Hokie ClubBLOOMINGTON, Ind. – It was another incredibly productive outing for Virginia Tech Friday at the NCAA East Regional as 11 more Hokies punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships, bringing Tech’s total to 15 so far this weekend. Among those heading to Des Moines, Iowa in two weeks are Samira Burkhardt and Sammy Dow, who set new school records today at Indiana. The Hokies qualified all their field event competitors Friday to the NCAA Championships, including three individuals in both the men’s hammer throw and the pole vault.
Burkhardt solidified herself at the top of the all-time shot put performance list today with a second-place finish at 55-10.5 (17.03m). She had moved to second all-time at Tech in her last outing, less than a foot shy of the previous record of 55-2.75 (16.83m), set by Brittany Pryor in 2007. Burkhardt will look to put an emphatic cap on what has been a stellar freshman season, including two ACC championships and second team All-America honors.
Dow gave a strong effort to finish 11th in Friday’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, setting the new school record at 10:16.15. This easily defeats the previous school record of 10:21.83, set by Dow earlier this season at the Sun Angel Classic. As they have been all season, the Hokies’ three men’s hammer throwers were in fine form Friday, all qualifying for the NCAA Championships. National leader Marcel Lomnicky led the pack, throwing 242-6 (73.91m), followed by Alexander Ziegler in second (233-6, 71.83m) and Denis Mahmic in ninth (204-5, 62.32m). Lomnicky and Ziegler were the only two competitors to throw past 70 meters.
After moving past yesterday’s first round in the 100-meter dash, Keith Ricks moves one step further, making it past today’s quarterfinal to qualify for the national meet placing 11th in 10.43. Hasheem Halim and David Wilson will both represent Virginia Tech in the national meet, placing third (52-0, 15.85m) and sixth (51-5, 15.67m), respectively, in Friday’s triple jump. All three of Tech’s competitors in the men’s pole vault cleared 17-0.75 (5.20m), meaning Joe Davis, Hunter Hall and Jared Jodon will be moving on to the NCAA Championships.
Funmi Alabi fell just short of the cutoff in the women’s 100-meter dash, placing 13th in 11.58 followed by Ogechi Nwaneri in 19th in 11.73. Ebenezer Amegashie was four-hundredths of a second away from qualifying in the 110-meter hurdles, placing 26th in 14.41 followed by Jeff Artis-Gray, who placed 32nd in 14.49. Jared Berman and Jason Cusack could not finish in the top 12 in the men’s steeplechase, with Berman placing 37th (9:10.29) and Cusack 45th (9:24.80).
Events continue tomorrow with the field events starting at 11 a.m. ET and the running events at 6 p.m.