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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Eight members of the Virginia Tech track & field team, five men and three women, have been selected to compete at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championship, the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Track and Field Committee announced Monday.

Tech’s eight qualifiers are junior Ronnie Black (high jump), sophomore Frances Dowd (800 meters), senior Hasheem Halim (triple jump), senior Marcel Lomnicky (weight throw), senior Keith Ricks (60 meters), freshman Martina Schultze (pole vault), freshman Victoria von Eynatten (pole vault) and junior Alexander Ziegler (weight throw).

The championships will be held on Friday and Saturday, March 9-10 at the Jacksons Indoor Track at the Idaho Center in Nampa, Idaho. Boise State is serving as the host institution. Student-athletes qualified for the championship based on their ranking on the national performance list or by achieving the NCAA automatic qualifying standard in their respective event.

Black will compete in the high jump at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. An All-American in last year’s outdoor high jump, Black was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Men’s Performer of the Week on Jan. 17 after winning the high jump at the VT Invitational with a school record and indoor personal best mark of 7-3.25 (2.22m). He took second at the SPIRE Division I Invitational with a clearance of 7-1.75 (2.18m) and also tied for fourth at the ACC Championship (6-10.25, 2.09m).

Dowd will compete in the preliminary round of the 800 meters on Friday at 9:15 p.m. ET. The final is at 9:45 p.m. ET on Saturday. Dowd earned All-ACC honors with a third place finish in the 800 meters at the ACC Championship (2:10.41) and on Saturday, she reset her own school record at Notre Dame’s Alex Wilson Invitational (2:05.18). Dowd initially set the school record in the 800 meters (2:07.22) at the SPIRE Division I Collegiate Invitational, while also setting the school record in the 600 (1:30.99).

Halim will compete in the triple jump on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Halim, a two-time All-American, reset the triple jump school record for the second time during the season at the ACC Championship, earning runner-up honors (52-10.75, 16.12m) to become a four-time All-ACC triple jumper indoors. He initially reset his own school record in the triple jump at the Hokie Invitational with a winning leap of 52-8.75 (16.07m). Halim also placed seventh at the ACC Championship in the long jump (23-7.5, 7.20m).

Lomnicky, a five-time All-American and the 2009 NCAA National Champion in the outdoor hammer throw, will compete in the weight throw at 6 p.m. ET on Saturday. Lomnicky threw an NCAA automatic qualifying and personal best mark of 75-7.5 (23.05m) to win the weight throw in his first competition of the season at the VT Elite Meet. He was subsequently named the men’s outstanding performer of the meet and the ACC Co-Performer of the Week on Feb. 7. He also won his second career title in the weight throw at the ACC Championship (71-9.5, 21.88m), helping the Hokies sweep the event for the second year in a row.

Ricks will compete in the preliminary round of the 60 meter dash at 8:30 p.m. ET Friday. The final is at 9:15 p.m. ET Saturday. Ricks reset his own school record in the 60 meters for the second time running a winning time of 6.61 at the VT Elite Meet in February. He had previously set the record of 6.64 with a win at the VT Invitational. Ricks also placed fifth in the 60 meters at the ACC Championship (6.72).

Schultze and von Eynatten will compete in the pole vault at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday. Schultze finished runner-up at the ACC Championship in the pole vault, tying the meet record with a personal best 14-1.75 (4.31m), while helping the Hokies sweep the event .

von Eynatten won the ACC title in the pole vault, also tying the meet record at 14-1.75 (4.31m), while leading the Hokies to the podium sweep. She won the pole vault at the VT Challenge, resetting her own school record with an NCAA automatic qualifying height of 14-4 (4.37m) and was named the ACC Women’s Track & Field Performer of the Week on Feb. 21. She initially set the school record in the pole vault in her first competition as a Hokie, finishing second at the VT Elite Meet, with a mark of 14-2.5 (4.33m).

Ziegler will join Lomnicky in the weight throw. A four-time All-American and last year’s NCAA hammer throw national champion, Ziegler surpassed the NCAA automatic qualifying standard in the weight throw in his first competition of the season with a winning mark of 72-5 (22.07m) at the Hokie Invitational. He threw a personal best 75-7.25 (23.04m) to place second in the weight throw at the VT Elite Meet and finished runner-up in the weight throw at the ACC Championship (69-11.5, 21.32m), helping the Hokies sweep the event for the second year in a row.

ESPN3 will stream the meet live on March 9 from 7:30 p.m.-11:45 p.m. ET and March 10 from 8:00 p.m.-11:15 p.m. ET. A tape delay of the championship will air Sunday, March 18 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU. NCAA.com and broncosports.com will stream what ESPN3 is not covering on Friday (Noon-7:30 p.m. ET) and Saturday (12:30-8 pm ET).

For more information regarding the Division I indoor track and field championships, log on to http://www.ncaa.com/championships/trackfield-indoor-men/d1

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