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BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Virginia Tech concluded its second day of competition Saturday at the Hokie Invitational. The day saw many Hokies in their first competition of the season as well as a third broken Rector Field House record.
Tech began Saturday’s action with the 400-meter dash, where Natalie Woodford ran a photo-finish in the second heat, edging the top spot by one hundreth of a second, placing eighth overall at 57.16. Three Hokies placed in the top ten in the women’s 200-meter dash, with Aunye Boone (24.35), Zakiya Tyson (24.40) and Ogechi Nwaneri (24.60) earning sixth-, seventh- and 10th-place finishes, respectively. Keith Ricks cracked the top ten on the men’s side, earning a ninth-place finish at 21.78.
The Hokies’ relay teams saw their first action of the season on Saturday. Woodford, Boone, Asia Washington and Yvonne Amegashie teamed up to propel Tech to a third-place finish (3:42.04) in the women’s 1,600-meter relay. In the men’s 4x4, Ricks, Ebenezer Amegashie, Jeff Artis-Gray and Darrell Wesh made a push in the last legs to earn a win in the third heat, good for 12th overall at 3:21.93.
In field events, Artis-Gray took third in the men’s long jump with a best distance of 24-4.25 (7.42m). This mark is second all-time at Virginia Tech and is the only mark behind the record of 25-3 (7.70m) to break the 24-foot mark. Samira Burkhardt won the women’s shot put with a personal best toss of 52-10 (16.10m). Coming into this weekend, her previous best mark of 51-8.5 (15.76m) ranked 12th nationally.
Kelly Phillips was Tech’s highest finisher in the seeded pole vault for the second weekend in a row, clearing 12-2.5 (3.72m) to tie for sixth. Ronnie Black tied for eighth in his first high jump competition of the season, hitting the 6-8.25 (2.04m) mark. Six-time All-American Yavgeniy Olhovsky placed third in the pole vault, clearing 17-1.5 (5.22m) on his second attempt. Teammate Jared Jodon, competing unattached, took second at the same height.
A third Rector Field House record fell this weekend, with Duke’s Kate Van Buskirk setting a new women’s 1,000-meter record at 2:41.00. This beats Sara Bowman’s previous record of 2:43.40 set in 2005. Van Buskirk was also a member of Duke’s 3,200-meter relay that set a new Field House record yesterday at 8:42.54.
Next weekend the Hokies will hit the road, traveling to University Park for the Penn State National. Two days of events kick off on Friday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m.
For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).