The program at Virginia Tech in the best position to win a national title isn't Frank Beamer's football squad. No, it's Dave Cianelli's men's and women's track and field teams, which finished 10th and fifth, respectively, at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in Eugene, Ore., this weekend.
It was the best-ever finish in the NCAAs for both teams and saw the Hokies add two more individual national championships to their coffers.
Senior Queen Harrison completed her outstanding career by winning both the 100- and 400-meter hurdles. It was the first time a woman swept both hurdles events in the same national championship meet. Those finishes were two of seven All-America finishes for Hokies at the meet.
Harrison won three national titles this season, including a first-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at the indoor track and field championships this year. The Hokies have now had eight individual national titles in men's and women's track and field.
Cianelli has built an outstanding program and Virginia Tech and its finishes in Eugene show how much both have grown. The women finished better than any other ACC team at the meet and were one point out of fourth place. The men were behind only Florida State among ACC teams and were 1.5 points behind the Seminoles and Stanford, which tied for eighth.
As the Hokies continue to improve, it's just a matter of time before they start being in serious contention for a national championship. The appear to be in need of better results on the track side of things while the women need better results from the field side before they can compete seriously against teams like Texas A&M, Oregon and Florida.
But if Cianelli keeps it up it may be only a matter of time before the Hokies have a top three finish or better.