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Hokies jump to No. 7 in USTFCCA top-25 poll
The Hokie men are one of three ACC teams ranked in the top 25
February 27, 2017
BLACKSBURG – Following an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) indoor title, the Virginia Tech men’s track and field team moved up 14 spots to No. 7 (79.88) in this week’s United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Indoor National Team Computer Rankings released on Monday afternoon.
Florida holds on to the No. 1 spot with 164.44 points in the poll, while SEC champion Arkansas (119.59) checks in at No. 2, despite topping the Gators at the conference meet. Oregon, the defending national champions, and Texas A&M sit in third (97.70) and fourth (88.43), respectively, followed by Georgia in fifth (87.89).
The scoring system is based on head-to-head individual matchups. It also takes into consideration where the student-athletes fall on the NCAA DI Descending Order List. Of note, the Hokie men are one of three ACC teams ranked in the top 25, with Virginia and Syracuse checking in at No. 18 and No. 23, respectively.
Over the weekend, Tech’s men claimed its fourth ACC indoor title behind three individual gold-medal performances and a gold medal from the distance medley relay team. The Hokies scored 109 points, outlasting Virginia by 11 points for the win. Florida State came in third with 86 points. Additionally, 14 male athletes earned All-ACC honors, led by Vincent Ciattei, Patrick Joseph and Torben Laidig – the three gold medalists.
Ciattei beat out Virginia’s Henry Wynne, the reigning NCAA champion in the one-mile run. The Baltimore, Maryland, native used a tremendous kick on the final straightaway to surge ahead of Wynne and claim the win with a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 1.04 seconds.
Joseph also earned valuable points for the Hokies in the 800-meter run, as he crossed the finish line ahead of teammate Drew Piazza to claim gold, finishing the race in a school-record time of 1:46.23 for the win. The Leesburg, Virginia, native also notched an ACC Championship meet record in the event and broke Piazza’s school-record prelim time of 1:47.71.
Laidig, a native of Schwabish Hall, Germany, finished with a meet-record vault of 5.55 meters (18 ft., 2.5 in.), marking the second gold medal of his career.
The other gold medal came from the distance medley relay team of Daniel Jaskowak, Brandon Thomas, Kevin Cianfarini and Neil Gourley, who won the event in a time of 9:31.05. Tech won the event for just the second time in school history and recorded the fourth-best time in school history.
The Hokies will be back in action in two weeks, as several Tech athletes will head to the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held on Texas A&M’s campus in College Station, Texas.
For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter Follow @VT_Track
