This wasn't on my radar since last I looked the schedule didn't start until January. However, six Hokies competed at the Clemson opener yesterday.
๐ Clemson Opener Results Women's 60m3. Janiya Johnson - 7.48Women's 300m6. Caitlyn Bobb - 38.34 (PR)16. Micayla Collins - 40.35Men's 300m1. Judson Lincoln - 32.37 (PR)11. Tomas Kersulis - 33.6612. Kahleje Tillmon - 33.90#Hokies ๐โ Virginia Tech Track & Field (@HokiesTFXC) December 6, 2024
๐ข๐ค๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ช๐ฅ ๐Judson Lincoln IV boasts the ๐ฐ๐๐ต ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ฆ๐ง (32.37) result in the 300m all-time NCAA records ๐คฉheading into the season, he previously held the 11 slot (32.60) in the all-time records ๐ค#Hokies ๐ pic.twitter.com/ssZnU2WtfRโ Virginia Tech Track & Field (@HokiesTFXC) December 7, 2024
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JLIV is amazing. This bodes well for him to have a great season in the 200m as well, in addition to his normal ass kicking in the 400m.
Fun fact: Kahleje Tillmon (33.90) in 11th place was closer in time to 2nd place (Josiah Wrice, South Carolina, 33.18) than Wrice was to Judson Lincoln (32.37). JLIV just blew away the rest of the field.
He just makes it look so easy.
I'm also glad to see some female sprinters representing the Hokies. I've thought they needed to add that component to be better set up for ACC championships, particularly in outdoor.
First home meet of the season, the Virginia Tech Invitational, is taking place in Rector today and tomorrow.
An indication that Ben Thomas is raising the bar is the number of folks competing in various events that are not college students to include Cole Hocker (1500m gold medalist) and Cooper Teare in the 3000m.
A lot of new names on the team so I am excited to see what the Hokies do this year.
I'll update this post with finishing positions so without further adoption, the Hokie start list:
Men
1 mile unseeded
Christian Jackson looks like he ended up running in the seeded mile.
3000m
George Coutte -WINNER! With a time of 7:52.29 which is also good for 2nd best all time in the VT record books.
Ryan Fowkes -4th in 8:03.76
Benjamin Reynolds -5th in 8:05.33
Ryan Chevalier DNF
Viktor Idhammar 13th
Declan Rymer 2nd and a new PB of 7:59.07 with is good for 9th best all time in the VT record books
Ethan Coleman 9th
Garrett Winter DNF
Arnav Tikhe14th and a PR
Sam Hubert 18th and a PR
Roan Kelly11th
Dylan Decambre 16th
Luke Affolder8th
William Winter 22nd
Cole Hocker (tangential Hokie by training in Blacksburg) DNF at 2400m my guess is a nice training meet
Cooper Teare (tangential Hokie by training in Blacksburg) DNF at 2400m
1000m
Cameron Davis 7th
Matthew Peuschner 16th
1 mile
Ben Nagel (alumni) 5th
Nicholas Plant 14th
Garrett Winter DNF
Christian Jackson 17th and a PR
60m Hurdles
Nathaniel Paris 13th
Evan Taylor 15th
Stuart Pirtle 10th
60m
Calvin Meyer won his heat to be the top qualifier in 6.78. Ran a 6.8 in the finals to take 3rd.
300m
Kahleje Tillmon WINNER! With a PB time of 33.33 which is good for 5th best all time in the VT record books.
Ali Diaby DNS
Tomas Kersulis 5th
Maximus James 13th and a PR
Evan Taylor DNF
Long Jump
Maaliah Cabell Fault
Nathaniel Paris 3rd
Stuart Pirtle 10th
Caleb Stephens 2nd
200m
Julian Roberson 8th
Mens 4x400 - 2 teams
VT A of Tillmon, JLIV, Kersulis and Diaby win in a time of 3:08.0 good for the 6th best time in VT history.
