Hokie ClubCOLLEGE STATION, Texas – Three more Virginia Tech track and field athletes achieved All-American status on Saturday to close out the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with five Hokie All-Americans at the McFerrin Athletic Complex in College Station, Texas.
The Tech men finished in 22nd place overall with 10.5 points, while the Hokie women tied for 35th with six points. Oregon won the men’s team competition, earning 54 points and the Tennessee women racked up 42 points to claim the women’s team championship.
Junior Kristi Castlin sprinted an 8.07 to achieve third place in the 60-meter hurdles and her third All-America honor in the event in her career. The Douglasville, Ga., native ran the second-fastest time in the prelims of the event on Friday to qualify for the finals. With the All-American performance, Castlin earned her fourth All-America honor overall and tallied six points for the Hokie women’s team score.
On the men’s side, sophomore Marcel Lomnicky, who joined the squad in January, secured All-America recognition, finishing eighth in the weight throw. In only his third competition of the season, Lomnicky recorded a career-best toss of 68-10.50 as the only ACC thrower in the competition. The throw also ranks the Nitra, Slovakia native fourth among Tech’s all-timer performers in the event.
In women’s distance action, senior Natalie Sherbak capped off her indoor track career with a 10th-place, All-America showing in the mile run. Sherbak clocked a 4:41.40 in the finals of the mile run, after running the fifth-fastest time in the prelims yesterday. The Virginia Beach, Va., native was qualified to run in the 3,000-meters, but did not start.
Freshman Abby Schaffer concluded a stellar rookie indoor track campaign in the women’s pole vault. Schaffer finished 13th, clearing a height of 12-11.50 in her first NCAA Track and Field Championships. The Easton, Pa., native, who won the ACC title in the women’s pole vault two weeks ago, was the lone ACC competitor and one of only four freshmen to compete in the event.
Two Hokies notched All-America honors last night in the men’s pole vault. Junior Yavgeniy Olhovsky and sophomore Hunter Hall finished second and tied for seventh, respectively, in the event. Olhovsky cleared 17-10.50 en route to his third All-America accolade, while Hall vaulted 17-02.75 to receive All-American status for the first time in his collegiate career, and push the total number of Tech All-Americans to four.
“I felt overall we had a very good meet,” Tech Director of Track and Field Dave Cianelli said. “We had Yavgeniy and Hunter earn All-Americas in the vault. Obviously with Hunter’s first national meet I thought he did a great job and Marcel [Lomnicky] did an excellent job with it being his first weight. Natalie [Sherbak] as well, making the final of the mile, and Kristi [Castlin] did a great job. Most of the people, even the ones at the national meet, were dealing with injuries, but that is part of the sport. For the people that we had here I thought we had a very good meet.”
The NCAA Championships end a strong indoor season for the Hokies, as Tech broke eight school records throughout the campaign. The Hokies will begin the 2009 outdoor track and field season on Saturday at the Miami Invitational in Coral Gables, Fla. Results will be available on hokiesports.com following the meet.
Results
Women
60-meter hurdles – 1, Tiffany Ofili, Michigan, 8.00, 2, Celriece Law, Tennessee, 8.04, 3, Kristi Castlin, Virginia Tech, 8.07, 4, Aleesha Barber, Penn State, 8.20, 5, Tiki James, UCF, 8.20
Men
Weight Throw – 1, Jason Lewis, Arizona State, 75-00.75, 2, Steffen Nerdal, Memphis, 73-11.50, 3, Chris Rohr, Missouri, 73-04.50, 4, Walter Henning, LSU, 73-04.50, 5, Simon Wardhaugh, Boise State, 71-00.50, 6, Boldizsar Kocsor, UCLA, 70-05.25, 7, Jake Shanklin, Wyoming, 69-05.50, 8, Marcel Lomnicky, Virginia Tech, 68-10