Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 6 | June 2020

H ere are the top 10 moments of the shortened 2019-20 academic year, as compiled by the magazine staff, with help from several in the strategic communications office: 1. Tech topples No. 3 Michigan State in men’s hoops The Hokies entered the first game of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational with a perfect 5-0 record, but many expected them to fall to the Spartans, a preseason national title contender. Landers Nolley II, however, scored 22 points to pace five Tech players in double figures, and he hit a clutch 3-pointer in the final minute. Also, Tech hit its free throws down the stretch to register its first nonconference victory over a team ranked in the top five since 1964. 2. Tech women’s track wins ACC title Behind gold medal performances from Sara Freix (5,000), Sarah Edwards (mile), Rachel Baxter (pole vault), Caitlan Tate (400) and the 4x400 relay team (Tate, Kennedy Dennis, Nykah Smith, Arlicia Bush), the Virginia Tech women’s track rolled to the ACC title at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships held in South Bend, Indiana in late February. Edwards and Baxter won ACC gold medals in their events for the second straight year, and Tate added a silver medal in the 200—all of which helped Tech win its first ACC indoor crown since 2008 and the program’s sixth ACC crown overall. 3. Patterson sets collegiate record in 300 Jacory Patterson came to Virginia Tech as one of the best sprinters in the country, and he continues to enjoy incredible success. The sophomore—a three-time ACC gold medalist in the 400 (twice during the indoor season)—put the track world on notice in January when he set the collegiate record in the 300-meter dash at the Virginia Tech Invitational held at Rector Field House. He ran the event in a time of 32.28 seconds, beating the previous record held by former Georgia sprinter Torrin Lawrence by four-hundredths of a second. Patterson’s time was the No. 1 time in the country in the event and the sixth-fastest ever by an American. OF 20 4. Bolen claims individual ACC wrestling championship Hunter Bolen entered the 2020 ACC Wrestling Championships as the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the nation at 184 pounds and the top seed in the tournament, and he lived up to that lofty billing. Bolen received a first-round bye at the ACC meet, and then in the semifinals, he made quick work of UVA’s Michael Battista, registering a 17-0 technical fall. In the final, he held off NC State’s Trent Hidlay for a 2-1 win to claim his first—and the Hokies’ only—ACC title at the event. Bolen finished with a 24-2 record on the season. 5. Seufer wins second consecutive ACC cross country crown Peter Seufer went right to the front in the men’s race at the 2020 ACC Cross Country Championships and never trailed, cruising to his second consecutive ACC cross country title. This one was never in doubt, as Seufer won by 39 seconds on the Buford Meredith Cross Country Course—the Hokies’ home venue. He became just the second Tech 1 2 3 4 12 Inside Hokie Sports