June 9, 2005

SACRAMENTO, Calf. - In Thursday's action of the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by Sacramento State, Kristen Callan, a thrower on the Virginia Tech women's track & field team advanced to the hammer throw finals by placing in the top-12 of the qualifying round. Callan will compete in her first finals of an NCAA national meet.

Kristen Callan (So., Monroe, N.Y.) placed eighth in the qualifying round of the hammer throw with her best throw of the series 197'5" (60.17m) out of the 26 competitor-field. Callan, an All-ACC selection in the hammer, and the other top-12 finishers advanced to the finals on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (PT). Callan's 11 competitors in the finals are (in order of finish in the qualifying round) 1. Jenny Dahlgren (Georgia), 2. Loree Smith (Colorado State), 3. Delisa McClain (Oklahoma State), 4. Jessica Cosby (UCLA), 5. Jen Leatherman (Penn State), 6. Jessica Pressley (Arizona State), 7. Beth Mallory (Alabama), 9. Sultana Frizell (Georgia), 10. Laci Heller (Kansas State), 11. Courtney Magnuson (Purdue) and 12. Brittany Hinchcliffe (Oregon).

In the finals, Callan, the only ACC athlete in the event, is competing to finish in the top-eight to score points for Virginia Tech and reach All-America status.

Tomorrow at the championships, four Hokies compete in their event's finals starting at 2 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. (PT) and Saskia Triesscheijn (Jr., Berlin, Germany) is slated to compete in the long jump, shot put and 200 meters of the heptathlon from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (PT).