Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech track & field team travels to Boston to compete at the 2016 Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships beginning on Thursday through Saturday at the Reggie Lewis Center.
The ACC and ESPN will provide three hours of live competition of the final two days of the championships. Coverage will begin Friday at 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. and continue Saturday at 1 p.m. until the final event at 4 p.m. Admission is free to the 2016 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships.
The 11th-ranked men’s team won the 2015 ACC Indoor Championships, topping runner-up Florida State by 14.5 points. The squad collected four individual ACC Champions in 2015: Thomas Curtin (3,000 meters), Patrick Joseph (mile), Chris Uhle (pole vault), and Manuel Ziegler (triple jump). On the women’s side, Hanna Green is the sole ACC Champion returning to the 2016 meet.
Already this season, the Hokies have set several personal best marks as well as three new program records. Torben Laidig reset the Tech and ACC pole vault record in back-to-back meets to the 5.62-meter (18-5.25) mark. In the 5,000 meters, Curtin reset his previous school record from 2015 to 13:37.10 at the Iowa State Classic earlier this month. At the same meet, Shannon Morton broke the mile record, previously set in 2009, recording a 4:38.39 mile.
The Hokies will compete against 14 women’s teams and 13 men’s teams. Individual first through third place finishes will earn first team All-ACC honors while fourth through sixth will earn second team honors. In the relay events, first place will be first team All-ACC with second and third earning second team honors.
Competition begins Thursday and Friday at 11am and Saturday at noon. The 2016 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships will conclude on Saturday at 4:20 p.m. with an awards ceremony.
Sprints/Hurdles: To begin the sprints, Ama-Selina Tchume will be the lone Hokie competing in the 60-meter dash, after setting a personal best time of 7.75 at the Virginia Tech Challenge last weekend. Nora McKiver and Courtney Blanden, in addition to Tchume, will participate in the 200-meter sprint. McKiver leads the group with a 24.14 personal best time, ranking eighth in the all-time performance list. Blanden and Kacia Vines round out the sprinters with the 400 meters where Blanden leads with a time of 55.65 set at the VT Challenge. In addition to McKiver, Shanel Burr and Jada Gundran are slated to compete in the 60-meter hurdles with McKiver’s time of 8.45 leading the group.
On the men’s side, both Darius Watkins and Dante Price will compete in the 60-meter dash and 200-meter sprint. Watkins’ 6.82-second dash set at the Virginia Tech Invitational ranks fifth in the program history while the pair each own 21.72 times in the 200 meters. Corey Hackett-Greene and Chester Hebden will sprint the 400 meters with Hackett-Greene’s best time of 49.13 from the Samford Invite leading the pair. Aaron Simpson will be the lone Hokie competing in the 60-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 8.18 set at the Bob Pollock Invitational.
Distance: Reigning ACC Champion Hanna Green will lead the Hokies in the 800 meters after posting a time of 2:04.15 at the “Doc Hale” Elite Meet. Rachel Pocratsky, Tessa Riley, and Shannon Quinn will join Green in the 800-meter run. Tech record holder Shannon Morton, in addition to Katie Kennedy and Lauren Berman, will run the mile for the Hokies. Morton set the school record at the Iowa State Classic with a time of 4:39.38. Abigail Motely will be the lone representative in the 5,000-meter run while Berman will join her in the 3,000 meters.
For the No. 11 men’s team, Kevin Cianfarini and Neil Gourley will run the 800 meters with Cianfarini’s time of 1:52.29 leading the pair. Gourley ran consecutive sub-four minute miles at the Elite Meet and Iowa State Classic. Darren Barlow will lead the group of milers with a 4:06.19 time set at the VT Challenge. ACC Champion Thomas Curtin both groups of eight 3,000-meter runners and two 5,000-meter runners. Curtin ran a 7:55.73 time in the 3,000 meters and 13:37.10 in the 5,000 meters, setting the new Virginia Tech record to be named ACC track performer of the week.
Pole Vault: Three-time ACC field performer of the week, Torben Laidig leads the Hokies pole vaulters to rank second in the nation. His 5.62-meter (18-5.25) pole vault leads Tech’s group of six vaulters competing this weekend. Deakin Volz ranks sixth in the nation with his 5.46-meter (17-11) clearance. Erica Hjerpe holds the top spot on the women’s team with her pole vault of 4.02 meters (13-2.25) to rank eighth in program history. Hannah Meador ranks second of the five competitors for Virginia Tech with her vault of 3.97 meters (13-0.25), placing 10th in the Virginia Tech record book.
Jumps: Following a personal best mark at the VT Challenge, James Carver will represent the Hokies in the high jump with a mark of 1.98 meters (6-6). David Prince and Manuel Ziegler will both compete in the long jump while Ziegler will also participate in the triple jump. Prince holds a best mark of 7.28 meters (23-10.75) while Ziegler set the triple jump record of 16.61 meters (54-6) to win the 2015 ACC Championships.
Throws: Marek Barta and Tomas Kruzliak will comprise the Hokies’ throwers with Barta’s shot put and Kruzliak’z weight throw. Barta placed third at the VT Challenge last weekend with a seaon best time of 16.88 meters (55-4.75). Kruzliaks’ personal best throw occurred at the 2015 Hokie Invite with a 21.42-meter (70-3.5) mark.
Multis: Freshmen Emily Miller and Mackenzie Muldoon will make up the multis for Virginia Tech. In the pentathlon, Miller placed fourth earlier this season at the VT Elite Meet while also competing in the five events throughout this season. Muldoon will compete in the heptathlon for the first time this season. However, he has competed in each of the seven events, highlighted by his second place finish in the high jump at the VT Elite Meet.
Up Next: Following the 2016 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Hokies will have one week off from competition prior to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama on March 11 and 12.