Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 9 No. 5 | May 2017

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44 Inside Hokie Sports
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liked him. I thought he’d fit in. I felt
like I was speaking to one of my guys
the first time that I talked to him, just
in terms of what was important to him
and the things that were important to us.”
“I’m a little bit of a weird guy,” Piazza said. “I
kind of do random stuff sometimes. I probably
have fun with it too much. Then I realized that
this team is just like that, too.
“I got here the first few days, and on a long
run, they’re talking and laughing and doing all
these stupid things. I’m like, ‘This is literally
perfect for me.’”
He adjusted quickly on the track, too. During
the indoor season, he set the school record in
the 600-meter run, and here in the outdoor
season, he holds the school mark in the 800,
running the event at the Virginia Challenge in
a time of 1:46.02 and besting teammate Patrick
Joseph’s previous mark. He also was a part
of the 4x800-meter relay team that recently
broke the school record at the Penn Relays.
Piazza’s time in the 800 ranks as the best
in the ACC so far this spring, with Joseph’s
top time of 1:46.47 ranking second. Each may
stand as the other’s top competitor in the run
for gold medals.
“Patrick Joseph is one of the most
competitive people I know,” Piazza said.
“Running with him and against him makes
both of us better. The reason we ran so
fast during indoors is because we both
had each other. Not just me and Patty, but
Vince [Ciattei], Neil [Gourley], Wak [Daniel
Jaskowak] … all of them. To have those
guys day in and day out … makes you more
competitive and makes you want to do more.
We won the ACCs indoor, and it wasn’t
because one of us ran a great race. It was
because all of us did this together.”
These days, Piazza and the group keep
working toward the pinnacle—a national
championship. No Tech distance runner, male
or female, has won an individual national title,
and the group hopes that one of them ends that
trend, whether it be Piazza, Joseph, Gourley, or
Hanna Green on the women’s side.
All four of those runners earned All-America
honors during the indoor season. So, too, did
Jaskowak and Ciattei as part of the distance
medley relay team that won a silver medal.
In other words, this outdoor season may
represent the distance program’s best chance
to bring home a gold medal.
“I think it definitely is,” Piazza said. “If
everything goes right and the training goes
exactly as to how I think it’s going to go. I think
I, or Patty, can definitely win a national title.
I think Neil and Vince have a shot in the 1,500.
“There isn’t that one kid who is faster than
everyone else who can win it. This time, I
think it’s anyone’s game. There is definitely a
possibility of one of us getting a national title.
It’s time.”
Piazza may be the best possibility of the
group before he runs off to his future, which
includes another year of classes at Tech to
finish up his civil engineering requirements.
Civil engineering serves as a secondary plan
for him, though. He desperately wants to run
professionally and make a U.S. national team.
But his focus remains first and foremost on
the task at hand. As his college career winds
down, he simply wants to win, regardless of the
name of the meet, though especially the final
one—the NCAA Championships.
“Drew happens to be running during a time
when some of the fastest guys ever in the NCAA
are running,” Thomas said. “That’s what he’s
up against, but he likes the challenge.
“He’s confident, but he’s put in the work to
be confident. The confidence comes from being
able to stay consistent to bring it every day.
He’s not losing to anybody. If he loses, it will be
because somebody beat him and not because of
something he did or didn’t do.”
“That feeling after a great race is the best
feeling you will ever get, I’m telling you,” Piazza
said. “You hurt yourself so much for that one
moment, but that one moment is so worth it.
When you cross the finish line and realize what
you’ve done, you’re on top of the world for that
little bit ofmoment … I love that about the sport.”
Hopefully, Piazza gets to experience that
feeling. If he does, he’ll become a hero to
Hokie Nation forever—regardless of his hair
color of choice.