CLEMSON, S.C. – Against an incredibly talent-saturated ACC Championship field, the Hokies' women's track and field squad posted school records, All-ACC performances and dominant event wins, and NCAA and Olympic qualifying times.
Four Hokies secured medals and first team All-ACC honors across the weekend, as Virginia Tech totaled 62.5 team points in a strong conference championship meet. A somewhat depleted squad, the Hokies women's effort and tenacity against conference foes was rewarded with promising signs of success to come.
"Our women had a hard-fought meet all weekend," Associate Head Coach Andrew Dubs said. "These women showed a toughness and resilience across the board that will allow them to be successful as we continue to move forward as a program this outdoor season and beyond. For this team, we are not as deep as we have been in the past, yet to still score across every event area is extremely impressive and says a lot about us as a complete program. We are looking forward to adding our full roster for the outdoor season as we aim to contend at both the ACC and NCAA championships."
Highlights from the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships began on Thursday, as Rachel Baxter defended her pole vault crown for the second time, becoming the first woman to earn the gold medal in pole vault for three consecutive seasons. The Tech record holder's mark this weekend of 14' 4" (4.37m) saw her continue her untouchable status as the best vaulter in the ACC.
Caitlan Tate has shown time and time again why she is one of the best sprinters in the conference, and this weekend she doubled down. Winning the 400m dash, Tate repeated as champion with a time of 53.32.
With a career defining performance, Lindsey Butler stole the show at the conference championships. In the race of the weekend the women's 800m, Butler and Clemson's Laurie Barton went shoulder to shoulder down the final stretch, before Lindsey Butler leaned at the line, collapsing across the finish from her titanic effort. The race too close to call, Butler watched her name appear first on the video board before she became overcome with emotion at the result.
Her emotion was well founded, as the 2:01.96 that appeared next to her name meant that Lindsey Butler had qualified for the upcoming Olympic trials, in addition to claiming a new school record, a meet record, the number two time in the nation, and the number 22 time in the world.
After a meet in which the Hokies saw several outstanding individual performances and a promising result on the team level, the near future looks bright for the Hokies' women.
"I was very pleased with the effort from our women's team knowing that we were not as deep as we were a year ago," Director of Track and Field Dave Cianelli said. "Our women will be much stronger this outdoor season as we return several athletes that have outdoor eligibility only."
What's Next for the Hokies:
Following the ACC Indoor Championships, the Hokies take a deserved week off, before heading to Arkansas for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Outdoor season is slated to begin March 26 for the Hokies.