Tar Heels Make Last-Chance Improvements On The Track

Saturday, April 27

Charlottesville, VA

All Day

North Carolina

Virginia Grand Prix

Ryan Saint-Germain

Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati

April 27, 2019 | Track & Field

Virginia Grand Prix Complete Results Tom Jones Complete Results

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. / GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The North Carolina track and field team wrapped up the regular season at the Virginia Grand Prix and the Tom Jones Memorial on Saturday.

"As we conclude the regular season and start to prepare for the championship portion of our season, I was happy to see our student-athletes continue to improve," head coach Harlis Meaders said. "I was really impressed to see everyone run well in Virginia at this point in the year. In Florida, the sprints group continued to improve. The men's 4x4 ran their fastest time of the year and a couple of individuals in the men's 400 and 100 actually had solid performances."

Over the course of the two meets, the Tar Heels combined for 12 season bests and three personal records in their final opportunity before the ACC Outdoor Championships in May.

While Carolina's field competitors have made headlines over the course of the season, the Tar Heels on the track made the most of their final regular season appearances as they accounted for all three of UNC's personal bests and nine of the 12 season bests.

Isaiah Palmer, Cameron Douglas, Ari Cogdell and Ryan Saint-Germain teamed up in the men's 4x400 at Florida's Tom Jones Memorial and improved Carolina's season-best time by over four seconds. Their third-place time of 3:07.43 moved North Carolina up from sixth to third in the ACC.

Saint-Germain, a sophomore from Jacksonville, Fla., also had a career day as an individual competitor, clocking a personal-best 400 time of 47.03.

Alex Milligan, a redshirt sophomore from State College, Pa., ran a season-best time of 3:46.86 to finish third in the men's 1,500 meters. Milligan's performance led a group of five top-10 finishers for the Tar Heels in the event.

Carolina also went two-three in the women's 800 as Erin Edmundson and Blake Dodge each clocked season-best times. Edmundson finished second in 2:08.60 and Dodge dropped five seconds from her season-best time to finish in 2:08.84 for third.

"I think the next steps are to rest up, to prepare for the exams and to get ready to make a really strong push for the ACC Championships," Meaders said. "Hopefully we can get additional student-athletes qualified for the NCAA prelims as well."

OTHER CAROLINA HIGHLIGHTS

Virginia Grand Prix
• Madison Wiltrout, a redshirt freshman from Connellsville, Pa., won her fifth event title in the women's javelin just two weeks after setting the UNC school record. Her throw of 177-4 (54.07 meters) still beat the ACC's third-best performance by 17 feet.
• Drew Pedersen, a senior from Apex, N.C., cleared 15-10 (4.83 meters) in the men's pole vault to finish fourth.
• Anna Eaton, a senior from Cary, N.C., hit a season-best height of 13-6 1/2 (4.13 meters) to finish third in the women's pole vault.
• Mitch Resor, a junior from Charlotte, N.C, shaved over five seconds off his personal record in the men's 1,500, clocking 3:51.92 to join Milligan as one of five UNC athletes to finish among the top-10 in the event.
• Emmeline Fisher, a sophomore transfer from Morehead City, N.C., ran another career-best time of 4:33.20 in the women's 1,500.
• Carson Pledger, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., finished the men's triple jump with a season-best mark of 44-10 3/4 (13.68 meters).

Tom Jones Memorial
• Anna Keefer, a sophomore from St. Michael Albertville, Minn., hit a season-best mark of 20-1 1/2 (6.13 meters) in the women's long jump. Keefer also ran the women's 100 in 11.60 seconds for the second-best wind-legal time of her career.
• Dorriann Coleman, a freshman from Southfield, Mich., knocked nearly three seconds off her collegiate-best 800 time to cross the finish line in 2:15.00. Coleman also clocked 55.43 in her first 400 as a Tar Heel.
• Alex Cooke, a graduate student from Lowgap, N.C., finished second in the women's hammer throw with a mark of 188-0 (57.30 meters).
• Qhiyal Towns, a freshman from Newport News, Va., made his collegiate debut in the men's 100-meter dash and clocked an ACC qualifying time of 10.62.

UP NEXT: The North Carolina track and field team will return to Charlottesville, Va. for the third time of the outdoor season for the ACC Outdoor Championships hosted by the University of Virginia from May 9-11.