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EUGENE, Ore. – With only two members of the Virginia Tech track & field team competing on day three of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field, both walked away with All-America honors as Martina Schultze earned first team accolades and Ronnie Black took second team.
With both events going on simultaneously, Schultze was the first to enter her event after passing the first height. The sophomore cleared her first two heights of 13-3½ (4.05m) and 13-7¼ (4.15m) on her first attempts before passing on the next height. After a missing at 13-11¼ (4.25m), Schultze regrouped and cleared the bar on her next attempt.
The Germany native opted to pass at the next height and moved on to 14-1¼ (4.30m). Schultze though, was unable to top the bar on her three events and finished in eighth place. With the result Schultze earned her third first team All-America honor of her young career. It was five spots higher than her finish a season ago.
Ronnie Black ended his Hokie just minutes after Schultze as he took 11th in the high jump. The senior came in at the opening height and started off strong with three straight clearances before stumbling at 7-2½ (2.20m). With two misses, all of Black’s competitors began clapping for him on his final jump at the height. He came through and cleared the height with a big leg kick as he crossed over the bar. Unfortunately, he was unable to clear the next height of 7-14¼ (2.24m), a mark that only five athletes were able to get up and over.
Already graduated, Black closed out his career with second team All-America accolades. It was the fifth time he has achieved All-America status in his career.
Currently the Hokie men sit in the 12th place in the team race at 14 points after beginning the day in second.
The Championships will conclude tomorrow as the Hokies have one competitor remaining. Redshirt senior Matthias Treff will close out his career in the javelin throw at 3:30 p.m. ET.
For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).