I tell you what a second kid really impedes my Hokie fandom. Being an Olympic junkie didn't help either, but I digress.
ACC Championships for Indoor Track wrap up tomorrow, but before we get to current results and what is on the slate for tomorrow, some season highlights:
-Maddox Hamm started the season by breaking the school record for indoor pole vault at 18-8.25" which broke the old record of 18'-6.75" set by Deakin Volz. This got him an ACC Men's Indoor Field Performer of the Week nod.
-George Couttie started his season by breaking his own school record in the 3000m with a time of 7:36.74
-At the Virginia Tech Invitational in January, Lilly Ver Beek made her long jump debut and recorded the #6 mark on VT's record book with a jump of 19'6.25". Nabil Tezkratt made his debut in the 300m and set the #10 mark in the VT books with a time of 33.88. Final debut athlete to get a place in the VT books was Kaitlyn Cook in the triple jump with a jump of 42'-4.25" good for #4 all time.
-At the Hokie Invitational, George Couttie set a collegiate best in the 2000m by being the first collegian to break 5 minutes with a time of 4:57.81. Obviously, this also set a VT program record. It didn't hurt that he was chasing Cole Hocker at the event who ran 4:52.92 to break the American record and set a facility record at Rector. Incidentally, the week prior, Couttie was representing Great Britain at the World Cross Country Championships and finished 7th in the Mixed Relay. Kaitlyn Cook went 19'9.75" in the long jump to move to #3 on VT's all time list.
-The men's 4x400m took third at the Stan Scott Invitational in Lubbock Texas and set the #6 time at 3:07.44.
-We have a pentathlete! Lilly Ver Beek scored the 5th best in program history at the Doc Hale Invitational with 3608 points. Katie Bohlke made her debut in the mile and recorded the 4th best time in program history with 4:35.81. Janiya Johnson tied for 8th best all-time with 7.47 in the 60m prelims. Nate Paris at 10th all time at VT with 8.09 in the 60m hurdles prelims. Calvin Meyer 10th best VT all time at 6.77 seconds in the 60m.
-Reasons Ben Thomas is great to have as the coach: Nic Plant was chasing Cooper Teare and Cole Hocker in the 1000m at the Doc Hale Invitational which improved his VT record of 2:17.80 and moved him into #5 on the NCAA all-time list. Hocker set a Rector facility record of 2:16.30. George Couttie finished in 2:18.53 which was good for #9 on the NCAA list and Dylan Decambre finished in 2:18.81 good for the NCAA #13 all time and the #2 all time for Jamaica. Sam Idiens finished in 2:19.39 (#17 NCAA all-time) Viktor Idhammar ran 2:19.94 to post the fastest 1000m in Swedish history and #25 NCAA all time. This puts those five guys 1-5 on the VT all time list.
-At the AISICS Sound Invite, George Couttie decided he needed another record. He set a new school record in the mile at 3:52.02 which was #7 all-time in the NCAA and #2 in Division 1 this year. Cole Hocker with the assist because he set a new American record with a time of 3:45.94. Katie Bohlke won the women's 3000m in 8:55.32 and is the first woman in program history to go below 9 minutes so the school record is hers by a large margin.
-Katrin Brzyszkowska won the shot put with a throw of 15.91 meters to set a meet record at the Darius Dixon Memorial Invitational.
-Men's DMR finished 2nd behind Oregon at the Saucony Battle for Boston with a time of 9:15.05 shattering the previous program record of 9:19.88 set last year. This is also #3 all-time in NCAA history. At the same event, Nick Plant ran the 2nd fastest mile in program history at 3:54.75.
-Judson Lincoln IV has not competed at all in the indoor season. He is still showing as on the team so I'm not sure what is going on there. I'm assuming this is related to the injury he suffered last indoor season, but that is purely speculation.
