Virginia Tech Women's Cross Country

Johannigmeier played a role in the development of standout runner Thomas Curtin, who earned All-America honors in all three disciplines during the 2015-16 season (cross country, indoor track and outdoor track). Curtin won the ACC cross country title and also added ACC titles in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs during the outdoor season. In 2015, Curtin earned three All-America nods in track (two indoor, one outdoor). He also has aided in the development of talented runners Hanna Green and Shannon Morton. Green won the 2016 ACC title in the 800 during the indoor season and earned All-America honors at the NCAAs indoor meet, while Morton earned All-America honors in the mile during the indoor season. In the fall of 2015, Johannigmeier and head cross country coach Ben Thomas guided the Tech mens team to an NCAA berth and the Hokies finished 27th as a team in just the programs second NCAA appearance since 1987. In the fall of 2014, he and Thomas led the Tech womens cross country team to an NCAA berth and a top-25 finish. The NCAA appearance marked just the second in the programs history. While a volunteer assistant at Tech, Johannigmeier was a part of three ACC Championships, two in track and one in cross country. He also helped the Hokie men to a fifth-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Prior to his time with the Hokies, Johannigmeier was an undergraduate assistant for the University of Illinois track and field program. During his year there, the outdoor track and field team finished 11th at the NCAA Championships and the cross country team finished fifth at the Midwest Regional. Before serving as an undergraduate assistant at the University of Illinois, Johannigmeier participated in both cross country and track and field for the Fighting Illini. In addition to coaching, Johannigmeier has worked as a civil engineer. Johannigmeier holds a bachelors degree in civil engineering from the University of Illinois and a masters degree in civil engineering from Virginia Tech.

Jack, the associate head track and field coach, is in his 16th season at Virginia Tech and has helped build the Hokies into one of the nations premier throwing programs. Since coming to Tech, Jacks throwers have won a total of 12 national championships. The most recent came in 2015 when Irena Sediva captured the title in the womens javelin throw, giving the school its first javelin national champion. She became the schools second female thrower and third woman overall to win a national title (Queen Harrison and Dorotea Habazin). Spyridon Jullien was Jacks first nationally acclaimed thrower at Tech. He won four national titles in his career (2003-06) twice each in the weight throw and hammer throw and Alexander Ziegler added three national titles, claiming the hammer throw crowns in 2011 and 2012 and the weight throw title in 2013. Marcel Lomnicky won the hammer throw national title in 2009 and the weight throw title in 2012, while Habazin won the hammer throw crown in 2011 and Tomas Kruzliak won the hammer throw title in 2013. In all, Jacks throwers have won 12 of the schools 15 individual national titles. I consider Greg Jack to be one of the top throws coaches in the nation, said Dave Cianelli, Virginia Techs Director of Track and Field and Cross Country. He consistently develops and prepares his athletes as well as any coach I have seen during my 30 years in the business. In 2016, Matija Muhar, a freshman, continued a streak for the Hokies when he won the ACC title in the mens javelin event at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Tech throwers have won at least one ACC title at the leagues outdoor meet every year since the school joined the league. Tech throwers have been nearly successful at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, having won at least one individual title in seven of the schools 11 years in the league. Sediva paved the way for Jack and his throwers in 2015. As a freshman, she won the ACC title and the NCAA title, claiming the NCAA crown on her final throw when she heaved the javelin a school- and ACC-record 192 feet, 9 inches (58.76 meters). Sediva was named the ACC Outdoor Performer of the Year after breaking the school record on several occasions during the 2015 season.  Breaking records is nothing new for Jacks throwers. Under his leadership, they own the mens and womens indoor school records in the shot put and weight throw and they own the outdoor school records in the shot put, discus, hammer throw and javelin throw. Ziegler holds the Rector Field House record the Hokies indoor home in the weight throw (23.69 meters, or 77 feet, 8.75 inches). Tech throwers also currently hold four ACC records. Sediva owns the womens javelin mark (61.44 meters; 196 feet, 5.8 inches), while Matthias Treff has the mens javelin record (77.88 meters; 255 feet, 6 inches). Lomnicky holds the hammer throw mark for the men (75.84 meters; 248 feet, 10 inches) and Habazin owns it for the women (68.35 meters; 224 feet, 3 inches). As a result of his throwers successes, Jack has been the recipient of numerous regional and national awards over the past 16 