Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. -- In its second home competition of the season, Virginia Tech came out strong winning two events with numerous other Hokies in the top spots.
Friday started with the women’s 3,000 meters, where Tech athletes swept the top four spots in the second heat. The pack was led by Samantha Dow, who made a strong push on the last lap to seperate herself to a 10:13.70 finish, good for ninth place overall. On the men’s side, Tech again swept the top spots in the final heat, with Jason Cusack leading an eight-man pack, pacing the group at 8:37.83, finishing 14th overall. Joesph Murray, competing unattached, was the Hokies’ highest finisher at 12th (8:32.90).
In the 60-meter hurdles, Ebenezer Amegashie ran 8.11 in the preliminaries, qualifying for the finals where he placed sixth with a personal-best 8.03. Funmi Alabi finshed seventh in the women’s 60-meter dash finals (7.50) after running 7.45 in the preliminaries. In the men’s 60-meter dash, Keith Ricks advanced to the finals with a 6.79 preliminary time, eventually taking fifth (6.74).
Tech earned its first victory of the meet with Nick McLaughlin winning the title in the 600 meters at 1:20.57. Kieran Lee and Jeff Miller finished less than two tenths of a second apart, with Lee taking third at 1:20.83 and Miller fourth at 1:20.98. In the 300 meters, the final running event of the day, Tech’s three women’s competitors all finished in the top ten, with Zakiya Tyson (39.04), Asia Washington (39.34) and Yvonne Amegashie (39.75) earning fourth, sixth and 10th place finishes, respectively.
In Friday’s field events, Leigh Allin earned Tech’s second title of the day, vaulting a personal-best 12-1.75 (3.70m) in the unseeded pole vault. The Hokies’ school record-holder in the indoor triple jump, Hasheem Halim, took third in Friday’s triple jump contest at 50-6 (15.39m).
Two Rector Field House records also fell Friday. Former Indiana State standout Erica Moore, competing unattached, established a new record in the women’s 600 meters finishing at 1:28.02. The previous record of 1:28.87 was set by Nike runner Hazel Clark last season. The women’s 3,200-meter relay squad from Duke shattered a Field House record that had stood for ten years, winning at 8:42.54 which beats the previous record of 8:51.92 set by Pittsburgh in 2001.
The Hokie Invitational resumes tomorrow, starting with field events beginning at 10 a.m. with the women’s high jump and running events beginning at 11 a.m. with the women’s 5,000 meters.