Tech men finish in 13th place; Kristen Callan earns All-American honors
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Virginia Tech men\'s track & field team finished in a program best 13th place with 21 points out of 71 competing teams after 21 events scored at the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, which were hosted by Sacramento State and held at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex Wednesday through Saturday.The men\'s 13th place finish (21 points) is the best team finish for the Hokie track & field program at a national meet. Virginia Tech was projected to tie for 23rd place according to the last Men\'s Trackwire 25 national outdoor poll released on June 3. As you can see, the Hokies surpassed the projection and made history for the program.
Tech\'s men\'s scorers at this year\'s outdoor championships were NCAA hammer throw champion Spyridon Jullien (10 points), All-American Brian Mondschein (eight points) with his second place finish in the pole vault and All-American shot put thrower Sven Hahn (three points) for finishing sixth.
The top-15 men\'s scoring teams were (1) Arkansas with 60 points, (2) Florida with 49 points, (3) LSU with 36 points, (4) Brigham Young with 34 points, (4) Florida State with 34 points, (6) Southern California with 33 points, (7) Stanford with 28 points, (8) Texas with 25 points, (9) Oregon with 23 points, (9) Auburn with 23 points, (9) Arizona with 23 points, (12) Texas-El Paso with 22 points, (13) Virginia Tech with 21 points, (14) Boise State with 18 points and (15) Georgia with 17.50 points.
The Hokie men represented the ACC well. Virginia Tech\'s 13th place finish is the second highest ACC men\'s team finish at the championships. Florida State was the highest ACC team with their fourth place tie. The men\'s pole vault runner-up, Brian Mondschein, was the only ACC athlete to compete in his event at the championships. Spyridon Jullien, NCAA hammer throw champion, and All-American Sven Hahn were the top ACC athletes in their respective events.
On the women\'s side, Virginia Tech\'s two women\'s championship participants didn\'t score any team points but Kristen Callan reached All-American status for the first time in her career by being the eighth American finisher, 10th overall, in the hammer throw. Callan also finished as the top ACC athlete in her event.
This concludes the 2005 collegiate track & field season for the Hokies.