On the first day of competition in the Virginia Tech Invitational Friday, former Blacksburg High runner Cole Beck recorded the third fastest 60m time in the NCAA this year.
The VT track and field squads finished the day with seven event wins that included three NCAA top10 performances and numerous updates to the school’s record book.
Leading the way as far as top performances go was the trio of Rebecca Mammel, Beck, and Sara Killinen. In her first meet as a Hokie, Mammel delivered a shot throw that measured in at 22.15m (72′ 8″) for the win. The throw puts her at second in the NCAA this season and was just .18m off the school record that has stood for 17 years.
Just before Mammel registered her biggest throw of the competition, Sara Killinen shattered her previous personal best with a weight throw of 21.13m (71′ 2.75″) to earn third place. Killinen now ranks just behind Mammel for third all-time at Virginia Tech, and her performance ranks as the sixth best in the NCAA so far this season.
Beck also impressed in his season debut, setting the fastest preliminary and finals time in the men’s 60m. He went on to win the finals with a time of 6.70 seconds.
Hokie Seb Anthony overtook the field to win the men’s 3,000m with a time of 8:11.79, nearly a 40-second personal best for the transfer from Bury St Edmunds, England.
Next, Lindsey Butler led the way in the women’s 1,000m with a winning time of 2:43.66, the second-fastest mark in school history. Seven other Hokies followed behind as Tech locked out the top eight spots in the race.
Another transfer impressing in her Hokies debut was Hailey Huston Myles, who registered a 12.82m (42′ 0.75″) triple jump in the sixth round of the competition. Myles’s winning leap put her into second place on the Hokies’ all-time list.
On the men’s side, Chauncey Chambers opened his season well with a 15.76m (51′ 8.5″) triple jump and finished as the second-best collegiate athlete in the competition.
Several sprinters delivered solid debuts for the Hokies Friday with Layla Anderson finishing fifth in the women’s 60m, Sam McLendon taking third in the men’s 60m hurdles, and KJ Tillmon winning the men’s 300m with the joint third fastest time in school history at 33.58 seconds.
Field athletes wrapped up the second day of competition at the Virginia Tech Invitational as Hokies took home event wins with big personal records during Saturday’s action.
Rachel Baxter showed yet again why she lays claim to the title as best pole vaulter in the ACC, finishing first in the women’s competition with a vault of 4.34m (14′ 2.75″). Baxter’s mark places her at fourth in the NCAA so far this season.