Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech track and field athletes captured four titles to highlight the Liberty Twilight on Thursday night in Lynchburg, Va.
Freshman Abby Schaffer matched her season best in the women’s pole vault en route to a first-place finish. Schaffer vaulted a 12-07.50 equaling her effort from the Sea Ray Relays on April 11. Sophomore Lisa Birnbaum took second in the event with a height of 11-11.75.
Senior Brittany Pryor earned two victories in throwing events on the day. In the women’s hammer throw, Pryor launched a 184-03 to place first. The Niagara Falls, N.Y., native came back later to win the women’s shot put. Pryor tossed a 46-02.75 in the effort.
The final Hokie victory of the meet came via freshman Lauren Lemieux in the women’s 800-meters. Lemieux raced a 2:14.20 in the event for her first victory in her outdoor career. In other distance action, sophomore Jessica Trapeni clocked a personal-best 4:43.25 in the women’s 1,500-meters, crossing the line in second.
Several sprinters put together strong performances on the night. Junior Kristi Castlin ran a 13.01 for the fastest time in the preliminaries of the 100-meter hurdles, and did not compete in the finals of the event. Freshman Leslie Aririguzo finished second overall in the 100-meter hurdles with a career-best time of 13.55, after running the third-fastest time in the prelims.
On the men’s side, freshman Keare Smith tied for the fastest time in the prelims of the 110-meter hurdles, and finished second in the finals. Smith ran a regional-qualifying time of 14.26 in the runner-up effort.
Two other Hokie freshmen secured runner-up performances on the night. Aunye Boone ran an 11.74 in the women’s 100-meter dash, while Hasheem Halim leaped a 49-01.75 in the men’s triple jump.
Tech will take Friday off before splitting up on Saturday. Eight distance runners will head to Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational, while the rest of the Hokie squads will travel to High Point, N.C., for the High Point Vertklasse Meet. Results will be available on hokiesports.com following the conclusions of the meets.