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Please bring any gently worn shoes that you no longer wear, and help provide free footwear to those in desperate need. All shoes will be donated to either Soles4Souls or the Nike Re-Use A Shoe program. 851 pairs were collected last year, and teams have the goal of collecting 1,000 pairs this year.
The Shoe Drive will happen rain or shine, and the drop-off area will be located in the half-circle bus pull-through on the Spring Road side of Cassell. If you can’t make it on Saturday, you can still drop off shoes with Stacey Vidt in the track/cross country office in Cassell or at the Student Life office.
In addition, if you don’t have any shoes to donate but would still like to help, please consider donating $1 to off-set the shipping costs.
Join the Virginia Tech cross country and track & field teams in their efforts to reach out to the less fortunate!
For more information on the Shoe Drive, contact Virginia Tech cross country/track & field Technical Director Stacey Vidt at (540) 231-6929 or svidt@vt.edu
As
reported a couple of weeks ago, 11 Virginia Tech student-athletes are or will be participating this
summer in Coach for College, a global initiative to promote higher education
founded by former Duke tennis player Parker Goyer. The Tech contingent is among
62 ACC student-athletes who have headed or will be heading to Vietnam to teach
children basketball, soccer, volleyball and tennis. More importantly, the
curriculum also includes health, physics, morality and English.
Those participating for Tech include Christina Patten
(lacrosse), Julie Wolfinger (lacrosse), Ryan Rotanz (lacrosse), Colleen Thom
(women’s cross country), Jessica Trapeni (women’s cross country), Drew Dillon
(women’s cross country), Aunye Boone (women’s track), Devin Cornwall (men’s
track), Keith Ricks (men’s track), Morgan Allen (women’s swimming) and Kaleigh
Gomes (women’s swimming).
Thom, a rising sophomore from Yorktown, Va., went to Vietnam as part of a group that went in early June. While there, she created a blog and posted her thoughts and pictures from throughout her time there. To read more about the trip, please check out this site.
Those participating for Tech include Christina Patten (lacrosse), Julie Wolfinger (lacrosse), Ryan Rotanz (lacrosse), Colleen Thorn (women’s cross country), Jessica Trapeni (women’s cross country), Drew Dillon (women’s cross country), Aunye Boone (women’s track), Devin Cornwall (men’s track), Keith Ricks (men’s track), Morgan Allen (women’s swimming) and Kaleigh Gomes (women’s swimming).
For more details on the project, please check out this story and the accompanying photo gallery to the left of the story.
The Tech programs recognized were men’s basketball, men’s cross country, golf, men’s tennis, women’s swimming and diving and volleyball.
The APR is a metric established and used by the NCAA to measure a program’s success in moving student-athletes toward graduation. An APR score of 925 is the minimum level of academic success, and teams scoring below 925 can lose scholarships and face other sanctions over time, including bans on postseason play.
Full APR scores for all teams, including penalties for low-performing teams, will be released May 24.
The teams are accepting gently worn or worn out shoes. These shoes will be given to Soles4Souls, Inc., and Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe Program. Soles4Souls provides free shoes to people in need throughout the world, while Nike breaks down each shoe, grinding down the parts and using them to make running tracks, padding for basketball courts and surfaces for tennis courts.
Also, $1 donations can be made at this event. This will help cover shipping costs.
A year ago, the track and field and cross country teams collected 447 pairs of shoes.
The Virginia Tech track & field and cross country teams will be holding their second annual Shoe Drive this Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of Cassell Coliseum.
Please bring any gently worn shoes that you no longer wear, and help provide free footwear to those in desperate need. All shoes will be donated to either Soles4Souls or the Nike Re-Use A Shoe program. Over 250 pairs were collected last year, but the teams hope to at least double that this year.
The shoe drive will happen rain or shine, and the drop-off area will be located in the half-circle bus pull-through on the Spring Road side of Cassell.
A financial donation of $1.00 will be accepted to help the team cover all shipping costs.
Join the Virginia Tech Track & Field and Cross Country team in their efforts to reach out to the less fortunate!
Cross country season gets underway on Friday evening, and the men’s team, in particular, looks set to have a strong season. Here’s what team members Will Mulherin and Ryan Witt had to say in advance of the team’s first meet.
Will Mulherin
Q: You had a strong showing at the ACC cross country championships last year, but you had an even better performance on the track with an ACC title in the 5,000 meters. How do you plan on translating that success from the track to the cross country course?
A: I feel that my success last year on the track gave me a lot of confidence. At the beginning of the year, I was a freshman coming into a strong ACC conference, but throughout the year, I challenged myself to improve. By the time of outdoor ACCs, I was in better shape than I thought I would ever be, so I decided to go for the win. After that race, I felt I could do anything that I set my mind to, and from then on, I have tried to live by that mindset. So I think that if I keep that up, I can continue my success to cross country.
Q: Coach Thomas always talks to about running in a pack with small time gaps between the No.1 guy and the No. 5 guy. What makes that such a good strategy and is it hard to execute?
