February 27, 2010
Hokie men place third at ACCs in close contest
Tech women also finish third

BLACKSBURG, Va. The Virginia Tech men’s track and field squad earned a third-place finish at the ACC Indoor Championships, tallying 97 points, with three conference champions, while the Hokie women took third, totaling 74 points with one ACC title-winner, in the final day of competition on Saturday at the Rector Field House in Blacksburg, Va.

Senior Queen Harrison continued her epic performance in the conference meet. The 2008 Olympian cruised to victory in the women’s 60-meter hurdles with a record-breaking time of 7.94. The career-best clocking broke her former school record of 7.96, which she set at the VT Elite Meet earlier this year, the ACC meet record, which she set in the prelims on Friday, and currently ranks fifth in the world. Putting in another stellar effort in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, 2009 60-meter hurdle league champion senior Kristi Castlin finished second in the meet this year with a time of 8.11. Harrison and Castlin combined to add 18 points to the women’s team score.

A few events later, Harrison kept at it, setting another school record and earning another gold medal in the women’s 400-meters. The Richmond, Va., native clocked a 53.06, coming in under her own school record in the event for the second time this year, and taking the event crown by .28 seconds. The time beats her former school record of 53.54 and ranks fifth in the U.S. coming into the weekend.

More points came for the Hokies in the women’s 60-meter dash, as freshman Funmi Alabi and sophomore Ogechi Nwaneri placed second and fourth, respectively. Alabi, ran the top time of the season for the Hokies, crossing the line in a personal-best 7.37 seconds. The time improved upon her previous provisional mark of 7.39, achieved in Friday’s prelims. Nwaneri timed in at 7.45.

On the men’s side, it did not take long for the Hokies to present a champion on Saturday, as sophomore Michael Hammond captured the mile run title in an incredible first race of the day. The Midlothian, Va., native edged Adam Cunningham of North Carolina by .14 seconds to win the ACC championship. The top six finishers in the race were separated by only .48 seconds. Tech won the race for the second-consecutive year, as then-senior Billy Berlin took first in the event at the 2009 ACC Championships.

The Hokie pole vault unit came up huge, racking up 28 points in the event alone. Tech placed athletes in first, second, third and fifth in the event. Junior Hunter Hall won the title, garnering his first ACC championship, clearing a career-best 17-08.50 and bettering his provisional mark. Junior Jared Jodon and senior Yavgeniy Olhovsky placed second and third, respectively. Jodon vaulted a personal-record 17-08.50, while Olhovsky posted a height of 17-00.75. Junior Joe Davis took fifth with a mark of 16-08.75.

In other field action, sophomore Hasheem Halim and freshman David Wilson shined in the triple jump. Both qualified for finals in the event, and in his final leap of the competition, Halim set a school record and secured second place. The Lilburn, Ga., native jumped 52-08.25, shattering the former Tech standard of 51-10, set by Idikoroa Eradiri in 2007, which ranks tied for seventh in the country coming into the weekend. Wilson added important points to the team total with a fourth-place finish, posting a mark of 50-04. Combined the duo added 13 points to Tech’s total.

The throws unit continued to pace the Hokies early on Saturday as senior Igor Misljenovic tallied his best finish at an ACC meet, finishing second in the shot put with a throw of 61-04.25. The toss bettered his career-best and provisional mark of 60-01.25, which he achieved at the VT Challenge last week, and ranks tied for 11th in the nation coming into the weekend. With the eight points added from the shot put, the Hokie throws unit totaled 33 points for the men’s squad in the meet.

As the men’s team race got down to crunch time, sophomore Will Mulherin crossed the finish line first in the 3,000-meters to give the Hokies momentum towards the men’s team title, but the officials declared that he pushed a Florida State runner and disqualified him from the race. The disqualification cost the Hokies 10 points in the team standings.

"The Virginia Tech athlete pushed another athlete as they were entering the bell lap, causing him to break stride. This is a violation of Rule 5-5-3a. The resulting action was a disqualification of the Virginia Tech athlete, " running referee Richard Messenger said in a statement.

Other scorers of note for the Hokies include: Nwaneri in the women’s 200-meters, where she placed fifth with a time of 24.00 and sophomore Keare Smith, who battled through an injury and placed seventh in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 8.00. The seventh-place finish also marked Smith’s best showing of the season as well. The quartet of junior Ebenezer Amegashie, freshman Jonathan McCants, junior Nick McLaughlin and freshman Tihut Degfae closed out the men’s meet with an eighth-place showing in the 4x400-meter relay, crossing the line in 3:17.12.

The women’s 4x400-meter relay squad ended the meet for the Virginia Tech track and field squads with an exciting runner-up showing. The quartet of Harrison, freshman Yvonne Amegashie, Alabi and sophomore Aunye Boone clocked a 3:39.69.

Tech next hosts the Virginia Tech Final Qualifier on Saturday, March 6. Results will be available on hokiesports.com.

