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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Three Hokies - junior All-American Matthias Treff (javelin throw), freshman Valentina Muzaric (shot put) and junior Jeff Artis-Gray (long jump) - qualified for the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship Thursday as the Virginia Tech men's and women's track & field teams competed on the first day of the NCAA East Preliminary Round at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida. Artis-Gray broke the longest standing school record in Tech's record books as he leaped 24-11.25 (7.60m) in the long jump to better Jerry Gaines' record of 24-10 (7.57m) that was set in 1971.

Artis-Gray's mark of 24-11.25 (7.60m) in the long jump came on his fifth attempt and was his second personal best performance of the day in the event as his 10th place finish punched his ticket to the NCAA Championship. He also hit a mark of 24-9.25 (7.55m) on his third attempt and tied his previous personal best of 24-9 (7.54m) on his first attempt.

Treff opened the meet for Tech in strong form as he placed second in the javelin throw, needing only one attempt to advance to the national championship at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in two weeks as he posted a mark of 240-10 (73.41m) on his first throw.

Muzaric recorded her best mark in the shot put on her final attempt as she finished sixth with a throw of 53-7 (16.33m), which moves her on to the NCAA Championship.

Redshirt sophomore Leoule Degfae finished 13th overall in the men's 10000 meters in 30:40.70 and just missed qualifying for national championship.

In preliminary rounds of the running events Thursday, seniors Michael Hammond and Chris Walizer and redshirt freshman Grant Pollock all advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal in the men's 1500 meters. The top-5 finishers in each heat plus the next four fastest times advanced the quarterfinals in the 1500m. Hammond finished second in a very tactical first heat in 4:05.30 to move on. In the final heat, both Pollock (fourth, 3:46.31) and Walizer (fifth, 3:46.62) secured spots in Saturday's quarterfinal with their top-5 finishes. Redshirt freshman Kevin Dowd ran 3:50.54 in heat two, but finished 11th in that heat and did not advance.

In the first round of the men's 100 meters, sophomore Darrell Wesh won heat three in 10.44 to automatically advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal with the ninth fastest overall time, while senior Keith Ricks (10.57) was fourth in that heat and advanced on time. Junior Yvonne Amegashie qualified for tomorrow's quarterfinal in the women's 400 meters as she also advanced on time in 53.83.

Junior Tihut Degfae ran a season best 1:49.67 in the men's 800 meters and finished third in the first heat to claim a spot in tomorrow's quarterfinal. Redshirt freshman Martin Dally ran 1:52.05 in heat two and did not advance.

Also competing in opening round action Thursday but not advancing on were freshman Leah Nugent, who ran a time of 1:00.17 in the 400 meter hurdles, and freshman Ciara Simms, who clocked 11.97 in 100 meters.

The top-48 declared student-athletes in each individual event and the top-24 declared relays qualified for the East and West preliminary meets. The West Preliminary Round is at the University of Texas. The top-12 student-athletes and relays from each region then advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Drake in Des Moines, Iowa, from June 6-9. In the combined events, the top-24 declared student-athletes advanced directly to the NCAA Championship at Drake.

Tech will be back in action tomorrow in Jacksonville for day two of the NCAA East Prelims.

For updates on Virginia Tech track & field, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_Track).