February 10, 2005

BLACKSBURG, Va. - Virginia Tech's track & field teams host the Virginia Tech Challenge starting on Friday, Feb. 11 through Saturday, Feb. 12 on a 200 meter banked track inside the Rector Fieldhouse on the Tech campus.

The women's triple jump, men's pole vault and women's weight throw competition will begin the invite on Friday at 5 p.m. The last event on Friday is the men's distance medley relay at 8:50 p.m. Beginning at 11 a.m. on Saturday will be the men's shot put and high jump and women's 400 meters. The invite will conclude with the men's 4x400-meter relay at 5:05 p.m. on Saturday.

Men's and women's teams from the ACC include Duke, Maryland, Miami, North Carolina, NC State, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest are slated to compete along with Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee from the SEC. Teams from the commonwealth of Virginia will be represented by Hampton, James Madison, Liberty, Lynchburg, Norfolk State, Radford, Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Military Institute and William & Mary. Charlotte, East Carolina, High Point, Howard, Marshall and Vanderbilt round out the list of participating teams.

Of the 27 schools, seven of them, including Tech, boast nationally ranked teams. East Carolina's men's team is No. 17 in this week's Trackwire 25 for Men poll. The Hokies tied with Big XII's Kansas State and Nebraska for the 22^nd spot on the poll.

In the Women's Trackwire 25 poll this week, Miami ranks No. 4 while South Carolina claims No. 7. North Carolina's women's team is tied for 12^th and Duke grabs the No. 16 ranking. No. 21 Georgia rounds out the list of ranked teams competing at the Virginia Tech Challenge this weekend.

The Hokies have 52 athletes competing in the meet, 22 women and 30 from Tech's No. 22 men's team, to compete in the challenge. Included in the 32 athletes are throwers, jumpers, sprinters and distance runners.

Quick notes

Virginia Tech's men's track & field team tied for 22^nd place with Kansas State and Nebraska in this week's Trackwire 25 poll ... So far this season Tech has qualified 5 athletes, 3 men and 2 women, to the NCAA Indoor Championships on Mar. 11-12 at Arkansas ... To date, the Hokies have broken 4 school records ... Eleven athletes, 6 men and 5 women, have set PR's (personal records) this season ... The Hokies welcome two new coaches to the track & field staff this season, Lawrence Johnson (sprints, hurdles and jumps coach) and Stacey Vidt (assistant distance coach).

Individual notes

MEN

Three-time All-American and two-time BIG EAST champion Spyridon Jullien (Jr., Athens, Greece) remains the top men's weight throw athlete in the NCAA division I according to Trackshark.com and leads the ACC with his school record mark of 76' ... Sven Hahn (Jr., Stuttgart, Germany) ranks 7^th in the nation and 2^nd in the ACC in the shot put with his NCAA provisional qualifying and new school record mark of 60'3.25" ... Ryan Norwood (Sr., Cheyenne, Wyo.), BIG EAST outdoor champion and indoor runner-up, is listed 10^th in the nation and 3^rd in the ACC with his NCAA provisional throw of 59'8.25" in the shot put ... Hokie pole vaulters Brian Mondschein (Jr., Hummelstown, Pa.), Adam Bingaman (So., New Berlinville, Pa.), Daniel Gore (Jr., Leonardtown, Md.) and Joe Samaniuk (So., Rexford, N.Y.) rank 2^nd, 5^th and 6^th in the ACC ... Jason Fludd (Sr., Stafford, Va.) is 6^th in the ACC in the triple jump event with 49'6.25" while teammate Idikoro Eradiri (So., Ashburn, Va.) ranks 8^th ... Tech's men's 4x400-meter relay is 6^th in the ACC while the distance medley relay team ranks 7^th ... David Clowney (So., Delray Beach, Fla.) posts the 10^th best 60 meters time (6.95) in the conference.

WOMEN

Tamara Burns (Jr., Elm Creek, Neb.) is the 5^th ranked women's weight throw athlete in the NCAA division I and the top thrower in the ACC with her NCAA qualifying and school record mark of 68'7.25" ... USA Junior Champion Kristen Callan (So., Monroe, N.Y.) is currently 29^th in the nation and 4^th in the ACC in the weight throw ... Erin Mahony (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) ranks 4^th in the pole vault in the league with a mark of 11'11.75" ... The 4x400-meter relay team is 7^th in the ACC standings.