years. In 2006, he received the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Throws Coach of the Year honor. Seven of Techs throwers earned All-America honors that season, including Jullien, who won the weight and hammer throw national titles that year. Jack also was named the USTFCCCA Mens Southeast Region Indoor Assistant Coach of the Year in both 2012 and 2010 and the USTFCCCA Mens Southeast Region Outdoor Assistant Coach of the Year in 2011. In 2011, Ziegler and Habazin won national titles in the hammer throw. Jullien, though, arguably represents the best of Jacks throwers. In 2005, Jullien was named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Year after winning ACC titles in the weight throw and hammer throw and then going on to win the national title in the hammer throw. He added two more national titles the following season and departed Tech as a seven-time All-American sharing the record for the most All-America nods in school history. Ziegler also earned seven All-America nods during his career, while Lomnicky and Brittany Pryor earned six and Kruzliak finished his career with five. Techs success in the throwing events came immediately upon Jacks arrival. In his first year in 2002, he guided Dee OConnell to the BIG EAST title in the javelin throw. She earned All-America honors and recorded a fifth-place finish at the U.S Championships. OConnell took fifth place at the 2002 U.S Championships and posted third-place finishes at the 2003 U.S. Championships and the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials. Jack also has enjoyed successful coaching on the international stage. In 2004, one of his throwers, Kristen Callan, won the hammer throw at the 2004 U.S. Junior Championships and set a meet record with a throw of 19311 (59.11 meters). She represented the United States at the World Junior Championships that were held in Grosetto, Italy. Jack once served as a national coach for the country of Trinidad and Tobago. As the national coach, he helped Cleopatra Borel capture her countrys national championship with a new record, as she finished 10th in the shot put finals at the Olympics in Athens, Greece and earned a top-eight world ranking by the International Association of Athletics Federations. At Tech, Jack has coached a total of 61 All-Americans, 83 NCAA qualifiers, 47 conference champions, 10 conference record holders, and all school throws records are held by Jacks athletes. Jack is married to the former Jacquie Keats, a doctor of chiropractics, and they currently reside in Blacksburg. Twin daughters MacKenzie and Morgan were born on Oct. 25, 2007. The Ottawa, Canada native graduated from Florida State with a bachelor of science in physical education. View photos of Greg Jack

Vaught came to Tech in August of 2015 after serving as the associate head coach at the University of Illinois. Dave Cianelli, Techs director of track and field and cross country, hired him to rebuild the sprints and hurdles areas of the program largely because of Vaughts past successes in those areas. Vaught has coached seven All-Americans during his career, and more impressively, two Olympians, including former Tech sprinter Darrell Wesh, who has worked with Vaught and qualified for the 2016 Haitian National Team. Wesh ran the 100 at the 2016 Olympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Coach Vaught owns an impressive history of success at each program he has been a part of, Cianelli said at the time of Vaughts hiring. His reputation of being a relentless recruiter and outstanding developer of talent makes him a perfect fit for our program. His extensive background of working with football players on the track will really enhance our ability to attract these dual-sport athletes. His areas of responsibility will include the men's and women's sprints, hurdles and relays." Prior to Vaughts time at Illinois, he had spent more than a year as an associate head mens and womens track and field coach at Coastal Carolina. He helped lead the Chanticleer women to the 2013 Big South indoor title and coached Erica Peake, who earned second-team All-America honors. During the outdoor season, two of the Chanticleers relay teams under Vaught earned honorable mention All-America status. In addition, Jessica Gelibert was named Big South Freshman of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Following the 2013 season, the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Vaught its Southeast Region Womens Assistant Coach of the Year. He also received this honor in 2009 and 2012. From 2008-12, Vaught coached at Charlotte, overseeing the sprints, hurdles and relays areas. While at Charlotte, he was a part of 49er teams that won five indoor conference championships and six outdoor titles. In all, 107 track and field athletes earned All-Atlantic 10 honors while he worked there. Prior to Charlotte, Vaught opened the P2 Peak Performance Training Center and coached a pair of Olympic Trial automatic qualifiers in the triple jump as well as a 100-meter and 200-meter sprinter. He also helped train NFL athletes and NFL rookies in their preparations for the NFL Combine. Vaught also spent a year (2006-07) at Florida