ACC Outdoor Championships

Women's Results
Men's Results

 

ATLANTA, Ga. - The eighth-ranked Virginia Tech women's track & field team opened its defense of the Atlantic Coast Conference Outdoor championship by winning three events Thursday at the George C. Griffin Track & Field Facility on the Georgia Tech campus.

The Hokie women's team accumulated 52 points on the first day and is in first place by 32 points over the runner-up. On the men's side, Tech earned 11 points and finds itself in seventh place. Five Tech athletes earned All-ACC honors in four different events.

"It was almost a perfect start to the meet for our women's team," Director of Track & Field Dave Cianelli said. "We started with great performances in the hammer throw. Then we got impressive efforts in the pole vault, and [Sherbak] finished off the day by winning the 10k."

Habazin, a freshman from Zagreb, Croatia, established a new ACC meet and school record in the hammer throw with a distance of 213'11" (65.21m) to earn her first career conference title and all-conference selection. Habazin exploded for the meet-record toss on her next-to-last attempt of the day to beat the previous record by more than seven feet, a mark of 206'1" (62.82m) held by Clemson's Jamine Morton in 2002. Habazin earned 10 points in the meet for the Hokie women's team.

The Hokies' dominance in the hammer throw did not stop with Habazin. Senior Kristen Callan earned eight points in the meet by placing in the runner-up position with a mark of 200'9" (61.19m) to earn her third All-ACC selection in the event. Including an All-BIG EAST Conference nod in the hammer throw in 2004, Callan has been an all-conference performer in the hammer throw during all four outdoor seasons in which she has participated. Junior Brittany Pryor placed fourth with a personal-record throw of 196'9" (59.97m) to add five more points to the Hokies' total.

"All three of our athletes did well in the hammer throw," Cianelli said. "[Habazin] obviously did a great job and I'm glad to see she's starting to reach her potential. This was the second-best throw of her life time, but we believe there is a lot more of that yet to come from her."

Senior Erin Mahony won her second career ACC pole vault title, clearing a height of 12'9.5" (3.90m) to earn 10 points for the Hokies. The Virginia Beach, Va., native now has four career All-ACC selections.

Two more Hokies landed in the event's top five. Sophomore Elise Birnbaum jumped a season-high height of 12'5.5" (3.80m) to earn fourth place in the event and six points for the meet. Reigning ACC Indoor champion Kelly Phillips followed in fifth place with an identical height to Birnbaum, but finished lower because she needed more attempts. The Hokies women have now claimed the pole vault crown in five consecutive indoor and outdoor conference meets.

Natalie Sherbak won the women's 10,000-meter race with a personal-best time of 34:17.15. Sherbak has earned All-ACC recognition for the second time in track & field for her career.

Junior Matej Muza took runner-up honors in the men's hammer throw with a distance of 216'11" (66.13m). An All-American in the hammer throw in 2006, Muza was the first to score for the Hokie men's team in the meet, earning eight points as well as his second consecutive All-ACC honor in the event and third overall.

Zach Thomas completed the men's 10,000-meter run in 31:20.27 to take seventh place and earn two points. Paul LaPenna followed right behind Thomas in eighth place with a time of 31:21.57.

"We probably couldn't have had a better first day," Cianelli said. "But there is a lot of track left so we have to stay focused and concentrate on what we have to do."

The ACC Championships continue tomorrow, starting with Justin Clickett and Igor Misljenovic competing in the men's shot put at noon.