No. 8 Virginia Tech splits up for three meets

Hokies head to Clemson, Indiana and VMI

January 18, 2018

Clemson Info - Heat Sheet - Live Results | Indiana Info - Heat Sheet - Live Results | VMI Info - Heat Sheet - Live Results

BLACKSBURG – Following six first-place finishes opening weekend, the Virginia Tech track and field teams will split up this weekend to compete in three meets.

The pole vault and jump/multi-event groups will head to Bloomington, Indiana, hosted by Indiana, for the Gladstein Invitational, while the sprints/hurdles group will make the trek south to Clemson, South Carolina, hosted by Clemson, for the Clemson Invitational. Both meets are two-day events starting on Friday.

The distance group, which will compete for the first time in 2018, will head to Lexington, Virginia, and compete on the campus of VMI at the Keydet Invitational on Saturday.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Fri. | Clemson Invitational | 9:30 a.m. ET | Live Results
Fri. | Gladstein Invitational | 2:25 p.m. ET | Live Results
Sat. | Gladstein Invitational | 10:15 a.m. ET | Live Results
Sat. | Clemson Invitational | 11 a.m. ET | Live Results
Sat. | Keydet Invitational | 10 a.m. ET | Live Results

The Hokies enter the second week of the indoor season after a memorable weekend at the Nittany Lion Challenge on the campus of Penn State. Three newcomers took first place in their respective events, including Stefanie Aeschlimann (triple jump), Keishaun Limehouse (60-meter hurdles) and Lisa Gunnarsson (pole vault), while the returners hit the ground running in Courtney Blanden (300 meters), Deakin Volz (pole vault) and the 4x400-meter relay team of Blanden, Arlicia Bush, Nora McKiver and Caitlan Tate.

The men were tabbed No. 8 in the country, according to the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) on Jan. 10. The next poll will come out on Jan. 22.

The pole vault group has four student-athletes who own top-10 marks nationally, as Gunnarsson (No. 2) and Baxter (No. 5) on the women’s side, and Volz (No. 4) and Joel Leon Benitez (No. 8) on the men’s side had quite the weekend to begin the season.

Blanden, Limehouse and Tate lead the sprinters, tallying top-20 marks across the nation. Limehouse boasts a time of 7.91 seconds in the 60-meter dash, ranking 18^th, Blanden has the 14^th-best time in the country in the 300 meters and Tate is right behind in 15^th in the same event.

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