After a one-month hiatus from the track, the Cavaliers returned for their first meet of the calendar year. Traveling a couple of hours southwest to Blacksburg, the squad’s sprinters, throwers and jumpers all competed at Virginia Tech’s indoor facility Friday and Saturday.
Day one’s performances were highlighted by a phenomenal first, second, third sweep in the men's weight throw competition, led by senior Jeremiah Nubbe, senior Keyandre Davis and graduate student Nikolaos Polychroniou respectively.
Davis’ throw of 22.75m/74-7.75 not only was a personal best, but helped him work his way up to the third best mark in program history. Polychroniou’s throw at 22.14m/72-7.75 notched fifth in program history as he freshly opened up his campaign with Virginia after transferring from Southern California.
Claiming first for the women’s weight throw competition was freshman newcomer Charlotta Sandkulla — her debut for the Cavaliers was one to remember. Capitalizing on the opportunity to make a name for herself early, Sandkulla inked her name into the program’s history books, as her throw of 19.21m/63-0.25 placed her second all-time.
As for the runners, the women’s 60-meter hurdles had two qualifiers for the finals with sophomore Maya Rollins running a 8.44 preliminary round best and senior Sophia Akpan running an 8.60. Delivering in the finals, Akpan placed third overall, ran a personal best time of 8.59, and broke into the program’s Top Ten all time.
Similar to the women, the men also had two runners into the final, senior Peter Djan and senior Henry Sullivan. Djan continued to showcase his speed and prowess as he raced to a 7.85 season best, second place overall finish. Sullivan ran a personal best himself at 8.09, finishing fifth overall. Djan also placed third overall in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.84, just 0.2 seconds off finishing first.
Pole vaulter freshman Madison Townsend and senior Justin Rodgers both placed third in the women’s and men’s pole vault unseeded finals. Townsend cleared 3.74m/12-3.25 and Rodgers clearing of 5.05m/16-6.75 allowed him to round out a season best.
Day two saw some more notable performances across the board. For field events, sophomore Caleb Holman led the way for the Cavaliers finishing second overall in triple jump, jumping 15.72m/51-7 and improving his eight all-time mark with a personal best.
Long sprints saw freshman Anders Felts race off to a third-place finish in the men’s 400-meter dash with a time of 49.64. The women's 4x400-meter relay squad — consisting of junior Ariel Fletcher, junior Brooke'Lyn Drakeford, sophomore Kaela Swift and junior Elsa Spoor — also placed third overall. This placement shows good signs as the quartet continues to build chemistry.
"[A] solid opening meet with impressive performances from the throwers, jumpers and hurdlers,” Coach Vin Lananna said. “We will have a big group at Virginia Tech next weekend."
Virginia will look to expand on this weekend's performances as they travel back to Blacksburg for the Hokie Invitational Friday and Saturday.
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