A: Well, that's THE cross country strategy. If your team finishes in a pack, then all you have to do is get everyone faster. It's hard to do because you need five really good guys, and in such a competitive conference, that's pretty hard to do.
Ryan Witt
Q: The women's team has gotten attention over the past few years with its team showing at NCAAs in 2006, and Tasmin Fanning’s high finishes in 2007 and 2008. Do you feel like the men's team is ready to grab some headlines this year and why?
A: I think the women's team has received a lot of much deserved attention over the past few years as a team and with Tasmin as an individual. But now, the men's team is set up for the success that the women have experienced in the past. We have some really talented runners who have done well up front, including seniors Paul LaPenna and Devin Cornwall, and sophomores Will Mulherin and Michael Hammond. All of these individuals have proven themselves in the past and I think they are ready to grab some headlines. I don't know if people realize the potential we have this year, so I think we might surprise them with a good run at an ACC title, and we have a very legitimate shot to make it to nationals as a team. I think all the returnees are prepared for what this season has to offer. I think that Eddie Judge, Matt Kroetch, Brian Welch and myself will combine with the others to create a deadly top 7 and we should turn some heads this year.
Q: You and Eddie Judge have been successful as middle distance runners on the track. Is it hard to try to translate that success to the cross country course and why/why not?
A: Eddie and I have been successful on the track largely because of our base that is built
with longer runs and endurance work from the cross country season. Personally, I dropped down to the 800 meters for a lot of the season and that is a far cry from the 10K that I will be running at NCAA regionals and nationals. But in track, I had to have the endurance to run in several rounds on back-to-back days. So I feel like we can translate well as long as we have the right mindset. I might like being on the track better, but that doesn't stop me from being a great cross country runner. Also, the weekly mileage isn't all that different from track to cross country. The difference is that we do less speed work in cross country and we do more hills.
Friday: Volleyball vs NC State, 7 pm, Cassell Coliseum
The first 500 children (under the age of 18) to the match will receive a FREE Tech Autograph Book. Please go to the marketing table located on the Spring Road side of the concourse to pick up your autograph book. All fans are invited to participate in a HokieBird photo opportunity with the HokieBird from 6-6:45 pm (photographs will be emailed to you the following week). Please go to the Spring Road side of the concourse to participate. All fans are invited to participate in an autograph session with the volleyball team and the HokieBird following the match.
Friday: Men’s Soccer vs. Boston College, 7 pm, Thompson Field
Come out and support the seniors as they plays their final match as Hokies at Thompson Field! Free Virginia Tech gloves will be given out to the first 200 fans in attendance at the marketing booth inside the front gate. Don't forget to watch the High Techs perform at halftime!
Saturday: Volleyball vs. North Carolina, 6 pm, Cassell Coliseum
The first 200 fans to the match will receive a FREE HokieBird Bobble Head Doll. Please go to the marketing table located on the Spring Road side of the concourse to pick up your bobble head doll.
Sunday: Wrestling vs. George Mason, 5 pm, Cassell Coliseum
The first 200 fans will receive a free VT hat and free coupon to redeem at the concessions stand for a large popcorn and soda. Please go to the marketing table located on the Spring Road side of Cassell to receive your hat and coupon.
Additionally, the cross country teams will be in action Saturday as they host the Hokie Open Race at 9 am. The swimming & diving teams host Clemson Saturday at 11 am at War Memorial Pool. And the women’s soccer team is in action Friday night, taking on Virginia in the ACC Semifinals at 7:30 pm. Catch Jerry Massey’s call on hokietv.com.
Please bring any gently worn shoes that you no longer wear, and help provide free footwear to those in desperate need!
All donations can be brought to the half-circle drive right outside of Cassell Coliseum this Saturday. The donated shoes will be given to Nike’s Reuse-A-Shoe Program as well as Soles4Souls Inc. Please also consider making a financial donation of $1.00 to help the team cover all shipping costs.
Join the Virginia Tech Track & Field and Cross Country team in their efforts to reach out to the less fortunate!
-Has it hit you yet that you can say you are the 12th best runner in the country? And that's it's the best any Hokie (woman) has ever done at the national championship?
“The accomplishment hasn’t quite hit me yet. I have to remind myself when I wake up. On the women’s side for the Hokies, this was the best finish yet, but I hope it sets a standard for all of us to improve on in the future.”
-Were you surprised at how well you performed? What were your thoughts immediately following the race?
“I wasn’t surprised at my finish, but more happily satisfied. I knew I could be All-American and compete with the best out there, but it was just a matter of actually doing it, or how well I could do it. After the race, I was tired, but very happy. I didn’t know my exact place, but I knew it was top 15, which exceeded my expectations, and all I could do was smile.”
-According to Coach Thomas, you kept improving your position as the race went on. How did you make that happen?
