Hokie ClubCLEMSON, S.C. – The Virginia Tech men’s track and field squad battled to the very end and took second overall as a team with 130 points, and the women’s team placed sixth with 56 points at the ACC Outdoor Championships in Clemson, S.C., on Saturday.
“Just like indoors, we battled down to the last event,” Tech Director of Track and Field Dave Cianelli said. “The guys had a great day and we kept battling. With us being close and a lot of guys returning and a great recruiting class coming in, it shows we are right there. All in all, it was a great day.”
Sophomore Marcel Lomnicky and the men’s hammer throwers started the day off incredibly for Tech. Lomnicky repeated on his 2009 hammer throw championship with a 2010 title in the event. The Nitra, Slovakia, native tossed an ACC-meet record 235-07 in his final throw of the competition, though he locked the event up when he threw over 70 meters in his first throw of the day. The 235-07 mark bettered former Hokie Spyridon Jullien’s previous conference record of 233-07. Lomnicky already defeated Jullien’s school record earlier this season when he tossed 245-06 at the Florida Relays. He is also the first Hokie to win back-to-back hammer throw crowns since Jullien won three in a row from 2003-05.
Placing second in the hammer throw, senior Matej Muza tossed a mark of 215-06 in his final outdoor conference meet. Muza, who redshirted last year’s outdoor season, returned in a big way, matching his best effort in a conference meet with the runner-up showing. Freshmen Alexander Ziegler and Denis Mahmic placed fourth and seventh, respectively, in the event. The indoor ACC weight throw champion Zielger earned a mark of 207-06, while Mahmic threw a 191-09. Collectively, the men’s Hokie hammer throwers added 25 points to the team total.
The men’s field events continued to add points to the team score, as the pole vaulters poured on 19 points to the team total. Senior Yavgenjiy Olhovsky cleared 18-00.50 for his third ACC pole vault title, and his second-straight outdoor conference crown. Juniors Hunter Hall and Jared Jodon took third and sixth, respectively, in the event. Hall, who won the ACC indoor pole vault championship, vaulted 17-02.75, while Jodon cleared 16-10.75.
The Tech men collected a huge victory in the second-to-last race of the day, the 5,000-meters, as sophomore Will Mulherin notched a championship in the race. The Yorktown, Va., product crossed the line in 14:26.55, just edging runner-up finisher Adam Cunningham of North Carolina to win his second-consecutive 5,000-meter crown.
The men’s team continued its stellar meet in the first race of the day, as the quartet of sophomore Keare Smith, sophomore Keith Ricks, freshman David Wilson and junior Ebenezer Amegashie took second in the men’s 4x100-meter relay in school record fashion. The foursome combined for a time of 40.56, defeating the former Tech mark of 40.84, which Smith, former Hokie Nick Vaughn, Amegashie and Ricks set last season.
Including the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay, Ricks totaled 24 points for the men’s squad on Saturday, running in the 100- and 200-meters as well. After running in the relay, the Suffolk, Va., native came back to take second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.39. Ricks posted a time of 10.39 in the prelims of the event on Friday as well. In the 200-meter dash Ricks ran a 20.86 for third place. Amegashie also added a sixth-place showing later in the afternoon in the men’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 53.42. Tech’s 4x400-meter relay team capped the meet with a seventh-place effort. The quartet of Amegashie, freshman Tihut Degfae, Witt and Ricks finished in 3:14.92 and added two points to the team total.
Sophomore Michael Hammond, who won the men’s mile at the ACC Indoor Championships, fell just short of a 1,500-meter league title, placing second with a time of 4:00.02. Virginia’s Sintayehu Taye edged Hammond in a time of 3:59.96. In other distance action, juniors Ryan Witt and Nick McLaughlin took fifth and sixth in the men’s 800-meter run, respectively. Witt ran a 1:51.36, while McLaughlin clocked a 1:51.93.
Another ACC and school record would have fallen when senior Queen Harrison crossed the line in 12.44, winning the 100-meter hurdles ACC title, but the wind-aided time negated the records. Harrison’s time would have broken her own school record of 12.65, set earlier this season at the Florida Relays, and the ACC Meet standard of 12.74, set yesterday by Miami’s Ti’erra Brown. Senior Kristi Castlin posted a career-best time of 12.59 en route to a second-place finish in the event. The Douglasville, Ga., product’s time shatters her former personal record of 12.81. Castlin also finished eighth in the women’s 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 23.65.
“Queen’s double may be the best single-day double for an individual collegian,” Cianelli said.
Later in the day, Harrison continued her dominance in the meet, capturing the women’s 400-meter hurdles crown in another ACC meet record, breaking her own mark she set in 2008. The Richmond, Va., native clocked a 54.66 on Saturday, shattering her former standard of 55.16. Senior Asia Washington joined Harrison in the finals of the race with a fourth-place showing. The Piscataway, N.J., native timed in at 57.71.
Castlin, freshman Funmi Alabi, sophomore Aunye Boone and sophomore Ogechi Nwaneri came in third place with a time of 44.76 in the 4x100-meter relay. The women’s 4x400-meter relay rounded out Hokie competition at the meet with a runner-up finish. The unit, consisting of Harrison, Yvonne Amegashie, Washington and Boone combined for a time of 3:36.50.
In other field action, Wilson and sophomore Hasheem Halim tallied fourth and fifth places, respectively, in the men’s triple jump. Wilson, who placed fourth in the event at the indoor conference meet, set his career-long jump of 51-05.50, while Halim leaped 51-05. Junior Kelly Phillips took sixth in the women’s pole vault with a clearance of 12-05.50.
“On the women’s side, we just have to rebuild,” Cianelli said. “We have a great recruiting class coming in and a great core of athletes. So we just have to rebuild so we can challenge for a title.”
The Hokies will next participate in the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Pa., on April 23-24 and the Vertklasse Meet in High Point, N.C., on April 25. Results will be available on hokiesports.com.