Hokie ClubCORAL GABLES, Fla. – The Virginia Tech women’s track and field squad sits in second place with 40 points, while the men’s squad stands in sixth with 33 points at the end of the second day of the ACC Outdoor Championships in Coral Gables, Fla., on Friday.
The Tech women are 12 points behind leader North Carolina with several events still to go on Saturday. Florida State leads the men’s team race with 63 points, followed by Virginia with 49, Duke with 40, North Carolina with 38 and Georgia Tech rounding out the top five with 36 points.
After finishing third in the women’s hammer throw yesterday, senior Brittany Pryor came back on Friday with a strong runner-up effort in the women’s shot put. The Niagara Falls, N.Y., native launched a season-best 52-04.50 throw, less than five inches off the winner Lawanda Henry of NC State’s mark. Junior Erika Schroeder added a seventh-place finish in the event with a 47-01.75 toss. Pryor improved her regional mark, while Schroeder regionally qualified in her first time competing in the event this outdoor season.
Junior Igor Misljenovic threw a career-best 58-10.75 en route to a fourth-place finish in the men’s shot put. The Zagreb, Croatia native, already regionally qualified in the event, achieved his best placing in an ACC shot put competition. Misljenovic finished fifth in the shot put at the ACC indoor meet in February, and sixth in the shot put at 2008’s outdoor conference meet. The fourth-place effort added five points to the Hokie men’s team score.
The Hokies tallied four team points for the women’s squad, and seven for the men’s team in the last races of the day, the women’s and men’s 3,000-meter steeplechases. Senior Erin Reddan regionally qualified in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, placing fifth with at time of 10:42.20. On the men’s side, freshman Jason Cusack and senior Phillip Padilla took fifth and sixth, respectively. Cusack ran a time of 9:15.68, while Padilla earned a time of 9:17.74.
In hurdles action, juniors Kristi Castlin and Queen Harrison, as well as freshman Leslie Aririguzo, all earned trips to the finals of the race on Saturday. Castlin and Harrison finished one-two in the prelims with times of 12.96 and 12.98, respectively, while Aririguzo clocked 13.63 to advance to the finals. Two more Hokie hurdlers advanced in the men’s 110-meter hurdles, as sophomore Ebenezer Amegashie posted the second-best time in the prelims of 14.17, and freshman Keare Smith ran the fifth-fastest time, clocking 14.32, to proceed to the finals in the event.
Harrison also moved onto Saturday’s finals in the 400-meter hurdles, as did fellow junior Asia Washington. The duo ran the top two times in the race, with Washington earning a time of 58.66, and Harrison securing a clocking of 58.68. Amegashie also will run in the 400-meter finals for the men’s team, after running a 53.49 in the prelims of the race.
Several freshmen shined in the sprints events. Freshman Nick Vaughn qualified for the finals in the men’s 400-meter dash with the sixth-best time in the prelims of 47.65. In the men’s 100-meters, freshman Keith Ricks continued his stellar rookie outdoor campaign. Already regionally qualified, the Suffolk, Va., native claimed a spot in tomorrow’s finals, finishing in 10.44, the second-fastest time in the prelims. Ricks and Vaughn both came back later in the day to earn a trip to the finals in the 200-meter dash as well. Ricks regionally qualified with the fifth-best time of 21.02. Vaughn crossed the finish line in 21.42.
Two other freshmen shined in the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Newcomers Ogechi Nwaneri and Aunye Boone advanced to the finals in the women’s 100-meter dash, clocking times of 11.66 and 11.71, respectively. Both times ensure regional bids for Nwaneri and Boone. The duo also qualified for the finals in the 200-meter dash. Boone regionally qualified again in the 200-meters with a time of 23.61, while Nwaneri clocked a 23.85.
Success continued to come for the Hokies in distance action. Sophomores Nick McLaughlin, Ryan Witt and freshman Eric Hoepker all advanced to the men’s 800-meter finals. McLaughlin and Hoepker ran a 1:51.28 and 1:51.81, respectively, and Witt, who captured the indoor ACC 800-meter title in February, clocked a 1:53.98.
