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BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech men’s track and field squad sits in first place after Friday’s action at the ACC Championships at Rector Field House in Blacksburg, Va., while the Hokie women reside in fourth. The men’s unit tallied 35 points, and the women’s squad owns 21 points after the second day of events.

The majority of the men’s team’s points came in the weight throw, which provided plenty of fireworks for Tech and got the Hokies off to an excellent start in the meet. Freshman Alexander Ziegler led the way, winning the ACC title in the event and bettering his NCAA automatic throw. Ziegler launched a mark of 73-10.25, surpassing his former personal best and automatic mark of 72-05.75. The Dischingen, Germany native is the second-straight freshman to win the weight throw for the Hokies, as sophomore Marcel Lomnicky took the crown last year.

“I’m happy. That’s my third [personal record] in the third meet and that’s pretty good,” Ziegler said. “I think I can throw farther. I lost the technique in the end, and I got a little too greedy and wanted it too much. I need to refocus and correct my mistakes [for the NCAA meet] in two weeks. If I do that, I’ll be fine.”

Lomnicky, freshman Denis Mahmic and senior Matej Muza also performed well in the weight throw. Lomnicky placed second in the event with a throw of 69-00, and Mahmic and Muza finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Mahmic tossed a 62-05.75, while Muza threw a 61-00.75. All three are already provisionally qualified in the event. The weight throw alone totaled 25 points for the Tech men’s team total.

The weight throw continued to be successful for the Hokies, as junior Dorotea Habazin recorded a runner-up finish in the event on the women’s side. Habazin, who is already provisionally qualified, tossed a 63-04.25 in the event and added eight points to the Hokie women’s team total. The Zagreb, Croatia native registered the best finish of the day for the Tech women.

The men’s distance medley foursome supplied more excitement for the Hokies. After three strong splits from sophomore Chris Walizer, freshman Jonathan McCants and freshman Ryan Hagen, the baton was handed to sophomore Will Mulherin in the final 1,600-meters. Mulherin powered into a three-way tussle between Virginia, Duke and Tech for first place. The Cavaliers pulled away with the race in the final lap, and a late surge by Mulherin came up just short, as the Blue Devils edged the Hokies by two-hundredths of a second for second place. Despite coming up short, Tech crossed the line in 9:49.16 for a strong third-place effort, and pushed the Hokies into first place in the team standings with 35 points.

Junior Jessica Trapeni and the women’s distance medley relay squad answered the men’s team with a fourth-place showing of their own. The quartet of sophomore Sammy Dow, freshman Natalie Woodford, sophomore Lauren Lemieux and Trapeni ran an 11:44.57 in the race. Trapeni received the baton with 1,600-meters to go in 11^th place, and battled all the way into the lead pack by the end, eventually ending up in fourth.

Four more points came for the Tech men in the 5,000-meters, as sophomore Brian Welch ran a 14:31.06 finishing fourth in the race. Welch stayed with the main pack until Ryan Collins of Virginia and John Martinez of NC State pulled away. The race marked Welch’s and the Hokies’ first 5,000-meter competition this season.

Three Hokies scored points in the women’s pole vault, led by junior Kelly Phillips. Phillips cleared a season-best 12-11.50 for fourth place. Senior Lisa Birnbaum and junior Caitlin Thornley added seventh and eighth place performances in the event, respectively. Both athletes cleared 12-07.50, but Birnbaum had fewer misses to win the tiebreaker.

Sophomore Michael Hammond cruised in the prelims of the mile run to qualify for Saturday’s finals. The Midlothian, Va., native pushed up from fifth to first in the final lap of the third heat of the race, clocking a 4:07.80, and securing a spot in the finals on Saturday. Hammond ran the fourth-fastest time in the race.

In the women’s 60-meter hurdles prelims, senior Queen Harrison continued to stamp her name in record books. The Richmond, Va., native timed in at 7.99, setting an ACC meet record en route to qualifying for the finals in the event. Teammate senior Kristi Castlin clocked the second-fastest time in the prelims with a time of 8.11, joining Harrison in the finals. Both Harrison and Castlin won their respective heats. Harrison came back later in the day to qualify for the finals in the 400-meter dash as well, running the second-fastest time in the race of 54.52.

In other hurdles action, sophomore Keare Smith qualified for the finals of the men’s 60-meter hurdles. Smith, who is coming off an injury, ran a season-best 8.02, the sixth-fastest time in the race.

Other qualifiers for tomorrow includes sophomore Keith Ricks, who ran 6.75 to move on in the men’s 60-meter dash, but suffered an injury in the 200-meters and is questionable to compete in the finals of the 60-meter dash on Saturday. Freshman Funmi Alabi and sophomore Ogechi Nwaneri qualified in the women’s 60-meter dash with times of 7.39 and 7.45, respectively, and Nwaneri moved on in the 200-meter dash as well, running a 24.22.

Events at the ACC Championships continue tomorrow beginning with the women’s high jump scheduled for 10 a.m. Results will be available at hokiesports.com.

Men’s Results

Weight Throw – 1, Alexander Ziegler, Virginia Tech, 73-10.25, 2, Marcel Lomnicky, Virginia Tech, 69-00, 3, Zach Berg, Clemson, 66-09.25, 4, Alex Padgett, Clemson, 66-09.25, 5, Denis Mahmic, Virginia Tech, 62-05.75, 6, Matej Muza, Virginia Tech, 61-00.75, 7, Duncan Thompson, Georgia Tech, 60-00.25, 8, Travis Whitfield, Florida State, 57-05.