State University, where he was the multi-event coach and recruiting coordinator. When not helping bring top-rated track recruits to Tallahassee, he helped then-football coach Bobby Bowden as a speed development consultant. During his time in Tallahassee, Vaught signed three high school national champions and was a member of the coaching staff for the Seminoles ACC, East Regional and national championship team in 2006. From 2002-06, Vaught worked as assistant mens and womens track coach at Coastal Carolina. In two stints at Coastal Carolina, he was part of five teams that won outdoor conference titles and three that won indoor championships. Vaught is a 2001 graduate of Western Carolina University with a Bachelor of Science degree in sociology and a minor in criminal justice. While at Western Carolina, he served as team captain of the track squad during his senior season and earned all-conference honors as a member of the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams. He also was a member of the 4x400-meter NCAA Championship qualifying team. Vaught was a junior-college All-American at Brevard College in North Carolina as a member for the 4x400-meter relay team. After getting his associates degree, he transferred to Western Carolina. When not on the track, Vaught was a member of the Catamount football team. A running back and defensive back by trade, he twice earned letters in football. He got his coaching start at his alma mater as a graduate assistant. While with the Catamounts, he assisted in coaching 11 All-Southern Conference performers, including a pair of 4x400-meter relay teams. He also worked with six conference champions and a national provisional qualifier.

Phillips (2008, indoor); Kelly Phillips (2011, indoor); Abby Schaffer (2009, indoor); Martina Schultze (2012, outdoor); Martina Schultze (2013, outdoor); Martina Schultze (2014, outdoor); Martina Schultze (2013, indoor); Martina Schultze (2014, indoor) ormer Virginia Tech All-American Bob Phillips is in his 33rd year as coach of the Hokie pole vaulters. During that time, the vault program at Virginia Tech has become arguably the best in the ACC and among the best in the nation. The 2016 outdoor season turned out to be maybe the finest in school history for Tech’s vaulters. The Hokies claimed the top seven places in the event at the 2016 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, accumulating 38 points toward the team total. Chris Uhle won the gold medal, with Torben Laidig finishing second and Deakin Volz coming in third. The vaulters’ performances lifted Tech to its second ACC outdoor title and its sixth overall ACC team crown as a program. Volz capped the 2016 season for Tech by winning the gold medal in the pole vault at the IAAF U-20 World Championships held in July in Poland. Volz, who became the first Tech athlete to win a junior world gold medal, set a school record with a vault of 5.65 meters (18 feet, 6.5 inches). Those successes are simply a continuation of the excellence enjoyed by the Hokies’ vaulters since Phillips took over as the coach of the event. Under him, 19 vaulters have combined to earn 37 All-America honors in the event – all coming since Virginia Tech joined the ACC for the 2004-05 season. Yavgeniy Olhovsky, who attended Tech from 2008-12, is probably Phillips’ most accomplished vaulter, having earned All-America nods on seven occasions and won three ACC championships. Phillips’ vaulters have dominated at the conference level. Twenty vaulters have combined to win 40 individual conference titles. Brian Mondschein, who vaulted from 2001-05, won five conference championships, including three in the ACC and two in the BIG EAST, while Martina Schultze, who competed from 2012-14, won five conference crowns, all in the ACC. Tech’s vaulters have combined to win a total of 29 ACC individual titles – more than all the other schools in the ACC combined. In addition to coaching 20 vaulters who have won conference titles, Phillips also has coached a world champion (Volz), a junior national champion, six NCAA medalists (top 3), two US Olympic Trials qualifiers and a IAAF World Championship qualifier. As a student-athlete at Tech in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Phillips set the school record in the indoor and outdoor vault. He was a four-time NCAA national qualifier and earned All-America honors in 1980. He also was a member of the U.S. National Team that took on Great Britain in 1984, and he competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials in July that same year. In addition, Phillips was a three-time Metro Conference, four-time indoor Virginia collegiate and four-time outdoor Virginia collegiate champion. In 1999, Virginia Tech honored Phillips by inducting him into the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments as a student-athlete. Phillips, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, holds three degrees from Tech. He earned his bachelor’s degree in physical education, a master’s in accountancy with a concentration in accounting information systems and a Ph.D. in business administration with a major in accounting and minors in information systems and finance.