VT B had a DNF on the anchor leg but I can't find who was on that relay
High Jump
Stuart Pirtle T-7
Nathaniel Paris 5th
Hayden Anderson No Height
Pole Vault
Jack Helmich 11th
Jacob Rice No Height
Benjamin Conacher 3rd with a PR of 18'1-1/4" and good for 6th best all time at VT
Maddox Hamm 2nd with a PB of 18'3-1/4" and good for #3 best all time at VT
Conner McClure 4th
Triple Jump
Chauncey Chambers (alumni) WINNER! 52'0-1/2"
Federico Bruno 2nd with 51'7-3/4" and good for #8 all time at VT in his VT debut
Women
3000m Unseeded
Caitlyn Jones 5th
3000m
Sophia Holgado 8th
Mary Kate McGranahan 10th and a PB
Sharon Chepchirchir DNS
Katie Bohlke 2nd in her collegiate indoor debut and her time of 9:22.34 is good for 9th best all time at VT
Lila Waters 6th
Grace Boone (competing as USA) 3rd
Lindsey Butler (competing as USA) 4th
Kylie Bonser 17th
Anna Rigby 21st
1 mile
Elizabeth Coe 3rd
Star Price 4th
Kenza Elakari 7th
Avery Legault 8th
60m
Logan Daley 25th
300m
Caitlyn Bobb 3rd and a PB of 38.29 and the #4 all time slot at VT
Farah Nasir 8th
Micayla Collins 10th and a PR
Krystalann Bechard 16th
300m unseeded
Ashley Krahe 27th
Pole Vault Unseeded
Lyndsey Reed WINNER! with a height of 13'3-3/4"
Kenna Stimmel (competing as USA) 13th
Long Jump
Willa Hock 18th
Weight
Sara Killinen WINNER! Equalling her PR of 74'4-1/4"
Barbora Stejfova 4th
4x400 WINNER in 3:42.43 with Nasir, Bobb, Collins and Bechard. Looks like VT also ran a B team that had a DNF.
Pole Vault
Erin Kelleher 8th
Chiara Sistermann 3rd
Julia Fixsen 2nd and a PB of 14'9-1/2" which is good for #2 all time at VT in her first competition since 2023
Rachel Baxter (alumni) 7th
Bridget Williams (tangential Hokie) Winner
Shot Put
Katrin Brzyszkowska DNS
Triple Jump
Madison McConico 5th
Do you know what Willa Hocks long jump distance was?
17' 2-1/4"
Thank you
That's so cool that Cole Hocker is training and competing in Blacksburg. If I were Hocker, I'd petition to be allowed to wear my Olympic gold medal in all my races.
Another weekend of competition this weekend.
Several sprinters are at the Red River Invite at Texas Tech.
-Cay Bobb won her heat in the 200m with a time of 23.95 which was good for 7th overall and the 9th best time in school history.
-Strong showing for the Hokies in the mens 200m. JLIV takes 2nd overall with a time of 20.70. Kahleje Tillmon was 4th with a time of 21.03. Ali Diaby was 9th with a time of 21.26 and Tomas Kersulis was 13th with a time of 21.66.
-Maximus James won his heat in the 400m with a time of 48.93 which was good for 10th overall.
-Mens 4x400 relay takes the win over USC (west) by 0.01! I'm hoping a video is posted somewhere because I would like to see it. This tell me the guys could make some noise in the 4x4 come championship time. The foursome was JLIV, Kersulis, Tillmon and Diaby and their time was 3:03.99.
VT is also hosting the Hokie Invitational in Rector today and tomorrow.
Women
1 Mile
-Mary Kate McGranahan finished 10th with a PB of 4:58.72.
-Kylie Bonser was 13th.
DMR
-The B team finished 3rd and the A team had a DNF. Results don't show who was representing the Hokies.
Long Jump
-Willa Hock finished 15th with a PB of 17' 5-1/4".
Men
1 Mile
-Ryan Chevalier finished 6th with a time of 4:10.04.
60m Hurdles
-Paris and Pirtle finished 19th and 24th respectively.
