A slew of school-record performances highlighted Virginia’s showing at the Virginia Beach Invitational at the new Virginia Beach Sports Center on Monday.
Junior Owayne Owens (Montego Bay, Jamaica) used a series of personal-best performances to win the long jump competition with a school-record tying mark of 7.58m (24-10.5). Entering the competition with a career-best leap of 7.17m (23-6.25), Owens improved on that jump with an effort of 7.23m (23-8.75) in his second attempt. On his fifth try he erased that mark by going 7.39m (24-3). On his sixth and final attempt, he won the competition by tying the UVA record Jordan Scott set in 2019.
The UVA women also toppled several Cavalier all-time marks on Monday.
Sophomore Jada Seaman (Pikesville, Md.) improved on her school record in the 200m by winning that event with a time of 23.56. Her old standard stood at 23.76. First-year Keara Seasholtz (Wayne, Pa.) toppled the UVA all-time mark in the 600m with a winning time of 1:31.58. That bettered a performance that had stood since 2013.
Several other UVA competitors also turned in first-place finishes against a field that featured competitors from North Carolina, NC State and Norfolk State.
Graduate student Andrenette Knight (Morant Bay, Jamaica) crossed the finish line first in the 400m at 56.52.
The Hoos picked up a pair of wins in field events when senior Brittany Jones (Bloomfield, Conn.) won the shot put with a throw of 14.43m (47-4.25) and junior Alix Still (Aberdeenshire, Scotland) beat the field in the long jump with a distance of 5.73m (18-9.75). Still’s mark was a collegiate personal best.
Freshman Conor Murphy (Providence, R.I.), running in the 800m for the first time this season, placed first with a time of 1:49.91. That figures as the fourth fastest performance by a UVA freshman.
The Cavalier women’s 4×400 relay team of Halle Hazzard (Commack, N.Y.), Knight, Seasholtz and Alahna Sabbakhan (Washington, D.C.) won with a time of 3:45.63.
“It was the first time that we had the majority of our ACC team together for a meet. We had many good performances and identified several areas for improvement. It was an incredibly valuable experience for the UVA program,” Virginia coach Vin Lananna said.
Highlights
- Jada Seaman’s 7.37 in the 60m tied as the second best time performance in UVA history
- Halle Hazzard was the runner up in 60m (7.37), marking the third consecutive meet she’s won or been the runner-up in the event.
- Graduate student Randy Neish (Glastonbury, Conn.) placed second in the mile with a personal best time of 4:05.40
- Junior Zoe Rice (Ashburn, Va.) used a personal best mark of 5.68m (18-7.75) in place second in the long jump
- Junior Derek Johnson (Leesburg, Va.) finished second in the 5,000m with a time of 14:16.93
- Redshirt freshman Claudio Romero (Santiago, Chile) was second in the shot put at 16.91m (55-5.75)
- Redshirt freshman Jacob Lemmon (Sanibel, Fla.) notched a PR in weight throw 18.93m (62-1.25), moving him up to second on UVA’s freshman performance list
- Sophomore Jacob Hunter’s (Leesburg, Va.) time of 4:11.94 was a personal best in the mile
- Freshman Nadia Saunders (Stony Point, N.Y.) (8.77) and Alix Still (8.80) both recorded career bests in the 60m
- In addition to Still’s win in the long jump, UVA’s three other competitors in the event all had PR performances – Zoe Rice (5.68m /18-7.75), Tara Zeni (5.56 /18-3), Mia Abulencia (5.56 /18-3)
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Chris Graham
