Tweet

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Friday's action was highlighted by Alexander Ziegler qualifying for the NCAA Championships as well as two school records falling, as Michael Hammond and Nick McLaughlin both secured their spots at the top of the Virginia Tech record book.

Ziegler came out in front in the weight throw with a season-best 70-8 (21.54m), which puts him past the automatic qualifying mark of 21.50m. He is the second Hokie to qualify for the national championships so far this season, joining Kelly Phillips in the women's pole vault. Ziegler earned All-America honors last season as a freshman in the weight throw, placing third. He also earned All-America honors in the 2010 outdoor season placing second in the hammer throw. Marcel Lomnicky placed second on Friday (65-10.25, 20.07m) with Denis Mahmic in third (62-10.75, 19.17m) to complete the sweep of the top three spots.

Hammond kicked things off in the right direction on the track for the Hokies, earning a win in the men’s mile and setting a new school record in the process at 4:01.53. Hammond moved to the outside and mustered all his strength in the last lap of the race to pull past Duke’s Ryan McDermott. Hammond’s finish breaks the previous record of 4:02.27, set by Billy Berlin in 2009, the same season Berlin won an ACC Championship in the event. Will Mulherin, who holds Tech’s outdoor mile school record, finished third in today’s mile run with a personal-best 4:03.43 to move to third all-time at Tech. In the women’s mile, Sammy Dow was Tech’s highest finisher, taking fourth with a new personal-best 4:53.03. Paige Kvartunas was just behind Dow in sixth with her own personal-best 4:59.85.

Kristen Brown qualified for the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, finishing with the second-fastest qualifying time of 8.60. Brown took second in the finals at 8.55, a new personal-best that moves her to fourth all-time at Tech. Zakiya Tyson advanced to the women’s 60-meter dash finals after placing fourth in the prelims at 7.69, eventually taking fourth in the finals with a personal-best 7.67.

A second school record fell in the men’s 600 meters as McLaughlin cruised to a second-place finish at 1:19.88. Tihut Degfae finished right behind him in third at 1:20.02, which also beat the previous school record of 1:20.16. The previous record-holder, Ryan Witt, took fourth at 1:20.23. The Hokies took the top two spots in the women’s 600 meters, with Frances Dowd and Lauren Lemieux crossing the line back-to-back at 1:34.38 and 1:34.98, respectively. Four Hokies took the third-through-sixth spots in the women’s 3,000 meters, with Madalyn Nuckols leading the way in third at 9:59.16 closely followed by Taylor Crosson, competing unattached, in fourth at 9:59.89.

Dorotea Habazin further improved on her personal-best in the weight throw, earning the win with a toss of 66-1 (20.14m), over seven feet past second place. This moves Habazin to third all-time at Tech in the weight throw. A pair of Tech competitors competing unattached, Matt Hoogland and Elizabeth Powell, took second in the men’s (15-1, 4.60m) and women’s (11-5.75, 3.50m) pole vault, respectively.

The Hokies resume competition tomorrow at 11 a.m. with the women’s high jump and the Saturday section of the pole vault. Running events begin at noon with the 5,000 meters.

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