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CLEMSON, S.C. – The Virginia Tech men’s and women’s track & field teams kicked off the 2014 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships with a pair of fourth place finishes in the men’s distance medley relay and the women’s distance medley relay.

In the men’s race, it came down to a photo finish as the Hokies were just nine-hundredths of a second from the podium and three-tenths of a second from a first-place finish. The women were just three-tenths of a second away from a spot on the podium.

Juan Campos got things started off for the men running the 1200-meter leg for Tech. The race saw two competitors hit the ground after some runners collided, but Campos was able to avoid the scuffle and surge ahead with the remainder of the field.

With the race still tight, Campos handed off the baton to teammate Dante Price. Price pushed forward to lead after the first 200-meters of the 400-meter leg, but ran out of steam as the rest of the field caught up in time for the handoff.

Price passed the baton to Martin Dally who ran a strategic 800-meter leg putting the Hokies in the mix to place for the final leg.

Leoule Degfae, no stranger to high-pressure situations, took the baton for the 1600-meter leg, the final leg of the race. Degfae stayed with the pack for the majority of the leg, but in the final sprint raced ahead to try and claim a podium spot. His effort came up just short as the Hokies finished in fourth place. Tech’s final time for the men’s distance medley relay was 9:50.28.

In the women’s race, Shannon Morton got things started for the Hokies in the 1200-meter leg. The race was tight but Smiljanec was able to stay with the leading four as she handed the baton to Jasmine Mitchell.

Mitchell used her brilliant speed to move the Hokies into a prime position during her 400-meter leg. The freshman moved Tech into the third place spot before she handed the baton to teammate Katarina Smiljanec for the 800-meter leg.

Smiljanec continued to keep the Hokies in position during her leg and handed the baton to Sarah Rapp.

Rapp ran her 1600-meter leg with poise, keeping herself in the mix until the very end. Her final push in the last 400-meters of her leg came up just short as the Hokies finished in fourth with a time of 11:19.21.

Tech will continue their pursuit of an ACC Championship tomorrow. Events begin at 11 a.m. and will be broadcasted live on ESPN3.

For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Track