compete in the ACC Outdoor Championships from Thursday (May 12) through Saturday (May 14).