Tech qualified five athletes in the 1,500-meter runs, three on the men’s side and two on the women’s. Senior Jessica Fanning and freshman Lauren Lemieux advanced to the finals of the women’s race with times of 4:30.38 and 4:35.17, respectively. In the men’s race, senior Billy Berlin ran the fastest time in the preliminaries, clocking a 3:51.36 to make it to the finals. Freshman Michael Hammond clocked a 3:51.65 to advance, while sophomore Eddie Judge will compete in tomorrow’s finals after notching a time of 3:58.49 in the prelims.
Four Tech athletes captured individual titles yesterday. Sophomore Marcel Lomnicky took first in the men’s hammer throw with a toss of 232-01, while freshman Matthias Treff placed first in the men’s javelin, throwing 239-10. On the women’s side, sophomore Dorotea Habazin earned the women’s hammer throw title for the second consecutive year, launching a 209-02, and senior Natalie Sherbak repeated as the women’s 10,000-meter ACC champion, crossing the line in 35:48.42.
ACC meet action will wrap up on Saturday. The first events begin tomorrow at 1 p.m., with the women’s discus, triple jump and pole vault. Results will be available on hokiesports.com following the conclusion of the meet.
Finals Results
Women
Shot Put – 1, Lawanda Henry, NC State, 52-10, 2, Brittany Pryor, Virginia Tech, 52-04.50, 3, Allyn Laughlin, Florida State, 52-01.00, 4, Rebecca Obrien, North Carolina, 50-08.75, 5, Kamorean Hayes, Florida State, 48-11.50, 6, Bailey Wagner, Georgia Tech, 48-02, 7, Erika Schroeder, Virginia Tech, 47-01.75, 8, Maureen Laffan, Virginia, 46-00.
3,000-meter steeplechase – 1, Lydia Willemse, Florida State, 10:12.65, 2, Addie Bracy, North Carolina, 10:19.21, 3, Patricia Loughlin, Duke, 10:23.74, 4, Stephanie Garcia, Virginia, 10:28.38, 5, Erin Reddan, Virginia Tech, 10:42.20, 6, Amanda Quick, Florida State, 10:43.70, 7, Samantha Stafford, Virginia, 10:47.75, 8, Kristen Reed, Maryland, 10:53.88.
Men
Shot Put – 1, Steve Marcelle, Georgia Tech, 60-06.75, 2, Michael Putman, Florida State, 60-02.50, 3, Andrew Powlen, Georgia Tech, 59-04.75, 4, Igor Misljenovic, Virginia Tech, 58-10.75, 5, Jason Jones, NC State, 57-01.50, 6, Yemi Ayeni, Virginia, 56-09.25, 7, Michael Barbas, Duke, 54-07.50, 8, Kwabena Keene, North Carolina, 54-02.75.
3,000-meter steeplechase – 1, Ryan McDermott, Duke, 8:56.45, 2, Steve Finley, Virginia, 8:59.74, 3, Trey Andrews, Florida State, 9:06.75, 4, Andrew Mearns, Virginia, 9:09.71, 5, Jason Cusack Virginia Tech, 9:15.68, 6, Phillip Padilla, Virginia Tech, 9:17.74, 7, Jeremy Cramer, North Carolina, 9:23.84, 8, Will Smith, Duke, 9:27.05.
Team Standings
Women
1) North Carolina 52 2) Virginia Tech 40
3) Florida State 39 4) Virginia 375) NC State 32.50 6) Clemson 317) Georgia Tech 28.50 8) Maryland 209) Miami 16 10) Duke 1211) Wake Forest 2 12) Boston College 1
Men
1) Florida State 63 2) Virginia 493) Duke 40 4) North Carolina 385) Georgia Tech 36 6) Virginia Tech 33
7) Wake Forest 16 8) Clemson 119) Maryland 8 10) NC State 710) Miami 712) Boston College 3