60m
-Stephens finished 18th.
I'll post additional results as they finish.
And here it is! Records were set, both school and ACC.
Edit for the updated tweet
That's tremendous. Texas Tech and USC are both big boys in track and field, and we trailed the whole race until Judson Lincoln dropped the hammer the last 70-80 meters. Also, his 20.70 in the 200m would have fairly easily won the ACC title last year. There's a very realistic chance that he'll account for 30 points (200m, 400m, 4x400) at the ACC indoor championships in March.
JLIV ran a 44.84 anchor leg to get the win which is just stupid. I looked back at the 2024 indoor ncaa results in the 400m. That time would have gotten him 2nd in the 400m event. For comparison, he ran a 45.57 in that event final last year.
So I am behind on updates so here are a few highlights from last week:
Nate Paris was announced as Men's Field Athlete of the Week and Stuart Pirtle was named Men's Freshman Athlete of the Week for their performance this past weekend at the Doc Hale Elite Meet in Rector last weekend.
Additional notes from the Doc Hale Meet
This week the Hokies are at three different meets. Sprints, Hurdles, Throws and Pole Vault are at the Tiger Paw Invitational at Clemson. Distance is at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational. Jumps and Multis are at the Don Kirby Elite meet in Albuquerque, NM.
ACC Championships are this weekend so here are a couple of highlights since my last update:
-George Couttie set a new program record in the 3000m by 9 seconds (7:40.18) which was good for 11th in the NCAA this season and 19th NCAA All-Time.
-Ryan Fowkes moves into 10th All-Time at VT in the 3000m with his time of 7:59.25.
-Lila Waters moved into the 7th spot on VT's All-Time list in the 3000m with a time of 9:16.23.
-Mary Kate McGranahan moved into the 9th spot in VT's All-Time list in the 5000m with a time of 16:52.46.
-Madison McConico moved up to #6 in VT's record books in the triple jump with her top jump of 12.60m. That is also good for 6th best in the ACC this season.
-Caitlyn Bobb improved her Bermuda national record time in the 400 m to 53.06 which is good for #4 All Time at VT.
-Ali Diaby is now #4 All Time at VT in the 200m with a time of 20.86 which is good for #2 in the ACC this season and 33rd in the NCAA.
-Sara Killinen set another Finland National Record with a throw of 22.76m.
-Barbora Stejfova threw 21.44m which is good for #4 All Time at VT.
-Men's 4x400 ran 3:05.27 which was good for #2 All Time at VT and that foursome did not include JLIV.
-Men's DMR ran a 9:19.88 to set a program record. The ACC men's DMR is no joke. Of the top 10 times in NCAA history, four were set by ACC schools this year. UVA - 1, Wake - 4, UNC - 5, and VT -9th.
To expand on the DMR...Distance Medley Relay...it's a 1200-400-800-1600 in that order. The world record was set last year at 9:14:58, then broken by Univ of Washington at 9:14:10 last weekend. VT, at 9th this year in the NCAA, was only 5.5 seconds off the world record.
I briefly looked through the men's start list and it looks like the VT men have a very realistic chance of winning the title. I think Cal and Clemson may give them a fight for it.
The women should have some good individual performances, but I don't think they have the depth to win the title this season.
Not a ton of events finals today, but a bit of a disappointment in the men's 200m prelims. Ali Diaby came in with the 2nd fastest time, but didn't make the finals. Top-seeded Judson Lincoln had the fastest time in the prelims, and should win this event if he runs well. Ironically, JLIV is NOT the top seed in the 400m (that's Cal's Johnny Goode), but he's more than capable of winning the 400m as well. Those prelims are tomorrow.
The VT women kicked ass in the Weight Throw (Sara Killinen - 2nd, Barbora Stejfova - 5th) and the Pole Vault (Julia Fixsen - 1st, Chiara Sistermann - 3rd, Lyndsey Reed - 5th, Erin Kelleher - 8th), and currently lead the meet with 33 points. But those are our two best events, and we're not likely to see scoring like that again.
