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SALEM, Va. – A contingent of distance runners headed just north to Salem, Va., for the Roanoke Twilight Meet. Both the men’s and women’s 1,600-meter relays came away victorious, as well as Lauren Lemieux in the 1,500 meters and Madalyn Nuckols in the 5,000 meters.

Nuckols’ winning time of 16:55.53 is a new collegiate best and it was only one of two times below the 17-minute mark along with teammate Taylor Crosson who placed second at 16:59.11. Courtney Dobbs rounded out the top three sweep for the Hokies in the event in third at 17:02.45. Lemieux was the top competitor in the women’s 1,500 meters, with Sammy Dow (3rd, 4:29.97) and Jessica Trapeni (6th, 4:39.81) earning good marks as well. Frances Dowd set a new personal best in the 800 meters, finishing second in 2:09.13, further securing her spot at sixth all-time at Virginia Tech. Lauren Pinkston finished closely behind in fourth at 2:11.73. Four distance runners grouped together in the 1,600-meter relay, as Dowd, Pinkston, Dow and Lemieux won the event, crossing the line at 3:56.66.

In the men’s 800 meters, the top half of the event was full of Hokies, as Ryan Witt led the group in second (1:50.14) followed by Nick McLaughlin in third (1:50.19), Tihut Degfae in fourth (1:50.47), Jeff Miller in sixth (1:50.61) and Michael Hammond in seventh (1:50.76). Will Mulherin was the Hokies’ highest finisher in the 1,500 meters, taking second place in 3:46.17. Jared Berman and Matt Satterwhite finished back-to-back in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, placing third and fourth with hand-recorded times of 9:08.3 and 9:14.1, respectively. Like the women’s 1,600-meter relay, a group of Hokie distance runners won the event on the men’s side, as McLaughlin, Degfae, Hammond and Witt took first with a time of 3:22.85.

The Hokies will compete tomorrow in Clemson, S.C., at the Clemson Tiger Qualifier in the first of three days of competition.

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