Thomas is extremely familiar with the Hokie program, having competed in cross country and running middle distance events in track for Tech from 1987-92. Thomas runners enjoyed a tremendous 2015-16 season. Thomas Curtin won the individual ACC cross country championship and also won two other races (the NCAA Pre-National meet and the NCAA Southeast Regional). Behind Curtin, the Tech mens cross country squad received an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships just its second NCAA appearance since 1987. The Hokies finished 27th as a team and Curtin finished 22nd, earning All-America honors. During the outdoor track and field season, Curtin claimed gold in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, helping the Tech mens team to the ACC crown. Hanna Green won two gold medals during the season, capturing the 800-meter title at the ACCs indoor and outdoor meets. Curtin earned All-America honors in all three disciplines during the 2015-16 season (cross country, indoor track and outdoor track). Curtin, Green and three other distance runners Neil Gourley, Patrick Joseph and Shannon Morton all captured All-America honors during the season. Curtin departed Tech with six ACC championships and seven All-America nods, making him the most decorated runner in Virginia Tech history. Green has won three ACC crowns and is a three-time All-American. Such success comes as no surprise. Thomas now has coached 24 All-Americans at Tech and those 24 have combined to earn 41 All-America honors. Also, he has coached 21 conference champions since coming to Blacksburg and those 21 have combined to win 41 conference titles. Under his leadership, the cross country programs have flourished. In 2006, the Tech womens team made the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history and the Hokies finished 18th. The Hokie women reached the national meet following a third-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Regional behind an unprecedented five all-region performers. Two years later, he helped Tasmin Fanning to a third-place finish at the NCAA Championships the highest finish by a Tech athlete in school history. Since then, the womens program has been to another NCAA Championship (2014), while the mens team won the ACC title in 2012 and has been to two NCAA Championships (2012 and 2016) under Thomas leadership. Will Mulherin won the ACC individual title during the 2012 season, as he and Curtin are the only two Tech runners to win an ACC individual cross country crown. The Hokies have been just as successful in track and field during Thomas tenure, as the mens and womens programs have combined to win nine ACC team titles. In particular, the mens team has been on a roll of late, having finished no worse than fifth place at the ACCs indoor and outdoor meets in each of the past eight years. The mens team won the indoor team title in 2011, 2013 and 2015 all on its home track in Blacksburg and won outdoor crowns in 2012 and 2016. Thomas runners combined to win 11 events in those five championship runs. Thomas served as the mens and womens distance coach at the University of Georgia before arriving in Blacksburg. Prior to that, he was the head track and field and cross country coach at Brevard College in North Carolina. At Brevard, Thomas was named 1999 NAIA Region XII Coach of the Year after leading the mens cross country team to the NAIA Region XII title. Before Brevard, Thomas was the womens cross country coach and assistant track coach at Appalachian State University from 1995-1999. A native of Lynchburg, Virginia, Thomas earned a B.A. in English from Tech in 1992 before completing coursework for an M.A., in education from Lynchburg College in 1999. Thomas began his coaching career with the track and field team at E.C. Glass High School (1992-94) in Lynchburg and coaching cross country at Blacksburg High (1994-95). Thomas, his wife, Ann McGranahan, and their children, Reilly and Seamus, reside in Blacksburg.

Zalewski has played an instrumental role in the development of jumper Manuel Ziegler. In 2016, Ziegler qualified for the NCAA East Regional in the triple jump. He finished fifth at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a season-best mark of 15.72 meters (51 feet, 7 inches). His points were part of an overall team performance that ultimately led to an ACC team title. Zalewski also coached David Prince, a long jumper who finished eighth at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Princes jump of 23 feet, 9.5 inches enabled him to a score a point for a Tech mens team that came in fifth. During his second season guiding Techs jumpers, Zalewski coached his first ACC champion and NCAA All-American as a Tech coach. Ziegler won the ACC crown in the mens triple jump at the indoor championships, setting a school and ACC record with a mark of 16.61 meters (54 feet, 6 inches). Ziegler also earned second-team All-ACC honors in the long jump and his performance earned him ACC Field Athlete of the Year honors. Ziegler capped the season with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in the triple jump. On the womens side, Johnna Dominick garnered second-team All-ACC honors with a fourth-place finish in the high jump finish to round out the successful season. In his first year in charge of jumps and womens sprints and hurdles, Zalewski sent two athletes to the NCAA East Regional meet and the USTFA Junior Nationals. Jasmine Mitchell qualified for both meets in the 400-meter dash, while Christine London qualified in the 400-meter hurdles.

