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The sixth-ranked women's team totaled 92 points during the weekend to edge Penn State by one point for its second consecutive regional title. The No. 42 men's team finished sixth with a total of 30 points, led by two athletes who posted automatic qualifying performances on the final day of the meet.
"We got great performances across the board throughout the day," Director of Track & Field Dave Cianelli said. "It takes a team effort to compete at such a high level. The girls really responded well when faced with adversity, just like they have done for the past couple of seasons. It was really exciting, but I knew it would be a tough meet throughout. Penn State ran an awesome meet, too, so we had to perform well."
Tech's 4x400-meter relay of Harrison, Asia Washington, Shakirra Pinnock and Britni Spruill crushed the school record by more than two seconds with a time of 3:32.05 to finish second in the meet and score eight much-needed points to help the Hokies stave off the Nittany Lions.
"It was a great finish to the meet," Cianelli said. "I had a feeling after yesterday's events that the team standings would come down to that relay. Penn State is probably the best 4x400-meter relay in the nation, so we just wanted to keep ourselves in position right behind them and hold everyone else off. It was nerve racking but I'm proud of how we performed."
The Hokies picked up 14 points early in the second day of track events with an impressive performance in the 100-meter hurdles. After taking second place in the event at last season's meet, Harrison established new NCAA East Region meet and Tech school records with a time of 12.70 seconds. Harrison beat her previous personal best by .13 seconds. Kristi Castlin, the previous school and region record holder, qualified for the national meet with a fifth-place finish in a time of 13.38 seconds. There was a 1.1 mile-per-hour wind during the final heat.
Harrison continued her dominance as she set the NCAA East Regional and school record in the 400-meter hurdle event with a time of 54.69 seconds. Harrison defeated the four-year-old meet record by .08 seconds. Sherlenia Green competed in the finals as well, but missed automatically qualifying for the national meet with a sixth-place finish in a season-best time of 57.57 seconds.
Harrison also ran the second leg of the 4x100-meter relay along with Green, Castlin, and Spruill and earned a fourth-place position with a time of 44.60 seconds in the final heat. The relay tea will wait to learn if they earn an at-large bid to the national championships.
Matej Muza took runner-up honors in the men's hammer throw with an effort of 217'5" (66.28m) to earn eight points for the men's team and automatically qualify for the national championships. Muza's fifth-round effort fell just three inches short of the eventual champion, but he still improved four spots from a sixth-place finish in his previous outdoor regional competition.
Kristen Callan, Dorotea Habazin and Brittany Pryor all qualified for the NCAA Championships in the women's hammer throw and earned 17 points for the Hokies by taking three of the top five positions. Callan made the most out of her last attempt and finished second in the event with a toss of 203'7" (62.05m). Habazin and Pryor followed in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Reigning ACC champion and conference meet record holder Habazin registered a distance of 200'10" (61.22m), while Pryor's longest throw of the day was 192'4" (58.62m).
Pryor, the defending NCAA East Region champion, advanced to the national championships and earned six points for Tech after finishing third in the women's shot put with a mark of 52'1.75" (15.89m) on her third attempt of the day. Erika Schroeder competed in the shot put as well and earned a 27th-place finish with a distance of 44'0.75" (13.43m) on her final attempt of the day.
Yavjeniy Olhovsky tied for second in the men's pole vault, clearing a height of 17'5" (5.31m) to contribute seven points to Tech's team score. Jared Jodon tied for sixth place with a height of 16'7.25" (5.06m) and Joe Davis vaulted to a 12th-place tie at 16'1.25" (4.91m).
Billy Berlin placed seventh in the finals of the 1,500-meter race with a time of 3:52.41 and also earned two points for Tech in the meet.
Igor Misljenovic capped the Hokies' day in the throws, placing eighth in the men's discus with a distance of 172'0" (52.43m).
Britni Spruill took eighth place in the final competition of the 200-meter dash, earning a point for the Hokies in a time of 24.23 seconds with a 2.2 mile-per-hour wind.
In other distance action, Erin Reddan turned in a 25th-place performance in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:07.67.
Fourteen different Hokie athletes automatically qualified in 10 different events over the weekend for the NCAA Championships on June 11-14 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. The list of at-large bids will be released Tuesday afternoon.
