Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 6 | June 2017

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INSIDE
HOKIE SPORTS
Each year, the performances of Virginia
Tech student-athletes exceed what those
before them accomplished, and the
2016-17 academic year certainly was no
exception.
No sport, though, saw more out­
standing —and record-breaking—perfor­
mances than Tech’s track and field
programs, which combined to win three
ACC team titles. And in the opinion of
magazine staff members and many others,
no one performed at a higher level than
Hanna Green.
Largely because of the three gold medals that she combined to win at the
ACC Championships this winter and spring and the two All-America honors
that she earned, Green has been tabbed as Inside Hokie Sports’ 2016-17
Athlete of the Year.
Green became the ninth Tech track and field athlete to be named the
magazine’s Athlete of the Year since the publication started doing this in
1995. The complete list of winners include Cornell Brown (football), Jim
Druckenmiller (football), Katie Ollendick (women’s track and field), Corey
Moore (football), André Davis (football), Lee Suggs (football), Bryant
Matthews (men’s basketball), Kevin Jones (football), Queen Harrison
(women’s track and field), Dorotea Habazin (women’s track and field),
Marcel Lomnicky (men’s track and field), Spyridon Jullien (men’s track and
field), Angela Tincher (softball), Alexander Ziegler (men’s track and field),
Erick Green (men’s basketball), Devin Carter (wrestling), Irena Sediva
(women’s track and field) and Tommy Curtin (men’s track and field).
Green, a four-year standout, beat out strong crop of athletes for this
recognition, including Brandon Fiala (men’s swimming), Ty Walz (wrestling),
Jared Haught (wrestling), Isaiah Ford (football) and Jerod Evans (football).
Her accomplishments on the track surpassed the accomplishments of those
and many others.
Green concluded her collegiate career at the NCAA Outdoor Track and
Field Championships by winning a silver medal in the 800-meter run—the
third runner-up finish at an NCAA meet in her career. She earned first-team
All-America honors in the process for the fifth time.
That performance capped a tremendous outdoor season for Green. At
the ACC Championships, she became the first Tech athlete, male or female,
to win both the 800 and the 1,500 at the same league meet. Those two
gold medals helped the Tech women’s program win its first ACC team title
since 2008.
During the indoor season, Green won the gold medal in the 800 at the
ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships held in South Bend, Indiana, in
late February. She followed that by finishing second in the same event at the
NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in College Station, Texas, to
earn first-team All-America honors.
Green didn’t just win this season—she also set school records. In fact,
she set top school marks for the 600 (1:27.39) and the 800 (2:02.13) during
the indoor season, along with being a member of the 4x400-meter relay
team that set a school record (3:37.42). In addition, she set the outdoor
school record in the 1,500 (4:12.31), which was her converted mile time
from her performance at the Penn Relays.
Green won six ACC gold medals during her career, and she holds or
shares five school records. She earned an All-America honor each year of
her career and finished with a total of six—the second-most in program
history behind Kristi Castlin.
She’s arguably the most accomplished distance runner in Tech history.
What can’t be argued, though, is that she will be missed.
WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD
SR.
LATROBE, PENNSYLVANIA
HANNA
GREEN