Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - After eight weeks of indoor competition, five Hokies have qualified for the NCAA’s 2016 Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama this weekend. ESPN3 will carry the meet live beginning at 6:25 p.m. on Friday and 4:45 p.m. on Saturday.
Tech will have three distance runners and two pole vaulters competing on Friday afternoon. Friday’s top runners will compete in finals on Saturday.
“This group of athletes will perform really well this weekend,” director of track & field and cross country Dave Cianelli said. “They’re looking forward to going up against the best in the country. It’s a special meet because it’s so difficult to get to. These athletes are among the top 16 in the nation to get to the meet. To be part of it, they have to be at a very high level. I feel really good about how these athletes are going to perform.”
Hanna Green and Shannon Morton will represent the women’s team in the 800 meters and mile, respectively. Two-time indoor ACC champion Green holds a season best time of 2:04.15 from the Virginia Tech “Doc Hale” Elite Meet while her personal best time is 2:03:18 from the 2015 NCAA Championships. Green ranks 13th in the nation heading to the Championships this weekend.
Morton reset the Virginia Tech program record in the mile twice this season to a 4:35.74 mark. The senior ran a 4:39.38 mile at the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 13 before cutting her time to rank sixth in the nation at the Boston University “Last Chance” Meet after the ACC Championships on Feb. 28.
Thomas Curtin, Torben Laidig, and Deakin Volz will compete for the Hokies’ men’s team this weekend. Curtin holds the second-best time in the country with his 13:37.10 finish in the 5,000 meters at the Iowa State Classic, setting a new personal and Virginia Tech record.
Pole vaulters Laidig and Volz rank second and eighth in the nation, respectively. Laidig reset the program and ACC record at two meets this season to 5.62 meters (18-5.25) at the Virginia Tech “Doc Hale” Elite Meet on Feb. 6. Volz cleared the qualifying mark at the first meet of the season with a 5.46-meter (17-11) height.
“All of the athletes competing this weekend have had very consistent seasons so far,” Cianelli said. “They’re all performing at a high level going into the meet.”
Each of the running events have heats on Friday afternoon with the top eight qualifiers competing in finals on Saturday. The pole vaulters have finals only on Friday evening.”
A re-air of the championship is scheduled for this Sunday March 13 at 7 p.m. on ESPN2, and again on Wednesday, March 23, at 10 p.m. on ESPNU.
The NCAA Championships are the final event of the 2016 indoor season before transitioning to outdoors next week at the Hurricane Invitational in Miami, Florida.