Hokie ClubFAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Distance runners Vincent Ciattei and Rachel Pocratsky rose to the occasion at the inaugural National Relay Championships, as the two earned Virginia Tech track and field two 1,500-meter titles on the campus of Arkansas Friday night.
"The middle distance runners were really strong today," director of track and field and cross country Dave Cianelli shared. "The 1,500-meter group looked great, with Vincent and Diego going 1-2 and Rachel, Sarah and Katie going 1-2-4.
"Some of the longer distance runners stepped down to the 1,500 and all of them ran personal bests. Courtney ran her best 400 of the season and looked really good. Nora is coming around in the 400 hurdles. I'm really looking forward to our Relays tomorrow."
Pocratsky led a contingent of Hokies who placed in the top 10 in the 1,500 meters, crossing the finish line in 4 minutes, 17.79 seconds. Sarah Edwards finished right behind in second place with a time of 4:22.88, Katie Kennedy went 4:23.18 for fourth, Lauren Berman placed eighth with a time of 4:26.64 and Sara Freix was ninth in 4:28.64. Edwards, Berman and Freix all registered personal bests.
On the men's side in the same event, Ciattei managed the way with running around the track in 3:42.59. Diego Zarate followed with a second-place finish of 3:43.95, Peter Seufer placed eighth with a time of 3:47.00, Bashir Mosavel-Lo was 11th in 3:48.18 and Jack Joyce rounded out the quintet with a 14th-place finish with a time of 3:49.98. Just like the women's runners, three Hokies all set a PR – Zarate, Seufer and Mosavel-Lo.
Running the ninth-fastest time in program history, Fitsum Seyoum ran a time of 8:59.28 to place fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, while Ben Fleming finished sixth with a time of 9:21.85.
The 800 meters saw Laurie Barton run a season-best time of 2:05.90 to place second and Owen Buck go 1:51.28 to finish seventh, his highest finish of the season.
In the throws, sophomore Kajsa Wennberg tossed a mark of 58.73 meters (192 feet, 8 inches) to place fourth in the hammer throw. The throw was a personal best by two feet and was the Sweden native's highest finish this season. Redshirt senior Lindsay Herra placed eighth with a throw of 48.08 meters (157 feet, 9 inches) in the discus.
Senior Courtney Blanden and sophomore Arlicia Bush posted season-best times in the 400 meters, clocking times of 53.58 and 54.00. Sophomore Michael Davenport and junior Jared Bane each tallied their second-best times of the season in the 200, going 21.40 and 21.44.
Austin Kolko turned in a personal record for the second straight weekend, with a time of 53.20 in the 400-meter hurdles, and Brandon Thomas ran a season-best time of 47.82 in the 400.
"I was impressed with Courtney tonight, she is putting together her race, and so is Arlie in the 400," sprints/hurdles coach Tim Vaught commented. "It was good seeing Kolko run another season best tonight, he led for most of the race in his heat. Selina ran her fastest legal time in the 200, she's coming around in the right time.
"Overall, we had a good amount of season bests today and that was definitely what we wanted from this meet. The goal now is to continue to get those times down in the relays, so tomorrow we will put together a pretty good group."
Sophomore Eszter Bajnok jumped a mark of 6.04 meters (19 feet, 9.75 inches) to place seventh in the long jump.
The Hokies will be back in action tomorrow in Fayetteville, starting a 11:45 a.m. ET on the SEC Network. The two-hour window of the main event, the relays, will be from 8-10 p.m.