Men’s Results

Mile Run – 1, Michael Hammond, Virginia Tech, 4:10.36, 2, Adam Cunningham, North Carolina, 4:10.50, 3, Cory Nanni, Duke, 4:10.63, 4, Zach Vrhovac, Virginia, 4:10.65, 5, Logan Rosenberg, North Carolina, 4:10.82, 6, John Minen, Virginia, 4:11.84, 7, David Forrester, Florida State, 8, Matthew Leeder, Florida State, 4:13.17

Shot Put – 1, Steve Marcelle, Georgia Tech, 61-11, 2, Igor Misljenovic, Virginia Tech, 61-04.25, 3, Kwabena Keene, North Carolina, 58-05.25, 4, Jason Jones, NC State, 57-05.75, 5, Alex Padgett, Clemson, 57-05.50, 6, Chris DiLorenzo, North Carolina, 56-00.50, 7, Michael Putnam, Florida State, 56-00, 8, Thomas Sensing, Wake Forest, 55-07.75

Triple Jump – 1, Alphonso Jordan, Georgia Tech, 53-04.25, 2, Hasheem Halim, Virginia Tech, 52-08.50, 3, Marcus Robinson, Virginia, 51-01, 4, David Wilson, Virginia Tech, 50-04, 5, Kwame Boatwright, NC State, 49-03.50, 6, Donta Nall, North Carolina, 49-01, 7, William Steele, Florida State, 49-00.25, 8, Marlon Woods, Florida State, 48-09.50

60-Meter Hurdles – 1, Devon Hill, Miami, 7.78, 2, Alphonso Jordan, Georgia Tech, 7.85, 3, Adams Abdulrazaaq, Virginia, 7.88, 4, Spencer Adams, Clemson, 7.89, 5, Cory Nelms, Miami, 7.90, 6, Charlton Rolle, Clemson, 7.99, 7, Keare Smith, Virginia Tech, 8.00, 8, Marlon Woods, Florida State, 8.16

Pole Vault – 1, Hunter Hall, Virginia Tech, 17-08.50, 2, Jared Jodon, Virginia Tech, 17-08.50, 3, Yavgeniy Olhovsky, Virginia Tech, 17-00.75, 4, Parker Smith, North Carolina, 17-00.75, 5, Joe Davis, Virginia Tech, 16-08.75, 6, Gonzalo Barroilhet, Florida State, 16-08.75, 7, Andrew LaHaye, Florida State, 16-08.75, 8, Brent LaRue, Wake Forest, 16-04.75

4x400-Meter Relay – 1, North Carolina 3:09.96, 2, Clemson 3:10.21, 3, Florida State, 3:11.38, 4, Wake Forest, 3:13.01, 5, Miami, 3:13.25, 6, NC State, 3:15.91, 7, Georgia Tech, 3:16.44, 8, Virginia Tech, 3:17.12

Women’s Results

60-Meter Hurdles – 1, Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech, 7.94, 2, Kristi Castlin, Virginia Tech, 8.11, 3, Ti’erra Brown, Miami, 8.16, 4, Vanneish Ivy, North Carolina, 8.24, 5, Brianna Rollins, Clemson, 8.27, 6, Michaylin Golladay, Clemson, 8.31, 7, Patricia Mamona, Clemson, 8.46, 8, Takecia Jameson, Miami, 8.49

400-Meter Dash – 1, Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech, 53.06, 2, Ti’erra Brown, Miami, 53.34, 3, Brianna Rollins, Clemson, 54.01, 4, Tameka Jameson, Miami, 54.41, 5, Sonni Austin, Clemson, 54.66, 6, Tiffany Grant, Georgia Tech, 54.75, 7, Brittany Pringley, Clemson, 54.84, 8, Kellie Christian, Georgia Tech, 55.52

60-Meter Dash – 1, Ashley Dukes, Miami, 7.34, 2, Funmi Alabi, Virginia Tech, 7.37, 3, Stormy Kendrick, Clemson, 7.44, 4, Ogechi Nwaneri, Virginia Tech, 7.45, 5, Danielle Jeffrey, Florida State, 7.47, 6, Candyce McGrone, Florida State, 7.47, 7, Kristine Scott, Clemson, 7.59

200-Meter Dash – 1, Brianna Rollins, Clemson, 23,69, 2, Candyce McGrone, Florida State, 23.75, 3, Takecia Jameson, Miami, 23.82, 4, Stormy Kendrick, Clemson, 23.91, 5, Ogechi Nwaneri, Virginia Tech, 24.00, 6, Jasmine Edgerson, Clemson, 24.01, 7, Kristine Scott, Clemson, 24.08, 8, Jenae Anderson, Georgia Tech, 24.54

4x400-Meter Relay -1, Clemson, 3:35.76, 2, Virginia Tech, 3:39.69, 3, Maryland, 3:41.92, 4, North Carolina, 3:42.31, 5, Georgia Tech, 3:42.81, 6, Wake Forest, 3:43.66, 7, Virginia, 3:48.01, 8, Boston College, 3:50.10

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

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