Tech men are 4th; Hokie women are 9th after the first day of regionals
RANDALL\'S ISLAND, N.Y. - Virginia Tech track & field athletes Kristen Callan, Jacobus Smit and Sven Hahn placed in the top-five in their event to automatically qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships on the first day of the NCAA East Region Championships held at Icahn Stadium on Randall\'s Island, N.Y.Kristen Callan (So., Monroe, N.Y.) was the first Hokie to automatically qualify for the NCAA national championships at the region meet with her fourth place finish in the hammer throw. The All-ACC member in the event had a mark of 195\'4\" (59.54m) and earned Tech\'s women\'s team five points in the team scoring. Also throwing the hammer was Tamara Burns (Jr., Elm Creek, Neb.). Burns, who is also an All-ACC selection in the event, finished in 12th place out of the 24 competitor-field with a mark of 169\'2\" (51.56m). Jen Leatherman (Penn State) beat all of the competitors with her winning throw of 209\'4\" (63.81m).
Jacobus Smit (Jr., Pretoria, South Africa) automatically qualified for his second NCAA Outdoor Championships by placing fourth in the javelin throw today. The ACC javelin champion\'s mark of 227\'3\" (69.27m) was the fourth best mark of the day out of the 25 thrower-field. For his fourth-pace finish, Smit picked up five points for the Hokie men\'s team. Sean Furey (Dartmouth) threw the javelin 241\'9\" (73.68m) to clinch the win.
Two-time All-ACC selection Sven Hahn (Jr., Stutggart, Germany) finished in fourth place in the shot put to automatically qualify for the national meet. Hahn threw the shot 61\'8.50\" (18.81m) to earn five more team points for Tech. All-American indoor shot put athlete Ryan Norwood (Sr., Cheyenne, Wyo.) grabbed one point with his eighth place finish in the outdoor event today. Norwood had a throw of 58\'3.75\" (17.77m). By virtue of his eighth place finish, Norwood will be put in an at-large selection pool for the NCAA championships. Norwood will find out by Tuesday, May 31 if he has one of the top marks to compete at the national championships. Garrett Johnson (Florida State) recorded the top throw of the day in the event with a mark of 66\'0.25\" (20.12m).
Hahn placed 12th out of the 27 thrower-field in the discus event. His farthest throw of the day was 167\'10\" (51.16m), which is 22 feet less than his school record mark. Garrett Johnson (Florida State) won the event with his mark of 199\'4\" (60.77m).
Meredith Brooks (So., Burke, Va.) was the first Hokie to cross the finish line in the 800 meter preliminaries. Brooks clocked a personal season best time of 2:09.52 to take 17th place out of the 35 runner-field. Tech teammate Marie Giles (Sr., Hampton, Va.) finished in 21st place in the race with 2:10.25. Jennifer Kemp (West Virginia) ran the race in 2:06.30 to grab the first-place finish. The top-eight finishers of the prelim race advanced to the finals on Saturday.
Abbey McGrath (So., Burke, Va.) competed in the pole vault event but did not clear the required 12\' (3.66m) height; therefore did not place in the event. Kierney Hiteshew (Georgia) won the event by jumping 13\'3.75\" (4.06m).
In the team scoring, Virginia Tech\'s men\'s team is in fourth place with 11 points out of 28 scoring teams after six events scored on the first day. The Hokie women are ninth with five points out of 13 scoring teams after three events scored on the first day.
On Saturday, the last day of the regional championships, seven Hokies are in action hoping to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which is set for June 8-11 in Sacramento, Calif. Spyridon Jullien is slated to throw the hammer at 1 p.m., Brian Mondschein and Adam Bingaman will compete in the pole vault beginning at 3 p.m., Ashleigh Keats and Saskia Triesscheijn will throw the javelin at 3 p.m. and Jason Fludd and Idikoro Eradiri are slated to compete in the triple jump event at 4 p.m.
For individual and team results of the 2005 NCAA East Region Championships, visit http://ncaasports.com/track-and-field/results/outdoor/2005/div1/east/results/.