“In a field of 250 runners it’s important to get out well, but not to expend all your energy at the start to do that. I managed to get out in a pack towards the front, and rolled with that momentum for the first kilometer of the race. People started dropping off the pack, and I kept my composure and began picking some people off. With less than 2k to go, I was starting to feel tired, but I looked in front of me and some saw girls, and knew I could get to them. It was a lot of challenging myself to pass people even when I was tired, but I knew that they were, too, so why not make a move? Coach was giving me my placement throughout the race, so I always knew where I was. When he counted me in placement for All-American, there was no way I was going to lose that.”
-The team just missed out on qualifying for the second-straight year, so how important was it to represent Virginia Tech all by yourself?
“Not qualifying as a team was devastating. Last year we were 18th but we were not satisfied, and we were eager to come back this year to improve. We didn’t get that chance as a team, but I knew I could represent Tech well and show some people that had the team been there, we would have done some damage.”
Tech has taken first place in its last three meets and totaled 132 points in the national poll and improved three spots to second place behind only Duke in the USTFCCCA’s Southeast Regional poll after ranking fourth in the preseason and fifth on Sept. 18.
Back-to-back NCAA champion, Stanford, earned 10 first-place votes to top the national rankings while four other Atlantic Coast Conference members were among the field: Florida State (No. 11), Boston College (No. 15), Duke (No. 17) and NC State (No. 25).
In the southeast region, Duke was No. 1 followed by the Hokies, along with ACC schools NC State (No. 3), Virginia (No. 4), Wake Forest (No. 6) and North Carolina (No. 7).
The men’s team improved to fifth in the Southeast Regional poll after placing sixth for two consecutive weeks.
Tech next competes at the University of Arkansas’s Chile Pepper Invitational at 9:45 a.m. on Oct. 13 in Fayetteville, Ark.
• You have won each of the three events you've run in this season. What has been the key to your success?
“My successes have come from Coach Thomas' great coaching. He's always making sure we're working on recovery and staying healthy, so on the workout days and race days, we can go out there and perform well. We also have a supportive and determined team, so it's easier to do well when we're all working for the same thing.”
• What is the mood of the team heading into some the season's bigger meets this month, like the Chile Pepper Invite and the ACC Championships?
“We are very excited heading into Chile Pepper on October 13. This is a meet that the 2006 NCAA cross country champion won last year and some top ranked teams will be there. We want to see who we can beat, improve our spread, and have some fun while we're at it. ACC’s is in about a month so we're not focusing on that right now, but we want to go after the win.”
• Which meet is the most fun to compete in/most challenging and why?
“Last year was the first time in Tech's history that the women's team made it to the NCAA championships. That we were the first made it the most fun and exciting, and since we were among the nation's best cross country athletes, it was definitely the most challenging.”
• You guys train a lot and in many different places. Where is the best place to run around Blacksburg and how much do you run in a given week?
“The best place to run in the area is Pandapas. There are miles of soft trails that are flat or hilly depending on what you feel like doing, and the scenery is beautiful. In a given week we range anywhere from 40 miles to over 60. Some do more, some less, and the guys do more than that.”
The Hokies earned 82 points in the national poll and took fifth place in the USTFCCCA's Southeast Regional poll after ranking fourth in the preseason edition.
Stanford, the back-to-back NCAA champion, earned 10 first-place votes to top the national rankings while Atlantic Coast Conference members Virginia (No. 10), Florida State (No. 12), NC State (No. 16), Duke (No. 19) and Boston College (No. 26) were rated as well.
Virginia, NC State, Duke and Florida State finished ahead of the Hokies in the southeast region.
The men's team remained sixth in the Southeast Regional poll for the second consecutive week.
Tech's next meet is the William & Mary Invitational at 10 a.m. on Saturday in Williamsburg, Va.
2007 USTFCCA Division I Women's Cross Country National Poll
1. Stanford (10)
2. Michigan
3. Colorado (3)
4. Arkansas
5. Wisconsin
6. Arizona State
7. Illinois
8. Minnesota
9. Michigan State
10. Virginia
11. Providence
12. Florida State
13. Princeton
14. Iowa
15. Georgia
16. NC State
17. Washington
18. Brigham Young
19. Duke
20. Georgetown
21. Colorado State
22. Baylor
23. Texas Tech
24. Oregon
25. Virginia Tech
26. Boston College
27. Notre Dame
28. Tennessee
29. Penn State
30. Florida
Virginia Tech women's cross country is ranked 20th in the first U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll, released Tuesday. The Hokies totaled 143 points after placing 18th at last season's NCAA Championships.
The Hokies were also ranked fourth in the USTFCCCA's Southeast Regional poll after finishing in third place at last season's regional meet.
Stanford, the back-to-back NCAA champion, earned nine first-place votes to top the national rankings while Atlantic Coast Conference members Virginia (No. 11), Florida State (No. 12), NC State (No. 15), Duke (No. 17) and Boston College (No. 28) were rated as well.
The men's team appeared sixth in the Southeast Regional poll, while the women were fourth.
Tech's men's team finished first while the women's team came in second place in the season-opening meet at the Wake Forest Relays. The Hokies produced a pair of first-place finishes in the Virginia Tech Invitational last Saturday at Tech Cross Country Course. Tech next runs at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 21, at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational in
