Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech men’s track and field squad finished second in the team standings at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships in the Rector Field House, in Blacksburg, Va., on Saturday, marking the men’s squad’s best finish since leaving the Atlantic 10 conference. The Tech men’s staggering point total of 98.50 points, increased the squad’s total 68.50 points from last season. The Hokie women placed fourth overall as a team with 83.33 points.
"It was a phenomenal meet from top to bottom," Tech Director of Track and Field Dave Cianelli said. "Nine individual ACC champions and the men getting second is incredible. The women, considering who we had healthy, did the best they could do. We were just too nicked up with injuries and didn't have the depth. When we get to outdoors, hopefully we will be full strength and make another run at an ACC title."
The Hokie men’s distance runners led the men’s squad with two ACC champions. Senior Billy Berlin, participating in his final ACC indoor meet, edged Florida State’s Dan Roberts for the victory. Roberts and Berlin stayed neck and neck down the stretch, but Berlin held the Seminole off by a hundredth of a second, running 4:03.69. The ACC crown is Berlin’s first, after All-ACC performances in the 1,500-meters in 2008 conference outdoor meet and the 800-meters at the 2007 conference indoor meet.
“I had to beat him. I’ve had too many second places, I really wanted to win,” Berlin said. “I gave it all I had and didn’t let up at all. All I wanted to do was win, I have been thinking about it for weeks. It feels phenomenal, it is everything I thought it would be. It brought my parents to tears and almost brought me to tears.”
Sophomore Ryan Witt followed up Berlin’s exciting race with another ACC championship in the 800-meter run. The Winchester, Va., native clocked a career-best 1:50.74 to defeat North Carolina’s Adam Smith. Witt, in second entering the final lap, passed Smith with 200 meters to go and extended his lead all the way to the finish.
The women’s squad produced three champions of their own in juniors Asia Washington, Kristi Castlin and freshman Abby Schaffer. Castlin started the string of champions off with a strong performance in the 60-meter hurdles. The Douglasville, Ga., native earned a season-best 8.03 en route to her first 60-meter hurdles title.
“It feels really good,” Castlin said. “Throughout the season, and the meets in the past that we’ve had, I’ve been trying to work on technique, form, different things like that. I really haven’t been concentrating on just running fast. This weekend, I just let everything I learned throughout the season, I just let it all hang out and I’m just having fun.”
Junior Asia Washington claimed the Hokie women’s second crown on the day in the 400-meter dash, her first ACC 400-meter championship. Washington ran a personal-best 54.18 in only her third 400-meter competition of the year to win the race. The Piscataway, N.J., native also provisionally qualified in the event. Teammate senior Shakirra Pinnock finished eighth in the event with a time of 56.40.
“Last year I didn’t focus on the 400-meters,” Washington said. “I went from the 800-meters down to the 400, this year. This year, with [Tech sprints coach Manny Daux], I worked more on speed. A combination of speed and endurance has helped me out this year.”
Competing in her first ACC Championship meet, freshman Abby Schaffer stepped up with a first-place effort in the women’s pole vault. The Easton, Pa., native vaulted 13-05.25 to capture the gold medal. Sophomore Kelly Phillips cleared her season-best of 13-01.50 to tie for second and provisionally qualify in the event. Combined the duo added 16.33 points to the team’s total.
Several other Hokies competed well on the final day of competition, including several freshman. On the men’s side, freshman Hasheem Halim jumped 49-11.75 for third place in the long jump, an impressive showing for a newcomer competing in his first ACC meet. Freshmen Nick Vaughn and Keith Ricks took fifth and sixth, respectively in the 200-meter dash. Vaughn earned a time of 21.64, while Ricks crossed the line a hundredth of a second later at 21.65. Sophomore Igor Misljenovic placed fifth with a toss of 56-05.75 in the men’s shot put, just off his personal-best throw.
The men’s distance squad continued the scoring for the team with second and fourth-place finishes in the 3,000-meter run. Junior Paul LaPenna placed fourth with a time of 8:14.82, a career-best, while freshman Will Mulherin clocked an 8:17.97 for seventh. The two added seven points to the team total.
After winning the 5,000-meters on Friday, senior Natalie Sherbak capped her indoor ACC career with a runner-up performance in the 3,000-meters on Saturday. The Virginia Beach, Va., native ran 9:29.61 in the race for one, final All-ACC indoor effort.
Freshman Ogechi Nwaneri completed an outstanding first ACC meet on Saturday. Nwaneri earned All-ACC honors by finishing third in the women’s 60-meter dash, clocking a time of 7.43, and came back to run a personal record 24.34 in the women’s 200-meters for eighth place.
In women’s field action, Erika Schroeder tossed a 47-09 for fifth place in the women’s shot put to add four points to the team tally. The fifth-place showing, bettered last year’s eighth-place performance in the same event.
The 4x400-meter relay squads capped the ACC Championships for the Hokies. The women’s squad, consisting of Washington, Castlin, Pinnock and freshman Aunye Boone ran a 3:41.35 for third place in the event. The men’s team, composed of Vaughn, Ricks, sophomore Ebenezer Amegashie and sophomore Nobel Iyebote took sixth with a time of 3:16.63.
The Florida State men took the team title with 125 points, while the Seminole women won the team championship with 132 points, followed by North Carolina with 104 points and Clemson with 85 points in second and third, respectively.
