BLACKSBURG – Seniors Hanna Green and Drew Piazza and sophomore Deakin Volz of the Virginia Tech track and field teams were named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Indoor Track and Field Performers of the Week, as announced by the conference office Tuesday afternoon.
Volz closed out the regular season by setting a new ACC record, claiming gold in the men’s pole vault event at the Virginia Tech Challenge over the weekend. The Bloomington, Indiana, native placed first with an ACC-record and lifetime-best vault of 5.66 meters (18 ft., 6.75 in.), also setting a new school record. The previous ACC and Virginia Tech marks were 5.62 meters (18 ft., 5.25 in.) set last season at the Doc Hale VT Elite Meet by current redshirt junior Torben Laidig. Volz, the U-20 world champion, currently owns the top mark in the ACC and is listed as the No. 2 vaulter in the nation behind South Dakota’s Chris Nilsen.
Addtionally, today’s honor is the second career weekly award for Volz. He previously earned the honor the week of Jan. 24, following his performances at the Penn State National Invitational.
Green and Piazza also were named ACC Women’s and Men’s Track Performers of the Week, respectively, for their standout performances in the 600-meter run at the Virginia Tech Challenge over the weekend. Of note, today’s honors are the first career weekly awards for Green and Piazza.
Green ran the 600 for just the third time in her career and captured gold in the event, finishing in 1:27.39 to rank second nationally. The Latrobe, Pennsylvania, native shattered her own program record set two seasons ago by 1.39 seconds. She also broke a long-standing Rector Field House record in the event. The previous mark was listed at 1:28.02 set by unattached runner Erica Moore in 2011.
Piazza ran the 600 for the first time in his career and placed first, finishing in 1:17.26 to break the school record set by Ryan Witt in 2012. The previous mark was listed at 1:19.24, and the Danvers, Massachusetts, native broke that time by 1.98 seconds. He also broke a long-standing facility record in the event. The previous mark stood at 1:18.06 set by David Verburg in 2012 – a four-time outdoor and seven-time indoor All-American at George Mason.
Of note, North Carolina’s thrower Sarah Howard earned ACC Women’s Field Performer of the Week accolades.
Tech will turn its attention to this week’s ACC Indoor Championships, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at Notre Dame’s Loftus Sports Center.
The ACC Network will live stream action the final two days, with former Olympic decathlon gold medalist Dan O’Brien serving as color analyst, reprising the role he first filled at the 2015 ACC Outdoor Championships. He will be joined by veteran ESPN play-by-play announcer Shawn Kenney. Coverage will air from 3:30 p.m. through 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and from 12:30 p.m. until the meet’s conclusion on Saturday.