Ciattei, Laidig, Thor named to Google Cloud Academic All-District Team

Hokie trio will now be eligible for Academic All-America

May 29, 2018

CoSIDA Release

GREENWOOD, Ind. – Vincent Ciattei, Torben Laidig and Emma Thor on Virginia Tech’s track and field teams have been named to the 2018 Google Cloud Academic All-District Track and Field and Cross Country Team in District 3 on Tuesday, as voted on by members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The All-District Team recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom. The Hokie trio will be eligible to be voted on the upcoming Academic All-America Team, which will be released on June 21.

Ciattei took home the silver medal in the men’s mile with a school-record and personal-best time of 3 minutes, 58.36 seconds, and then won gold as a part of the distance medley relay team that finished with a time of 9:30.76 at the NCAA Track and Field Indoor Championships. It marked Tech’s first-ever national title in a distance event.

The Maryland native also won the mile at the ACC Indoor Championships and the 1,500 at the ACC Outdoor Championships.

An engineering sciences and mechanics major, Ciattei is an eight-time honoree on the Virginia Tech Dean’s List. He has been named to the AD Honor Roll for five straight years, the ACC Academic Honor Roll for four years and the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team the last two years.

A five-time All-American and seven-time All-ACC selection, Laidig has earned a gold medal twice and silver five times in the pole vault at the ACC Indoor and Outdoor Championships combined. He placed second at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships and took sixth at the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships, earning first-team All-America honors at both meets.

The Germany native graduated this spring semester with over 150 hours, double majoring in biochemistry and biology. He has been a member of Virginia Tech’s Dean List eight times, including six of those eight semesters with a 4.0 GPA, and a member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll for four straight years. He has been a member of the ACC All-Academic Team the last four years and a member of the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team last two years.

Thor took eighth place in the hammer throw at the 2017 NCAA Outdoor Championships her freshman year, earning first-team All-America honors. She earned silver at the 2017 ACC Outdoor Championships in the hammer throw, earning first-team All-ACC and owns the second-best mark in school history, tossing a throw of 64.85 meters (212 feet, 9 inches). The Sweden native won gold at the 2018 ACC Outdoor Championships.

The industrial and systems engineering major has been a member of Virginia Tech’s Dean List three times, including a 4.0 GPA one semester, and a member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll once. She has made the ACC All-Academic Team once and the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team once, too.

All three student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, punching their tickets to Eugene, Oregon last weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Tampa, Florida. The threesome and 11 other Hokies will make the trek to Hayward Field from June 6-9.

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