On to ACC results:
Thursday
-Men's 200m Prelims - Calvin Meyer - 21.47 finished 12 will not advance
-Women's 200m Prelims - Ashley Fulton - 24.40 finished 14 will not advance
-Men's 5000m - Nicholas Kipchirchir - 13:52.41 finished 7th - 2 points, Linus Chepkochei - 14:01.35 - 18th
-Mens DMR - 9:37.51 - 5th - 4 points
-Womens DMR - 11:10.40 - 7th - 2 points
-Men's Weight - Alex Hoffman - 58'-4.5" - 21st
-Mens Pole Vault - Jack Helmich - 16-4.75" - t-7 - 1 point. Maddox Hamm did not compete, so I'm not sure what is going on there.
-Mens High Jump - Nathaniel Curtiss - 6'-6" - T-11
-Pentathlon - Lilly Ver Beek - 3551 - 11th
Friday
-Men's Mile Prelims - Nick Plant - 4:03.81 (Q) 1st in his heat and 10th overall, Viktor Idhammar - 4:04.48 (Q) 1st in his heat and 14th overall, Ethan Coleman - 4:08.49 7th in his heat and 29th overall, Garrett Winter - 4:15.40 9th in his heat and 34th overall
-Womens Mile Prelims - Emma Lindner - 4:41.91 6th in her heat and 16th overall, Sophia Holgado - 4:50.08 11th in her heat and 30th overall
-Mens 400m - Nabil Tezkratt - 47.28 1st in his heat but 9th overall so he will not make the final. Armaan Dhillon - 49.96 for 19th overall
-Women's 60m - Janiya Johnson - 7.45 for 10th overall so she will not advance
-men's 800m - Christan Jackson (1:47.95 #1), Dylan Decambre (1:48.67 #2), Samuel Idiens (1:49.25 #4) all move on to the finals. This is important for the points total. The Hokies have a ton of ground to make up. Roan Kelly and Cameron Davis finished 23rd and 24th respectively.
-Women's Long Jump - Kaitlyn Cook finished 10th at 19'-6"
-Heptathlon - Nathaniel Paris finished 2nd with 5821 points which is good for 8 points to the team total.
Total Points Scores After Today:
Men
1. UVA - 48
2. Louisville - 31
3. UNC - 28.5
4. Clemson/Miami - 22
6. Duke - 20
7. Notre Dame - 19
8. Cal - 18
9. VT - 15
10. NC St - 14.5
11. FSU/Wake - 13
13. Stanford - 6
14. BC - 5
15. GT/Pitt/Syracuse - 0
Women
1. Notre Dame - 29
2. UVA - 27
3. Stanford/Miami - 26
5. Duke - 18
6. BC/Louisville - 16
8. Wake - 15
9. Pitt - 12
10. Clemson/SMU - 11
12. NC St - 8
13. UNC - 7
14. GT - 6
15. Cal - 3
16. VT - 2
17. FSU -1
18. Syracuse - 0
Not looking good for the Hokies this year. We just dont have the same quantity of events to bank points in this year, but we will see what happens.
Comments
After reading the opening paragraphs I was thinking Indoor was amazing, then I got down to the current standings and figured out the team has some standouts, but not much depth. Is this just a result of a coaching retirement and the new guy earning back the rep?
I think its a continuation of the problems from the last couple of years where middle distance, throws and pole vault was where the bulk of the points came from. There hasn't been any womens sprinters in the last couple of years. So you add that plus injuries and graduations and the points aren't there this year. There were no women's weight athletes this time and last year you had Sara killinen winning that.
I think track is hard too where some days your body just isn't cooperative and you might be a little bit slow which could be the difference between 1st and 10th.
Ben Thomas is a great coach. Cole Hocker wouldn't be here if he wasn't. It is frustrating though.
No bueno today.
Mens 1 mile - Nick Plant was 2nd for 8 points and Viktor Idhammar was 4th for 5 points.
Mens 800m - Jackson took the win, Decambre in 3rd and Idiens in 5th for 20 points.
Mens 3000m - Couttie was 2nd for 8 points.
Womens 3000m - Bohlke took 3rd for 6 points.
Mens 4x400 - 5th for 4 points
Mens shot put - Simmonds and Bowen were 5th and 6th respectively for 7 points.
Womens Pole Vault - Sistermann takes 2nd for 8 points.
Womens Shot Put - Katrin Brzyszkowska wins and claims 10 points.
Women finished tied for 12th.
Men were 4th.