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Ben Thomas said. “She was a 2:16 half-miler.
To come from that and be a three-time NCAA
runner-up … that’s pretty amazing. That just
doesn’t happen. But she just never beats
herself, and that started early on. She’s just a
rare talent mentally and physically, and we’re
going to miss her.”
Thor, a freshman from Knivsta, Sweden,
scored the other point for the women’s team.
She earned first-team All-America honors after
finishing eighth in the hammer throw in her
first NCAA Championships. She led after flight
No. 1 with a throw of 64.19 meters (210 feet, 7
inches) and qualified for the finals. That throw
turned out to be the best of the six, and she
wound up eighth.
On the men’s side, Gourley came in fifth in
the 1,500 with a time of 3:44.39. He trailed
early in the race, and despite dodging a runner
who fell, rallied on the final lap. He earned
first-team All-America honors during the
outdoor season for the first time in his career.
Piazza encountered a similar situation in
the men’s 800. The senior from Danvers,
Massachusetts held the lead early in the
race and was in position toward the end to
challenge for a title, but a runner fell in front of
him and another runner grabbed him to keep
from falling. As a result, Piazza came in sixth
with a time of 1:47.58.
“We purposely went to the front to try and
avoid trouble,” Thomas said. “A guy ran up on
his [Piazza’s] inside and another guy ran on his
outside, and thenhehadhis jerseypulled.He just
didn’t get a clean run. It would have been nice
to see a cleaner race, but he still got sixth—his
second straight All-America performance.”
Barta accounted for the other two points,
finishing seventh in the men’s discus with a
top throw of 58.99 meters (193 feet, 6 inches).
Barta—whohadtwochancestoimproveonthat
mark, but faulted on both attempts—earned
first-team All-America honors for the second
straight season. A year ago, he was third in the
event at this same meet.
Those earning second-team All-America
honors on the women’s side included Pavla
Kuklova, who came in ninth in the hammer
throwwith a personal-best toss of 63.45meters
(208 feet, 2 inches), and Sarah Edwards, who
finished 10th in the women’s 3,000-meter
steeplechase with a time of 10:12.45.
On the men’s side, those earning second-
team All-America honors included distance
runners Vincent Ciattei (ninth, 1,500), Patrick
Joseph (12th, 800) and Peter Seufer (ninth,
5,000), along with pole vaulter Brad Johnson,
who finished tied for 16th.
The NCAA Championships concluded an
outstanding season for both Tech track and
field programs. The men won both the ACC’s
indoor and outdoor titles, and the women took
home the outdoor crown and captured a top-
15 finish at the NCAA outdoor meet in what
arguably turned out to be the best season of
Cianelli’s 16-year tenure in Blacksburg.
“Each year has its own challenges and
rewards,” Cianelli said. “But the thing that
stood out about this year was that we were able
to not just maintain the men at a high level and
keep them progressing, but also to really get
the women and execute the women’s plan and
see it come together.
“All of that, and just watching how our kids
battled and performed, was really satisfying.
Certainly, this year ranks right up there as the
most satisfying I’ve had as a coach.”
Virginia Tech’s Neil Gourley (bottom) and Emma
Thor (top) earned first-team All-America honors
at the NCAA Championships after finishing in the
top eight of their respective events.