Historic Opening Day at Virginia Challenge
4/16/2021 11:30:00 PM | Track and Field
Zach Facioni breaks his own school record for the second week in a row while freshman Alexandra Roberts earns her fourth first place finish of the outdoor season.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Wake Forest track and field team recorded one school record, two facility and meet records, 11 top-10 performances in program history and two first place finishes to begin the Virginia Challenge at Lannigan Field.
The Demon Deacons were led by Zach Facioni, who broke his own school record for the second time in two weeks but this time in a different event. The junior from Sydney, Australia placed first in the Men's 5000m exceeding his own previous school record by thirteen seconds and setting a new meet and facility record in the process.
Besides Facioni, the other squad of runners participating in the Men's 5000m including Aaron Las Heras, Jack Tiernan and Joaquin Martinez De Pinillos were also able to make program history on Friday as they reached the ranks of second, fourth and sixth in Demon Deacon history, respectively.
Freshman Alexandra Roberts not only placed first for the fourth time this season but also set the meet and facility record for the Virginia Challenge at Lannigan Field.
Beyond Roberts's and Facioni's historic day, sophomore Robbie Grace from Minnesota set her personal best in the Women's Long Jump by jumping a distance of 5.89m. This jump places Grace fourth in program history as she now sits one spot ahead of her teammate Anna Bush.
Grace was not the only one to break a personal best record as Andrew White, finishing seventh in Men's Discuss and finished ninth in the Men's Hammer Throw, surpassed his previous best in both events by throwing 55.05m and 59.61m respectively. These two marks also placed white third and fourth in program history in the discus and hammer throw, respectively.
Quote -- Director of Track & Field, John Hayes
"We had a good day today. The Men's 5k had to be the highlight with the first, second, fourth and sixth best times in school history. The team as a whole has been working very hard and the work is paying off. We still have some areas we need to improve on going into ACC championships in a month but I'm very optimistic."
A complete list of results and the event schedule for Saturday's event is outlined below.
VIRGINIA CHALLENGE
Friday, April 16:
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | #GoDeacs
The Demon Deacons were led by Zach Facioni, who broke his own school record for the second time in two weeks but this time in a different event. The junior from Sydney, Australia placed first in the Men's 5000m exceeding his own previous school record by thirteen seconds and setting a new meet and facility record in the process.
Besides Facioni, the other squad of runners participating in the Men's 5000m including Aaron Las Heras, Jack Tiernan and Joaquin Martinez De Pinillos were also able to make program history on Friday as they reached the ranks of second, fourth and sixth in Demon Deacon history, respectively.
Freshman Alexandra Roberts not only placed first for the fourth time this season but also set the meet and facility record for the Virginia Challenge at Lannigan Field.
Beyond Roberts's and Facioni's historic day, sophomore Robbie Grace from Minnesota set her personal best in the Women's Long Jump by jumping a distance of 5.89m. This jump places Grace fourth in program history as she now sits one spot ahead of her teammate Anna Bush.
Grace was not the only one to break a personal best record as Andrew White, finishing seventh in Men's Discuss and finished ninth in the Men's Hammer Throw, surpassed his previous best in both events by throwing 55.05m and 59.61m respectively. These two marks also placed white third and fourth in program history in the discus and hammer throw, respectively.
Quote -- Director of Track & Field, John Hayes
"We had a good day today. The Men's 5k had to be the highlight with the first, second, fourth and sixth best times in school history. The team as a whole has been working very hard and the work is paying off. We still have some areas we need to improve on going into ACC championships in a month but I'm very optimistic."
A complete list of results and the event schedule for Saturday's event is outlined below.
VIRGINIA CHALLENGE
- Participating Schools
- Venue: Lannigan Field
- Dates: April 16 & 17, 2021
Friday, April 16:
- Field Events:
- Women's Pole Vault
- 11) Elaina Roeder, 3.41m
- Women's Javelin
- 1) Alexandra Roberts, 56.32m (MR) (FR)
- 5) Rachel Kern, 47.89m
- Women's Long Jump
- 11) Robbie Grace, 5.89m (PB) (3rd in Program History)
- Men's Discus
- 7) Andrew White, 55.05m (PB) (3rd in Program History)
- 9) Thomas Kitchell, 53.75m
- 12) Connor Mathis, 51.64m
- Men's Hammer
- 9) Andrew White, 59.61m (PB) (4th in Program History)
- 10) Michael Yow, 59.35m (6th in Program History)
- 17) Thomas Kitchell, 53.34m (PB)
- 20) Mason Ellis, 43.89m
- Jake Goldberg, FOUL
- Men's Javelin
- 10) Elijah Shalaway, 57.51
- Women's Pole Vault
- Running Events:
- Women's 5000m (Section 1)
- 23) Madeline Rehm, 17:09.85
- Men's 3000m Steeplechase
- 7) Ben Hill, 8:51.36 (PB) (3rd in Program History)
- 19) Carter Coughlin, 9:07.41
- Men's 1500m
- 10) Brent Bailey, 3:45.46 (PB)
- Women's 5000m (Section 2 and 3)
- 14) Hannah Brookover, 16:09.83 (7th in Program History)
- Men's 5000m
- 1) Zach Facioni, 13:35.33 (PB) (MR) (FR) (New School Record)
- 6) Aaron Las Heras, 13:49.95 (PB) (2nd in Program History)
- 12) Jack Tiernan, 13:52.10 (PB) (4th in Program History)
- 16) Joaquin Martinez De Pinillos, 13:54.80 (6th in Program History)
- Women 10,000m Invitational
- 19) Caroline Garrett, 35:48.21
- Men 10,000m Invitational
- 22) Jonathan Velasco, 30:37.52
- Men 10,000m
- 6) Ben Mitchell, 29:35.89 (7th in Program History)
- 18) John Lepino, 30:09.67 (PB)
- Women's 5000m (Section 1)
- Decathlon (Day 1):
- Men's 100m
- 8) Mark Smith, 11.43
- Men's Long Jump
- Mark Smith, FOUL
- Men's Shot Put
- 3) Mark Smith, 12.32m
- Men's High Jump
- Mark Smith, NH
- Men's 400m
- Mark Smith, DNS
- Men's 100m
- Field Events:
- 1 p.m. -- Women's High Jump
- 1:15 p.m. -- Women's Discus
- 3:00 p.m. -- Men's Shot Put
- 3:30 p.m. -- Women's Shot Put
- Running Events:
- 3:00 p.m. -- Women's 800m
- Aleeya Hutchins
- Anna Rybezynski
- 3:25 p.m. -- Men's 800m
- 3:00 p.m. -- Women's 800m
- Decathlon (Day 2):
- 10:00 a.m. -- Men's 100mHH
- 10:45 a.m. -- Men's Discus
- 1:30 p.m. -- Men's Pole Vault
- 3:30 p.m. -- Men's Javelin
- 4:55 p.m. -- Men's 1,500m
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | #GoDeacs
Players Mentioned
Middle Distance
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
Mid-Dist
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
Jav
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
/ Track and Field
Football Media Availability (9/30/25)
Tuesday, September 30
Wake Forest Football Coach Jake Dickert Weekly Press Conference
Tuesday, September 30
Coach Jake Dickert Press Conference (Sept. 29, 2025)
Monday, September 29
Sept. 27, 2025: Coach Jake Dickert Postgame Press Conference Following Game vs. Georgia Tech
Sunday, September 28