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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Tomas Kruzliak won his third-straight ACC hammer throw title to pace the Hokies on the first day of competition at the 2015 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Florida State University.

After the first day of competition, the men's team is in fifth place with 10 pints after three events scored and the women's team is in 12th place with three points after three events scored.

Kruzliak successfully defended his hammer throw title, claiming the honor for the third-straight time after hitting a mark of 223’11” (68.27m), his best throw this season. Kruzliak and Virginia’s Jordan Young were battling it out until the fifth throw when Kruzliak hit his best throw of the day, earning the Hokies 10 points after the first event. That throw moves Kruzliak into 11th nationally.

Another successful performance came from Sarah Rapp in the women’s 10,000-meter race. Rapp’s time of 34:48.96 was good enough for a sixth-place finish and earned the Hokies three points.

In the preliminary races, several Hokies punched their tickets for Saturday’s final. Christine London was the first Hokie to qualify for the finals after setting a personal record in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.30 seconds.

Darius Watkins finished in eighth place in the preliminary races in the men’s 200-meter dash. Watkins’ time of 21.35 seconds was enough to earn him the final spot in Saturday’s final.

The women’s 1500-meter race produced one qualifier for the finals on Saturday. Amanda Smith finished second in her heat for the automatic qualifying spot with a time of 4:22.34.

Neil Gourley qualified for the finals in the men’s 1500-meter race after finishing in second place in his heat, earning the automatic qualifying spot. Gourley cruised to his second-place finish with a time of 3:50.37.

Tech will be back in action tomorrow, most notably Irena Sediva, the nation’s leader in the javelin throw. The Hokies will also have several competitors in the qualifying races. Live results and live video will be available.

A complete list of tomorrow’s competitors can be found below:

Women’s Javelin (Finals) - Irena Sediva

Women’s Pole Vault (Finals) - Emma King

Women’s 100 Hurdles (Prelims) - Shanel Burr, Nora McKiver

Men’s 110 Hurdles (Prelims) - Aaron Simpson

Men’s 400 (Prelims) - Chet Hebden

Women’s 100 (Prelims) - Courtney Blanden

Men’s 100 (Prelims) - Alex Ellison, Dante Price, Darius Watkins

Women’s 800 (Prelims) - Hanna Green, Shalonda Mitchell

Men’s 800 (Prelims) - Kevin Cianfarini, Martin Dally, Kevin DeWillie, Patrick Joseph, Prince Owusu

Men’s Steeplechase (Finals) - Darren Barlow, Daniel Jaskowak, Stuart Robertson

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