BTW, how good is Julia Fixsen? She's the 22nd ranked women's pole vaulter in the world at the moment at 15' 1/4".
Hokies win the mens DMR by two thousandths of a second over UNC!
Absolutely incredible finish here. Virginia Tech's George Couttie digging deep and absolutely flexing his will here to hold off last year's outdoor 5000m NCAA champion Parker Wolfe from UNC to win the DMR title. It was so close the announcers initially called it for Wolfe and UNC.
The meet officials look exactly how I would think ACC meet officials would look...
(And sour over VT beating UNC in ANYTHING!)
Highlights from today:
-Ryan Fowkes set a new PB of 4:01.09 in the mile prelims. Unfortunately, he was 5th in the fast heat so he misses out on a trip to the final.
-Viktor Idhammar won his heat in 4:08.00 and will advance to the final.
-Caitlyn Bobb won her heat in the 400m and was third overall with a time of 53.16 and advances to the final.
-JLIV just keeps impressing. He ran a new SB and facility record of 45.68. That is good for 11th in the nation.
-Star Price finished 2nd in her heat and 7th overall to advance in the 800m.
-Christian Jackson (2), Dylan Decambre (3), and Nicholas Plant (4) had 3 of the top 4 fastest times to advance in the 800m.
-Nathaniel Paris finished 5th in the long jump.
Man, you gotta feel for Fowkes. 5th in his heat, but his time would have won any of the other heats and gotten him into the finals.
There are still several opportunities for the men to score big points and hopefully take home the team title. But they are pretty much going to need JLIV to win the 200m and 400m, and then for VT to have multiple point-scorers in the 800m and pole vault. Those 4 events could realistically net them ~40 points and give them a chance heading into the 4x400, although they'll also probably need to find a few points in other events like the mile, 3000m and triple jump.
That 2nd section of 3000m guys is stacked. I think George Couttie has a really good shot at scoring points.
-Idhammar finished 7th in the mile to snag 2 points.
-Caitlyn Bobb set a new PB of 52.69 to take 2nd in the 400m.
-JLIV wins the 400m in 45.55.
-Star Price takes 6th in the 800m.
Hokies take first (Nicholas Plant), 3rd (Christian Jackson) and 7th (Dylan Decambre) in the mens 800m.
JLIV won the 200m with a PB of 20.56 but was grabbing a hamstring at the end. Not sure what that means for the 4x400.
Maddox Hamm takes 2nd in the pole vault, Benjamin Conacher is 4th and Connr McClure is 5th.
Katrin Brzyszkowska takes 2nd in the shot put with a throw of 54'-9.5".
Well damn. The women finish 8th in the 4x400 so they finish in 6th, two points behind UVA. Clemson is the ACC Women's Team Champions.
Mens team taking a 1 point lead into the 4x400 relay over UVA. Mathematically, UVA is the only one that can beat the Hokies.
The 4x400 team also has to do it without JLIV who tweaked his hamstring in the 200 per the announcers.
Just need to place better than UVA in the 4x400. Hokies should be able to do that even without Judson Lincoln.
Do. Not. DQ. *knocks on wood*
These announcers really are the worst.
Anyway, just beat 3:11 and get the stick around safely.
Wooo! 4x400 finishes 2nd and takes the team title!
Awesome all-around performance for the VT men to win another ACC title. Judson Lincoln IV was amazing (here's hoping that hamstring heals quick), but the Hokies have no shortage of straight-up studs on the team. Between JLIV in the 200/400, Nick Plant in the 800, the pole vault crew, and the DMR and 4x400 relays, there's no shortage of talent on this team. I'll actually be surprised if there aren't multiple Hokies all-Americans on the men's side at the NCAA meet in Virginia Beach in a couple of weeks.
Great to see the winning ways carry over under Ben Thomas. Here's hoping this is his first of many track and field titles!
With all due respect to Bhayshul Tuten and Antwaun Powell-Ryland, Judson Lincoln could make a strong argument for being the best athlete in his given sport at Virginia Tech. Here he is flying to the ACC 400m title Monday.
