Feb. 26, 2010

• Photo Gallery - Friday, February 26
• Complete Friday Results 
• 2010 ACC Men's and Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships

BLACKSBURG, Va. - The Virginia Tech men and Clemson women clung to first-place positions as the second session of the 2010 Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships concluded Friday evening at the Virginia Tech's Rector Field House.

But with only six of 17 events completed thus far, Saturday's third and final day - as always - will be the decider.

Competition is scheduled to get under way Saturday at 10 a.m. and conclude around 4 p.m. Live coverage can be viewed at theACC.com beginning at noon. In addition, live results can be found by visiting the official champi­onship website: http://www.theacc.com/championships/10-itf-championship.html  

Virginia Tech leads the men's team scoring with 35 points, a half-point ahead of second-place North Carolina. Florida State, bidding for its eighth straight championship, sits in third place but just one point back at 34. Virginia holds fourth place with 33 team points.

The Clemson women lead with 53 points, followed by Florida State with 35. Duke holds third place with 34 points.

Notable gold-medal efforts on Friday included Florida State junior Brian Chibudu's men's long jump of 26-3¾, the best in the nation so far this season.

The men's heptathlon concluded with its final three events, and North Carolina's Mateo Sossah grabbed the gold with a school-record point total of 5,779. Sossah and silver medalist Miller Moss of Clemson (5,699) both amassed NCAA qualifying point totals.

In the weight throw competition, Virginia Tech freshman Alexander Ziegler captured the men's gold medal with an NCAA-automatic qualifying throw of 73-10.25, a personal best. Ziegler placed ahead of Hokie teammate and 2009 champion Marcel Lomincky, who took this year's silver medal with a throw of 69 feet.

On the women's side, NC State sophomore Lawanda Henry took home a gold medal and became a provisional NCAA weight throw qualifier with a toss of 64-0½.

The men's 5000 meters saw Virginia's Ryan Collins successfully defend his 2009 championship with a first-place time of 14:23.81. The men's high jump also saw a two-time winner as North Carolina senior Donte Nall posted a winning leap of 7-1. Nall also won the event as a sophomore in 2008.

In the women's 5000 meters, Clemson sophomore Kimberly Ruck picked up a gold medal with an NCAA qualifying time of 16:04.02.

Clemson also took the gold in a highly competitive women's long jump that featured four automatic and two provisional NCAA qualifiers. Tiger junior April Sinkler set the pace at 21-6, successfully defending her 2009 title.

Another one of Friday's highlights came during qualifying for the women's 60 meter hurdles, which saw Virginia Tech senior Queen Harrison post an ACC-record time of 7.99, breaking the mark of 8.03 set by Georgia Tech's Shantia Moss on Feb. 24, 2007. The 60-meter hurdles finals will be run on Saturday.

Virginia swept the distant medley relays, with the Cavalier men posting a winning time of 9:47.80, and the women leading the way at 11:36.59.

Georgia Tech's Joanna Wright concluded Friday's session with a gold medal showing the pole vault.

Finals are scheduled in a dozen individual running events on Saturday (six men's, six women's), as well as well as six relays. Field events to be decided on Saturday include the women's high jump, the men's and women's triple jump, the men's pole vault, and the men's and women's shot put.

Team Scoring Men (thru 6 events)
1. Virginia Tech 35
2 North Carolina 34.5
3. Florida State 34
4. Virginia 33
5. Clemson 28
6. Duke 23.5
7. NC State 19
8. Georgia Tech 10
9. Maryland 8
10. Wake Forest 5
11. Boston College 4
12. Miami 0

Team Scoring Women (thru 6 events)
1. Clemson 53
2. Florida State 35
3. Duke 34
4. Virginia Tech 21
5. NC State 17
6. Wake Forest 15
7. Georgia Tech 12
8. Virginia 10
9. Miami 10
9. Maryland 10
11. Boston College 9
12. North Carolina 7

Top Three Finishers Per Event on Friday (All-ACC):

Men's Weight Throw
1. Alexander Ziegler, Fr., Virginia Tech 73-10.25 (!)
2. Marcel Lomincky, So., Virginia Tech 69-00-00 (*)
3. Zach Berg, Sr., Clemson 66-09.25 (*)

Men's Long Jump
1. Brian Chibudu, Jr., Florida State 26-3¾ (!)
2. Alphonso Jordan, Sr., Georgia Tech 25-2¾ (*)
3. Josh Fowler, Jr., Clemson 24-7¾ (*)

Men's Heptathlon
1. Mateo Sossah, Sr., North Carolina 5779 (!)
2. Miller Moss, Sr., Clemson 5699 (!)
3. Curtis Beach, Fr., Duke 5579 (*)

Men's 5000 Meters
1. Ryan Collins, So., Virginia 14:23.81
2. John Martinez, Sr., NC State 14:24.70
3. Bo Waggoner, Jr., Duke 14:29.64

Men's High Jump
1. Donte Nall, Sr., North Carolina 7-1 (*)
2. Andrew Bachelor, Sr., Florida State 6-10¾
3. Kris Kornegay-Gober, Fr., NC State 6-9½

Women's Weight Throw
1. Lawanda Henry, So., NC State 64-0½ (*)
2. Dorotea Habazin, Jr., Virginia Tech 63-4 ¼ (*)
3. Brittney Waller, Fr., Clemson 60-11½

Women's 5000 Meters
1. Kimberly Ruck, So., Clemson 16:04.02 (!)
2. Anna Nosenko, Jr., Wake Forest 16:20.19 (*)
3. Carly Seymour, So., Duke 16:39.99 (*)

Women's Long Jump
1. April Sinkler, Jr., Clemson 21-6 (!)
2. Kimberly Williams, Jr., Florida State 21-4¼ (!)
3. Deanda Doyley, Sr., Miami 21-2 (!)

Women's Pole Vault
1. Joanna Wright, Jr., Georgia Tech 13-9 3/4
2. Lizbeth Mabry, Sr., Florida State 13-3 1/4
3. Amy Fryt, Jr., Duke 13-3 1/4

First-place relay teams (All-ACC):

Men's Distance Medley
1. Virginia 9:47.80 Sintayehu Taye, So.; Kevin Anding, So.; Alex Bowman, Sr.;Robby Andrews, Fr.

Women's Distance Medley
1. Virginia 11:36.59 Rosemary Barber, Fr.; Chidimma Uche, Jr.; Lyndsay Harper, Jr.; Tasia Potasinski, Fr.

! - NCAA Automatic
* - NCAA Provisional
m - Meet Record
s - Site Record