Fifteen Hokies compete to qualify for the national championships
BLACKSBURG, Va. - At this weekend\'s 2005 NCAA East Region Track & Field Championships hosted by Manhattan College and held at Icahn Stadium on Randall\'s Island, N.Y., fifteen Virginia Tech athletes will compete to finish in the top-five of their respective event to automatically qualify for the national championships or finish in sixth through eighth place in their event to be put into the at large selection pool.
\"Our number one goal is to qualify as many athletes as we can to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships through the head-to-head competition of the region meet. We also look to improve our men\'s team\'s ninth place finish from last year\'s regional meet. To improve on their place, several men have to finish in the top-eight of their event to score points,\" stated Dave Cianelli, Virginia Tech\'s Director of Track & Field.
For Virginia Tech\'s men\'s team, eight athletes will compete. Sven Hahn (Jr., Stutggart, Germany) is expected to throw the discus on Friday at noon. Hahn, a 2005 All-ACC member in the event, currently ranks fourth in the NCAA east region with his new school and personal record mark of 189\'6\" (57.76m). Vikas Gowda (North Carolina), the ACC discus throw champion, is the top thrower in the region and the nation with his mark of 212\'2\" (64.69m).
Jacobus Smit (Jr., Pretoria, South Africa) will throw the javelin at his second regional championships on Friday at 3 p.m. The ACC javelin throw champion is currently second in the region with his new school and personal record mark of 242\'9\" (74.00m). Smit took fifth place at last year\'s east regional meet with a throw of 228\'4\" (69.60m), which qualified him for the 2004 national championships. Trevor Snyder (Georgia), the SEC javelin throw champion, claims the top spot in the region and the nation with 248\'8\" (75.81m).
Sven Hahn and Ryan Norwood (Sr., Cheyenne, Wyo.) will compete in the shot put on Friday at 6 p.m. Hahn, an All-ACC member in the event, grabs the third spot in the region with his new school and personal record mark of 62\'10.50\" (19.16m) while Norwood is listed seventh in the region with 60\'9.25\" (18.52m). Norwood, an All-American in the indoor event, will compete in his third regional championships throwing the shot. He placed ninth last year and was eighth in 2003. Garrett Johnson (Florida State), the ACC shot put champion, is the No. 1 athlete in the region and ranks third in the nation with a throw of 72\'7.25\" (20.13m).
ACC hammer throw champion Spyridon Jullien (Jr., Athens, Greece) is slated to throw the hammer on Saturday at 1 p.m. Jullien, a two-time All-American athlete in the event, is the No. 1 hammer throw athlete in the nation with his new school, personal and ACC overall record of 238\'5\" (72.68m). This is Jullien\'s third appearance at the regional championships. He placed second last year with his throw of 222\'2\" (67.72m) and finished third in 2003 with 214\'10\" (65.48m). He qualified for the national championships both years with his top-five finishes at the regional meet. John Newell (Georgia) is the second ranked hammer thrower in the east region with his mark of 219\'2\" (66.80m).
All-American pole vaulter Brian Mondschein (Jr., Hummelstown, Pa.) will compete in the event along with teammate Adam Bingaman (So., New Berlinville, Pa.) on Saturday beginning at 3 p.m. Mondschein, the ACC men\'s pole vault indoor and outdoor champion, is second in the region with a height of 17\'6.50\" (5.35m) while Bingaman currently ranks 20th in the with 16\'6.75\" (5.05m). Mondschein will compete in his second regional championships. He finished third last year, earning all-region honors and a spot to compete at the 2004 national championships. Mondschein and Bingaman\'s main competition will be David Sullivan (Virginia), who was the runner-up to Mondschein at the ACC indoor and outdoor championships and Brad Smith (Georgia), the SEC pole vault champion. Sullivan and Smith have both cleared Mondschein\'s height of 17\'6.50\" (5.35m).
Jason Fludd (Sr., Stafford, Va.) and Idikoro Eradiri (So., Ashburn, Va.) are slated to jump in the triple jump event on Saturday at 5 p.m. In the east region rankings, Fludd sits at the 23rd spot out of the 36 qualifying jumpers in the event with a school season best mark of 49\'9.75\" (15.18m) while Eradiri claims the 28th spot with his personal record mark of 49\'8.25\" (15.14m). Fludd, a two-time regional qualifier, finished 20th at last year\'s east regional meet. Brandon Via (North Carolina A&T) has a triple jump mark of 53\'1\" (16.18m), which leads the east region.