Cianellis former athletes participated in the Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Former Tech hurdler Kristi Castlin competed in the 100-meter hurdles for the U.S. team, while former thrower Marcel Lomnicky competed in the hammer throw for Slovakia and former sprinter Darrell West ran in the 100-meter dash for Haiti. The Olympics appearances marked the first for both Castlin and Wesh. Castlin, a seven-time All-American at Tech whose career concluded in 2010, qualified for her first Olympics after finishing second in the 100-meter hurdles at the U.S. Track and Field Team Trials held in Eugene, Oregon. Wesh, whose career concluded in 2013, was a three-time All-American. Also in 2016, pole vaulter Deakin Volz won the gold medal at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Under-20 World Championships held in Poland. He set a school record with a vault of 5.65 meters (18 feet, 4.5 inches). Those things are only a continuation of the good things that have happened to the programs since Cianellis arrival in the fall of 2001. In his 15 years, Virginia Tech track and field athletes have produced 15 NCAA individual national titles, 189 NCAA All-America honors and 155 individual conference champions. Since 2005, Hokie teams have combined to finish in the national top five three times, the national top 10 nine times and the national top 20 on 22 occasions. The 2016 ACC title for the mens team marked its second outdoor title as a program and sixth overall for the men in track and field and cross country. The mens squad also finished in eighth place at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships for its third top-10 finish in six years. The 2016 season saw Cianelli win his 10th ACC Coach of the Year honor, as he was named the ACC Mens Coach of the Year following the outdoor season. He also was named the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Southeast Region Coach of the Year, collecting that honor for the 14th time in his tenure. Those two honors followed the two that he won in 2015 when he was the ACC Coach of the Year following the indoor season in addition to being selected as the Southeast Region Mens Coach of the Year by the USTFCCCA also following the indoor season. Contact Coach Cianelli E-Mail: Virginia Tech (2001-Present) 15 NCAA individual champions, the first in Virginia Tech history 191 All-America Honors 72 All-Americans 10 ACC team championships 63 ACC individual champions (142 events) 11 BIG EAST individual champions (15 events) 11 ACC Track and Field Athletes of the Year 2010 Bowerman Award Winner, Queen Harrison 10-time ACC Coach of the Year 14-time USTFCCCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year 91 new school records 4 Olympic competitors Southern Methodist University (1988-2001) Five top-three team finishes at the NCAA Track and Field Championships Seven top-five team finishes at the NCAA Track and Field Championships 16 top-10 finishes at the NCAA Track and Field Championships 2000 Men's Western Athletic Conference Track and Field Championships 1995 Men's and Women's Southwest Conference Cross Country Champions 27 NCAA individual national champions 123 All-America honors 52 All-Americans 95 conference champions 19 Olympic and World Championship competitors Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo (1985-1988) 1985, 1986, 1987 NCAA Division II Womenâs Cross Country Champions 1985, 1986, 1988 NCAA Division II Womenâs Outdoor Track and Field Runner-up 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 CCAA Womenâs Cross Country Champions 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 CCAA Womenâs Outdoor Track and Field Champions 1987 NCAA National Champion- Javelin 88 All-America Honors 43 All-Americans 60 Conference Champions Total Career 43 NCAA Champions 376 All-American honors 161 All-Americans 305 Individual Conference Champions 21 Conference Team Championships 23 Olympic or World Championship Qualifiers The Hokies 2015-16 season got started on a good note when runner Thomas Curtin won the ACCs individual cross country title, becoming the programs second individual ACC cross country champion (Will Mulherin, 2012). Curtin went on to become an All-American in all three disciplines (cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track). The indoor track and field season wasnt quite as strong for the Hokies, as the mens team finished fifth and the womens team placed 12th at the ACC Indoor Track and Field Championships, but the mens squad rebounded during the outdoor season. Behind Curtins two gold medals (5,000 and 10,000) and gold medals from Chris Uhle (pole vault) and Matija Muhar (javelin), the Hokies scored 129 points en route to the title at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Tallahassee, Florida. Techs pole vaulters claimed the top seven spots in the event an unprecedented feat and the mens team, behind a third-place finish from Marek Barta (discus) and a fourth-place finish from Curtin (5,000), came in eighth at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held in