NCAA Indoor Championships

Complete Results

 

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Highlighted by a pair of top-three finishes in the 60-meter hurdles, the 17^th-ranked Virginia Tech women's track & field team scored 16 points to tie Texas and Mississippi for second place after the opening day of the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday in the Randal Tyson Track Center.

Four out of the five Tech athletes who competed today, earned All-American honors.

"It was a great day for our team across the board," Director of Track & Field Dave Cianelli said. "Having four out of five of our competitors earn All-American honors is a great accomplishment, not only for those individuals, but for our entire program."

A pair of Hokie hurdlers took second and third place in the women's 60-meter hurdles to earn 13 combined points.

Sophomore Kristi Castlin entered the meet with the top performance in the nation this year at 8.01 seconds. Castlin carried that momentum to a second-place finish with a time of 8.02 seconds. Her time was just .01 second off the school-record pace she ran last Saturday to win the Virginia Tech Last Chance.

Classmate Queen Harrison followed in third place by resetting her personal-best time for the second time in a span of three hours, trailing Castlin by just .01 seconds with a time of 8.03 seconds. Castlin and Harrison earned All-American status for the third time in their respective careers.

"We got incredible performances out of our hurdlers today," Cianelli said. "To finish in the top three of the nation as sophomores is a great testament to how hard [Castlin] and [Harrison] have worked throughout their careers. [Harrison] had never even qualified for nationals in the event and [Castlin] finished ninth last season, so they have both came a long way in the last year."

Both Castlin and Harrison qualified for the finals after taking two of the top three spots in the preliminary heat of the event. Castlin earned the top spot with another effort of 8.02 seconds. Harrison turned in her first personal-best time of the day with an effort of 8.06 seconds for third place, finishing the race .07 seconds faster than her previous personal record.

Redshirt senior Kristen Callan came through with a personal-best toss in the women's weight throw at Walker Pavilion. Callan got on the scoreboard first for the Hokies, scoring two points in the meet, by throwing 67'11.5" (20.71m) to earn seventh place. The Monroe, N.Y., native extended her personal-record mark by nearly a foot and finished just 8.5 inches short of sixth place, but still earned indoor All-American honors for the first time.

"[Callan] did a great job for us," Cianelli said. "She had a quality performance in a great competition, which really started the day off well for us. It was a great way for [Callan] to end her indoor career."

Junior Brittany Pryor followed in 14^th place with a 65'11.5" (20.10m) effort which tied. The Niagara Falls, N.Y., native was just 10 inches shy of moving up to 13^th place.

"We're really happy with how [Pryor] competed today," Cianelli said. "This is not [Pryor's] best event so seeing her being successful was a big thing."

Sophomore Yavjeniy Olhvosky earned four points for Tech's men's team with fifth-place finish in the pole vault. Olhovsky earned All-American recognition for the first time in his career after registering a personal-best vault of 17'8.5" (5.40m) on his fourth attempt of the day.

"[Olhovsky] really stepped up for us with a great performance," Cianelli said. "Setting a personal-record in the biggest meet of the season is always something to be proud of."

Britni Spruill finished fourth in heat two and was in 15^th place overall in preliminaries of the 200-meter dash. The senior from Hampton, Va., was the only ACC athlete who qualified for the event.

The Hokies will finish the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships tomorrow. Pryor will compete in the women's shot put tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. Kelly Phillips is slated to be in the pole vault, which will begin at 6 p.m.