Tech women lead after first day of ACC Championships

Both the men's and women's squad bring home a gold medal on the first day of competition

May 13, 2017

ATLANTA – Senior Irena Sediva and sophomore Peter Seufer of the Virginia Tech track and field teams both won gold medals Friday, putting the Hokies in good position on both sides after the first day of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Georgia Tech’s George C. Griffin Track & Field Facility.

The women’s squad stands in first place after the first day of competition, as the throwers accumulated 33 of the Hokies’ 43.5-point total. On the men's side, the Hokies sit in a two-way tie for third place with Wake Forest, racking up 15 points in two events. Of note, in-state rival Virginia sits on top of the men’s team standings with a total of 35 points.

Sediva won with a championship meet record throw of 58.68 meters (192 ft., 6 in.) in the javelin event. She edged teammate Eva Vivod, who won the silver medal with a mark of 52.14 meters (171 ft., 1 in.). The ACC title marked the second for Sediva, who won the event during the 2015 outdoor season.

The rest of the Tech throwers’ 33-point total came from the women’s hammer throw event. Sophomore Pavla Kuklova earned herself a silver medal for the second year in a row, while freshman Emma Thor secured a bronze-medal finish in her first ACC Championships event. Kuklova threw the hammer 63.16 meters (207 ft., 3 in.) on her fifth attempt, and that marked the best of her six throws. Thor threw a distance of 62.94 meters (206 ft., 6 in.) on her second attempt, and that also marked the best of her six throws. Freshman Kajsa Wennberg also earned a top-10 finish in the event, placing eighth overall with a 56.26-meter throw (184 ft., 7 in.). Florida State’s Veronika Kanuchova won the event with a 64.01-meter toss (210 ft.) on her sixth and final attempt.

Tech junior Abigail Motley and senior Kathryn Little also scored points for the Hokie women, finishing the night with a pair of top-six performances in the 10,000-meter run. Motley collected a medal for the first time in her career, winning bronze and completing the race with a personal-best time of 34 minutes, 48.30 seconds. Little came in sixth, also notching a career best (35:37.43).

In the women’s pole vault competition, senior Erica Hjerpe vaulted a height of 3.88 meters (12 ft., 8.75 in) to tie for seventh place overall. Junior Olivia Privitera also competed in the event, finishing 11th with a 3.73-meter vault (12 ft., 2.75 in).

Also, the Hokies’ Nora McKiver, Katie Kennedy and Hanna Green all positioned themselves to help with the team scoring. McKiver won her heat in the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 58.30 seconds to qualify for Sunday’s finals. Kennedy and Green also qualified for Sunday’s finals in the 1,500-meter run. Kennedy finished first in her heat with a personal-best time of 4:23.08, while Green came in second in her respective heat with a time of 4:23.07. The top three in each heat plus the next three best times qualified for the finals.

On the men’s side, Seufer capped the evening with a victory in the 10,000 – the final event of the day. He stayed near the front of the pack for the entire race, while several runners went to the front at various points. On the bell lap, Seufer used a tremendous kick to surpass Syracuse’s Philo Germano on the final straightway to pull away for the win. Racing in the event for the first time in his career, Seufer won in a time of 29:21.49. Tech now has captured gold in the 10,000 in back-to-back seasons, as former Tech standout Tommy Curtin won the event at last year’s championships in Tallahassee, Florida.

Freshman Matthew Reinhart also added five points to the Hokies’ total. With one attempt left, Reinhart lifted himself to a fourth-place finish in the men’s javelin with a personal-best throw of 61.99 meters (203 ft., 4 in.).

Other Tech men positioned themselves to help with the team scoring. All five Hokies qualified for Sunday’s finals in the 1,500-meter run: Diego Zarate (3:45.26), Neil Gourley (3:45.32), Vincent Ciattei (3:45.67), Ashkan Mohammadi (3:46.15) and Andrew Goldman (3:50.01). The top five in each heat plus the next two best times qualified for the finals. Junior Greg Chiles advanced to Sunday’s finals in the 400-meter hurdles, placing third overall in the qualifying round with a 50.86-second finish. Freshman Michael Davenport also qualified for the 200-meter finals with a time of 21.08 seconds set in the preliminary round.

Additionally, sophomore Mackenzie Muldoon currently sits in seventh place in the men’s decathlon event. Only five events were scheduled for the day, with the remaining five events taking place Saturday afternoon. Muldoon placed third in the 400, finished fourth in the long jump, claimed sixth in the shot put and eighth in both the 100-meter dash and high jump events. The Christiansburg, Virginia native also notched career bests in three of Friday’s events: the 400 (51.97 seconds), the long jump (6.87 meters) and the shot put (12.44 meters).

The final five events of the decathlon include the 110-meter hurdles, the discus, the pole vault, the javelin and the 1,500-meter run. Those events will kick off Saturday’s competition starting at 11 a.m. In addition, the field events will begin at 3 p.m., and the running events are scheduled to start at 5:45 p.m.

The ACC Network Extra will provide a live stream coverage via WatchESPN and the ESPN app on each day of the championships. Former Olympic decathlon gold medalist Dan O’Brien will serve as the color analyst. He also will be joined by veteran ESPN play-by-play announcer Shawn Kenney. Saturday’s live coverage will air from 5:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Sunday’s broadcast will begin at 5 p.m. and run until the conclusion of the meet. Admission is free to the championships.

Following the 2017 ACC Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the Hokies will have one week off from competition prior to the NCAA East Regional held on the University of Kentucky’s campus in Lexington, Kentucky from May 25-27.

Fans can follow all the action during each meet of the 2017 outdoor season by following the squad on Twitter and Instagram.

PERSONAL BESTS

400 meters

Mackenzie Muldoon (51.97)

1,500 meters

Katie Kennedy (4:23.08)

Ashkan Mohammadi (3:46.15)

10,000 meters

Abigail Motley (34:48.30)

Kathryn Little (35:37.43)

Peter Seufer (29:21.49)

400 hurdles

Nora McKiver (58.30)

Hammer throw

Pavla Kuklova (63.16 meters)

Long jump

Mackenzie Muldoon (6.87 meters)

Shot put

Mackenzie Muldoon (12.44 meters)

Javelin

Matthew Reinhart (61.99 meters)

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