By Jimmy Robertson
BLACKSBURG – Roughly 30 minutes after the conclusion of the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships at Rector Field House, members of the Virginia Tech teams sat on the soft padding at the pole vault area and quietly waited for Dave Cianelli to come over and address them.
There was no yelling, no screaming or dancing. No one said a word. Shoulders were slumped, and eyes reflected disappointment.
Isaiah Rogers, the Hokies' gifted thrower who transferred from TCU just in time to be named the ACC Men's Field Performer of the Meet after winning two silver medals, then walked over, assessed the mood and decided to change it.
"Why are ya'll so quiet?" he asked. "We just won a championship."
Saturday afternoon, the Virginia Tech men's team, competing in a beautifully renovated Rector and in front of a loud and boisterous crowd, shared the ACC team title with longtime track rival Florida State for its ninth ACC team title since the school joined the league for the 2004-05 season (the Tech women have five). The two teams spent back-to-back days trying to run, jump, vault and throw their ways past each other, and in a competition that left everyone – athletes, coaches and fans – breathless, the Hokies and the Seminoles finished with the exact same number of points.
Tech and Florida State thus had to share the men's title. And that left members of the Tech men's squad disappointed.
They shouldn't be.
And Cianelli quickly reminded his athletes of that.
"We've still got a trophy," he told them, pointing to the ACC team championship trophy sitting next to him.
As has become the norm in ACC track these days, the Tech and Florida State men went into the final event – the 4x400-meter relay – nearly neck and neck. A mere six points separated the two, with Tech leading, but Florida State specializes in the sprints areas, and many expected the Seminoles to win the relay.
If that were to happen, then Tech needed a fourth-place finish from its relay quartet to win the team title by a point. The Seminoles went on to win the 4x400 relay, and the Hokies finished fifth – just four-thousandths of a second behind fourth-place Clemson.
That served as the margin, and it's easy understand why the Tech men – most of whom are teenagers – felt disappointment. They invested everything into this and came away four-thousandths of a second from owning all the goods. You can't blink in less than four-thousandths of a second. Or take a swallow of a milk shake from the Tech Dairy Club. Or right the first letter of the word "Hokies."
Cianelli, a longtime veteran of such meets, understood. Sitting on an aluminum bench moments later after addressing his teams, Cianelli, the 18-year director of track and field and cross country took time to put what transpired into perspective.
"You know, you're in it and you want to try to win it outright at the end," he said. "We did everything we could, and it just ended up a tie. The funny thing about our sport is there is no overtime or extra innings like in most other sports. It's just a tie.
"We were close last year at Clemson [they lost to Florida State 111-107]. It was four points on the men's side, and that really hurt, especially because we had all those senior distance guys. But to be able to come back this year with such a young team and be able to win the championship with so many new faces and freshmen … to me, that's probably the most impressive thing.
"So I'm not disappointed at all. Would I have liked to have won it outright? Sure, but this is better than finishing second by a point. We still got a trophy, and I'll take that any day."
Both he and Florida State coach Bob Braman could play the "what if" game as they ponder the event in the coming days. If this person had run just a little faster to finish one spot ahead in a particular event, or if this person had thrown a little farther or jumped a little higher. But Cianelli refuses to play that game, knowing, of course, that his teams have been the other side of the equation and won in such manners. Instead, this time, he respectfully credited Florida State, while also applauding his team.
And he should. When he watches the ACC Network broadcast, he may tear up in pride at the undeniable effort his kids gave Saturday. He and the rest of Tech's coaches demand every ounce of energy and effort from their student-athletes, and they certainly got it – maybe even more than they expected.
The examples are endless. Miles Green refused to give in when it looked like he might be passed and finished fourth in the 400. Jaelyn Demory won a silver in the heptathlon with his hand in a cast. Peter Seufer looked like he was going to get passed in the next-to-last turn of the 3,000, but determinedly came up with a burst to win the gold medal. Diego Zarate battled a bum hamstring to win a silver medal in the mile.
Oh, and that 4x400 relay team – they were all freshmen. Green led off as scheduled, but injuries led to freshman Eldon Phillips making his first appearance at an ACC Championships, and he ran a great split. Bashir Mosavel-Lo, who came in fourth in the 800, and Jacory Patterson, the gold medalist in the 400, had just run moments earlier, yet summoned the energy (courage?) to compete again.
All gave fantastic efforts. With the meet on the line, mind you. The moment certainly wasn't too big for them.
"Incredible," Cianelli said of the effort.
The efforts of Tech's women, who came in third, should not go unnoticed either. Rachel Pocratsky is simply wonderful and a national title contender in the 800, and Sarah Edwards, a gold medalist in the mile, may be the fiercest competitor on the team. But how about Shannon Quinn sprinting down the final stretch to edge Clemson's Kamryn McIntosh for a bronze medal – the first individual medal of her career? What about Cate Stone, who has battled injuries, qualifying for the finals of the 800? And mercurial Rachel Baxter set a personal best in winning the pole vault for her first gold medal.
That's the type of collective effort that appealed to Rogers when he decided to leave TCU and started hunting for schools. He wanted to be a part of competing for championships – the team variety – and TCU hasn't been close since joining the Big 12.
"I love those guys [at TCU], don't get me wrong," Rogers said. "But here, everyone is focused on the team. You've got people doing long distance cheering for throwers. You've got sprinters cheering for pole vaulters. That's something, to me, that makes a huge difference."
The best news for those with an interest in Tech track and field is that more championships could be on the horizon. Only one senior on the men's team scored at the ACC meet – Deakin Volz won a gold medal in the pole vault. On the women's side, Pocratsky accounted for 10 points with her win and Quinn added six with her bronze medal performance, and the two led the women's distance medley relay team to the gold medal.
That's it. They were the only seniors to score. All the other points came from student-athletes with at least one year of eligibility remaining, and in the case many others, several years.
"I'm very excited about the future – outdoors and the next few years – because we're so young, especially on the men's side," Cianelli said. "This is the youngest team we've had since I've been here – and that's a long time. Typically, that type of youth isn't able to achieve to this level and compete at this level and earn a championship so quickly. It usually takes some seasoning and learning how to compete at this level and how to train at this level. These young people, for the most part, have adapted well and are contributing right away – and that's amazing."
That the Hokies felt disappointment at sharing the ACC title serves as a definitive indication of where the program stands. Track and field is probably Tech's best varsity sport, and its athletes take the utmost pride in the programs' tradition, one of hanging championship banners and collecting championship rings.
The Tech men have done so again, and though some of these young student-athletes may not realize it now, it's an accomplishment that deserves to be celebrated – even if it means sharing the celebration this time with someone else.