David Atkiss wins final home meet; Tasmin Fanning wins first collegiate meet
BLACKSBURG, Va. - In the second meet of the season, the Virginia Tech men\'s and women\'s teams both garnered first-place honors Friday evening at the VT Alumni Meet.
The 4.7k race on the women\'s side featured freshman Tasmin Fanning, who edged her sister, sophomore All-ACC performer from 2004, Jessica, to capture the women\'s crown. Running in the first meet of her collegiate career, Tasmin Fanning posted a time of 17:12.91.
Jessica Fanning came in just under five seconds behind her younger sister with a time of 17:17.77. Natalie Sherbak, Erin Reddan, Nicole Pederson and Kristin Hart rounded out the top six for the Hokies, ensuring a first-place finish with a mere 15 points.
Sherbak had a time of 17:22.28 while Reddan recorded a time of 17:34.43. Pederson and Hart had times of 17:40.83 and 17:45.39, respectively.
\"We wanted the women\'s team to run six strong for the first half of the race and then push it in the final half,\" head coach Ben Thomas said. \"They did a great job and ran a fairly honest pace. Having just a 30 second spread for our one-to-five runners over a 6k course would help with our goals at the ACC Championship.\"
Finishing in the top 20 for the Hokies were Samantha Ference, Katie Danyko, Jenn Dietz and Rachel Hamilton.
Danyko, a senior, finished her career with five top-25 performances on her home course, including her 10th-place finish today.
On the men\'s side, senior David Atkiss won the 7.7k race with a time of 24:34.66 in his last home meet of his Tech career.
James Scheiner, Andrew Montgomery and Rider Clauss went two through four, respectively, for the Hokies.
Scheiner garnered a time of 25:03.26 while Montgomery posted a mark of 25:10.66. Clauss recorded a time of 25:16.63. Brian McVey ran a 25:32.98 on the course, placing eighth overall, but was the sixth runner to earn points. Guy Alton and Jay Johns were fifth and sixth, respectively. However, neither garnered points because they ran unattached.
Christian Barlow and Billy Berlin finished ninth and 10th overall, respectively. Freshman Jason Vick was 11th while Phillip and Chris Padilla were 16th and 17th in the meet.
\"Montgomery and Scheiner were both solid tonight,\" Thomas said. \"We had a gap of 45 seconds for runners one through five, which we need to work on. McVey had a nice improvement from his last race. He picked up some slack.\"
The Hokies are back in action on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 9:15 a.m., when they travel to Boone, N.C., for the Appalachian State Invitational.