Hokie ClubNEW ORLEANS – Following a second-place finish at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the Virginia Tech track and field women's team moved up to No. 17 in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Outdoor Top 25 Rankings, announced on Monday.
The women moved up four spots from last week's poll behind Rachel Pocratsky, Eszter Bajnok and Emma Thor all winning gold medals in Coral Gables, Florida. Despite the Hurricanes winning the meet at Cobb Stadium last weekend, Tech remains the highest-ranked team on the women's side in the ACC.
Pocratsky and Bajnok each won two event titles at ACCs, racking up 40 combined points to the women's grand total of 111. Pocratsky took home the middle-distance events, winning the 1,500 with the fastest time in the country and under three hours later winning the 800. Bajnok won the horizontal jumps on her way to breaking the school records in the triple jump and long jump.
Thor, who has arguably the best name/event combo among collegiate athletes, won the hammer throw on Thursday to kick things off for the Hokies. That same night, Pavla Kuklova won silver in the hammer, while Lisa Gunnarsson and Rachel Baxter placed second and third in the pole vault, with both earning first-team All-ACC honors.
Sarah Edwards earned bronze in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and Sara Freix took fourth in the 10,000 meters. Stefanie Aeschlimann (triple jump), Laurie Barton (800), Lindsay Herra (discus) and Katie Kennedy (1,500) earned second-team All-ACC honors.
On Thursday the NCAA will announce which student-athletes make the cut for the NCAA East and West Preliminary Rounds. The top 48 individuals and 24 relays for each region will make the trek to Tampa, Florida (East) and Sacramento, California (West) in pursuit of making it to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The Road to Eugene begins on May 24 and goes through May 26. The top 12 in each region's event will punch their ticket to NCAAs.