BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Hokies wrapped up their weekend competing in three locations: The Spec Towns Invitational in Athens, Ga., the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and the Track and Field Classic in Lynchburg, Va. Plenty of Hokies came away from the weekend with new personal bests, including a new school record by Sammy Dow in the steeplechase.
At the Sun Angel Classic, Dow knocked nearly 15 seconds off her previous personal-best, school-record time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, cruising to a third-place finish at 10:21.83. Her counterpart in the men’s race, Jason Cusack, finished fourth 9:10.60. Frances Dowd won the open section of the 800 meters, finishing with a new career-best 2:10.19. Grant Pollock won the open section in the men’s 1,500 meters at 3:54.11. Four Hokies finished in the top seven in the women’s open 5,000 meters, with Dobbs leading the pack in second (17:00.68) followed by Madalyn Nuckols in fourth (17:08.94), Taylor Crosson in sixth (17:24.22) and Jessica Trapeni in seventh (17:28.00). Similarly, the men placed three in the top seven in their 5,000-meter race, with school record-holder Will Mulherin earning the win (14:08.59) followed by Michael Hammond with a new PR in third (14:12.56) and Devin Cornwall in seventh (14:44.43).
A handful of Hokies also competed Friday at the nearby Mesa Classic in Mesa, Ariz. Lauren Lemieux won the 800 meters with a new personal-best time of 2:13.33 and Dow followed closely behind, also earning a new PR in third place (2:15.70). All five Hokies competing in the men’s 800 meters finished in the top 10, led by Kieran Lee in second (1:55.37), followed by Ryan Hagen in third (1:55.46), Pollock in fourth (1:55.61), Cusack in seventh (1:57.28) and Matthew Satterwhite in 10th (1:59.25). The highest finishers in their respective 400-meter dash were Dowd (57.60) and Nick McLaughlin (49.62).
In Athens, Ga., Jeff Artis-Gray and Scott Campbell set new PRs in the 110-meter hurdles, finishing second (14.25) and seventh (15.87), respectively. Natalie Woodford took third in the women’s 400-meter dash for a new personal best (56.65), as did Darrell Wesh in the men’s 100-meter dash (10.51). In the women’s 100-meter dash, both Hokies earned new personal bests with Ebony Scott in seventh (11.98) and Zakiya Tyson in ninth (12.04). Ronnie Black led a 3-4-5 finish in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, leading the way at 54.42 followed by Artis-Gray (54.58) and Campbell (56.67). Funmi Alabi was the Hokies’ highest finisher in the women’s 200-meter dash, finishing seventh in 24.49. Jonathan McCants also finished fourth in the men’s open 400-meter dash (50.53).
In Lynchburg, Va., the freshman pair of Alex Watt and Stephanie Cario performed well in their events. Watt won the 800 meters (2:23.62) with Cario finishing right behind her in second (2:23.82), and then Cario led the way in the 1,500 meters in second (4:45.87) followed by Watt in third (4:49.21). Junior Taylore Williams posted a third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best 1:08.47. Eric Hoepker was the Hokies’ highest finisher in the 800 meters, placing fourth in 1:55.20. Tech swept the top three spots in the men’s pole vault, with Hunter Hall claiming the victory (16-9.25, 5.11m), followed by Jared Jodon and Joe Davis with identical heights of 16-3.25 (4.96m).
Next up, the Hokies head down for two days of competition at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn., beginning on Friday, April 15 as they prepare for the ACC Championships the following weekend in Durham, N.C.