BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Across a magical two-day NCAA Indoor Championship meet, Virginia Tech Track & Field earned two NCAA titles, 14 All-American honors, and finished in 6th place on the women's side for the highest indoor placement in women's program history.
Lindsey Butler clinched Tech's second national championship of the weekend Saturday night, finishing first in the women's 800m final with a facility-record time of 2:01.37. Butler, who ran the fastest NCAA 800m of the indoor season at the ACC Championships, set a new Birmingham CrossPlex record with her title-winning run. The junior from Corning, N.Y. earns the Hokies first national 800m title, indoors or outdoors, and clinched 10 more crucial team points for Tech.
Following her teammate Rachel Baxter's national championship in the pole vault Friday night, Butler gives the Hokies their 19th individual NCAA title in program history. The junior from Corning, N.Y. improves her fourth-place finish in the 800m at the NCAA Championships in 2021 and earns the fourth All-American honor of her career. Butler's NCAA title marks the third championship she's won this season, after she defended her 800m ACC title and anchored the Hokies' distance medley relay to the win at this year's ACC Championships.
Butler and Baxter's national championships means this weekend is the first time in Virginia Tech history that the Hokies have won multiple titles at the same NCAA Indoor Championships, and only the third time in school history that Tech has claimed multiple titles at the same national meet. In 2011 the Hokies swept the hammer throw outdoors as Dorotea Habazin and Alexander Ziegler won the women's and men's competitions, and in 2010 Queen Harrison became the first woman in NCAA history to win the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles at the same Outdoor Championships.
Also during Saturday's competition, Antonio Lopez Segura recorded the highest finish by a Hokie in the men's 3,000m at nationals, crossing the line in sixth with a time of 8:00.70 for first team All-American honors. The Barcelona native holds the third fastest indoor 3,000m by a Spaniard this season, and picked up his second consecutive All-American honor by improving his 9th-place finish in the same event in 2021.
ACC Champion in the triple jump, Victoria Gorlova took home eighth place and first team All-America for the Hokies with her best mark on the day of 13.41m (44'). The school record holder in both the triple and long jump, Gorlova will look to follow up her outstanding debut season for the Hokies with strong outdoor results as well.
Two more All-American honors are heading back to Blacksburg with Jake Spotswood and Chauncey Chambers after Saturday's events. Spotswood wrapped up his championships with the second day of the heptathlon, tying his season best of 5.16m (16' 11") in the pole vault before running the 1,000m to finish in 11th overall in the competition. Chambers claimed the first All-American recognition of his career, finishing 15th in the men's triple jump with his best leap of 15.13m (49' 7.75").
In the team standings, Tech set even more history. With 29 points on the women's side, the most ever scored by the Hokies' women indoors, Tech earned a 6th-th place finish among the 89 teams competing. The No. 6 result marks the highest placement the women's team has earned indoors, and the second-best finish behind the Hokies' women's 2010 outdoor result where they finished 5th.
On Friday, Rachel Baxter closed out her legendary indoor career with her greatest accomplishment yet, winning the NCAA pole vault title with a new ACC record of 4.62m (15' 1.75"). As she has done all season long, Baxter was perfect her entire series, clearing every height of the competition until she was the last vaulter remaining. With the bar then raised to its final height of 4.62m, the Orange, Calif. native cleared on her third attempt to break the ACC record she set at this year's ACC Championships.
Baxter became the first pole vault national champion in Virginia Tech history and brings the program's number of NCAA winners to 18. Her title also marks the first in Assistant Coach Bob Phillips storied career. Phillips has guided the Hokies' pole vaulters to 53 All-American honors and 38 ACC titles, more than any other school in the conference, and now has a national title to show for his incredibly successful 37 years as the coach of Tech's pole vault group.
Joining Baxter on the pole vault podium in Birmingham was Julia Fixsen, who earned bronze in the competition with her clearance of 4.46m (14' 7.5"). Fixsen's meteoric rise and instant impact as a Hokie has been invaluable since she joined Tech from Georgia, as the junior improves eight spots on her 11th-place finish from 2021 and earns first team All-American honors. With a Hokies one-three result in the pole vault, Tech's women's team picks up 16 points in the event for a huge boost in the team standings.
Earlier in the day, three Hokies posted strong results in the women's and men's weight throws. Rebecca Mammel finished seventh in the women's competition, earning first team All-America and two team points with her heave of 22.73m (74' 7"). The 2022 ACC champion picks up her second straight All-American honor in the weight throw, finishing eighth in 2021 with Michigan State. Sara Killinen and Alexios Prodanas both earned second team All-American honors in the event, with Killinen finishing 15th and Prodanas 16th to claim national awards.
Taking on the first four events of the heptathlon, Jake Spotswood competed among the nation's best athletes during Friday's half of the multi event. After completing the 60m, long jump, shot put, and high jump, Spotswood holds 3,070 points and sits in 15th place. The Fairhope, Ala. native resumes his two-day competition tomorrow morning at 11:30 ET with the 60m hurdles before he contests his strongest event, the pole vault.
Closing out the night for the Hokies was the distance medley relay squad of Hannah Ballowe, Star Price, Grace Boone, and Leigha Torino. In a loaded field of dominant DMR squads, the Hokies stood their ground and finished 10th as all four women earn second team All-American honors.
After an exceptional and historic weekend of Hokies track & field and an even more incredible indoor campaign, eyes now turn to the outdoor season. Tech will rest until the last weekend in March before opening outdoors at the Raleigh Relays, Texas Relays, and Weems Baskin Invitational from March 24-26.