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Inside Hokie Sports
Over the past few years, Blacksburg has become known as
“Sacksburg” because of the number of sacks recorded by the defense
on the Hokies’ football team.
It couldbe argued, however, that thebetter nickname is “Tracksburg.”
The Virginia Tech men’s track and field and cross country program
claimed its seventh Atlantic Coast Conference team championship
and its fourth indoor track and field crown when it pulled away on the
final day to best the competition at the ACC Indoor Track and Field
Championships held at Notre Dame on Feb. 23-25.
Behind three individual gold medal performances and a gold medal
from the distance medley relay team, the Hokies scored 109 points,
outlasting Virginia by 11 points. Florida State came in thirdwith 86 points.
“It’s never easy,” said Dave Cianelli, Tech’s director of track and
field and cross country who has overseen 11 ACC team championships
between the men’s and women’s programs. “This conference is so
good, and it’s getting better every year. To bring
a group together and be able to perform and
win a championship is special. Whether it’s
your first or your 10th, it doesn’t really matter.
Every one of them is very special.”
Tech won this crown with balance and
depth. Fourteen men’s athletes earned All-ACC
honors, led by Vincent Ciattei, Torben Laidig
and Patrick Joseph—the three gold medalists.
Ciattei, a redshirt junior, stunned everyone
when he won the mile, beating 2016 NCAA
champion Henry Wynne of Virginia by 22-hundredths of a second
with a time of 4 minutes, 1.04 seconds. The medal marked the first of
Ciattei’s career.
Laidig won the pole vault with a meet record vault of 5.55 meters (18
feet, 2.5 inches)—the second gold medal of his career. Laidig was one
of four vaulters to score points for the Hokies, with Deakin Volz coming
in second and Brad Johnson and James Steck tying for fourth.
Joseph and teammate Drew Piazza went 1-2 in the 800-meter race.
Piazza had set the school record in the preliminary race the previous
The Hokies, who won the ACC’s team title
during the outdoor season last spring, brought
home the program’s fourth indoor crown behind
gold-medal performances from Vincent Ciattei,
Torben Laidig, Patrick Joseph and the distance
medley relay team
by
Jimmy Robertson
day, but Joseph broke it with a time of 1:46.23—a time that also
marked an ACC Championships record.
The other gold medal came from the distance medley relay team of
Daniel Jaskowak, Brandon Thomas, Kevin Cianfarini and Neil Gourley,
who won the event in a time of 9:31.05. Tech won the event for just the
second time in school history (2013) and recorded the fourth-best time
in school history.
Other podium finishes for the Hokies included Daniel Jaskowak
(silver, 3,000), Diego Zarate (bronze, mile) and Greg Chiles (bronze,
200). The medals were the first of all their careers.
On the women’s side, Hanna Green led the Hokies to an eighth-
place finish in the team race. Green continued
her dominance in the 800, winning the gold
medal in the event at the ACC’s indoor meet
for the third consecutive time. Her time of
2:02.28 marked a career best for her and also
was a school- and ACC Championships indoor
meet record. She broke her own previous school
record of 2:03.18, which she set last year at the
NCAA’s indoor meet.
Teammates Courtney Blanden and Rachel
Pocratsky also earned spots on the podium.
Blanden took home a bronze in the 200, running the event in a school-
record time of 23.60 seconds. Pocratsky came in third in the 800,
recording a personal-best time of 2:04.60.
Also, Tech’s Eszter Bajnok came in fourth in the triple jump. Bajnok
tied a school record with a top jump of 12.60 meters (41 feet, 4.25
inches)—equaling the mark set by April Byrd in 2000.
A select group of Tech athletes who qualify next will head to the
NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held March 9-11 in College
Station, Texas.
TECH MEN ARE
CHAMPIONS
ONCE AGAIN
IN TRACK AND FIELD
Vincent Ciattei’s late kick enabled
him to upset the defending national
champion in the mile and win his
first career gold medal.