Virginia Tech entries for the Virginia Tech Challenge

MEN

David Atkiss: 3,000 meters

Christian Barlow: 3,000 meters

Billy Berlin: 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay, DMR

Adam Bingaman: pole vault

Robert Clauss: 800 meters, DMR

David Clowney: 55 meters and 200 meters

William Collins: shot put and 35 lb. weight throw

Victor Davis: 200 and 400 meters

Idikoro Eradiri: triple jump

Jason Fludd: triple jump

Dan Forgeng: 3,000 meters

Daniel Gore: pole vault

Kyle Guglielmo: 1,000 meters, 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay

Sven Hahn: shot put

Steve Huntzinger: shot put

Anthony Jenkins: 200 meters

Alex Johnson: 500 meters, 4x800-meter relay

Brian Markley: 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay, DMR

Bryan McVey: 5,000 meters

Matt Miller: 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay, DMR

Brian Mondschein: pole vault

Andrew Montgomery: 5,000 meters

Ryan Norwood: shot put

Chris O'Keefe: 1,000 meters, 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay

Jordan Price: 200 and 400 meters

Matt Renninger: 200 meters

James Scheiner: 4x800-meter relay, DMR

Zach Thomas: 3,000 meters

Duncan Vick: 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay, DMR

Mark Wieder: 800 and 1,000 meters, 4x400-meter relay

WOMEN

Meredith Brooks: 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay, DMR

Tamara Burns: 20 lb. weight throw

Kristen Callan: 20 lb. weight throw

Katie Campbell: 55-meter hurdles, 400 meters, high jump

Katie Danyko: 1,000 meters

Jenn Dietz: 3,000 meters

Jessica Erickson: 3,000 meters

Jessica Fanning: 800 meters, 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay, DMR

Marie Giles: 200 and 400 meters, DMR

Victoria Green: 200 meters

Kristin Hart: mile, 1,000 meters, 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay

Kim Johnston: pole vault

Gunild Kreb: 55-meter hurdles, 400 meters, long jump, high jump, shot put

Erin Mahony: pole vault

Abbey McGrath: pole vault

Stephanie Myers: 55-meter hurdles, high jump

Jackie Nicholson: 55 meters, 55-meter hurdles, 200 meters

Keosha Sanders: 55 meters, 55-meter hurdles, 200 meters

Natalie Sherbak: mile, 4x400-meter relay, 4x800-meter relay, DMR

Britni Spruill: 400 meters

Tina Tremmel: mile, 1,000 meters

Saskia Triesscheijn: 55-meter hurdles, 400 meters, long jump, high jump, shot put

Virginia Tech Challenge Schedule

Friday, February 11

FIELD EVENTS

Time Event

5:00 p.m. Women triple jump

5:00 p.m. Men pole vault

5:00 p.m. Women weight throw

7:00 p.m. Men weight throw

8:00 p.m. Men triple jump

8:15 p.m. Women high jump (set-up immediately following 55m semi-finals)

RUNNING EVENTS

Time Event

5:00 p.m. Women 55m hurdle trials

5:20 p.m. Men 55m hurdle trials

5:40 p.m. Women 55m dash trials

6:00 p.m. Men 55m dash trials

6:20 p.m. Women 500m run

6:35 p.m. Men 500m run

7:00 p.m. Women 1000m run

7:10 p.m. Men 1000m run

7:25 p.m. Women 55m hurdles semi-finals (will advance 8 from semi-finals)

7:35 p.m. Men 55m hurdles semi-finals (will advance 8 from semi-finals)

7:40 p.m. Women 55m dash semi-finals (will advance 8 from semi-finals)

7:45 p.m. Men 55m dash semi-finals (will advance 8 from semi-finals)

7:55 p.m. Women 5000m run

8:15 p.m. Men 5000m run

8:35 p.m. Women distance medley relay

8:50 p.m. Men distance medley relay

Saturday, February 12

FIELD EVENTS

Time Event

11:00 a.m. Men Shot put

11:00 a.m. Men long jump

12:00 p.m. Women pole vault

1:00 p.m. Women shot put

1:30 p.m. Women long jump

2:15 p.m. Men high jump

RUNNING EVENTS

Time Event

11:00 a.m. Women 400m dash

11:35 a.m. Men 400m dash

12:15 p.m. Women 1 mile

12:40 p.m. Men 1 mile

1:15 p.m. Men 55m hurdle final

1:20 p.m. Women 55m hurdle final

1:25 p.m. Men 55m dash final

1:30 p.m. Women 55m dash final

1:35 p.m. Women 800m run

1:55 p.m. Men 800m run

2:10 p.m. Women 200m dash

2:45 p.m. Men 200m dash

3:20 p.m. Women 3000m run

3:55 p.m. Men 3000m run

4:30 p.m. Women 4X800m relay

4:40 p.m. Men 4X800m relay

4:50 p.m. Women 4X400m relay

5:05 p.m. Men 4X400m relay