Saturday, February 07, 2009

BLACKSBURG, Va. (Feb. 7, 2009) - Junior Kenneth Rotich (Nairobi, Kenya) continued to add more titles to his resume on Saturday afternoon, as the Buccaneer distance runner claimed the title in the 5000-meter run at the final day of the Virginia Tech Invitational.

Rotich, who received Runner of the Year accolades at the 2008 Atlantic Sun Cross Country Championships, has now claimed his fourth indoor track and field title this season and his second in the 5000m event. The Kenyan sensation beat out Ridge Robinson from Ohio University by 11 full seconds, finishing with a top time of 14:43.74.

Meanwhile in the mile, sophomore transfer Ben Ronoh (Sotik, Kenya) finished third and shaved a few seconds off his Atlantic Sun's leading time. Ronoh crossed the line in 4:13.15, while fellow teammate Michael Deren (Blasdell, N.Y.) finished eight (4:20.98).

On the women's side, sophomores Ashton Bishop (Gate City, Va.) and Hannah Audia (Pennington Gap, Va.) finished 9^th and 10^th, respectively in the 400m. Bishop edged out her teammate for ninth, posting a time of 1:01.01, while Audia finished with a mark of 1:01.13.

"This weekend was a good test for out athletes," commented associate head track and field coach Michelle Byrne. We wanted to see where our athletes ranked against some of the best competition amongst ACC and SEC competitors, as we head into the A-Sun Championships in two weeks. Some of our athletes responded well, but others need to step up." 

For more information on Buccaneer track and field, visit www.ETSUBucs.com.