UVA’s Mihaljevic, Mesic to compete in shot put at Rio Olympics

Virginia track and field rising senior Filip Mihaljevic and UVA throws coach Kemal Mesic have been selected to compete at the 2016 Olympics in the men’s shot put.

Mihaljevic will compete for Croatia in the shot put, which will be contested Aug. 18. Mihaljevic, the 2016 ACC Outdoor Men’s Field Performer of the Year, earned the NCAA title in the shot put at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June and was the runner-up in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. He also earned bronze in the shot put for Croatia at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon.

Mesic will represent Bosnia and Herzegovina in the shot put at the Olympic Games for the second time (2012 in London). A five-time first-team All-American at Florida, Mesic has represented Bosnia and Herzegovina at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow and the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Sopot, Poland.

In addition to Mihaljevic and Mesic, a multitude of Cavaliers have been competing around the world this summer.

Virginia rising senior runner Henry Wynne (Westport, Conn.) is set to represent the United States at the North America, Central American and Caribbean Athletics Association (NACAC) Under-23 Championships Friday (July 15) in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Wynne, the 2016 NCAA champion in the indoor mile, will compete in the men’s 1,500 meters Friday at 6:45 p.m. EST. Wynne finished third in the 1,500m at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships in June. Wynne was named the 2016 ACC Indoor and Outdoor Men’s Track Performer of the Year.

At the CAA African Championships in Durbin, South Africa, rising sophomore Oghenakpobo Efekoro (Brooklyn, N.Y.), representing Nigeria, placed fourth in the men’s shot put with a PR of 19.57m (64’ 2.5”), which ranks third on UVA’s all-time list and second on the freshman list. Recent graduate Aisha Naibe-Wey (London, England), representing Sierra Leone, made the final and finished seventh in the women’s 400m hurdles in 59.19.

At the British Championships, recent graduates Adam Visokay (Ruckersville, Va.) and William Gray (Birmingham, England) placed eighth (8:59.55) and 12th in the men’s 3,000m steeplechase, respectively.

At the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, class of 2011 graduate Stephanie Garcia qualified for the final of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase and ran with the leaders almost the entire race, finishing fifth in 9:28.99.

Class of 2015 graduate Payton Hazzard finished second as part of the Grenada men’s 4x400m relay team in 3:09.74 at the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.