The Virginia men’s track and field team competed in the NCAA Championships this week in Eugene, Oregon and finished in third place, the best result in program history. Their previous high was seventh place, which the team achieved last year. Virginia notched 36 points, coming from 5 throwing events. Virginia’s finish was the best from an ACC team since Florida State in 2011.
After finishing second in the ACC Championships in May, the team continued their momentum into this week’s events. Senior Filip Mihaljevic finished first in both the shot put and discus events to conclude an excellent career as a Cavalier. Clutch under pressure, Mihaljevic secured the title in discus on his last throw of the night, which traveled a school record 63.76 meters. Senior Jordan Young finished third in the event at 61.94 meters for 6 points.
With their finishes, Young and Mihaljevic both claimed All-American status. On the first day of the competition, Mihaljevic also won the shot put event. Freshman Jordan Scott finished 18th in the triple jump at 15.50 meters.
Mihaljevic cemented his legacy as an all time great in the Cavalier program. He was also the NCAA champion in shot put in 2016, which was Virginia’s first ever field-event NCAA championship. Mihaljeivc competed in the 2016 Summer Olympics, where he finished 21st in shot put. He was the 2016 ACC Men’s Field MVP and the 2014 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Freshman of the Year.
In the championships, Florida finished first and Texas A&M finished second.
