Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 10 No. 6 | June 2018

inside.hokiesports.com 41 S tudent-athletes rarely enjoy any substantial amount of free time in today’s world of college athletics, and when they actually receive some, they often use it to relax and unwind. For Vincent Ciattei, that occasionally means putting on some headphones and soaking in the distinct tones of certain classical or symphonic artists. And on rare occasions, he’ll even pull out his beloved saxophone, shake off the rust and immerse himself as the music comes out. As those who play the instrument often like to say, you don’t play the instrument—it plays you. “I played the alto saxophone, and I really enjoyed that,” Ciattei said, referring to his middle and high school days. “I played in the jazz ensemble, which was fun. It’s a fun instrument, and it’s flexible. You can use it in symphonic bands and jazz ensembles.” Ciattei, for sure, played sweet music on the track this past season—the redshirt senior just concluded his collegiate career by winning a silver medal in the 1,500-meter run at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon—his second silver medal this season. Not many in this sport leave having excelled in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track, but the middle-distance specialist departs to the tune of a national championship in indoor track and field, first-team All-America honors in both indoor and outdoor track and field, and first-team All-ACC honors in those two along with cross country. That’s not too bad for a young man who sacrificed his beloved sport of basketball in high school in his hometown of Baltimore, pushing aside dreams of following Carmelo Anthony and many others of that city’s greats to stardom after ultimately seeing where his future lie. He had been running cross country for his Perry Hall High School team, and after a year spent mostly sitting on the bench on the junior varsity basketball squad, he decided to focus on a sport that at least gave him a chance at a college scholarship. “With how I was developing physically, I knew that it would be more likely for me after my sophomore year of cross country … to take this running thing and be an athlete in college doing this than playing basketball,” Ciattei said. “I hadn’t had a lot of time in JV, and I was certainly dedicating a lot of time to it and improving in basketball, but I had more upside in running, and I was starting to develop more of a passion for it.” Despite the late start out of the blocks, Ciattei went on to become one of his high school’s most decorated athletes—if not the most decorated. He won an astounding seven state championships, including four his senior season. Part of his success stemmed from natural talent, but the majority of it could be credited to his work ethic and his attention to detail. He committed to the training when he knew others would slack off. He spent time reading about the latest workout trends and writing detailed logs of his performances when he knew others wouldn’t. “I don’t have as much natural talent as a lot of other people that I’m competing with, but I do have some,” he said. “I think it’s a sport that matches up well with my personality and how I was raised.” Training and researching and writing daily logs is pretty heady stuff for an 18-year-old, but Ciattei likes immersing himself into an analytical approach. He graduated from Perry Hall with better than a 4.0 grade-point average, and schools with academic prestige pursued him. In the end, he chose Tech over Georgetown and Yale. “It came down to here and Georgetown, and Virginia Tech had an engineering program, which Georgetown didn’t,” he said. “I felt a little more like I would fit in with the team here, but that was nothing against Georgetown … it was a very close decision.” He came out of the blocks solidly as a collegian, but an injury nearly derailed his career. He started feeling pain in his hips toward the end of his freshman campaign, and it bothered him most of the summer. Tech’s sports medicine staff diagnosed him with osteitis pubis—an inflammation of the pelvic region. The injury limited his workout regimen. He spent a lot of time in the swimming pool at McComas Hall and working on the AlterG, an anti-gravity treadmill that reduces impact on the body. He became better, but the injury flared up again during the outdoor season, forcing him to take a redshirt campaign. His sophomore year was essentially a waste. “I didn’t develop at all,” he said. “I was cross training and doing everything that I could to get back, but it was definitely a very frustrating time.” Ciattei worked himself back to the cross country course and eventually to the track in 2016. But at a home meet before the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships that winter, another injury occurred—tightening in his back. “That’s when I was questioning whether things were going to work out,” Ciattei admitted. Fortunately, distance coach Ben Thomas came up with an idea. Ciattei’s back bothered him whenever he ran a mile or longer, so Thomas moved him to the anchor leg of the 4x800-meter relay for that meet at Rector Field House. The move allowed the first three runners to get in their work, while allowing Ciattei an opportunity to see how his back would fare at a shorter distance. Ciattei ran the leg in oneminute, 51 seconds, whichwasn’t particularly good, but he got through the race pain free. Thomas then decided to use Ciattei for the 800-meter leg of the distance medley relay (DMR) event at the ACC Championships, and he ran a better time there, helping Tech to a bronze-medal finish. During the outdoor season, Thomas kept Ciattei at 800 meters, and Ciattei came in fifth at the ACC outdoor meet, while eventually dropping his time to 1:47.91. Thomas’ move at that home meet turned out to be a confidence booster for Ciattei—and maybe even a career saver. “Basically, Coach still giving me a shot the next day after blowing it and looking like nothing was going to be improving in the mile … that meet in and of itself wasn’t a very important meet, but that was a huge turning point for my career,” Ciattei said. “I dropped down to the 800 for that season and had some success there, and then the following year when I was healthier, I came back to the mile, which I knew I was probably going to be better at, and from then on, I’ve had a lot of success.” track and field spotlight vincent ciattei “ I don’t have as much natural talent as a lot of other people that I’m competing with, but I do have some. I think it’s a sport that matches up well with my personality and how I was raised. Vincent Ciattei on running ” Continued on page 42