April 21, 2005

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Virginia Tech's track & field athletes Spyridon Jullien and Jacobus Smit won ACC individual titles on the first day of the 2005 Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, which are being held at the Mike Long Track on the campus of Florida State this weekend. Other Hokies set personal and school records scoring points for Tech.

Tech's fourth-year head coach said, "Overall it was a good day. We had two ACC individual champions and our women's heptathlon athletes are in a great position to conclude the event tomorrow. Kristen and Tamara, our women's hammer throwers took second and third place but the better news is that they set personal records and a school record. I feel the athletes today had good performances for a conference championship that is earlier in the season than we are used to."

Jullien (Jr., Athens, Greece) won the ACC men's hammer throw title with a mark of 233'7" (71.21m). His throw broke the ACC's four-year meet record by more than 25 feet and set Florida State's Mike Long Track record. Jullien, a two-time All-American and two-time BIG EAST champion specifically in the hammer throw, still remains the No. 1 hammer throw athlete in the NCAA to date.

Smit (Jr., Pretoria, South Africa), currently the No. 2 men's javelin thrower in the nation, became the ACC champion in the event with a mark of 236'5" (72.06m), which was 23 feet farther than the second place finisher. Smit, a 2004 all-region selection and a two-time NCAA qualifier in the event, won his first conference championship.

Brian MacPhee (Sr., Golden Lake, Ont.) threw the javelin in a personal season best distance of 164'9" (50.23m) to grab 10^th place out of the 13 thrower-field in the event.

Kristen Callan (So., Monroe, N.Y.) finished in second place out of 17 competitors in the women's hammer throw with a mark of 203'10" (62.13m), which was about three inches short from the winning mark. Callan's throw today broke her own school record by more than six feet and moved her up to the ninth-ranked hammer throw athlete in the nation.

Tamara Burns (Jr., Elm Creek, Neb.) earned six team points for the Hokie women for her third place finish in the hammer. Burns, an NCAA regional qualifier in the event, threw a personal best mark of 195'6" (59.59m). Her throw today moved her up to seventh in the NCAA east region performance list and into the top-20 in the nation.

Ashleigh Keats (Fr., Salina, Kan.) placed ninth out of the 17 thrower-field in the women's javelin with a mark of 136'1" (41.49m), which is below her season best mark of 152' (46.32m). Inge Jorgensen (Virginia) won the ACC individual title with her throw of 172'8" (52.63m).

Dan Forgeng (Fr., Hatboro, Pa.) was the first Hokie to cross the finish line in the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 32:29.40 which placed him 16^th out of the 19 distance runners in the race. Teammate Andrew Montgomery (Fr., Falls Church, Va.) had a 10,000 meter time of 32:32.30 to take 17^th place. Andrew Lemoncello (Florida State) ran the race in 29:59.19 to claim the ACC title in the event.

After four events and the first day of the heptathlon, Saskia Triesscheijn (Jr., Berlin, Germany) is fourth out of the 14 competitor-field with 3,103 points. Hokie teammate Gunild Kreb (Jr., Winterbach, Germany) is right behind Triesscheijn in fifth place with 3,057 points.

Triesscheijn ran the 100-meter hurdles, the first event of the heptathlon, in 14.72 to place sixth (879 points). Kreb took 10^th place (808 points) with 15.26. Triesscheijn cleared 5'5.25' (1.66m) to tie for second place (806 points) in the heptathlon high jump event. Kreb tied for seventh place (736 points) with 5'3" (1.60m). Kreb won the shot put event of the heptathlon with her personal season best throw of 42'10.75" (13.07m) and earned 732 points to her total. Triesscheijn threw the shot put 40'1.50" (12.23m) to claim second place and in the event and 676 points. Kreb took ninth place in the 200 meters with a personal season best time of 26.19 while Triesscheijn's time of 26.64 was good for 11^th place in the race.

The championships continue tomorrow, Friday, at 10 a.m. with the men's discus throw. The running events trials are from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The three remaining events of the heptathlon (long jump, triple jump and 800 meters) start at 3:30 p.m. At 6:20 p.m., the 3,000-meter steeplechase ends the second day of the championships.

The women's discus throw at 10 a.m. opens up Saturday's events. The relays, sprint and distance finals go from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The championships conclude with an awards presentation at 4:45 p.m.

For more information concerning the championships including live scoring, schedule and records visit http://seminoles.collegesports.com/sports/c-track/spec-rel/05-acc-out-champs.html/. Live scoring is available at http://www.flashresults.com/2005_Meets/outdoor/acc/.