CLEMSON, S.C. – The Virginia Tech men’s and women’s track & field teams used a quartet of individual ACC Championships to lead the men and women to fifth-place finishes to conclude the 2014 ACC Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Torben Laidig, Grant Pollock, Martina Schultze and Amanda Smith each won individual conference titles in their respective events.
Laidig soared to new heights in the men’s pole vault. The true freshman set a personal best en route to a first-place finish. Laidig’s mark of 17’10.50” (5.45m) was the highest jump set by an ACC competitor this season, and the fourth highest in Virginia Tech history.
Pollock raced his way to a first-place finish in the men’s one-mile race. Pollock ran the race strategically, planning out every step so that he could have a strong finish. Behind a few competitors in the final two laps, Pollock used his ending speed to move past his competitors. His time of 4:09.30 was good enough to earn him a win and an ACC title.
Schultze won her third straight ACC pole vault event after previously winning the 2013 Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The junior’s mark of 14’05.25” (4.40m) is her highest this season and was good enough to edge out Duke’s Megan Clark who also hit the same height, but fell to second place based on misses.
Smith claimed her first ACC title in the women’s 800-meter race using a time of 2:06.69 to edge out the rest of the competitors in the race.
The Hokies also had many competitors place in the top three, earning them the distinction of All-ACC. Freshman Hanna Green, competing in her first ACC meet earned All-ACC honors after finishing in second in the women’s 800-meter race with a time of 2:08.20.
Chris Uhle earned All-ACC honors after helping the Hokies take four of the top-six spots in the men’s pole vault with a mark of 16’10.75” (5.35m).
Tihut Degfae finished in third in the men’s 800-meter race to claim the bronze and All-ACC distinction.
Sarah Rapp ran a strategic race and just missed out on first place by a single second in the women’s 3000-meter race. Rapp finished in second with a time of 9:21.03 also earning All-ACC honors.
Other notable performances from the Hokies on the final day of competition include Jasmine Mitchell finishing in seventh place in the women’s 400-meter race, Stephan Munz and Jared Allison finishing in fourth and sixth, respectively, in the men’s pole vault, Tadashi Pinder finishing in sixth in the men’s 60-meter dash, Frances Dowd finishing fourth in the women’s 800-meter race and Leoule Degfae finishing sixth in the men’s 3000-meter race.
The Hokie men and women finished in fifth place behind the strength of 65 and 52 points, respectively. The Florida State men's and women's teams swept the team awards with the men earning 96 points and the women earning 96.5 points.
Tech will await the conclusion of the rest of the conference championships to see which athletes qualify for the National Meet in Albuquerque, N.M.
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