Hokie ClubAt different sides of the country, Virginia Tech track and field pulled in two event titles on Friday as Sarah Edwards won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Duke Invitational and Lindsay Herra took home the discus throw at the Mt. SAC Relays.
The Duke Invitational took place in Durham, North Carolina, while the Mt. SAC Relays was in Walnut, California. Tech also competed at the Beach Invitational in Long Beach, California, and the War Eagle Classic in Auburn, Alabama.
Edwards posted a time of 10 minutes, 12.89 seconds in her first steeplechase of the season. Sophomore Kayla Richardson also ran the event, crossing the finish line in 10:48.61 to place fourth.
"A really nice opening steeplechase for Sarah," distance coach Ben Thomas commented. "We worked pretty hard on Wednesday, so it was an impressive performance on short rest and 25 seconds better than her opener last year.
"We're making strides in the right direction for the distance group."
Junior Andrew Goldman ran the 1,500 meters in a time of 3:49.78, just two seconds off his personal best, to open up his first race in the event in 2018. The Herndon, Virginia native went on to finish seventh. Thierry Siewe Yanga ran a time of 3:55.64 in his collegiate debut in the same event, placing 16th.
Herra threw a top mark of 50.01 meters (164 feet, 1 inch), meaning she has set a new PR four meets in a row, respectively.
The Beach Invitational saw a couple more throwers wearing maroon and orange, with Pavla Kuklova recording a season-best mark of 62.87 meters (206 feet, 3 inches) to place seventh in the hammer throw and Matthew Reinhart registered his second-best throw of the season with a mark of 59.67 meters (195 feet, 9 inches) in the javelin.
"Over at Long Beach I was pleased to see Pavla put together a very solid series, including a seasonal best for her," throws coach Andrew Dubs stated. "We have been working some technical aspects of her throw and they are starting to come together a little more consistently. The consistency will start to lead to some bigger throws later this season.
"The day started off at the Mt. SAC Relays with Lindsay competing in the discus. Coming off her big PR last week, practices have been going really well, including her pre-meet yesterday so I had a feeling today could be a good one for her.
"Lindsay did a great job of just building on every throw. She was really close and just barely missed one two earlier in the rounds, so she remained confident. On her last throw, to throw over 50 meters was just incredible. For as long as I can remember, throwing 50 meters has been a big goal for Lindsay. To finally accomplish that, I was almost speechless and couldn't be any happier for her.
"Seeing what she has put into this everyday for the past four years and then to accomplish one of her biggest goals, has been inspiring. She still has other goals for later this season, and achieving this mark today is a huge step in that direction."
In the triple jump at the War Eagle Classic, sophomore Eszter Bajnok posted a fourth-place finish with a mark of 12.94 meters (42 feet, 5.5 inches) and freshman Stefanie Aeschlimannplaced seventh. It was Bajnok's first triple jump of the outdoor season, as she last competed in the event on Feb. 24 during the indoor season.
"I was pleased with Eszter's competition today," jumps/multi-events coach Paul Zalewski mentioned. "It was her first time triple jumping since the ACC Indoor Championships and she handled it well.
"She was consistent in her approach and stayed aggressive the entire competition. The mark wasn't as far as we would have liked, but she had good effort and I know that's going to pay dividends down the line."
On Thursday at the Mt. SAC Relays, sophomore Emma Thor turned in a personal record in the hammer throw, tossing a mark of 64.85 meters (212 feet, 9 inches) to place third. Kuklova tallied a mark of 21.64 meters (202 feet, 3 inches) to take seventh place. Sophomore Kajsa Wennberg competed in the open hammer throw, a separate event, launching a mark of 55.47 meters (182 feet, 0 inches) to place fifth.
"Incredible for Emma to come out with a new PR and lifetime best," Dubs mentioned. "This was an incredible competition against some of the best hammer women in the NCAA, so to have a PR in such a quality level field will help for later on in the season.
"She had her best throw in the first round, then slightly tweaked her hip in the next throw. As a result, she was a little off the rest of the competition. Overall nothing to worry about, so we are very excited for the rest of the season!"
The Hokies will be back at it tomorrow at all four meets, starting at 10 a.m. ET at the Duke Invitational, which will streamed live on ACC Network Extra. Mt. SAC Relays will once again be streamed by USTAF+ and the Beach Invitational will put on live by FloTrack.
WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Sat. | Duke Invitational | 10 a.m. ET | Live Results | Stream
Sat. | Mt. SAC Relays | 12 p.m. ET | Live Results | Stream ($)
Sat. | War Eagle Classic | 12 p.m. ET | Live Results
Sat. | Beach Invitational | 12:30 p.m. ET | Live Results | Stream ($)