Wynne Breaks 1,500m School Record at Florida Relays 

Published by Virginia SID on April 1st, 2016

GAINESVILLE, Fla.--Virginia junior Henry Wynne broke the school record in the 1,500 meters as the No. 5 UVA men's track and field team finished action on the second day of the Florida Relays Friday (April 1) at Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Fla.

Wynne (Westport, Conn.) set a new Virginia school record in the 1,500 meters in a winning time of 3:38.35. His time broke the 33-year old school record, previously held by John Hinton in 1983 (3:40.24). The time also broke the Pressly Stadium and Florida Relays meet records that were previously set in 1973 and 1978, respectively. 

"Wow, I would be lying if I said that was expected because his training volume has been ramped up since NCAAs," UVA director of track and field/cross country Bryan Fetzer said. "He is in a great place right now. When you compete with confidence coupled with talent, that's the combination you want."

Junior Mike Marsella (Hope Valley, R.I.) finished 10th the same event in 3:44.78, while freshman Matthew Novak (Glen Allen, Va.) placed 12th in 3:45.35, which ranks second on UVA's freshman list.

Freshman Hilmar Jonsson (Reykjavik, Iceland) broke the Virginia freshman record in the hammer throw by over 12 meters, finishing third with a mark of 70.05m (229' 10"). Jonsson's mark also ranks second on UVA's all-time list.

"Hilmar has been throwing around 70 meters in practice, but it is a great confidence booster when you start your college career with a personal best and a 70-meter throw," Fetzer said. "He is just scratching the surface."

Redshirt-junior Adam Visokay (Ruckersville, Va.) and graduate student William Gray(Birmingham, England), making his UVA debut, placed fifth and sixth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8:58.70 and 8:59.12, respectively.