Eugene, Oregon. Following the collegiate season, both Curtin and Hanna Green competed at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in the 5,000 and 800, respectively (both missed on qualifying). Also, both Diego Zarate and Volz qualified for the IAAF World U20 Championships. Zarate won the gold medal in the 1,500 at the USA Junior Outdoor Championships to qualify and Volz finished second in the pole vault to advance. The 2015 season also turned out to be a banner one for the Hokies, as the mens team won the ACC indoor title on its home track at Rector Field House. In addition, on the womens side, Irena Sediva won the national title in the javelin, propelling the womens team to a 15th-place finish at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The individual national title marked the 15th for the track and field programs. Sedivas success continued into the summer of 2015 with a bronze-medal finish at the World University Games in South Korea. By the conclusion of the season, she had re-set the ACC all-time record on four separate occasions and ranked among the top 10 all time in NCAA history. Neil Gourley added to the Hokies international success that summer, winning a bronze medal in the 1,500 at the European U23 Championships. Under Cianelli and his staff, the Tech mens team has finished in the top 20 at the NCAAs indoor meet seven times since 2005 and in the top 20 at the NCAAs outdoor meet on nine occasions during that span. The team finished a program-best fifth in 2011 and 2012 at the outdoor meet and tied for eighth at the indoor meet in 2012. The Tech womens team also has fared well at the national level, finishing in the top 25 at the NCAA indoor meet on four occasions and in the top 25 at the NCAA outdoor meet five times. Perhaps more impressively, the mens program has won six ACC team championships in track and field and cross country since 2011. The womens program has won four ACC team championships in track and field since 2007. In addition, the Hokies have won their 15 individual national titles since joining the ACC for the 2004-05 season. Spyridon Jullien won the weight throw and hammer throw in back-to-back years (2005 and 2006) and both Queen Harrison and Alexander Ziegler won three national titles. Harrison and Castlin rank as arguably the top female performers ever under Cianelli. In 2008, Harrison made history when she earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic team by finishing second in the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. At age 19, Harrison was the second youngest female track and field athlete in history to make the U.S. Olympic Team. She became the first Tech track and field athlete to represent any country at the Olympic Games and only the second Hokie to become an American Olympian in any sport following Bimbo Coles, who represented the United States in basketball in 1988. In 2010, Harrison became the first athlete in NCAA history to win national titles in the 100- and 400-meter hurdles at the same event. Later that year, she won The Bowerman the highest accolade given to the years best student-athlete in collegiate track and field. Castlin, the 2007 ACC womens track and field Freshman of the Year, did not win an NCAA championship during her career, but she claimed the silver medal on three occasions and she took gold in the 100 hurdles at the 2007 USA Junior Outdoor Championships and the Pan American Junior Championships. She competed at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2008 and 2012 and did not make the Olympic team, but she broke through with her performance in 2016. Cianellis 10 ACC Coach of the Year honors have come since 2007, along with his 14 Southeast Region Coach of the Year awards, bringing unprecedented attention to the program. He has assembled an accomplished coaching staff one that has garnered numerous coach of the year honors while working in Blacksburg. Associate Head Track and Field Coach Greg Jack may be the most recognized name among Cianellis assistants, as six of his throwers have combined to win 12 NCAA national championships. His throwers have earned 58 All-America honors during his coaching career at Tech. Jack also has coached a total of 48 conference champions, 40 of those in the ACC and another eight in the BIG EAST Conference. In addition, Jack has coached several Olympians, including Lomnicky and Cleopatra Borel, both of whom competed for Slovakia and Trinidad and Tobago, respectively, in Rio. In 2006, Jack earned the National Throws Coach of the Year after Jullien won the national title in both the weight throw and the hammer throw. Former Hokie Ben Thomas is the head cross country and distance coach. In 2016, he guided the mens team to its second NCAA cross country berth since 1987, and in the previous year, he guided the Tech womens cross country team to an NCAA berth and a top-25 finish in what marked just the teams second NCAA appearance in program history. In 2012, Thomas led the Hokies to the ACC title in mens cross country and to the NCAA Cross Country Championships, where they placed 