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GAINESVILLE, Fla./WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - With only one win to start "relay weekend," the Virginia Tech track and field team captured three wins on the final day due to a Hokie sweep in the 4x800-meter relay at the Colonial Relays and Ronnie Black's third high jump victory of the outdoor season at the Pepsi Florida Relays.
The Hokie distance squad hit the track at Zable Stadium early where the women's 4x800 relay teams finished first and fourth. The top spot went to the "A" team which featured last night's 1500 meters champion, Shannon Morton, along with Amanda Smith, Frances Dowd and Katarina Smiljanec, Tech's top three finishers from yesterday's 800 meters. The group's time of 8:52.74 was more than four seconds better than second place while also placing them second all-time at Tech. Tech's "B" team made up of Ashley Hayes, Paige Kvartunas, Sammy Dow and Shalonda Mitchell finished in 9:02.16.
The men's 4x800 relay team followed that up with a win of its own. The team of Ryan Hagen, Kevin DeWillie, Grant Pollock and Tihut Degfae as the finished in 7:34.09 as they crossed just ahead Fordham. Later in the day, Tech's distance medley relay team of Brian Welch, Matt Hoogland, Juan Campos and Stuart Robertson earned third-place result as they finished just over a second off the pace with their time of 9:57.23.
At Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, the men's 4x100 relay team turned in the second-best time by a collegiate team in the field. With Garrett Smith slotting into the group this week for Jeff Artis-Gray, and the usual trio of Darrell Wesh, Jonathan McCants and Tadashi Pinder, the team finished in 40.21 for sixth place. The time was just one-thousandth of a second behind the team that competed at the FSU Relays two weeks earlier.
During the early evening, Ronnie Black continued outdoor win streak in the high jump, bumping it up to three with his clearance of 7-3 (2.21m) on his third attempt. The senior's jump tied his school record which he set last year. Being the only competitor to clear the height, Black attempted to shatter his record with a mark of 7-6 (2.29m), but was unable to clear the bar on his three attempts.
Next weekend, the majority of the Hokies will take the weekend off to prepare for the ACC Outdoor Championships in two weeks while small group, primarily made up of pole vaulters, will head to Knoxville, Tenn., for the Sea Ray Relays.
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