The Hokies will host one final home meet, with the Virginia Tech Last Chance on March 7. The meet will also be the final one for Tech before the NCAA Championships on March 13-14 in College Station, Texas. Results will be available on hokiesports.com following the conclusion of the meet.
Women’s Results
Shot Put
(1) Kamorean Hayes, Florida State, 52-02.00; (2) Bailey Wagner, Georgia Tech, 49-10.00; (3) Rebecca Obrien, North Carolina, 49-05.75, (4) Lawanda Henry, NC State, 49-04.50 (5) Erika Shroeder, Virginia Tech, 47-09.00, (6) Alexa Manning, Virginia, 45-06.25
60 Meter Hurdles
(1) Kristi Castlin, Virginia Tech, 8.03 (ties ACC Meet Record); (2) Teona Rodgers, Florida State, 8.07; (3) Vanneisha Ivy, North Carolina, 8.24
400 Meter Dash
(1) Asia Washington, Virginia Tech, 54.18; (2) Elizabeth Mott, North Carolina, 54.62; (3) Christine Johnson, North Carolina, 55.02;
60 Meter Dash
(1) Murielle Ahoure, Miami, 7.22; (2) Danielle Jeffery, Florida State, 7.38; (3) Ogechi Nwaneri, Virginia Tech, 7.43; (4) Kristy Whyte, Miami, 7.43;
200 Meter Dash
(1) Murielle Ahoure, Miami, 23.16 (ACC Record); (2) Teona Rodgers, Florida State, 23.42; (3) Brittany St. Louis, Florida State, 23.69; (4) Krysty Whyte, Miami, 23.88; (5) Kristine Scott, Clemson, 23.96; (6) Vanneisha Ivy, North Carolina, 23.97; (7) Candyce Mcgrone, Florida State, 24.17; (8) Ogechi Nwaneri, Virginia Tech, 24.34
Pole Vault
(1) Abby Schaffer, Virginia Tech, 13-05.25; (t2) Amy Fryt, Duke, 13-01.25; (t2) Joanna Wright, Georgia Tech, 13-01.50, (t2) Kelly Phillips, Virginia Tech, 13-01.50
3,000 Meter Run
(1) Brie Felnagle, North Carolina, 9:25.97, 9:25.97; (2) Natalie Sherbak, Virginia Tech, 9:29.61; (3) Lydia Willemse, Florida State, 9:32.24
4x400 Meter Relay
(1) North Carolina, 3:38.21; (2) Miami, 3:39.54; (3) Virginia Tech, 3:41.35; (4) Florida State, 3:42.78
Women - Team Rankings - Final Standings
1) Florida State 132 2) North Carolina 104 3) Clemson 854) Virginia Tech 83.33
5) Miami 616) NC State 47 7) Georgia Tech 37.338) Virginia 29 9) Duke 26.3310) Wake Forest 24 11) Boston College 2312) Maryland 10
Men’s Results
1 Mile Run
(1) Billy Berlin, Virginia Tech, 4:03:69; (2) Dan Roberts, Florida State, 4:03.70;(3) Sintayehu Taye, Virginia, 4:04.04
800 Meter Run
(1) Ryan Witt, Virginia Tech, 1:50.74; (2) Adam Smith, North Carolina, 1:52.33; (3) Andrew Lobb, Virginia, 1:52.69
200 Meter Dash
(1) Charles Clark, Florida State, 21.29; (2) Maurice Mitchell, Florida State, 21.38; (3) Travis Swaggard, Clemson, 21.48; (4) Brandon Byram, Florida State, 21.56; (5) Nick Vaughn, Virginia Tech, 21.64; (6) Keith Ricks, Virginia Tech, 21.65; (7) Charles Cox, North Carolina, 21.89
Shot Put
(1) Steve Marcelle, Georgia Tech, 63-05; (2) Yemi Ayeni, Virginia, 61-04.25; (3) Andrew Powlen, Georgia Tech, 58-09.25; (4) Jason Jones, NC State, 57-07.75; (5) Igor Misljenovic, Virginia Tech, 56-05.75
Triple Jump
(1) Austin Davis, North Carolina, 53-05.75; (2) Mikese Morse, Miami, 50-04.50; (3) Hasheem Halim, Virginia Tech, 49-11.75
3,000 Meter Run
(1) Robert Moldovan, NC State, 8:11.89; (2) John Martinez, NC State, 8:12.31; (3) Ryan Collins, Virginia, 8:13.00; (4) Paul LaPenna, Virginia Tech, 8:14.82; (5) Emil Heineking, Virginia, 8:15.09; (6) Trey Miller, Virginia, 8:16.50; (7) William Mulherin, Virginia Tech, 8:17.97; (8) Bo Waggoner, Duke, 8:18.02
4x400 Meter Relay
(1) Wake Forest, 3:12.01; (2) Florida State, 3:12.12; (3) Virginia, 3:13.12; (4) Georgia Tech, 3:13.15; (5) North Carolina, 3:16.37; (6) Virginia Tech, 3:16.63
Men - Team Rankings - Final Standings
1) Florida State 1252) Virginia Tech 98.50
3) Virginia 944) North Carolina 61.505) Clemson 576) NC State 49 7) Wake Forest 468) Georgia Tech 43 9) Miami 31 10) Duke 28 11) Maryland 23 12) Boston College 3