BLACKSBURG – 2019 was another banner year for the Virginia Tech track and field program and there are several reasons to be just as excited for the 2020 indoor and outdoor seasons.
The Hokies earned two ACC titles, set numerous school records and return all but a handful of student-athletes.
Assistant coach Bob Phillips, who oversees the pole vaulters, took some time to talk about his group and the upcoming season.
The returners for the group on the men's side are Jaelyn Demory, Joel Leon Benitez and Harrison Rice. Benitez, a junior, won silver in the pole vault at the Indoor ACC Championships before an injury sidelined him for the outdoor season, while Demory finished fifth in the vault at the outdoor championships.
On the women's side, the student-athletes coming back to Blacksburg are Rachel Baxter and Paige Ritter. Baxter won gold at the ACC Indoor Championships and went on to garner First Team All-America honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships
The pole vault group welcomes three newcomers (Emily Connor, Kennedy Drish and Marley McCall) on the women's side and two on the men's side (Joseph Badalamenti and Jacob Rice) this upcoming year.
Q: What is it like to finally have this group healthy again?
PHILLIPS: "We're not to January yet, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll have everybody there. Right now, Rachel [Baxter] looks very good and Joel [Benitez] has been healthy for the most part. I'm looking forward to those two being ready in January."
Q: How are you feeling about the depth of this group?
PHILLIPS: "On the men's side, I think we're back to good depth. Harrison [Rice] is heathy right now and jumping extremely well. We have a couple of freshmen that are capable of scoring as well. Demory is back healthy and potentially scoring in a couple of events and of course Benitez is leading the group. I think that group can have a big impact and help us a lot.
On the women's side, most of the younger kids over there are developmental and it will be a year before they are having an impact. It's largely going to be Baxter holding down the fort and hopefully we can get maybe one or two people up in support of her this year. That group probably won't get back to full strength in terms of depth until 2021."
Q: What's going through your mind with the realization that your group will no longer have Deakin Volz?
PHILLIPS: "We're fortunate that we can lose someone like Deakin [Volz] and then just be able to reload. That's the goal when we recruit and we were fortunate to get Benitez into the program. He's made great technical improvement. I think he's ready to have a big year. Now we just have to wait and see."
Q: What are your expectations for this upcoming season?
PHILLIPS: "I'm excited about this team in all of our areas. I think we will have a chance again to take a shot at an ACC Conference championship on the men's side. I also think our women's team could potently be in the mix this time for the first time in a few years. That's exciting.
My goals for the vaulters is for them to be consistent, smart, meet their individual goals of setting personal bests and qualifying for meets. In doing that, the effect of that will help the team."