Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech track and field teams will conclude its regular season with a pair of qualifying meets on Wednesday and Thursday.
The Hokie sprinters will travel to Lynchburg, Virginia, for the Liberty Twilight meet on Wednesday, while the distance runners and pole vaulters remain in Blacksburg for the Hokie Twilight meet held at the Johnson-Miller Track Complex Thursday evening.
The running events at the Liberty Twilight meet will commence at 2 p.m., as the Hokies are scheduled to compete in both the men’s and women’s 200- and 400-meter dashes as well as the men’s and women’s 400-meter hurdles. The Hokie men also will participate in the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay events. Additionally, junior Shanel Burr will compete in the women’s 100 hurdles, while a trio of male sprinters are slated to participate in the 100-meter dash.
A total of 33 different universities are entered into Wednesday’s competition along with some very talented post-collegiate athletes. For more information on the Liberty Twilight click HERE.
Thursday’s Hokie Twilight meet will kick off with the men’s and women’s pole vault competition at 3:30 p.m.
In its last weekend of competition, the Tech pole vaulters captured three top-six finishes at the Longhorn Invitational held in Austin, Texas. Junior Olivia Privitera recorded a career-best vault of 4.00 meters (13 ft., 1.5 in.) to place second in her section, while sophomore Deakin Volz and senior Brad Johnson finished fifth and sixth, respectively, on the men’s side.
Tech also has a contingent of sprinters and distance runners competing throughout the evening, as the running events are slated to begin 5 p.m.
Most recently, the men’s 4x800-meter relay team made history at the Penn Relays, as the quartet of Drew Piazza, Neil Gourley, Patrick Joseph and Vincent Ciattei won the 4x800 relay in the College Men’s Championship of America Invitational division. The group set a school record in winning with a time of 7 minutes, 13.75 seconds, besting the previous school mark by 7.53 seconds. The title marked the Hokies’ first at the Penn Relays in school history. Senior Hanna Green also came in second in the Olympic Development women’s mile with a school-record time of 4:32.50.
Additionally, several athletes competed at the Virginia Grand Prix in Charlottesville, Virginia. Both freshman Laurie Barton (800) and junior Abigail Motley (5,000) notched wins at the Virginia Grand Prix.
Looking ahead, the Hokies will prep for the 2017 ACC Outdoor Championships set for May 12-14 on Georgia Tech’s campus in Atlanta, Georgia.
Fans can follow all the action during each meet of the 2017 outdoor season by following the squad on Twitter and Instagram.