On the women\'s side, Tech will have seven athletes compete. Kristen Callan (So., Monroe, N.Y.) and Tamara Burns (Jr., Elm Creek, Neb.) are slated to throw the hammer on Friday at 1 p.m. Callan currently ranks fourth in the east region performance list with her new school and personal record mark of 203\'10\" (62.13m) while Burns claims the eighth spot on the list with 195\'6\" (59.59m). Callan and Burns earned All-ACC honors in the hammer after finishing second and third at the ACC outdoor championships last month. Jenny Dahlgren (Georgia) ranks second in the region with her throw of 220\' (67.07m).
Abbey McGrath (So., Burke, Va.) will compete in the pole vault event on Friday at 3 p.m. McGrath is currently the 22nd-ranked pole vaulter in the region out of the 28 qualifying regional competitors with her new school and personal record mark of 12\'5.50\" (3.80m), which was set at Tennessee\'s Sea Ray Relays. Kierney Hiteshew (Georgia), the SEC pole vault champion, is the top vaulter in the region with her height of 13\'6.50\" (4.13m).
Marie Giles (Sr., Hampton, Va.) and Meredith Brooks (So., Burke, Va.) will run in the 800 meter preliminaries on Friday at 6 p.m. In the NCAA east region performance list, Giles ranks 15th out of the 37 qualifying regional competitors with her school season best time of 2:08.26 while Brooks grabs the 26th ranking with 2:09.56. Danielle Rodgers (North Carolina) is the No.1 athlete running the 800 in the region with her top time of 2:05.49.
Ashleigh Keats (Fr., Salina, Kan.) and Saskia Triesscheijn (Jr., Berlin, Germany) will compete in the javelin throw on Saturday at 3 p.m. Keats ranks 11th in the NCAA east region out of the 32 qualifying regional competitors with a mark of 152\' (46.32m) while Triesscheijn claims the 27th spot on the performance list with 143\'1\" (43.62m). Inge Jorgensen (Virginia), the ACC javelin champion, leads the region with her mark of 177\'11\" (54.25m).
Sven Hahn, Adam Bingaman, Idikoro Eradiri, Tamara Burns, Abbey McGrath, Marie Giles, Meredith Brooks, Ashleigh Keats and Saskia Triesscheijn are all newcomers to the NCAA regional championships.
Cianelli went on to say, \"This is the third year of the region championships format. Our region, the east, is the largest region in terms of number of teams and athletes but the level of competition is comparable to the conference championships. Our whole coaching staff has done a great job in preparing the athletes for this meet and I know our athletes will gain some valuable experience competing at this top level for Virginia Tech.\"
Fifteen Hokies compete to qualify for the national championships
BLACKSBURG, Va. - At this weekend\'s 2005 NCAA East Region Track & Field Championships hosted by Manhattan College and held at Icahn Stadium on Randall\'s Island, N.Y., fifteen Virginia Tech athletes will compete to finish in the top-five of their respective event to automatically qualify for the national championships or finish in sixth through eighth place in their event to be put into the at large selection pool.
\"Our number one goal is to qualify as many athletes as we can to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships through the head-to-head competition of the region meet. We also look to improve our men\'s team\'s ninth place finish from last year\'s regional meet. To improve on their place, several men have to finish in the top-eight of their event to score points,\" stated Dave Cianelli, Virginia Tech\'s Director of Track & Field.
For Virginia Tech\'s men\'s team, eight athletes will compete. Sven Hahn (Jr., Stutggart, Germany) is expected to throw the discus on Friday at noon. Hahn, a 2005 All-ACC member in the event, currently ranks fourth in the NCAA east region with his new school and personal record mark of 189\'6\" (57.76m). Vikas Gowda (North Carolina), the ACC discus throw champion, is the top thrower in the region and the nation with his mark of 212\'2\" (64.69m).
Jacobus Smit (Jr., Pretoria, South Africa) will throw the javelin at his second regional championships on Friday at 3 p.m. The ACC javelin throw champion is currently second in the region with his new school and personal record mark of 242\'9\" (74.00m). Smit took fifth place at last year\'s east regional meet with a throw of 228\'4\" (69.60m), which qualified him for the 2004 national championships. Trevor Snyder (Georgia), the SEC javelin throw champion, claims the top spot in the region and the nation with 248\'8\" (75.81m).