The Virginia Tech track and field cross country team received great news last week as Track and Field News rated the Hokies 2018 men's signing class as one of the top ten classes in the nation.
Track and Field News based its rankings on multiple factors, but the most important was if an athlete would have an immediate impact at the collegiate level. The Hokies will have no shortage of impact freshmen as Tyson Jones, Miles Green and Donovan Louis look to have major roles in the upcoming season as they headline an excellent class.
Jones had an excellent prep career that finished with him winning the New Balance High School Championships in the shot put with a top mark of 21.37 meters (70 feet, 1.5 inches), winning the Gatorade Athlete of the Year in Arizona and holding the ranking as the No. 1 shot putter.
Green will look to be a force on the hurdles as he joined the Hokies as the No. 4 long hurdler in the nation after winning the New Balance High School Championships in 400-meter hurdles with a time of 51.07.
Louis was Virginia's top longer jumper and will have a role in the sprints, jumps and the relay teams, which he has experience with as he ran the fourth leg of the 4x100 New Balance National Championship team.
Though those three will have big roles for Tech this upcoming season, but they won't be the only to contribute on the men's side this season.
The sprints group has the additions Blacksburg natives Cole Beck and Noah Ramsey, as well as South Carolina's top sprinter Jacory Patterson. Beck and Ramsey both have championships at the state level while also has experience at the national level with being runner up in 100 meters at the 2017 New Balance National Championships with a time of 10.41. last year Patterson had a personal best mark in the 100-meter dash 10.40 seconds.
Matthias Cannon, Clint Gault, Tyler Leeser and Ben Nibbelink will be the four freshmen contributing to the distance team on the men's side. Cannon won the Class 5A state outdoor meet this year in the 3,200 with a time of 9:24.86. Gault, who holds 12 school records, is a six-time Virginia state champion and will look to contribute in the mid-distance. Lesser, who was one of Pennsylvania's top mid-distance runners, will be someone to look out for in the 800 and 1,600. Nibbelink comes to Blacksburg as the No. 1 3,200-meter runner in the VHSL with personal best of 9:10.25.
Jumper Chauncey Chambers rounds out the men's 2018 class. Chambers is a two-time Virginia state champion in the triple jump, at one point owned the No. 1 mark in the state and was a two-time New Balance National Championships qualifier
Georgia's 2018 men's signing class was ranked as No. 1 with Texas A&M, Kansas, UCLA and USC rounding out the top five with LSU, Arizona State, Virginia Tech, Auburn and Northern Arizona earning honorable mentions.
Top Five
- Georgia
- Texas A&M
- Kansas
- UCLA
- USC
Honorable Mentions
6. LSU
7. Arizona State
8. Virginia Tech
9. Auburn
10. Northern Arizona