Hokie ClubNEW ORLEANS – With the ACC Outdoor Championships being one week away, the Virginia Tech track and field women's team finds itself ranked No. 19 in the latest United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), announced on Monday afternoon.
The women were ranked the 21st-best team in the land last week, moving up two spots in this week's poll thanks to some top finishes at the inaugural National Relay Championships last weekend.
Junior Rachel Pocratsky led the way for the Hokies, crossing the finish line in 4 minutes, 17.79 seconds in the 1,500-meter race to place first, while also running anchor on the school-record 4x800-meter relay that posted a time of 8:25.24 to place first on the campus of Arkansas.
Katie Kennedy ran the first leg, Laurie Barton ran the second and Sarah Edwards ran the third. The time was the ninth-fastest time in collegiate history and currently is the second fastest in the country.
Freshman Rachel Baxter took third in the pole vault with a collegiate personal best mark of 4.36 meters (14 feet, 3.5 inches) and sophomore Kajsa Wennberg tallied a fourth-place finish in the hammer throw with a mark of 58.73 meters (192 feet, 8 inches).
The Hokies are one of only two schools to be ranked on the women's side, and are the highest of the two, as Miami sits No. 20.
A midweek tilt at Liberty for the Liberty Twilight on Wednesday is all that stands in between the ACC Outdoor Championships from May 10-12.