Cavaliers Now

Virginia Track & Field Breaks Records at Hokie Invitational

UVA's distance runners set several new records this weekend

Matt Newton

Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications

One week after delivering some spectacular performances at the Virginia Tech Invitational, the Virginia track & field team returned to Blacksburg this weekend for the Hokie Invitational. 

Once again, the Hoos showed out at the Rector Field House at Virginia Tech. 

On day one of competition on Friday, freshman Mia Barnett made her first mile run attempt of her collegiate career and finished in 4:40.43, a time which earned her third place and also broke a UVA indoor freshman record which had stood for over 30 years. Claire Forbes ran the mile in 4:49.48 in 1990 and that time held as the UVA freshman record until Friday, when two different first year Cavaliers surpassed that mark in the same race. Freshman Margot Appleton also beat that record with a time of 4:45.35, good for a sixth-place finish in the race. 

In the men's mile, Ka'eo Kruse notched a third-place finish with a time of 4:01.56, which ranks fifth on the all-time indoor performance times at Virginia. Yasin Sado finished fifth in the mile run with a time of 4:03.36. 

Kayla Bonnick finished third in the 60m dash with a time of 7.50, the tenth-fastest time in the event in UVA history. Jada Seaman finished right behind Bonnick in fourth place with a time of 7.55. 

Alix Still notched a fourth-place finish in the pentathlon. 

On the second day of competition on Saturday, Virginia's distance runners crushed the field. 

UVA swept the podium in the men's distance medley relay. The team of Yasin Sado, William Trent, Liam Bellamy, and Wes Porter took first place with a time of 9:48.78. Ka'eo Kruse, Nigal Davis, Conor Murphy, and Rohann Asfaw finished second in 9:50.06 and Nathan Mountain, Jeremiah Wilson, Will Baginski, and Jacob Hunter finished third in 9:50.35. 

Virginia's women's distance medley relay went 1-3 in the event, with Mia Barnett, Keara Seasholtz, Claire Frazier Bolton, and Margot Appleton finishing first in 11:13.70, the second-fastest time in UVA program history. Ellie Desmond, Alahna Sabbakhan, Sydney Coppolino, and Helena Lindsay finished third in 11:51.33. 

Virginia also collected a number of podium finishes in other events on day two. 

Jada Seaman set a personal best of 6.02m in the long jump en route to a third-place finish. Maria Deaviz also set a personal record in the shot put, finishing second with a mark of 16.42m, which is the third-best mark in UVA indoor history. 

Jordan Willis finished the 400m dash in 47.34, good for second place. Bex Hawkins finished second in the high jump at 1.76m and Claudio Romero finished third in the shot put. 

In a couple of weeks, Virginia's next action will be a trip to... you guessed it - Blacksburg (for the third event in a row) - for the VT Elite Meet on February 4th and 5th. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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