Cavaliers to Compete at NCAA Regionals
Eighteen University of Virginia track and field student athletes will compete this weekend (May 27-28) at the NCAA East Regional, part of the process of qualifying for the NCAA National Championship. The East Regional is hosted by Manhattan College and held at Icahn Stadium on Randall\'s Island, NY.Leading the Cavalier contingent is four-time ACC Champion and three-time NCAA Nationals qualifier Inge Jorgensen. Jorgensen, who has twice qualified for the US Olympic Trials in the javelin, is currently ranked fourth in the nation among collegiate athletes in her event. She leads the East Region while teammate Annie Bobiak is ranked ninth in the javelin. The Virginia women also feature rookie Billie-Jo Grant in the weight events, as Grant will compete in both the shot put and the discus. Grant already ranks in the top-three all-time at Virginia in both events, and she is ranked 18th in the nation, and third in the East, in the discus, the event she won at the ACC meet. Tomika Ferguson, who has the longest jump in school history in the triple jump (a wind-aided 13.08m), will compete in the triple jump.
Virginia\'s Erin Crawford is also ranked in the top-10 in the nation in her event, the 400 intermediate hurdles. Crawford, who set the school record at the ACC tournament with her 57.06 where she took home the bronze, is ranked eighth nationally and fifth in the East in her event. Crawford will also run on the 4x400m team, along with teammates Ashley Gore, Tiffany Roberts, and Janine Holman.
Virginia\'s distance corps is represented by Shannon Hawrylo in the 1500m and Janine Ricci in the steeplechase. Ricci took sixth in the ACC meet. Teammates Soeren Lindner and Walt Kingsbery will also run in the steeple for the Virginia men. These two went 3-4 at the ACC meet and they are ranked seventh and 11th, respectively, in the East. Alex Tatu will run the 1500m after taking home runner-up honors at ACCs. Teammates McGavock Dunbar will run the 800m, where he is ranked 14th in the East, while Ryan Foster will compete in the 5K.
A pair of Cavaliers are ranked #1 or 2 in their respective events, as David Sullivan leads the East in the pole vault with his 5.35m, the school record jump he set at the ACC meet where he took home second on misses. Kellen Blassingame, who also is a school record holder, is ranked second in the East in the 400m with his 46.02, which he ran at ACCs where he also took second. Both Sullivan and Blassingame are ranked 19th in the nation. Also competing for the Cavaliers will be Isi Azeke, who ran a 14.31 at Virginia\'s own Milton G. Abramson Invitational.