Lady Hokies win ACC indoor track title

Heading into the final day of the ACC Indoor Championships in fifth place with 25.5 points, the Virginia Tech women’s track and field team exploded for 80 points at Notre Dame’s Loftus Sports Center to claim the league championship.
“This is our first indoor title with the women since 2008,” Tech Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Dave Cianelli said. “We came in and knew we had a shot to do it, but obviously, you have to put it together. We have a lot of people here that, it’s their first time at a conference meet, and I thought they really came through well.

“We’re still a fairly young team,” Cianelli said. “We have some outstanding seniors who provide some of that leadership and have been through some of the conference wars over the past few years, and I think that helped a lot
“Being as balanced as possible has helped in meets like this,” the coach said, “so you’re not relying on one event area or just a couple of individuals. If you spread it out, then you have a better chance to hit some good things and that helps in this type of meet.”
The Tech women’s track and field team finished with 105.5 points, easily besting second-place Miami, which finished with 73 points. The Tech women’s program now has won six ACC championships under Cianelli since the school joined the league for the 2004-05 season.
The women’s team was led by gold-medal performances from Rachel Baxter, Sarah Edwards, Caitlan Tate and the women’s 4×400-meter relay team.
Baxter won the pole vault for the second straight year with a top vault of 14 feet, 7.25 inches. It marked the ninth time that a Hokie has won the individual pole vault title since Tech joined the ACC, but just the second time a Hokie has claimed back-to-back titles.
“Rachel did a fantastic job of competing today,” pole vault coach Bob Phillips said. “Every time she needed to respond, she did. She is a really deserving champion.”
The distance group, led by Edwards, dominated the field Saturday. The senior was able to hold off a late push by Florida State’s Maudie Skyring to defend her 2019 title in the mile with her time of 4 minutes, 37.11 seconds, edging Skyring (4:37.26). Fellow senior Lauren Berman ran a personal-best time of 4:38.77 to finish in third.

In the 800-meter race, Lindsey Butler (2:07.77) came in fifth, Grace Boone (2:09.28) placed sixth, and Hannah Ballowe (2:13.46) finished seventh. A day after winning the 5,000, Sara Freix placed eighth in the 3,000 with her time of 9:25.62.
“I think overall both the men and the women had just a great level of toughness, competitiveness and resilience,” distance coach Eric Johannigmeier said. “Being able to fight through stuff even when things weren’t perfect or when things were thrown at them differently than they expected. They all fought tough and I couldn’t be prouder.”
The ACC Indoor Championships were a coming-out party for Caitlan Tate. The Atlanta native shaved six-tenths of a second off her previous personal best to win the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.42 seconds. She would then go on to turn in a personal-best time of 23.38 in the 200 to take second. She also ran the opening leg of the 4×400-meter relay team with Kennedy Dennis, Nykah Smith, and Arlicia Bush that won gold with a time of 3:38.21. Bush also finished third in the 400 with a personal-best time of 53.40 while Dennis finished seventh in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.49.
“It was an amazing day,” sprints coach Tim Vaught said. “Taking Caitlan from a 60- and 100-meter runner and moving her to the 200 and 400; as a coach you see things and say they can do it, but for her to do it in one year, you can’t explain it.
“Heading into the year,” Vaught said, “I had everyone write down their goals for the season. She wrote that she wanted to break records, and that’s what she did. I’m excited to see what she’s going to do at nationals.”
“Arlicia is a senior and she showed it,” the coach said. “She wanted to leave her mark and she did that. She set a personal best in the prelims, a personal best in the finals and then ran the anchor leg of the champion 4×400 relay team. To me, she’s having an outstanding senior year.”
Essence Henderson was the lone member of the women’s throws group, but the Lafayette, Ind., native used a personal-best throw of 54 feet, 8 inches on her first attempt in the shot put to finish second.
On the men’s side, Tech amassed 109 points to come in second behind winner Florida State, which had 140 points. Peter Seufer, who was the ACC’s track Most Valuable Performer, became the first Hokie to win back-to-back titles in the 3,000, as he crossed the finish line in a time of 7.59.09 just a day after winning the men’s 5,000. Seufer was joined on the podium by Antonio Lopez Segura, who finished third with a time of 8:06.43.
In the 800, Bashir Mosavel-Lo won a silver medal with his time of 1:50.15 while Jack Joyce finished fifth with a time of 1:50.93, and Thierry Siewe Yanga came in eighth with a time of 1:51.83. The Hokies also saw impressive performances by Diego Zarate and Ben Fleming in the mile. Zarate (4:02.87) came in fourth, while Fleming (4:03.40) placed sixth.
In the sprints group, Jacory Patterson became the first runner in program history to win back-to-back titles in the 400. He turned in the new no.-2 time in the country at 45.66. Cole Beck (a Blacksburg High School grad) also had an outstanding day, as he placed fourth in the 60-meter dash with his time of 6.68 and fourth in the 200 with a personal-best time of 21.16.
“Jacory is something else,” Vaught said. “I tell people all the time that I’ll be at practice and he runs a certain time, and I’ll change my watch because I think it’s broken. He’s just that type of athlete.
“To me, that was the easiest 45 seconds I’ve ever seen in my life, and I’ve seen a lot,” Vaught said. “He told me after the prelims that he thought he ran a high 46. I knew after that, that he was going to come back and run a personal best in the finals. He’s just a gamer.”
“Cole is a warrior,” Vaught said. “He’s someone that I want by my side. I think he was held in the blocks a little too long, but he capitalized with his time 6.68 to score higher than we projected going in.
“Going 21.16 indoor was great to see,” Vaught said. “He missed a lot of training due to his injury and we were just hoping to get him back healthy and ready to compete. He does a great job outside of the track to keep his body right, so it was easier to get him back to where we needed him to be.”
The 4×400 team of Patrick Forrest, Tyreke Sapp, Miles Green and Patterson broke their own school record with a time of 3:07.79 to finish third.
Chauncey Chambers finished eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 51 feet, 2.25 to give the Hokies needed points in the event.
For the throws group, Tyson Jones came in fifth in the shot put with a throw of 56 feet, 0.25 inches while Bryan Hudson used a personal-best toss of 56 feet, 0.25 inches to come in eighth.
Each year, Virginia Tech and Virginia engage in the Commonwealth Clash sponsored by Virginia529, the official college savings plan of both universities. Building on a tradition started in 1895, the Commonwealth Clash is a head-to-head points-based competition within the 22 varsity sports in which Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia compete against each other. The team results from the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships count as clash points and the Hokies secured both points by virtue of finishing ahead of the Cavaliers on both the men’s and the women’s sides. Virginia currently holds the overall lead with a score of 6.5-5.5.
Select members of both teams now gear up for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held March 13-14 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

–VT Athletics