Hokie ClubNEW ORLEANS, La. – Eight members of the Virginia Tech men’s track & field team have been named to the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division I All-Academic Track & Field Team. Sophomore thrower Alexander Ziegler (Dischingen, Germany) was named as the Outdoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year. He was joined on the All-Academic team by Jason Cusack, Hasheem Halim, Michael Hammond, Stephan Munz, Rene Stauss, Matthias Treff and Chris Walizer.
“Our program is honored to have been recognized by the USTFCCCA for our academic and athletic achievements this past track & field season,” said Virginia Tech Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Dave Cianelli. “In particular, Alexander Ziegler, who not only won a national title in the hammer throw, but was named Outdoor Field Scholar Athlete of the Year.”
Ziegler, a management major, is a four-time All-American. He won the hammer throw national title at the NCAA Outdoor Championship on his final toss, a season-best 238-6 (72.69m). Ziegler also finished runner-up at the ACC Championship and at the NCAA East Regional in the hammer. During the indoor season, Ziegler was NCAA runner-up in the weight throw and earned his second consecutive ACC weight throw title. He was also named to the ACC All-Academic Team for both indoor and outdoor track & field.
Cusack, a junior industrial design major from Griswold, Conn., qualified for the NCAA East Regional in the 3,000-meter steeplechase after setting a new school record in the event with his second-place finish at the ACC Outdoor Championship (8:47.29).
Halim, a junior architecture major from Lilburn, Ga., earned All-America honors in the outdoor triple jump, posting a career-best leap of 53-3.75 (16.25m) at the national meet to finish fourth. He also earned his first career ACC title in the triple jump. During the indoor season, Halim finished 15th at the NCAA Championship, earning second team All-America honors and was second in the triple jump at the ACC Indoor Championship.
Hammond is a junior economics major from Midlothian, Va. Outdoors, he qualified in the 1,500-meter run for the NCAA Championship where he finished 14th (3:49.45), earning second team All-America honors. Hammond then competed at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in the 1,500-meters and finished 13th. During the prelims, he ran a career-best 3:40.43. Indoors, Hammond was an All-American in the mile run, placing seventh. He automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the mile by setting a school record at the Alex Wilson Invite (3:58.41). He also won his second consecutive indoor ACC title in the mile run.
Munz, a sophomore sociology major from Goppingen, Germany, won the ACC Indoor pole vault title in his first ever competition for the Hokies (17-9, 5.41m). His mark ranks sixth all-time at Virginia Tech and met the NCAA qualifying standard.
Stauss, a sophomore sociology major from Winterlingen, Germany, placed fifth in the high jump (6-9.5, 2.07m) and sixth in the javelin (195-8, 59.65m) at the ACC Outdoor Championship. He set the school record in the indoor heptathlon with 5,282 points with a fourth place finish at the ACC Championship. He was also named to the All-ACC Academic Team during the outdoor season.
Treff is a junior engineering major from Burgthann, Germany. This past outdoor season, Treff set a new school and all-time ACC record in the javelin (255-6, 77.88m) as the runner-up at the NCAA Championship, earning his first career All-America honor. He also won his second career ACC javelin title (239-6, 73.01m) and was named to the ACC All-Academic Team.
Walizer, a senior finance major from Hershey, Pa., placed fourth in the mile run (4:08.67) at the Indoor ACC Championship and was named to the All-ACC Academic Team. He set new personal bests in the mile run (4:05.04) and the 800 meters (1:51.11) at the Virginia Tech Challenge.
Halim, Hammond and Ziegler were all repeat award winners from last season. A total of 420 student-athletes representing 153 institutions were named to the All-Academic team.
To qualify for the USTFCCCA All-Academic Track and Field Team, the student-athlete must have compiled a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 and have met either of the following athletic standards: for the indoor season, a student-athlete must have finished the regular season ranked in the national top 96 in an individual event or ranked in the national top 48 (collective listing) in a relay event on the official NCAA POP list provided by TFRRS.org; for the outdoor season, a student-athlete must have participated in any round of the NCAA Division I Championships (including preliminary rounds).
Scholar Athlete of the Year Awards are determined from among those who earned All-Academic status and placed highest in individual events at the most recent NCAA Championships. Those who earn multiple individual championship titles rank higher in the tie-breaking process, and cumulative GPA is weighed as the final tiebreaker to establish a winner. Separate awards are given to track athletes and field athletes for the indoor and outdoor seasons, resulting in four categories.
The women’s All-Academic individual honorees will be named tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 4. Those institutions given All-Academic Team status will be named on Wednesday, Aug. 10 (men) and Thursday, Aug. 11 (women).