April 1, 2005

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men's and women's track & field teams are ready to compete in the Charlotte Invitational this Saturday, April, 2 at the Irwin Belk Track & Field facility located on the Charlotte campus.

The meet is slated to begin at 10 a.m. with the men's hammer throw and the women's javelin throw and long jump. The running events start at 11 a.m. with the women's 2,000-meter steeplechase and the invitational concludes at 6 p.m. with the women's 4x400-meter relay.

Teams competing in the invite include East Carolina, Davidson, High Point, Navy's women's team, North Carolina, NC A&T, NC State, St. Augustine's, Slippery Rock, UNC Wilmington, Virginia Tech, Winthrop.

The Hokies will have 29 athletes, 14 men and 15 women, competing in various running, jumping and throwing events. Results will be posted at http://www.flashresults.com/2005_Meets/outdoor/UNCC/.

Hokies Saskia Triesscheijn (Jr., Berlin, Germany) and Gunild Kreb (Jr.-Tr., Winterbach, Germany) are slated to compete in the hetathlon at the University of Mississippi this weekend. The heptathlon is an event where athletes compete in seven different track and field events over a period of two days. The winner is the athlete who has the most points after the seven events. On the first day of competition athletes compete in the following events and order: 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters. On the second day of competition they will compete in: long jump, javelin and the final event, the 800 meters.

Tech's distance runners are taking the weekend off to train and will next compete at Duke's Invitational on April 8^th and 9^th.

During the outdoor season athletes try to qualify for the NCAA regional championships. Virginia Tech is located in the east region and will compete at the NCAA East Regional Championships on May 27-28 in Randall's Island, N.Y.

So far two Hokies, Brian Mondschein (pole vault) and Ashleigh Keats (javelin) have already recorded NCAA regional qualifying marks. Mondschein currently ranks 13^th in the NCAA Division I with his mark of 16'10.75" (5.15m). Keats is currently the 36^th ranked javelin thrower in the NCAA with her throw of 144'9" (44.11m).

At the four regional meets, the top five finishers in each event and the top three relays automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships on June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif. To fill in the rest of the national championships field, which is about 24 to 27 athletes for each event, the sixth through eight finishers at regionals are placed in a performance list. The athletes with the top times and marks are entered in.

The only exceptions are the 10,000 meters and the multi-events (pentathlon, heptathlon and decathlon). These athletes qualify for the NCAA championships by recording automatic or provisional times or marks during the season.

Virginia Tech's entry list for the Charlotte Invitational

MEN

Adam Bingaman = pole vault

Idikoro Eradiri = triple jump

Jason Fludd = triple jump

Kyle Guglielmo = 800 and 1,500 meters

Sven Hahn = discus throw

Anthony Jenkins = 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles

Spyridon Jullien = hammer throw

Brian MacPhee = discus throw and shot put

Ryan Norwood = shot put

Jordan Price = 200 and 400 meters

Matt Renninger = 200 and 400 meters

Joe Samaniuk = pole vault

Jacobus Smit = javelin throw

Mark Wieder = 800 and 1,500 meters

WOMEN

Tamara Burns = shot put and discus throw

Kristen Callan = hammer throw

Katie Campbell = 400-meter hurdles

Marie Giles = 200 and 800 meters

Victoria Green = 200 and 400 meters

Ashleigh Keats = javelin throw

Imani Mack = 200 and 400 meters

Stephanie Myers = high jump

Jackie Nicholson = 200 and 400 meters

Shamane Onwudiachi = 400 meters and 400-meter hurdles

Keosha Sanders = 100 meters and 400-meter hurdles

Britni Spruill = 200 and 400 meters