After a historic, record-setting, and ACC title-winning season, the Hokies track and field squads set out for a final show of talent indoors this year. At the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships 19 Hokies will represent Virginia Tech across a program-record 10 events.
This year's championship meet is set to begin Thursday, March 11 and run until Saturday, March 13 at Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark. Action for Virginia Tech will start on Friday with the men's mile prelims.
The Hokies will look to add to their six individual indoor national titles in school history, and these are the athletes who are ready to do so:
Rachel Baxter (pole vault, No. 3 seed)
The dominant senior has been the ACC's undisputed queen of the pole vault, claiming her third consecutive indoor championship at Clemson. Baxter's feat makes her the first woman in ACC history to win the pole vault in three straight years, and her qualifying mark of 4.44m sees her enter the national meet seeded third.
Lindsey Butler (800m, No. 1 seed)
Butler punched her ticket to NCAAs with a conference-winning time of 2:01.96 at the ACC Indoor Championships, winning the event and setting a school record in the process. The sophomore enters this weekend's action with the top seeded time in the nation.
Essence Henderson (shot put, No. 10 seed)
Henderson started hot and stayed hot this season, shattering the Virginia Tech record in the shot put in her very first meet this year. That mark of 17.01m qualifies Henderson as the 10th seed in the country, as she hopes to follow her silver medal at the ACC Championships with silverware in Arkansas.
Antonio Lopez Segura (3000m, No. 13 seed)
In his very first attempt at the 3k in competition, Lopez Segura won gold at the ACC Championships and booked a spot at the national meet. With a time of 7:56.29, the Barcelona native set the under-20 Spanish record and the fourth-fastest time in Virginia Tech history. We'll have to wait and see just how good the Spaniard's second 3000m run will be at the NCAA Championships.
Bashir Mosavel-Lo (800m, No. 10 seed)
Already a successful and experienced athlete, Mosavel-Lo's third trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships is nothing new, but no less impressive. With an ACC Championships-winning time of 1:48.34, the senior is riding one of the hottest streaks of his career to Fayetteville and hopes to make a mark on the national stage.
Ben Nibbelink (Mile, No. 16 seed; 3000m, No. 16 seed)
Qualifying for two events is Ben Nibbelink, posting a mile time of 3:59.04 and a 3k mark of 7:56.88 to represent the Hokies. Nibbelink is the first Hokie to compete in two separate individual events since Thomas Curtin earned first team All-American honors in the 3000m and 5000m in 2015.
Jacory Patterson (400m, No. 4 seed)
The junior from Columbia, S.C. has been on a tear this season, winning both the 200m and the 400m at the ACC Indoor Championships, setting school records in both events, and outsprinting nearly every athlete he has faced. Entering the 400m competition seeded fourth, Patterson will look to make up the few milliseconds separating the top athletes in the country and put on a show in Fayetteville.
Men's 4x400m Relay (No. 12 seed)
For the first time in Virginia Tech history, the Hokies qualified for the men's 4x400m. With a school-record time of 3:07.64, the Hokies will look to earn relay honors on a national stage.
Women's DMR (No. 9 seed)
At the Camel City Invitational in Winston Salem, N.C. earlier this year, the women's distance medley relay booked a ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships with a blistering time of 11:04.66.
Men's DMR (No. 5 seed)
Following a gold medal victory at the ACC Indoor Championships, the men's distance medley relay's time of 9:30.73 enters them at fifth in the country. With the conference championship already under their belts, the men's DMR team will look to earn more prestigious honors at the NCAA Indoor Championship meet.
While the championships begin Thursday, March 11, the Hokies will kick things off on Friday with a full slate of semifinal events. The meet will be broadcast on ESPN3, and live results and start lists are provided by the NCAA.
Live Results | Schedule