5,000-Meter Run – 1, Ryan Collins, Virginia, 14:23.81, 2, John Martinez, NC State, 14:24.70, 3, Bo Waggoner, Duke, 14:29.64, 4, Trey Miller, Virginia, 14:30.62, 5, Brian Welch, Virginia Tech, 14:31.06, 6, Patrick Campbell, NC State, 14:35.04, 7, Alex Lundy, Maryland, 14:35.80, 8, Ryan Hill, NC State, 14:41.51

Distance Medley Relay – 1, Virginia, 9:47.80, 2, Duke, 9:49.14, 3, Virginia Tech, 9:49.16, 4, North Carolina, 9:54.87, 5, Boston College, 9:58.51, 6, Clemson, 10:00.73, 7, Maryland, 10:04.44, 8, NC State, 10:05.31

Pole Vault – 1, Joanna Wright, Georgia Tech, 13-09.75, 2, Lizbeth Mabry, Florida State, 13-03.50, 3, Amy Fryt, Duke, 13-03.25, 4, Kelly Phillips, Virginia Tech, 12-11.50, t5, Amy Morrison, Clemson, 12-11.50, t5, Caroline Kennedy, Clemson, 12-11.50, 7, Lisa Birnbaum, Virginia Tech, 12-07.50, 8, Caitlin Thornley, Virginia Tech, 12-07.50

Mile Run (prelims) – 1, Adam Cunningham, North Carolina, 4:06.60, 2, John Minen, Virginia, 4:06.93, 3, David Forrester, Florida State, 4:07.77, 4, Michael Hammond, Virginia Tech, 4:07.80, 5, Matthew Leeder, Florida State, 4:07.94, 6, Zach Vrhovac, Virginia, 4:08.18, 7, Greg Jubb, Maryland, 4:08.61, 8, Kyle Milks, North Carolina, 4:09.27, 9, Cory Nanni, Duke, 4:14.96, 10, Logan Rosenberg, North Carolina, 4:15.14.

60-Meter Hurdles (prelims) – 1, Spencer Adams, Clemson, 7.84, 2, Alphonso Jordan, Georgia Tech, 7.86, 3, Charlton Rolle, Clemson, 7.95, 4, Devon Hill, Miami, 7.96, 5, Cory Nelms, Miami, 7.98, 6, Keare Smith, Virginia Tech, 8.02, 7, Adams Abdulrazaaq, Virginia, 8.04, 8, Marlon Woods, Florida State, 8.12

60-Meter Dash (prelims) – 1, A’Tolani Akinkuotu, NC State, 6.60, 2, Maurice Mitchell, Florida State, 6.68, 3, David Ambler, Florida State, 6.71, 4, Justin Murdock, Clemson, 6.73, 5, Keith Ricks, Virginia Tech, 6.75, 6, Travis Benjamin, Miami, 6.77, 7, Ben Major, NC State, 6.83, 8, Lamar Miller, Miami, 6.84

Women’s Results

Weight Throw – 1, Lawanda Henry, NC State, 64-00.50, 2, Dorotea Habazin, Virginia Tech, 63-04.25, 3, Brittney Waller, Clemson, 60-11.50, 4, Caila Coleman, Florida State, 59-08.25, 5, Jessica Sanders, NC State, 58-02, 6, Kelsey Huckins, Boston College, 57-05.75, 7, Moriah Young, Maryland, 54-11.50, 8, Erin Wykoff, Virginia, 54-05.25

60-Meter Hurdles (prelims) – 1, Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech, 7.99, 2, Kristi Castlin, Virginia Tech, 8.11, 3, Ti’erra Brown, Miami, 8.18, 4, Vanneish Ivy, North Carolina, 8.30, 5, Brianna Rollins, Clemson, 8.30, 6, Michaylin Golladay, Clemson, 8.38, 7, Takecia Jameson, Miami, 8.42, 8, Patricia Mamona, Clemson, 8.46

Distance Medley Relay – 1, Virginia, 11:36.59, 2, Duke, 11:37.57, 3, Boston College, 11:44.38, 4, Virginia Tech, 11:44.57, 5, Florida State, 11:44.92, 6, NC State, 11:45.50, 7, Wake Forest, 11:52.93, 8, Clemson, 11:59.31

400-Meter Dash (prelims) – 1, Ti’erra Brown, Miami, 54.47, 2, Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech, 54.52, 3, Brianna Rollins, Clemson, 54.89, 4, Tiffany Grant, Georgia Tech, 55.09, 5, Brittany Pringley, Clemson, 55.16, 6, Sonni Austin, Clemson, 55.19, 7, Tameka Jameson, Miami, 55.37, 8, Kellie Christian, Georgia Tech, 55.50

60-Meter Dash (prelims) – 1, Funmi Alabi, Virginia Tech, 7.39, 2, Kristine Scott, Clemson, 7.42, t3, Ashley Dukes, Miami, 7.44, t3, Candyce McGrone, Florida State, 7.44, 5, Teona Rodgers, Florida State, 7.44, 6, Ogechi Nwaneri, Virginia Tech, 7.45, 7, Stormy Kendrick, Clemson, 7.47, 8, Danielle Jeffrey, Florida State, 7.48

200-Meter Dash (prelims) – 1, Brianna Rollins, Clemson, 23.89, 2, Takecia Jameson, Miami, 24.00, 3, Jasmine Edgerson, Clemson, 24.04, 4, Kristine Scott, Clemson, 24.09, 5, Stormy Kendrick, Clemson, 24.14, 6, Candyce McGrone, Florida State, 24.18, 7, Ogechi Nwaneri, Virginia Tech, 23.22, 8, Jenae Anderson, Georgia Tech, 24.24

For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).