We had some ups and downs, as is typical in these types of meets. Here is a brief summary on the men's side:
1) We lost points in the heptathlon when Sean Murphy clipped a hurdle in the 60 hurdles. He finished the race but was 3 seconds slower than usual. It cost him about 500 points which knocked him out of the scoring. He likely would have finished third or fourth. Our Alabama transfer Jacob Spotswood finished second with a personal best but he could not overcome the athlete from Pitt who just missed an ACC record by 8 points. For the event we scored 4 points less than expected.
2) The weight throw was equally disappointing when our second seed, Khalil Bedoui, finished out of the scoring. He never got comfortable in the circle, fouling on 4 of 6 throws. This is not unusual, the top seed fouled on all 3 attempts (only the top 8 get to advance after 3 throws). Alexios Prodanas picked up some of the slack with a second-place finish, so we were only 3 points less than expected.
3) Despite personal bests from our two soph high jumpers, Aidan Clark and Elijah Bell, we lost another expected point in the event.
4) We gained that point back when KJ Moore snagged 8th in the long jump.
5) On Friday night, we won the DMR as Antonio Lopez Segura came from fifth on the last leg with a very fast mile split. We were projected for second, so this is a gain of two points.
6) In the preliminary rounds, we qualified almost everybody who was seeded to qualify. Cole Beck qualified 2nd in the 60 where the top 7 runners were separated by .07 seconds; it is anybody's race. Cole blitzed the field in the 200 where he was the top qualifier by .26 seconds. As a point of reference, places 2 thru 8 were separated by only .06 seconds. Our 3 freshmen in the race went 2-3-8 with top seed, Kennedy Harrison, squeaking in at 8th. Torrence Walker and KJ Tillmon went 2-3. The FSU-like showing in the event is not unexpected as the seed times projected 4 finalists for VT. The 400 was disappointing as Tyreke Sapp failed to advance despite a personal best, Kennedy Harrison was off his times (but still advanced) and Patrick Forrest did not run. That could be a problem if he can't go in the 4x4 relay. The 800 was a disappointment as Seb Anthony did not advance as expected (3 points were expected). In the mile Ben Nibbelink advanced as expected and Sam McLendon advanced as expected in the 60H.
7) At this point, we are 7 points less than projected. FSU had a big day in the long jump but missed out on some qualifiers in the sprints. They are running about 12 points better than projected. The 60 is the key race since they have 3 in the final. Clemson is off their projections by about 10 points. We likely have enough of a buffer to survive an off day.
On the women's side:
1) We went 1-3 in the pole vault with Rachel Baxter setting an ACC record and Julia Fixsen. We were expected to go 1-2 so we lose 2 points.
2) In the long jump Victoria Gorlova, had an off-day (maybe weighed down by world events) and placed three spots behind her seed in 6th place (-3 points).
3) We had a great day in the weight throw with Rebecca Mammel setting an ACC record and Sara Killinen grabbing second (+5 points).
4) All of our expected qualifiers advanced led by Lindsey Butler who qualified first in the 800 followed in second by Hannah Ballowe. Barbora Malikova qualified second in the 400 and I'm guessing she will go faster today. Ava Hassebrock advanced in the mile and Layla Anderson advanced in the 60H.
5) We are right on pace with our projections. NC State had a big day in the 5K and is running about 8 points ahead of pace. They could pick up more than the projected points in the mile and 3K. Miami is about even, as expected, but they have a lot of qualifiers in the sprints. If they go close to 1-2 in the 60, 200 and 400, they could challenge for the team title. I still think we win but we need to be near the top in the 400, 800, triple jump and shot put.