Tweet

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Irena Sediva continued her dominance in the javelin throw punching her ticket to Eugene, Oregon while Sabine Kopplin and Tomas Kruzliak also earned berths into the NCAA Championships after performing well in their respective throwing events to pace Tech on the first day of the NCAA East Regional.

Sediva won the women’s javelin by almost six feet posting a mark of 185’8” (56.59m). Sediva will continue her quest for a national championship in two weeks against the nation’s best. Kopplin, also in the women’s javelin, earned a berth to the NCAA Championships by posting a mark of 159’7” (48.65m) earning her the 11th out of 12 spots that go onto the NCAA Championships.

Tomas Kruzliak placed third overall in the men’s hammer throw. Kruzliak’s mark of 223’7” (68.16m) was achieved on his third and final throw of the day.

Several Hokie distance runners moved on to further rounds and have now moved one step closer to qualifying for the NCAA Championships in Eugene.

Amanda Smith qualified for the next round of the women’s 1500-meter race with a time of 4:21.83. Smith will compete next on Saturday. On the men;s side in the same distance, Neil Gourley was the 12th overall qualifier with a time of 3:45.68. That time was within five-tenths of a second of the leader.

The 800-meter races provided two qualifiers who moved on to the next round tomorrow. Hanna Green in the women’s race posted a qualifying time of 2:05.30, the second overall qualifying time in the event. Patrick Joseph also qualified for the next round on the men’s side with a time of 1:48.81.

The Hokies will be back in action tomorrow with several qualifying races. The Hokies will have competitors in the following events: women’s 100 hurdles, women’s 800, men’s 800, men’s 200, men’s steeplechase, men’s javelin, men’s discus and men’s pole vault. Live stats will be available.

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