Wake Forest Heads to Charlottesville for Virginia Challenge

Meet Day \| Virginia Challenge
Date \| Time	April 19-20 \| 9:00 a.m.
Location	Charlottesville, Va. \| Lannigan Field
Stats	Live Results
Tickets	Free Admission
Information	@WakeTrack

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Wake Forest men's and women's track and field teams will compete at the Virginia Challenge April 19-20 in Charlottesville, Va. Events at Lannigan Field begin Friday at 9:00 a.m. and Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Forty-three Demon Deacons are prepared to compete in the two-day meet. Head Coach John Hayes will send 21 on the men's side and 22 for the women. The Deacs will compete alongside athletes from 52 schools, including ACC foes NC State, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Pitt, Syracuse and host Virginia. The women will face tough competition from No. 16 Tennessee while the men will see action against No. 22 Ohio State.

History was made at the Virginia Challenge in 2018 for Wake Forest. Robert Heppenstall (as a junior) broke Simon Holden's school record in the men's 1500m with a first-place finish of 3:41.57. For the women, Sam Halvorsen made her debut in the women's 5000m, earning a 10^th-place finish to pace the Deacs in the event.

LAST TIME OUT | Wake captured six event titles (five individual) at the Charlotte Invitational. Janese Lynch led the way for the Demon Deacons, securing victories in both the shot put and women's discus events. Her mark of 15.80m in the shot put was good for a hug personal-best for the sophomore out of Darby Township, Pa. Tesia Kempski kept rolling, winning her third pole vault crown in four appearance during the 2019 outdoor season. Additionally, Rachel Kern reached the top once again with a win in the women's javelin and Alexandria Florent followed up her 2018 performance with another high jump win in Charlotte. The women's 4x400m relay squad, led by Johanna Schulz, cruised to victory to wrap up competition on day two of the meet.

DEACS IN THE RANKINGS | On the men's side, Freshman Zach Facioni paces Wake Forest with his ACC-best 5k time of 13:48.16. He sits seventh in the nation in the event and fifth in the NCAA east region qualifier rankings. Dakota Greenwalt (9), Archie Wallis (11) and Kenton Bachmann (16) all sit inside the top-20 of the 800m rankings in the ACC. In the field, Tony Jones, fresh off his first career title with Wake Forest, ranks fifth in the high jump at 2.08m and has his eyes on a podium finish at the conference championships. Kane Aldrich has been Mr. Consistent for the Deacs, ranked fourth in the pole vault and Elijah Shalaway is building momentum with a 7^th-place conference status at this point in the season.

For the women, Hannah Brookover leads the ACC with a 10:23.63 time in the 3000m steeplechase. She sits 10^th in the NCAA east region qualifier rankings and 25^th in the nation. Teammate Elise Wright holds the fifth-best ACC mark in the 3k steeple at 10:36.05 and ranks 38^th in the east region. Queens (Charlotte) transfer, Danielle Konopelski has impressed this season in the javelin. The graduate student-athlete ranks fourth in the ACC at 47.77m and 26^th in the east region heading into the weekend. Sophomore Rachel Kern follows in the eighth spot in the conference with a mark of 43.98m. Senior leader Mimi Smith looks to cap off her Deacon career in grand fashion. The Illinois native currently ranks sixth in the ACC in the 10k with a time of 34:14.04. Heading into the Virginia Challenge, Smith's best time is good for 17^th in the east region.

LOOKING AHEAD | The Demon Deacons will head to Liberty University to compete in the Liberty Twilight Qualifier on Wednesday, May 1. The single-day meet will take place at the Matthes-Hopkins Track Complex in Lynchburg, Va. Following the qualifier, Wake Forest will return to Charlottesville for the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, May 9-11.

EXPECTED ENTRIES
Women's 400m
Cydney Delley
Sarah Johnson

Women's 800m
Lily Harding-Delooze

Women's 1500m
Kaitlin Derry
Amy Harding-Delooze
Johanna Schulz

Women's 3000m Steeplechase
Hannah Brookover
Elise Wright

Women's 5000m
Georgia Evans
Sam Halvorsen
Meredith Helton
Mimi Smith

Women's 10000m
Anna Campbell
Kathryn Kenwood

Women's 4x400m Relay
Delley, Harding-Delooze, Schulz, Johnson

Women's High Jump
Alexandria Florent

Women's Pole Vault
Tesia Kempski

Women's Shot Put
Janese Lynch
Alva Hicks
Chanel Dawson

Women's Discus
Alva Hicks

Women's Hammer
Alva Hicks

Women's Javelin
Rachel Kern
Danielle Konopelski

Women's Heptathlon
Brionne Pyles

Men's 100m
Alex Murphey
Ethan Roach

Men's 800m
Dakota Greenwalt
Kenton Bachmann
Archie Wallis

Men's 1500m
Brent Bailey
Zach Facioni
Michael Moerk

Men's 3000m Steeplechase
Andrew Magiera

Men's 5000m
Tommy Johnston
Aaron Las Heras
Jack Tiernan

Men's 10000m
Craig Corti
Myers McKinney
Alex Turner

Men's 4x100m Relay
Roach, Bryant, Konigsberg, Murphey

Men's 4x400m Relay
Simmons, Bryant, Wallis, Greenwalt

Men's Pole Vault
Kane Aldrich

Men's Javelin
Elijah Shalaway

Men's High Jump
Tony Jones

Wake Forest Athletics

Wake Forest Heads to Charlottesville for Virginia Challenge

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Kane Aldrich

Kenton Bachmann

Brent Bailey

Hannah Brookover

Anna Campbell

Craig Corti

Chanel Dawson

Cydney Delley

Kaitlin Derry

Georgia Evans

Zach Facioni

Alexandria Florent

Dakota Greenwalt

Sam Halvorsen

Amy Harding-Delooze

Lily Harding-Delooze

Meredith Helton

Robert Heppenstall

Alva Hicks

Sarah Johnson

Tommy Johnston

Tesia Kempski

Kathryn Kenwood

Rachel Kern

Danielle Konopelski

Aaron Las Heras

Janese Lynch

Andrew Magiera

Myers McKinney

Michael Moerk

Alex Murphey

Brionne Pyles

Ethan Roach

Johanna Schulz

Elijah Shalaway

Mimi Smith

Jack Tiernan

Alex Turner

Archie Wallis

Elise Wright

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