BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech men’s track & field program and director of track & field and cross country Dave Cianelli announced the signing of three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent for the 2012-13 academic year on Monday. The signees include two throwers, Tomas Kruzliak and Jaka Muhar, and one distance runner, Brian O’Loughlin.
The signees are listed below alphabetically, along with comments from each event coach.
Tomas Kruzliak
Hammer Throw
Nitra, Slovakia | Sportove Gymnazium
Kruzliak is a hammer thrower who has won three Slovakian junior national titles and three youth national titles. He also placed third in the five kilogram hammer throw at the IAAF World Youth Championships in Bressanone, Italy in 2009 and was 12th in the six kg hammer throw at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada in 2010. Kruzliak holds personal bests of 234-7 (71.52m) for the six kg hammer throw and 209-2 (63.77m) for the 7.26 kg hammer.
“Tomas is a hammer thrower who hails from the same town as our current All-American hammer thrower Marcel Lomnicky and we’re pleased to continue that connection with Slovakia,” said associate head track & field and throws coach Greg Jack. “With Tomas, we look forward to keeping our tradition going that we’ve established in the men’s hammer.”
Jaka Muhar
Javelin Throw
Jesenice, Slovenia | Gimnazija Jesenice
Muhar set the Slovenian national youth record in the javelin throw (700g) in 2010 with a mark of 250-2 (76.26m), a performance that ranked No. 5 in the world. Last year, he was the Slovenian junior and senior national champion in the decathlon with 7,194 points. Muhar also competed in the javelin at the IAAF World Junior Championships in 2010 and at the IAAF World Youth Championships in 2009. He holds a personal best of 234-3 (71.40m) for the 800g javelin throw.
“Jaka is an extremely versatile athlete who was a decathlete in high school, so he will be able to do everything that we ask of him in his training for the javelin,” said Jack. “He is considered one of the top juniors in the world and we’re very excited he chose the Hokies.”
Brian O’Loughlin
Distance
Stafford, Va. | Colonial Forge High School
An all-district, all-region and all-state runner in both track and cross country, O’Loughlin recently ran a personal best 3200 meter time of 9:20.10 at the VHSL Group AAA State Indoor Championship, where he placed fourth. He also posted an indoor PR of 4:21.74 in the 1600 meters at the North Stafford Kick Off Invitational in December. During his senior cross country season, O’Loughlin placed fifth at the VHSL State Cross Country Championship and ran at the Foot Locker South Regional Meet.
“Brian has had a lot of success coming from a strong program at Colonial Forge,” said head cross country and distance coach Ben Thomas. “I think he can contribute at various distances, from the mile to the 10k. I’m looking forward to seeing how he develops and adding him into our already strong men’s distance group.”