This week marks an exciting postseason run for Virginia’s track and field team, who are set to compete in the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon June 8-11.
The Cavaliers have six student-athletes competing, including juniors Henry Wynne, Filip Mihaljevic, Jordan Young, and Cleo Boyd, as well as graduate student William Gray and red-shirt freshman Oghenakpobo Efekoro. Wynne, Mihaljevic, Gray, and Efekoro will all be competing this Wednesday evening in their respective events, while Boyd and Young will compete later in the week.
Wynne, who took home first place in the mile at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March and is seeded number 18 in his category this June, will be the first of his teammates to compete, representing Virginia in the semifinals of the men’s 1,500 meters at 7:46PM.
Directly after Wynne’s event, 20th-seed Gray will run in the men’s 3,000 meters steeplechase semifinals for his first NCAA Outdoor Championship appearance, scheduled for 8:02PM.
Finishing off the first day’s events, UVA will have both Mihaljevic and Efekoro, who are seeded third and sixteenth respectively, competing in the men’s shot put finals at 9:30PM. Although this will be Efekoro’s first Outdoor Championship appearance, Mihaljevic is no stranger to the tournament, making a name for himself at the 2015 NCAA Championships by coming ninth in the shot put. Mihaljevic has also seen success earlier this year in the shot put, as he was the runner-up in the shot put at the 2016 NCAA Indoor Championships in March and was named the ACC Outdoor Championships Men’s Field Most Valuable Performer after winning the shot put and discus.
Boyd, Virginia’s only female athlete competing in the outdoor championships, will race in the finals of the women’s 10,000 meters as the 15-seed on Thursday, June 9, at 10:08PM. She will join Efekoro and Gray as a first-time competitor in the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
UVA’s final athletes to compete will be Mihaljevic and Young, both of whom will appear in the men’s discus finals at 8:05PM on Friday, June 10. Seeded third and seventeenth respectively, both athletes have seen marked success at the discus in the past, with Mihaljevic coming in third at last year’s outdoor championships and Young placing sixth.
Should Wynne and Gray qualify for the finals in their events, the men’s 1,500 meters and 3,000 meters steeplechase will be contested at 8:42 and 8:54PM respectively on Friday. Coverage of the championships will be shown on ESPN 3.
