Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG, Va. – The Hokies wrapped up their weekend at the Colonial Relays and the Florida Relays, highlighted by strong performances by the distance relays in Williamsburg, Va. and the sprint relays and field events in Gainesville, Fla.
All five relays in Williamsburg finished in the top three, including three winners. The men’s 4x8 team moved into the all-time rankings, as Nick McLaughlin, Ryan Witt, Tihut Degfae and Michael Hammond earned the win at 7:31.39 to move to fourth all-time at Tech. The men’s distance medley relay of Ryan Hagen, Eric Hoepker, Jeff Miller and Will Mulherin took the victory with a time of 9:57.78. The Hokies’ third relay winner of the day was the women’s distance medley relay, with Lauren Lemieux, Lauren Pinkston, Frances Dowd and Sammy Dow crossing the line in 11:41.93. The men’s 4x15 squad of Jason Cusack, Kieran Lee, Grant Pollock and Devin Cornwall took second in their event in 15:43.34, which ranks second all-time at Virginia Tech. The women’s 4x15 squad of Courtney Dobbs, Jessica Trapeni, Taylor Crosson and Madalyn Nuckols earned a third-place finish in 18:53.07. Matthew Satterwhite was Tech’s only individual performer on Saturday, placing fifth in the 3,000 meters (8:39.42).
In Gainesville, the Hokies placed three student-athletes in the top ten in the men’s pole vault. Hunter Hall (17-3.5, 5.27m) and Jared Jodon (16-11.5, 5.17m) paired for the top two spots in the event, while Joe Davis took ninth (16-7.5, 5.07m). Hasheem Halim had another successful weekend in the the triple jump, finishing fourth with a leap of 50-11 (15.52m). Three Tech sprint relays also finished in the top ten in Florida. The women’s 400-meter relay of Zakiya Tyson, Funmi Alabi, Aunye Boone and Ogechi Nwaneri were the highest finishers of the day, taking sixth at 44.86. Their counterparts in the men’s 400-meter relay finshed ninth, as David Wilson, Keith Ricks, Darrell Wesh and Ebenezer Amegashie crossed the line in 40.58. The women’s 1,600-meter relay of Alabi, Boone, Yvonne Amegashie and Natalie Woodford took seventh with a time of 3:37.57.
Tech student-athletes will again split up next weekend, competing in three meets across the country. On April 8th and 9th Hokies will go to the Spec Towns Invitational in Athens, Ga. and the the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz. On April 9th they will also head to the Track and Field Classic in Lynchburg, Va.