Highlight Hoos 2021-2022: Mia Barnett | UVA Track & Field

Barnett delivered several outstanding performances in both cross country and track in her freshman season at Virginia

Courtesy of Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

With the 2021-2022 Virginia athletics season officially completed, we enter the college sports offseason optimistic for things to come for the Cavaliers next season. But with the fall seasons still a couple of months away, we have time to take a look back at some of the incredible athletic accomplishments achieved by UVA student athletes during the 2021-2022 sports year in a series called Highlight Hoos. 

Last week, we began the series with the Virginia women's soccer team and star striker Diana Ordóñez.

Today, we take a look at the amazing cross country and track performances of Mia Barnett in her freshman season at UVA. 

Barnett arrived on Grounds last fall after a superb high school career in La Crescenta, California. After recording the second-fastest mile time in the country (4:39.41) and the nation's fastest prep times in both the 1600-meter and 3200-meter events, Barnett was named the 2021 Gatorade Girls Track & Field Player of the Year. 

In her first collegiate cross country season last fall, Barnett won the Virginia Invitational 5k, finishing in 17:13.7, and was subsequently named the ACC Co-Freshman of the Week. She ran a personal-best 21:18.0 in a 41st-place finish in the 6k at the ACC Championships and also qualified for the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. 

Barnett continued her phenomenal first year campaign in the spring track & field season. At the Hokie Invitational, Barnett set the UVA freshman record in the mile run with a time of 4:40.43 and also helped the Cavaliers record a third-place finish in the distance medley relay (DMR). She placed fourth in the mile run at the ACC Indoor Championships and led Virginia to a second-place finish in the DMR, breaking the school record in the process with a time of 10:56.84. In the NCAA Indoor Championships, Barnett ran a personal-best 4:33.54, the fifth-fastest time in qualifying, and then placed tenth overall in the finals. She also helped UVA to a seventh-place finish in the DMR at NCAAs. 

At the ACC Outdoor Championships, Barnett set a facility record at Morris Williams Stadium in Durham with a time of 4:16.51 in the preliminary heat of the 1500-meters. Barnett finished fourth overall with a time of 4:12.23 and earned second-team All-ACC honors. 

Barnett earned three second-team All-ACC selections in the 1500m, the mile run, and the distance medley relay and earned All-American honors in the DMR and the mile run. Barnett became just the second Cavalier to ever be named the ACC Women's Freshman of the Year, joining Morgane Gay (2009). 

Barnett also participated in the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships this week, taking second place in the 1500-meters with a time of 4:20.86. 

In just her first season in Charlottesville, Mia Barnett has already racked up some spectacular accomplishments and we cannot wait to see what else is in store for the rest of her UVA career. 

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