Tyson Invitational

Complete Results

 

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Virginia Tech sophomore Asia Washington led the Hokie track & field team in the second and final day of its toughest meet of the regular season on Saturday at the Tyson Invitational in the Randal Tyson Track Complex in Fayetteville, Ark.

The ninth-ranked women's team's performance was highlighted by Washington's fourth-place performance in the 800-meter dash with a time of 2:11.81 seconds. Washington finished just .06 seconds off of the season-best pace (2:11.2) she ran last weekend at the VT Elite.

The Hokies' 4x400-meter relay that competed in the championship section and earned a seventh-place finish with a time of 3:38.80, which fell just .18 seconds shy of setting another school record. Tech completed the race in 3:38.62 last weekend at the VT Elite meet.

Both Kristi Castlin and Queen Harrison turned in top-10 finishes with a pair of sub-8.14- second performances in the final heat of the 60-meter hurdles. Castlin was credited with fifth place (8.131), followed by Harrison in sixth (8.133).

In the distance events, junior Paul LaPenna turned in a seventh-place finish in the 3,000- meter race with a personal-best performance of 8:15.84 seconds. The Newberry, N.H. native's previous personal record was 8:28.68 at the Penn State National Open in 2006.

In the pole vault, Joe Davis, Jared Jodon and Yavjeniy Olhovsky represented Tech in the championship division of the men' s pole vault. Olhovsky turned in a sixth-place effort with a height of 17'5.75" (5.33m), followed by Davis' height of 16'6" (5.03m) that earned a 12^th-place tie. Jodon rounded out the Hokie effort with a 17^th place finish at a height of 16'0" (4.88m). Elise Birnbaum finished 18^th in the women's pole vault with a height of 12'0" (3.66m) to round out the Tech presence on the women's side in the event.

Britni Spruill finished 14^th out of 288 runners in the preliminaries of the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.97, but missed qualifying for the final heat. Spruill was followed by Patrice Potts, who registered a season-best time of 24.12 seconds to tie for 16^th place.

The Hokies host the Virginia Tech Challenge next Friday and Saturday, Feb. 22-23, at Rector Field House in Blacksburg, Va.