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 Eric Johannigmeier, who oversees the distance events, took some time to talk about his group and the upcoming season.
The men's side will return 18 student-athletes, with the key returners being Bashir Mosavel-Lo, Peter Seufer, Fitsum Seyoum and Diego Zarate. Mosavel-Lo (outdoor 800 meters), Seyoum (outdoor 3,000 steeplechase) and Seufer (indoor 3,000 meters) all won their respective events at ACCs this past season.
The women's side will return 10 student-athletes, with the key student-athletes coming back to Blacksburg being Lauren Berman, Ellie Brush, Sarah Edawrds, Sara Freix, Kayla Richardson and Catherine Stone. Freix broke the indoor school record in the 5,000-meter run last year, while Edwards returns as the ACC indoor champion in the mile.
The distance group welcomes 10 newcomers (Eva Arnade, Hannah Ballowe, Grace Boone, Lindsey Butler, Ava Hassebrock, Chase Kappeler, Kyra Lopez, Nicole Re, Ann Marie Schaefer, Sloan Walter) on the women's side and five on the men's side (Omar Aougab, Paul Cerne, Sammy Fellah, Max Greczyn, Ethan Mills) this upcoming year.
Q: Last year this was a very young group. How do you think they have matured?
JOHANNIGMEIER: "I think the group has done a very good job of maturing in their preparation, their approach to the training and just day-to-day everything it takes to be an elite level athlete, which is what you have to be at the ACC and NCAA level. I think we made a lot of great strides in the fall with maturity, continuing to get older and striving to be faster over the fall, which really, really helps set you up for a good track season. It's great that we had a lot of youth last year and now that youth is a little bit older and more experienced. I think they're hungry too, which is really exciting and encouraging."
Q: What is it like to have young group that will only get better with experience?
JOHANNIGMEIER: "It's very exciting. I think they push themselves every day as a group. Just feeding off each other and really wanting to fight for each other in races and see what they can do as individuals, but also collectively together as a team. Not just within the distance group, but I think they're all really excited now to add all of the event areas in to a combined effort. It's very exciting. I think they are ready to take on the season, see how fast they can run and what we can do collectively as a team."
Q: With the team being so young, what is like to get leadership from your upperclassmen?
JOHANNIGMEIER: "It's great to have senior leadership and upper-class leadership. They have been where a lot of the freshmen and sophomores have been in terms of struggles, learning new things, adapting to training and how to approach yourself outside of practice. We have a group, especially among the senior class, that has achieved a lot in this program both individually and as a part of some very good teams. It's great to have that leadership. I think it's something that we've always had. Recently and in the past the distance group has done a good job of preparing that next class to be the leaders whenever they leave. I'm really excited about this group. It's a special group and I think they have done good job of helping the team to see how good they can be this year. It will be a fun year for those seniors."
Q: Is there anyone that has stood out during the cross country season?
JOHANNIGMEIER: "I think collectively as a whole, that top-7 in both men's and women's cross country team was really impressive. Just the way they approached the fall, finished strong and competed really tough. That group on the men's and women's side, I think has really stood out and have put themselves in a good position to be ready for the track season. Collectively as a group they've been really impressive. Our All-Region athletes Peter, what he did and NCAAs, Fitsum and Diego. That's a very high accomplishment to do that over 10k cross country. On the women's side, having four females finish there in Sara Freix, Sarah Edwards, Kyra Lopez and Ellie Brush. They've all trained really hard and I think they really put in the work during the fall, which in the past has always paid off during the track season."