May 26, 2007

Results

Live Results

 

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Virginia Tech women's track and field team ran away with the NCAA East Region title Saturday evening, while the men placed ninth at the regional meet being held in James G. Perssly Stadium on the Percy Beard Track. The event, hosted by the University of Florida, determined the automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Championships. The national championship will to be held at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento Calif., on June 6-9, 2007.

On a day which saw one East Region meet record broken and two more school records come down, the Hokies qualified 10 more athletes to join the three from yesterday's qualifying events to head to Sacramento, while four will await confirmation of an at-large bid into the championship.

WOMEN

The Hokie women, also saw four athletes claim NCAA East Region individual titles. Junior Erin Mahony won the title in the pole vault, while freshman Kristi Castlin took first in the 100-meter hurdles and freshman Queen Harrison set a new school record in the 400-meter hurdles. Yesterday, sophomore Brittany Pryor won the shot put title.

In the field events, Mahony's personal-best vault of 4.06m (13'3") earned her the top spot in the pole vault, while freshman Ashley Early finished second with an also personal-best jump of 4.06m (13'3"), qualifying them both for the national meet. Pryor also qualified in the discus, finishing fifth with a throw of 51.44m (168'9").

In the 400-meter hurdles, Harrison set a new school record, breaking the tape in 56.09 to win the title in the event. Junior Sherlenia Green also qualified to move on in the event, taking fifth with a time of 57.31.

Harrison's personal-best 13.12 finish in the 100-meter hurdles tied the old East Region meet record, but came in second as Castlin's 12.91 finish broke the four-year old meet record, en route to earning the event's title. Castlin's time was also the fastest-ever ran by anyone 19-and-under, setting a new American Junior Record.

The women's 4x100-meter relay team of Green, sophomore Patrice Potts, Castlin and junior Britni Spruill will also be featured in the national meet. The foursome's 44.33 second-place finish was one-tenth of a second faster than yesterday's preliminary time, resetting their school record in the event.

In addition, Potts and Spruill also qualified for the championship in the 100-meter dash. Potts finished third in the event, breaking the tape in 11.63, while Spruill's 11.71 finish was good for fifth.

Spruill also qualified in the 200-meter dash. Finishing the long sprint in a time of 23.43, a personal best, she picked up a fifth-place finish.

In addition to those moving on to the national championships, sophomore Tasmin Fanning also earned points for the Hokies. Crossing the line in 4:24.28 in the 1,500-meters, she earned a sixth-place finish and will await a possible at-large qualification.

Rounding out the women's competition, sophomore Erin Reddan finished 29^th in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a time of 10:52.65, and in the pole vault, senior Abbey McGrath and freshman Caitlin Thornley competed, but failed to clear a height.

MEN

Moving on for the men will be junior Billy Berlin, who finished fifth in the 1,500-meters in a time of 3:43.02. Junior Justin Clickett also qualified for the men, finishing third in the shot put with a throw of 19.02m (62'5").

Junior Kevin Moore earned points for the Hokie men, finishing seventh in the javelin with a 67.25m (220'7") heave, a personal-record.

In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Rider Clauss finished 28^th, crossing the finish line in 9:16.89.

For the meet on the women's side, the Hokies took first with 89 points. South Carolina came in second-place with 62 points, while Florida took third with 49 points. Close behind in fourth was Penn State with 45 points and rounding out the top five of the 57 team field was Florida State with 36 points.

For the men, the Hokies finished ninth with 24.50 points. Florida State won the 58 team men's field with 91 points, with Florida coming in second, tallying 56 points. Third-place went to South Carolina who finished with 42.33 points, Georgia took fourth with 33.33 points and North Carolina rounded out the top five with 30 points.