22nd. He was selected ACC Cross Country Coach of the Year following that season. His athletes have produced 33 All-America honors and 40 conference champions during his tenure at Tech. Bob Phillips, an All-American for Virginia Tech in the pole vault in 1980, coaches the Tech pole vaulters. In 2016, Phillips received the USTFCCCA Assistant Coach of the Year honor for the Southeast Region after his pole vaulters collected 38 of 39 points at the ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships and he won the same award in 2011. Since 2000, Phillips athletes have earned 31 All-America honors in the pole vault and he has coached a total of 40 conference champions at Virginia Tech, including 30 in the ACC. Cianelli added Paul Zalewski to his staff in 2014, and he serves as the technical director, as well as the coach of all jumps and multi-events. Manuel Ziegler led Zalewskis jumpers as the 2015 ACC champion in the triple jump in which he set a new ACC all-time indoor record of 16.61 meters (54 feet, 6 inches). Ziegler registered an outdoor mark of 7.88 meters (25 feet, 10.25 inches) in the long jump, placing him second on Virginia Techs all-time list in that event. Eric Johannigmeier joined the staff in a full-time capacity in the fall of 2014 and serves as the assistant cross country and distance coach. Johannigmeier served as a volunteer assistant for the Hokies from 2011-13, taking part in three ACC championships and a mens fifth-place finish at the 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championship. He has played an integral role in developing both Curtin and Green into All-Americans, while also helping guide the womens and mens cross country teams to NCAA berths in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Tim Vaught was the most recent addition, coming aboard in 2015 as the sprints, hurdles and relays coach. He arrived at Tech from Illinois, where he served as the womens associate head track and field coach. Prior to Illinois, Vaught spent time at UNC Charlotte and Coastal Carolina, where he was a part of six conference championship teams, including the 2013 Big South indoor championship squad that won at Coastal Carolina. The Virginia Tech track and field and cross country programs continue to get things done at a high level in the classroom. Fourteen Tech track and field athletes made the 2016 ACC All-Academic Team for the outdoor season, including 10 from the ACC champion mens team the most of any school in the ACC. Nine made the ACC All-Academic Team following the indoor season. In addition, 24 cross country runners made the ACC Honor Roll, while 33 others made it from track and field. To make the ACC Honor Roll, a student-athlete must register a GPA of 3.0 or better for the full academic year. The 2014 season saw Frances Dowd and Stephan Munz named to the Capital One Academic All-America Team. In 2013, Alexander Ziegler was named by the USTFCCCA as the National Student-Athlete of the Year, as well as a Capital One Indoor Academic first-team All-American. Dowd won the NCAA Elite 89 Award for the 2012 NCAA indoor season as the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the NCAA Championships. Kelly Phillips became a two-time Capital One Academic first-team All-American in 2011, and she also won the NCAA Elite 88 Award as the student-athlete with the highest GPA at the NCAA Championships. The 2014 womens cross country team earned USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition for the eighth year in a row. In 2010, both Matej Muza and Castlin were honored as the ACC Scholar-Athletes of the Year for track and field. Since 2004, 10 Virginia Tech track and field athletes have earned a total of 15 academic All-America honors. Prior to Tech, Cianelli was an assistant coach for 13 seasons at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. With the Mustangs, Cianelli worked with 19 Olympic and World Championship competitors, 27 NCAA national champions, 123 All-Americans and 95 conference champions. Cameron Taylor of New Zealand was a 1992 Olympian and All-American in the 200-meter race, and Tytti Reho won the 2000 NCAA national championship in the 800. In cross country, both the mens and womens teams won the 1995 Southwest Conference Championship and earned a spot at the NCAA Championships. During Cianellis 13 years at SMU, the track and field teams finished in the top 10 at the NCAA Championships 15 separate times. Cianelli served as the assistant womens track and field and cross country coach at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from 1985-88 and he helped the outdoor track and field teams to three straight runner-up finishes at the NCAA Division II Championships. Cianelli also coached a total of 13 All-Americans and one NCAA national champion while at Cal Poly SLO. Cianelli began his coaching career at San Marcos High School in Santa Barbara, California, as the head boys and girls track and field coach from 1982-84. In three seasons, he coached seven junior national qualifiers in the heptathlon and decathlon. View photos of Dave Cianelli