UVA Track & Field begins competition at NCAA East Preliminaries Wednesday

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia men’s and women’s track and field teams are set for competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Championships held at Indiana’s Haugh Track & Field Complex in Bloomington, Ind. From May 25-28. The Cavaliers qualified 16 men and 13 women for the competition.

The top-12 finishers from each individual event and the top-12 relay teams will advance from the preliminary round to the NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon on June 8-11.

The Cavalier men enter the weekend ranked No. 22 in the latest track and field rating index according to the USTFCCCA. Their competitions will take place Wednesday, May 25 and Friday, May 27. The women’s squad will compete on Thursday, May 26 and Saturday, May 28.

How To Follow

Admission to the NCAA East Preliminary Meet is free. Coverage of the meet will be streamed through a link available at VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also follow the action with updates from the team’s official Twitter account (@UVAtfcc).

Live results will be available at FlashResults.com

High Seeds:

Nine Hoos will enter the East Preliminary Round with a top-10 seed time or mark:

• Ethan Dabbs – 1st, Men’s Javelin

Dabbs has put together a historic season for the Cavaliers following a return from injury over the summer. His record-setting pace began in April when the third-year took down a school, conference and facility record at the Virginia Challenge breaking the 80-meter mark for the first time in his career. Dabbs went on to smash an ACC Championships record with an incredible throw of 82.92 meters (272’0”) in route to becoming just the fourth-ever competitor to win three consecutive ACC men’s javelin titles.

• Claudio Romero – 1st, Men’s Discus

Romero will enter the East Preliminary Round without having suffered a defeat in the discus this season. The veteran thrower shattered records at the Penn Relays. His throw that reached 67.02 meters (219’10”) stands as a Virginia record, Penn Relays record and ACC record. At the ACC Championships Romero came for his second consecutive title in the event while taking down the ACC Championship meet record throwing 66.21 meters (217’3”). Last season the Chilean won bronze at the NCAA Championships.

• Owayne Owens – 2nd, Men’s Triple Jump

One of Virginia’s most consistent performers, Owayne Owens enters the competition with the second-highest seed mark of 16.61 meters (54’6”). The mark is a personal best for Owens which was set at the Penn Relays in April where he won the competition. The Senior comes off a season in which he took gold in the event at the ACC Indoor Championships and silver at the ACC Outdoor Championships. At the NCAA Indoor Championships Owens earned first team All-American honors finishing eighth in the competition.

• Mia Barnett – 3rd, Women’s 1500 Meters

Barnett burst onto the scene this season as a freshman. In her first collegiate campaign, the California native has already set a Virginia record in the mile and DMR as well as earned second team All-American honors in the mile and first team All-American honors in the DMR after the indoor campaign. Outdoors, Barnett holds the sixth-fastest 1500-meter time in the nation which ranks second in Virginia history (4:11.32). She placed fourth at the ACC Outdoor Championships in the event.

• Ashley Anumba – 3rd, Women’s Discus

A graduate-transfer from Penn, Anumba toppled a UVA discus record in her very first attempt at the event as a Wahoo throwing 56.50 meters (185’4”) at the Virginia Open in March. In her first return to Philadelphia since competing for the Quakers, Anumba won the discus throw at the Penn Relays throwing a personal-best 57.53 meters (188’9”). Anumba placed third at the ACC Outdoor Championships.

• Yasin Sado – 5th, Men’s 3,000m Steeplechase

Sado has been a stand-out for the Cavaliers as a member of their distance team. In his second campaign for the Hoos, Sado recorded what was a personal-best time at the Duke Invitational where he topped a competitive field. At the ACC Championships the second-year took the silver medal with a personal-best time of 8:33.39 which ranks ninth in the NCAA this season and second on the UVA all-time list.

• Maria Deaviz – 9th, Women’s Shot Put

Deaviz put together a break-out year in her second campaign with the Wahoos. The Pennsylvania native dominated the ACC in the shot put as she claimed both the indoor and outdoor conference titles while setting the Virginia record for both the indoor (16.75m / 54’11”) and outdoor shot put (17.32m / 56’10”). Deaviz will also compete in the women’s discus with her seed mark of 52.58 meters.

• Nathan Mountain – 10th, 3,000m Steeplechase

Mountain’s freshman season has been one for the record books. In his first-ever attempt at the 3,000-meter steeplechase in his career, Mountain ran the fastest time by a UVA freshman in school history (8:45.42). He went on to improve that time at the ACC Championships where he finished fourth to earn second team All-ACC honors and put down the fifth-fastest time by a Cavalier in the event (3:39.42). Mountain also holds the UVA freshman record in the 1500 meters (3:40.99)

Hoos in the Top-25 (NCAA & World Rankings)

Eight Cavaliers rank in the top-25 of the NCAA overall:

Men

1. Ethan Dabbs – Jr., Javelin, 82.92m (272’0”) – No. 14 in world rankings

2. Claudio Romero – So., Discus, 67.02m (219’10”) – No. 7 in world rankings

4. Owayne Owens – Sr., Triple Jump, 16.61m (54’6”) – No. 25 in world rankings

9. Yasin Sado – So., 3,000 Steeplechase, 8:33.39

19. Nathan Mountain – Fr., 3,000 Steeplechase, 8:39.42

Women

6. Mia Barnett – Fr., 1500m, 4:11.32

16. Maria Deaviz – So., Shot Put, 17.32m (56’10”)

12. Ashley Anumba – Gr., Discus, 57.53m (188’9”)

Eyeing a Return:

Five current Cavaliers have advanced to the NCAA Championships at least once in their careers and will look to qualify again this season:

Men

• Ethan Dabbs

Dabbs last appeared at the NCAA Championships in 2019 where he earned All-American honors in his freshman campaign. Dabbs finished seventh in the competition with a throw that reached 72.23 meters. Dabbs missed out on qualification for the NCAA Championships by just over a foot in 2021.

• Claudio Romero

Romero will look to make his second-consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships following a season in which he placed third in the discus with a throw of 61.36 meters to claim first team All-American status.

• Jacob Lemmon

Lemmon advanced to the NCAA Championships in the discus last season and finished in the nation’s top-five as a first team All-American. This season he enters the East Preliminary Round as the No. 21 seed in the discus with his mark of 58.02 meters.

Women

• Jada Seaman

Seaman advanced to the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career last season earning second team All-American status in both the long jump and 4×100-meter relay. She also competed in the 4×400-meter relay for the Cavaliers.

• Maria Deaviz

Deaviz made her first appearance at the NCAA Championships as a freshman last season where she placed 19th in the shot put.