Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG – Tech track & field channeled some Rector Field House magic on the first day of the ACC Indoor Championships, earning gold medals in both the women's and men's distance medley relays and posting strong marks to open the heptathlon.
In the women's DMR, the team of Hannah Ballowe, Star Price, Leigha Torino, and Lindsey Butler left the rest of the field in the dust en route to a victory in 10:35.75. Their time was over three seconds faster than the second-best performers and shattered the previous ACC Championships record and Rector Field House record. Ballowe, Price, and Torino each recorded exceptional splits for the first three legs, before Butler blew the race open with her 4:29.89 split on the final leg of 1,600m.
Ben Fleming, Patrick Forrest, Christian Jackson, and Antonio Lopez Segura battled their way to the win in the men's DMR, finishing first with their time of 9:35.00. Each athlete fought against a deep and talented field of runners, with Lopez Segura closing steadily on Notre Dame's Yared Nuguse on the final leg before Lopez Segura was able to speed past on the last turn.
With four events completed during Thursday's action of the men's heptathlon, Jake Spotswood and Sean Murphy sit in prime position heading into Friday. Spotswood, who set two personal bests across the day's four events, holds 3,148 points and will start tomorrow in second place. Murphy sits in third with his 3,031 points as the field will resume their heptathlon Friday morning at 10 with the 60m hurdles.
Following the resumption of the heptathlon, field events will begin at noon with the men's high jump, before track events kick off at 12:45 with the first section of the women's 5,000m.Gallery: (2-24-2022) T&F: 2022 ACC Indoor Championships Day 1