Feb. 29, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - After a day in which one overall league record, three meet records, and three site records fell in the Eddie Smith Field House in Chapel Hill, N.C., the Florida State men and Virginia Tech women have emerged as the leaders at the 2008 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships.

On Friday, the Seminole men were led by freshman Gonzalo Barriolhet, who took first-place with a record-breaking performance in the men's heptathlon. Barriolhet took top honors in the 55-meter hurdles and pole vault on Friday to finish with 5,765 points. With his score, the Seminole rookie smashed the league's all-time record, set at the 2007 Indoor Championships, by more than 130 points and placed himself among the nation's top five heptathlon performers in 2008.

The Hokie women, who jumped out to an early lead with three top five performances in the weight throw on Thursday, picked up another individual win with a top finish by freshman Kelly Phillips in the pole vault. Phillips, who held the league's top mark of the season coming into the championship and who already has an NCAA provisional mark in 2008, bested the second-place finisher by more than eight inches.

Virginia Tech also earned a second-place finish in a record-breaking women's distance medley relay race. In the event, Florida State's Hannah England, Kandia Batchelor, Lydia Willemse and Susan Kuijken finished with a time of 11:11.03, just missing out on a NCAA automatic-qualifying mark by .03 seconds. The Seminole's performance gives them the all-time meet record, besting Duke's time from a year ago by nearly 14 seconds.

Not to be outdone, the Virginia men posted one of the ACC's best-ever performances in the men's distance medley relay, taking first-place with a time of 9:46.59. The Cavaliers' Alex Tatu, Brian Lee, Jordan Orr and Andrew Jesien narrowly edged the FSU squad for the top spot, breaking the ACC Indoor Championship meet's all-time record and the Eddie Smith Field House record in the process.

In the long jump, it was the NC State athletes who shined, sweeping the top positions in both the men's and women's competition. On the men's side, it was senior Dexter Adams who took the top spot, with a personal-best jump of 25'07.50." Adams, who won the long jump at the 2006 Indoor Championships and 2007 Outdoor Championships, landed the championship-winning jump and set a new site record with his final attempt. Fellow senior DeMiracle Washington took top honors on the women's side with a personal-best and school-record distance of 20'01.50." She is now one of two ACC student-athletes to have reached the NCAA provisional long jump mark for women in 2008.

The 2008 ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships will conclude tomorrow, Saturday, March 1, at 11:00 a.m. with the women's shot put and triple jump. Saturday's events will be videostreamed live, beginning at noon, at www.ACCSelect.com.

Men's Standings Points
1. Florida State 35
2. NC State 30
2. North Carolina 30
4. Georgia 25
4. Clemson 25
4. Virginia 25
7. Virginia Tech 6
8. Duke 5
8. Maryland 5
8. Miami 5
11. Wake Forest 3
12. Boston College 1

Women's Standings Points
1. Virginia Tech 42
2. North Carolina 32.50
3. Virginia 32
4. NC State 28
5. Boston College 24
6. Florida State 22.50
7. Miami 22
8. Clemson 20
9. Wake Forest 17
10. Duke 13
11. Maryland 12
12. Georgia Tech 8

Friday's Final Results

Men's Long Jump
1st - Dexter Adams, NC State (*P 7.81m/25-07.50)
2nd - Nigel Orr, Georgia Tech (P 7.52m/24-08.25)
3rd - Brian Chibudu, Florida State (7.42m/24-04.25)

Women's Long Jump
1st - DeMiracle Washington, NC State (P 6.13m/20-01.50)
2nd - Kim Williams, Florida State (P 6.12m/20-01.00)
3rd - Patricia Mamona, Clemson (6.06m/19-10.75)

Men's Heptathlon
1st - Gonzalo Barriolhet, Florida State (@#A 5765)
2nd - Mateo Sossah, North Carolina (P 5454)
3rd - Daniel Keller, North Carolina (P 5357)

Women's High Jump
1st - Viktoria Andonova, Miami (P 1.80m/5-10.75)
2nd - Alesha Patterson, NC State (1.74m/5-08.50)
3rd - Ashley Haislip, North Carolina (1.69m/5-06.50)
3rd - Kayla Lawson, NC State (1.69m/5-06.50)
3rd - Patience Coleman, North Carolina (1.69m/5-06.50)

Women's Pole Vault
1st - Kelly Phillips, Virginia Tech (3.90m/12-09.50)
2nd - Kathleen Darraugh, Virginia (3.70m/12-01.50)
3rd - Jill Ahrens, Wake Forest (3.70m/12-01.50)

Women's 5,000-meters
1st - Maddie McKeever, Duke (*A 16:06.54)
2nd - Emily Harrison, Virginia (P 16:27.39)
3rd - Kara Scanlin, Virginia (P 16:27.61)

Men's 5,000-meters
1st - John Crews, NC State (14:27.51)
2nd - Ryan Foster, Virginia (14:29.00)
3rd - Matt Clark, Clemson (14:29.37)

Women's Distance Medley Relay
1st - Florida State (England, Batchelor, Willemse, Kuijken - *@P 11:11.03)
2nd - Virginia Tech (Fanning, Pinnock, Washington, Fanning - P 11:25.27)
3rd - Boston College (11:37.20)

Men's Distance Medley Relay
1st - Virginia (Tatu, Lee, Orr, Jesien - *@P 9:46.59)
2nd - Florida State (Buckingham, Francis, Noyes, Gunn - 9:49.86)
3rd - Georgia Tech (Gibbs, Johnson, Mateker, Herren - 9:52.83)

A - NCAA Automatic Mark P - NCAA Provisional Mark
@ - Meet Record
# - League Record
* Site Record