Hokies place five on ACC Men's Track and Field All-Academic team

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Five Virginia Tech men’s track and field athletes achieved All-ACC Academic honors the conference announced on Wednesday. Graduate student Matej Muza, sophomores Hasheem Halim, Michael Hammond, Marcel Lomnicky and freshman Alexander Ziegler all earned the conference’s academic accolade.

Muza claimed All-ACC academic status for the third time in his career. A geography major, the Zagreb, Croatia, native received an ACC postgraduate scholarship and the Thacker Award earlier this season. Muza threw a season-best mark of 65-06 in the weight throw at the VT Challenge during the indoor season and scored points for the Hokies with a sixth-place finish in the event at the ACC Indoor Championships.

Halim capped his outstanding indoor season with his second-career ACC All-Academic accolade. Halim set the school record in the triple jump en route to a runner-up finish at the indoor conference meet. The Lilburn, Ga., native leaped 52-08.25 to break the Tech standard.

Two ACC indoor champions also collected the academic honor. Hammond captured the men’s mile conference crown, and Ziegler won the men’s weight throw title. Both garnered All-ACC Academic recognition for the first time in their careers.

Lomnicky rounds out the Hokie all-academic honorees. The Nitra, Slovakia, native currently owns the top hammer throw mark in the nation with a school and ACC-record mark of 245-06, which he tossed at the Florida Relays on April 2. The throw bested two-time NCAA hammer throw champion Spyridon Jullien’s school and league standard.

Selections for the All-ACC Academic team must have earned a 3.0 GPA during the fall semester and for their careers, with selection based on athletic merit. The Hokies will travel to Clemson, S.C. for the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday-Saturday. Results will be available on hokiesports.com.