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BLACKSBURG, Va. – Junior All-American Ronnie Black won the high jump and reset his own school record in the process Sunday at NC A&T’s Aggie Classic in Greensboro, N.C., as the Virginia Tech men’s and women’s track & field teams wrapped up the regular season with two last chance meets. In all, the Hokies earned seven victories on the day as the Hokie distance crew competed at NC State’s Wolfpack Last Chance in Raleigh.
Black posted an outdoor personal best clearance of 7-3 (2.21m), which broke his old outdoor record of 7-1.5 (2.17m), set last year. Black’s mark currently ranks in the top-15 of Division I and he is provisionally qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the event. Both of his school records in the high jump are at least 7-3.
In Raleigh, Tech notched three wins behind senior All-American Michael Hammond in the 800 meters and freshmen Thomas Curtin and Sarah Rapp, who swept the 5000 meters.
Hammond and redshirt freshman Martin Dally went 1-2 in the men’s 800 meters, with Hammond running a season best 1:49.61 and Dally clocking a personal best 1:50.16, good for 10th in Tech history. The win was Hammond’s second of the week, as on Thursday, he won the mile at the Roanoke Twilight with a school record time of 3:58.91.
Curtin won the men’s 5000 meters by over 40 seconds in a personal best time of 14:02.86. That time moves Curtin into fourth on Tech’s all-time performance list and into the top-48 of the NCAA East Region. In addition, redshirt freshman Grant Pollock was third (14:52.13) and redshirt junior Brian Welch was fourth (14:54.49).
Rapp returned to her hometown and won the women’s 5k by over a minute in 16:37.76, which ranks ninth all-time at Tech.
In Greensboro, three other Hokies joined Black as winners. Senior All-Americans Joe Davis (pole vault) and Hasheem Halim (triple jump) were victorious for the men as Davis cleared 16-8 (5.08m) and Halim jumped 51-6.5 (15.71m).
Senior Ogechi Nwaneri ran a personal best 23.51 en route to winning the women’s 200 meters. Nwaneri’s PR puts her up to third in Tech history and into the top-25 of the NCAA East Region. Freshman Ciara Simms also clocked a PR in the 200 meters at 23.83.
Junior Jonathan McCants recorded a big PR in the men’s 200 meters as he ran 21.07 into a 1.8 meter/second headwind, good for second place overall. Junior Jeff Artis-Gray notched a personal best time of 14.00 in the 110 meter hurdle prelims and was runner-up in the final in 14.07. Both McCants and Artis-Gray moved into third all-time at Tech with their performances.
In the preliminary round of women’s 100 meters, Simms ran 11.61, while Nwaneri clocked a season best 11.78. In the final, Simms was fourth (11.72) and Nwaneri was sixth (11.96). In the men’s 100 meters, senior All-American Keith Ricks ran 10.27 in the prelims, while sophomore Darrell Wesh followed in 10.28. Ricks finished third overall in the final in 10.36.
Freshman Leah Nugent ran the fifth fastest time in Tech history in the 100 meter hurdles (13.72) and finished fifth. Nugent was also fourth in the 400 meter hurdles (1:00.75). The women’s 4x400 meter relay was the lone Hokie relay in Greensboro as junior Yvonne Amegashie, senior Aunye Boone, junior Natalie Woodford and junior Jameice DeCoster faced a downpour, but still ran 3:44.92 and finished runner-up.
Also in Raleigh, redshirt junior Sammy Dow ran the second fastest time in school history and just missed the school record in the women’s 800 meters as she was fourth in 2:06.87. The Tech record of 2:06.68 was set by Marlies Overbeeke in 2004.
Redshirt freshman Kevin Dowd lowered his personal best for the second time this week in the 1500 meters as he ran 3:45.79 to place third overall. Dowd’s time puts him ninth all-time at Tech in the event. Junior Ryan Hagen followed for Tech in a personal best 3:47.42.
The Hokie men’s distance team also put together a 4x400 meter relay which ran 3:23.30 unopposed. That relay consisted of Dally, freshman Kevin DeWillie, senior Kieran Lee and freshman Juan Campos.
This weekend’s meets served as a last chance for student-athletes to qualify for the NCAA East Preliminary Meet, which will take place May 24-26 at North Florida in Jacksonville, Fla. The top-48 declared student-athletes and top-24 relays in each region per event qualify for the NCAA Preliminary Meet. The top-12 athletes from each region (East and West) then advance to the NCAA Championship at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 6-9.
The NCAA will announce the list of declared student-athletes for the East and West preliminary meets on Thursday.
For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).