Hokies also break three school records
CLEMSON, S.C. - Tamara Burns, Idikoro Eradiri and Sven Hahn from Virginia Tech\'s track & field teams recorded new NCAA regional qualifying marks at the Clemson Invitational today which was held at the Rock Norman Track and Field Complex.Burns (Jr., Elm Creek, Neb.) posted a NCAA regional qualifying mark in the hammer throw with 181\'4\" (55.27m) for a fifth place finish in the event. Her hammer throw mark ranks second in Tech\'s all-time performance list. To date, Burns has qualified for the NCAA East Regional Championships in two events, the discus and hammer throw.
Eradiri (So., Ashburn, Va.) qualified for the triple jump at the NCAA regional championships with his second place performance of 49\'5.75\" (15.08m). His mark currently ranks third in Tech\'s all-time performance list.
Hahn (Jr., Stutggart, Germany), an NCAA regional qualifier in the discus throw, qualified for regionals today in the shot put with a mark of 58\'1\" (18.15m) to take second place in the event.
The school records broken today were by Abbey McGrath, Erin Mahony, Kristen Callan and Spyridon Jullien.
McGrath (So., Burke, Va.) and Mahony (Virginia Beach, Va.) cleared the pole vault 11\'11.75\" (3.65m) to claim the new school record together. Mahony was the sole previous record holder with her 2004 season best mark of 11\'8\" (3.56m).
NCAA qualifier Kristen Callan (So., Monroe, N.Y.) broke her own school hammer throw record with her winning throw of the day (197\'3\"; 60.12m).
Spyridon Jullien (Jr., Athens, Greece) threw another nation leading mark in the hammer, 238\'5\" (72.68m), which broke his own school and ACC overall record. He even broke the seven-year Rock Norman Track and Field Complex record by more than 17 feet.
In the sprint and jumping events, Britni Spruill (Fr., Hampton, Va.) had a 10th place 200 meter time of 25.00, which tops the school season best list. Marie Giles (Sr., Hampton, Va.) won the 800 meters in a school season best time of 2:12.79.
Jackie Nicholson (Sr., Clayton, N.J.) tied for sixth place in the 100-meter hurdles with another school season best time of 14.30. Shamane Onwudiachi (Sr., Laurel, Md.) finished the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.15 to take fourth place in the event. Onwudiachi\'s time is a season best.
The women\'s 4x400-meter relay team of Giles, Victoria Green, Nicholson and Spruill placed second out of the seven competing teams with a time of 3:47.64.
Gunild Kreb (Jr., Winterbach, Germany) took 10th place in the long jump preliminaries.
On the men\'s side, Matt Renninger (Jr., Barto, Pa.) was the first Hokie to cross the finish line in the 200 meters with school season best of 21.98 for a 10th place finish in the race. Anthony Jenkins (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) set a new school season best time in the 400-meter hurdles with his sixth place finish of 54.41.
Jason Fludd (Sr., Stafford, Va.), Jenkins, Jordan Price (Fr., Newport New, Va.) and Renninger ran in Tech\'s 4x400-meter relay team which placed sixth in a time of 3:17.79.
NCAA qualifier Brian Mondschein finished in second place in the pole vault with his height of 16\'6.75\" (5.05m)
Today\'s invitational was team scored. The Hokie women\'s squad placed fourth with 70 points while Tech\'s men\'s team finished in fifth place with 72 points. Virginia Tech did not field a complete team as the distance runners competed at Duke this weekend. This was Tech\'s first team scoring event since the NCAA indoor championships.
The Hokies next competition is Tennessee\'s Sea Ray Relays on April 15 through 16 in Knoxville.