Athletics: Hoos ready for ACC championships in Atlanta this weekend: Jerry Ratcliffe

Courtesy of UVA Media Relations

The championship season begins for the Cavalier men’s and women’s track and field teams as they travel to Atlanta to compete in the 2024 ACC Outdoor Championships, which will be held at Georgia Tech’s George C. Griffin Athletic Center from Thursday to Saturday.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Expanded coverage of the ACC Men’s and Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be broadcast live each day via ACC Network Extra as follows: Thursday beginning at 12:45 p.m. (field and combined events) and 6 p.m. (track and field events). race), Friday from 12:45 p.m. (field and combined events) and 6 p.m. (field events and running), and Saturday from 2 p.m. (field events) and 5 p.m. (field events and running) on foot) until the end of the championship around 9 p.m.

Links to the ACCNX live stream, live statistics and general competition schedule are available at VirginiaSports.com. Updates will also be posted on the team’s official Twitter account (@UVAtfcc).

THURSDAY
Calendar
Live results
Live broadcast: 12:45 p.m. (field and combined events)
Live broadcast: 6:00 p.m. (ongoing events)

Friday
Calendar
Live results
Live broadcast: 12:45 p.m. (field and combined events)
Live Stream: 6:00 p.m. (on-field and running events)

SATURDAY
Calendar
Live results
Live broadcast: 2:00 p.m. (on-field events)
Live Stream: 5 p.m. (on-field and running events)

HOOS IN THE RANKINGS

Members of the Virginia men’s and women’s teams hold 14 (men’s) and six (women’s) top 30 spots in their respective NCAA events this season. Visit Virginiasports.com for Cavaliers ACC Championship Ratings to see the complete list of those ranked in the ACC top 25. In the latest USTFCCCA poll, Virginia men ranked 19th nationally.

Men (NCAA)
1. Nate Mountain – Jr., 3000 mSC, 8:20.68
8. Gary Martin – So., 1,500m, 3:37.66
9. Yasin Sado – Sr., 3000mSC, 8:34.08
12. Gary Martin – So., 5000m, 13:31.51
13. Nate Mountain – Jr., 5,000m, 13:32.65
15. Jacob Lemmon – Jr., DT, 60.50m
18. Wes Porter – Sr., 1,500m, 3:39.54
20. Will Anthony – Fr., 5000m, 1:35.50
22. John Fay – So., HT, 68.41 m
22. Will Anthony – Fr., 10,000 m, 28:21.93
24. Alex Sherman – Jr., 400mH, 50.54
25. James Donahue – Fr., 1500m, 3:40.27
27. Gary Martin – So., 800m, 1:47.46
30. Shane Cohen – Sr., 800m, 1:47.54

Women (NCAA)
4. Margot Appleton – Jr., 5000m, 15:18.21
8. Jenny Schilling – So., 10,000m, 32:44.19
13. Samantha Romano – So., PV, 4.34 m
17. Margot Appleton – Jr., 1500m, 4.11.41
26. Esther Seeland – Sr., 1500m, 4:12.64
27. Anna Workman – Sr., 1500m, 4:12.73

THE STARTING LINE

• Nate Mountain (3000mSC) and Margot Appleton (1500m) both lead the ACC in their individual events in which they are both defending champions.
• A quartet of Riders enter the competition ranked second in their respective events. Athletes include Will Anthony (10,000m), Alex Sherman (400mH), Samantha Romano (pole vault) and Celia Rifaterra.
• Members of the Virginia men’s and women’s teams hold 59 (men’s) and 51 (women’s) top-25 spots among their respective events in the ACC this season.

VIRGINIA AT ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS

• In 2023, Virginia men ranked third with 89.5 points while women ranked fifth with 76.5 points.
• A total of 4 individual Cavaliers and one relay won ACC titles at last season’s ACC Championships, with two individuals and two relay members returning in 2024.
• Virginia won five gold medals thanks to Margot Appleton (1,500m), Ethan Dabbs (javelin), Nate Mountain (3,000mSC), Owayne Owens (triple jump) and the Virginia women’s 4x100m relay team .
• At last year’s championships, Ethan Dabbs made history by becoming the first competitor to win four ACC men’s javelin titles. Dabbs won the competition on his first throw of the competition scoring 73.09m/239-9.
• While he was the first to win four titles in the javelin, Dabbs became the 12th competitor to win four ACC titles in all men’s events. For both men and women, he is only the 20th athlete to win four titles.
• Virginia men have won the ACC title once in program history (2009)
• The Virginia men’s team finished in the top 3 for the fourth year in a row
• The Cavalier women won their first five ACC titles (1983-87), but have not won the title since.
• The Virginia women have finished in the top 3 in two of their last four seasons

MOUNTAIN AND APPLETON LOOK TO GO BACK TO BACK

• A season ago, Nate Mountain and Derek Johnson won a double in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Mountain led the way with her time of 8:32.05, just ahead of Johnson’s 8:33.82. Virginia took three of the top five spots to total 22 points with Yasin Sado fifth with his time of 8:42.48.
• At the time, Mountain recorded a new personal best and all-time Virginia No. 2 performance. Since then, Mountain has shattered the school record with a time of 8:20.68 leading the NCAA.
• Margot Appleton won her first ACC title in the women’s 1,500 with her time of 4:14.58. Appleton became the second Cavalier to win the conference title in the women’s 1,500 under head coach Vin Lananna and the second in three seasons joining Michaela Meyer who won gold in 2021.
• The Cavaliers placed in the top three in the women’s 1,500m as Esther Seeland won the bronze medal in 4:16.82.

THE SHOCK OF COMMONWEALTH SMITHFIELD

The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014. It is an all-sport points-based program with the Commonwealth Clash trophy awarded to the winner. school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions. In men’s and women’s track and field, points are awarded to the team that finishes best at the ACC Championships. If there are two opportunities to score points (athletics and baseball), Virginia has already won the title with 12 points compared to 6.5 for Virginia Tech.

FOLLOWING

Following the ACC Outdoor Championships, the Cavaliers will turn their attention to the NCAA Eastern Regional Preliminaries in Lexington, Kentucky (May 25-29). The top 48 individuals (and 24 relays) from the East Region will qualify for the competition and have a chance to advance to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon (June 5-8).