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BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech runner Thomas Curtin was named the Southeast Region Athlete of the Year on Tuesday by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA), as voted upon by the region’s coaches.

Curtin, a redshirt senior from Leesburg, Virginia, won his third straight race this past Friday when he won the NCAA Southeast Regional meet at Panorama Farms outside Charlottesville, Virginia. His time of 29 minutes, 7.9 seconds was nearly four seconds better than second-place finisher Shaun Thompson of Duke.

Curtin also won the ACC men’s individual championship in late October, sprinting Syracuse’s Justyn Knight in the final 100 meters and finishing in a time of 23:23. That time was a course record at Tallahassee, Florida’s Apalachee Regional Park. In addition, Curtin won the NCAA Pre-National race in mid-October, jumping out to a big lead and holding it in knocking off two-time defending national champion Edward Cheserek of Oregon among others in one of the best fields in cross country this season.

Behind Curtin, the Virginia Tech men’s cross country squad received an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships – just the sixth such bid in the program’s history and second since 1987.

The NCAA Championships will be held in Louisville, Kentucky this Saturday. The men’s race will start at approximately 1 p.m.

For updates on Virginia Tech cross country, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Track