Nick Plant could also probably make that argument as well.
Queen Harrison and Spyrridon Julien would like a word
Sorry I wasn't very clear. I meant the best athlete across any sport at VT currently. I should have also mentioned Julia Fixsen, as she has been an NCAA champion in the women's pole vault. I imagine there is at least one wrestler also in the conversation, considering the success of that program.
But Plant and JLIV are both roughly top 5 in the country in their events right now.
Just wanted to also throw in the video from Judson Lincoln's 200m title win in a school record 20.57 from Monday. He took down the old record of 20.62, which was held by Jacory Patterson and Cole Beck.
Man, that stride in the last 60 was effortless. Outdoor season should be a solid one.
He's so smooth and strong, and really holds his form at the end of his 200s and 400s.
I feel like he came to Tech as more of a 400/500 guy, but he's become a great 200 runner as well. If he's hitting 20.57 indoors, I think he's a strong bet to break the outdoor school record of 20.41 (Kahleje Tillmon).
The NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships will be held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15. The top 16 athletes in the country qualify in each event, although the next lower seeds move into qualifying if some higher seeds choose not to compete in an event. The top 8 finishers score points toward the team title (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for 1st through 8th), and are considered 1st-Team All-Americans. Here are the Hokies who will be competing:
Men
400m - Judson Lincoln IV - 6th seed (there's no clear favorite, and JLIV could actually win this)
3000m - George Couttie - 15th seed (Ethan Strand and Parker Wolfe from UNC are the favorites)
4x400m Relay - Virginia Tech is the 7th seed (but just 2.22 seconds behind #1 seed Texas A&M)
The team will likely be Tomas Kersulis, Kahleje Tillmon, Ali Diaby and Judson Lincoln IV if everyone is healthy.
Distance Medley Relay - Virginia Tech is the 8th seed
Pole Vault - Maddox Hamm - 14th seed (no realistic chance of winning, but could finish top 8)
Heptathlon - Nathaniel Harris - 7th seed
Note that Judson Lincoln would have been the 9th seed in the 200m dash, but he scratched out, most likely to focus on the 400m and 4x400 relay. Doing the 200/400 double plus the relay would have been tough.
Women
800m - Star Price - 8th seed (it's pretty tightly packed from 1 to 16, so anything is possible for Price)
Pole Vault - Julia Fixsen - 6th seed (former champion, but Amanda and Hana Moll from Washington are huge favorites - they are ranked #1 and #4 in the world right now)
Weight Throw - Sara Killinen - 7th seed
I expect parking at NCAAs to be a cluster. The Shamrock marathon festivities are that weekend. While the marathon/half are on Sunday, with packet pickup and other stuff Friday and Saturday at the convention center next door, it's going to be a mess.
So far on Day 1 of NCAAs a couple of Hokies have competed. TV coverage on ESPN+.
Nathaniel Paris is sitting in 6th after Day1 of the heptathlon.
Julia Fixsen cleared her first two heights on her first attempts so she is sitting in a tie for first at the moment.
Afterthought first two throws, Sara Killinen is sitting in 5th. Real surprise is that the thrower from Cal who won the the ACC title by several feet is currently in 6th. I don't expect that to last but still interesting. The 1 seed out of Minnesota is also way down in 12th.
Star Price goes in the 800m prelims at 420 pm ET.
Mens events start at 6pm ET.
Sara Killinen finished 8th and will snag one team point.
Julia Fixsen finished 5th in pole vault.
Star Price does not advance to the finals in the 800m.
JLIV must still be dealing with a hamstring issue. He finished 15th and will not advance to the final in the 400m. His time of 47.01 was significantly slower than his usual.
Bummer about JLIV. He can run a 47.01 backwards, so the hamstring was definitely a factor. Gotta wonder if he'll be available for the 4x400.
Maddox Hamm finished 7th in pole vault with a new PB of 18'-4.75"
Hokies finished 7th in the mens DMR.