GREENSBORO, N.C. – National champion Tomas Kruzliak highlights the list of 2013 Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track and Field honorees, as announced today by Commissioner John Swofford.

Kruzliak is the first male student-athlete to receive both an ACC Performer of the Year and Freshman of the Year award since the conference began recognizing both the top track performer and top field performer in 2007. He joins Florida State’s Kim Williams (ACC Women’s Field Performer and Freshman of the Year in 2008) as the only ACC freshmen to earn the dual awards.

A native of Nitra, Slovakia, Kruzliak continued a trend at last week’s NCAA Championship that saw Virginia Tech claim its sixth title in the men’s hammer throw in the last nine years as he became the fourth Hokie to ever win the event. He took the gold medal with a throw of 227 feet, 4 inches (69.26m). Kruzliak is only the second Hokie to win a national championship in his first season, joining fellow Nitra native Marcel Lomincky.

The two-time ACC Performer of the Week had a dominant first season in Blacksburg as he only came in second to collegiate competition once on the year. He also owned the nation’s top throw for the majority of the season. At the ACC Championship on April 19, he won Tech’s fifth straight gold medal in the hammer throw with a personal-best mark of 232-5 (70.84m).

After a successful collegiate season, the Slovakian will now turn his attention to the European U23 Championships in Tampere, Finland on July 10-14.

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